Yap bows out at Singapores CAAS

Kevin Shum Jin-Chyi will be appointed as the director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority of
Singapore (CAAS) from August 2.
He will take over from Yap Ong Heng who will be retiring, according to a media statement from the
Ministry of Transport.
Shum, 44, graduated with a Second Class (Upper Honours) in Social Sciences from the National
University of Singapore in 1995. He subsequently obtained a Master of International Public Policy
from John Hopkins University in 1999. Shum is currently deputy secretary in the Ministry of
Transport.
In the statement, the ministry thanked Yap Ong Heng, 55, for his contributions as the directorgeneral of CAAS since 2009.
It said Yap successfully led the restructuring of CAAS after the corporatisation of Changi Airport in
2009, including carrying out the significant task of rebuilding the corporate branding and
organisational culture of CAAS to meet its new vision and mission.
To strengthen Singapore's air hub connectivity, Yap led and concluded numerous Air Services
Agreement (ASA) negotiations, including the landmark ASEAN-China Air Transport Agreement and
further expansion of the bilateral ASA with countries such as Japan, India and Brazil.
He also played a key role in the Changi East development project and implementation of a threerunway system. Yap spearheaded the development and operationalisation of CAAS' third-generation
air traffic control system (LORADS III) in October 2013 to ensure that Singapore is able to manage
the growing air traffic volumes safely and efficiently as it enters the future.
Under Yap's leadership, CAAS also launched a Centre of Excellence for Air Traffic Management
(ATM) that included the setting up of the ATM Research Institute in partnership with Nanyang
Technological University as well as the partnership with MITRE establishing MAPS (MITRE AsiaPacific in Singapore), which is MITRE's first aviation R&D centre outside the United States focusing
on ATM research and studies for Singapore and the region.
With Yap's guidance, CAAS implemented several new initiatives for the aviation industry. A notable
example was the setting up of the Aviation Development Fund in April 2010 with a budget of $100
million, and subsequently topped up in 2015 to $160 million, to help grow the aviation industry.
On the international arena, Yap led CAAS' efforts to secure the re-election of Singapore into the
Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation for consecutive three-year terms in 2010 and
2013.
"The Ministry of Transport would like to put on record its appreciation to Mr Yap Ong Heng for his
significant contributions in his six years as the Director-General of CAAS," the ministry said in its

statement.