KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (OCBC) has tapped former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) deputy governor Datuk Ooi Sang Kuang to the sit on the boards of its key banking and insurance units. Ooi’s appointments by OCBC came barely two months after he retired from his position as special adviser to BNM on Dec 31. Prior to being retained for a one-year tenure as the central bank’s special adviser, Ooi had served for eight years as BNM deputy governor from 2002 to June 2010. But now, Ooi sits on the OCBC’s 14-man board as an independent non-executive director following his appointment on Feb 21. Ooi was also appointed to the boards of OCBC Bank Malaysia Bhd and insurance operator Overseas Assurance Corp Malaysia Bhd, which is a unit of OCBC’s insurance arm Great Eastern Holdings Ltd. Ooi sits on the OCBC's 14-man board as an independent non-executive director. Aside from that, Ooi is presently the chairman of BNM’s subsidiary, Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corp Sdn Bhd (MyClear), national mortgage corporation Cagamas Bhd and the latter’s subsidiaries. The 64-year-old veteran banker is among the high-profile Malaysian business figures who has in recent years been drawn to corporate Singapore. Ooi joins the ranks of Tan Sri Hassan Marican, the towering former CEO of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), who was appointed chairman of Singapore Power Ltd. After leaving Petronas in early 2010, Hassan has been appointed to the boards of several foreign energy companies, including US oil and gas giant ConocoPhillips Ltd, Singapore Power, SembCorp Industries Ltd and SembCorp Marine Ltd. News of Hassan’s appointment to Singapore Power had been held up by some quarters as yet another indication of Malaysia’s inability to address the brain drain problem. But the government responded by saying that Hassan’s new posts are proof that Malaysia has highly skilled human capital and that the government could not prevent individuals from seeking better job opportunities abroad. Meanwhile, Ooi, who has had a long career in the public and private banking sectors, is certainly no stranger to Singapore’s financial services industry. Ooi first joined BNM’s economics department in 1971 before leaving the central bank in 1984 to join the private sector. His work experience in Singapore includes being the chief economist for the Asia-Pacific in Standard Chartered Bank’s Asian regional office in the city state and managing director of Singapore-based Warburg Asset Management Pte Ltd. Just before returning to BNM in 2002, Ooi was managing director and regional research director of RHB Research Institute and he was also on the board of Rashid Hussain Bhd, RHB Investment Bank Bhd and Rashid Hussain Asset Management Bhd. As deputy governor, Ooi was responsible for sectors covering economic and monetary assessment, reserves management and monetary operations, and finance and operational support. As special adviser to BNM, Ooi was tasked with the areas of regional and international financial collaborations, including the development of the financial infrastructure to facilitate greater regional and international integration, BNM said in an earlier announcement. This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, April 24, 2012.