Singapore: Aretae says personnel changes due to resignations, not sackings

The company was responding to earlier reports that it may have fired some members of its top management team, including former Aretae CEO Lee Chong Min, Aretae co-founder and general manager of Aretae Hong Kong David Leong, chief financial officer Denis Koh, vice president of human resources Cindy Ma and director of business development Chua Soo Liang.

While Lee and Ma have since resigned from the company, Leong stressed in a telephone interview that "the company did not terminate any of their services, and (the others) are still with Aretae today." Lee left the company on May 31 and according to acting CEO Hoo Shao Pin, Ma recently tendered her resignation.

On Lee's departure from the company, Leong said: "We realized that this was the best route to take as part of our restructuring exercise. We felt we needed to focus more on operational issues and less on research and development and business development, which Lee was spearheading."

Instead, the company will be focusing on its Web strategy and solutions and e-application development services.

While "some of (Aretae's) employees had to change their roles in the last two months, (and) some left the company (as part of the restructuring)," Leong noted that the company is still hiring to boost its headcount in the Web applications and solutions areas.

According to Leong, Aretae currently has between 130 and 150 employees in its Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan offices.

As part of the restructuring, Hong Kong-based Leong would be returning to Aretae's Singapore office to assist Hoo in marketing and establishing alliances with advertising and marketing companies in the region.