StarHub's new CEO officially starts today

Here's how Tan Tong Hai plans to make StarHub as local as it can be.

SBR: What makes you excited about your new position? What will you do differently in this position? What changes are you planning for?

Having been the Chief Operating Officer for the past four years, it helps me to understand the industry players, regulators and capabilities within StarHub. The ground knowledge will be very useful in my new role as Chief Executive Officer as I translate our business strategies into actions.

I am grateful to the StarHub Board for entrusting me with this role, and am privileged to lead the strong and passionate team at StarHub.

I am truly local and proud of it. I was born in Singapore, studied in neighbourhood schools and local institutions and served my National Service before working in both an MNC and local companies. Indeed, I am thankful to be a Singaporean.

In the same way, I take immense pride in StarHub being a local company. I want to make StarHub as local as it can be, while adopting international quality business practices and delivering world class infocomm services that our customers can enjoy personally or with their loved ones and families.

StarHub has an exciting brand and I will continue to build on the brand to deliver delightful experiences for our customers. We are the pioneer in Hubbing and have made it simple and easy for our customers to access Mobile, TV and Broadband services in an integrated and seamless manner through our Hubbing offers.

It is no longer possible to just compete on individual services. We will continue to level upon our Hubbing strategy to surprise and delight our customers. We are living in a period where new disruptive technologies will continue to challenge traditional business models.

It is important to embrace change and track future technologies closely. We have formed I³ (Innovation, Investment and Incubation) to look at new sources of revenue with emerging technology trends.

Partnerships with both local and global players will also be a key pillar to our success. We will focus on establishing strategic partnerships to capitalise on one another's strengths for greater customer benefits.

And of course, being a Singaporean company, we are on the lookout for opportunities to support local productions too.

We will continue to create value for our stakeholders and at the same time we want to be remembered as a company with a heart, actively giving back to the society.

A good example of this is the ongoing Project Family Time which is a movement where we help fulfil requests from customers to bring their families closer together through technology. This is a direction that will continue to influence our service innovations and customer experience.

We have always firmly believed in balancing our business goals with social responsibilities. In the recently launched Golden Guru programme, we help seniors who are tech-savvy to teach information-technology to other seniors.

This enables the seniors to remain socially active and stay connected to society and their loved ones. We also encourage our StarHubbers to cultivate a strong spirit of volunteering through our CSR initiatives. Ultimately, we aim to be a company that Singaporeans can be proud of.

SBR:  What three goals are you focused on?

StarHub has an exciting brand and I will continue to build on the brand to deliver delightful experiences for our customers.

Secondly, we continue to provide the best customer service experience. We have launched the My StarHub app for our customers to self-help and also developed the StarHub Community for customers to share and connect.

Thirdly, we will continue to invest in our network and platforms to deliver superior network performance and service experience.

SBR: What are your key business philosophies?

StarHub is operating in a very competitive and fast evolving environment where the only constant is change. To excel in this environment, we need to be agile to adapt quickly to changes, and to be calm in the face of challenges and surprises.

In fact, I have a calligraphy art-piece in my office which echoes just that. The phrase on the art-piece is a constant reminder to stay focused and firm in the face of unexpected changes.

I advocate strategic partnerships too. Sometimes it's too slow to do it on our own. Through partnerships, we can leverage on one another's strengths and create new value for customers. It's a three-way win-win scenario; we share successes with our partners while consumers benefit.

As we ensure that our customers are well-served, I also want to take care of my team and nurture talents to bring out the best in them. It is important to me that the StarHub team is one big family, where everyone is happy, motivated and have a sense of belonging. Indeed, StarHub is our home.

While StarHub continues to deliver the best value to stakeholders, we mustn't forget that StarHub is part of a larger community and we should do our part for our customers as well as to society. Our ongoing Project Family Time initiatives serve to remind us how the Family is the cornerstone of what we do.

I am very glad that StarHub has focussed efforts on helping the disadvantaged in our community through the StarHub Sparks Fund, and at the same time, we are taking serious steps to do our part for the environment through Green initiatives.

SBR: What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?

I have over 20 years of experience in regional information technology, Internet and e-commerce industries, with broad experience at top management levels.

Being at the helm is not new to me as I had the privilege of being the President and the CEO of both Singapore Computer Systems and Pacific
Internet (PacNet). My 11 years in IBM has also helped me to understand the enterprise segment of the business.

And of course, I am no stranger to StarHub and because of this, I am more-than-ready for my new role.

SBR: Anything else you'd like to add?

The StarHub brand is very valuable. We are an exciting brand that is known to be energetic and innovative, and this is a very positive image we will work hard to keep.

In addition to providing attractive product offerings, I want StarHub customers to enjoy a positive user experience with us. I also want to maintain what they have come to expect from us - quality and a proven reliable network.

I hope to inspire the younger generation that if a local boy born, bred and educated here can become the CEO of a big cap company, the sky's the limit for them.