Go-Jek taps exec from Singapore’s National Research Foundation as local GM

Go-Jek has appointed a new general manager to head up its operations in Singapore.

The role goes to Lien Choong Luen, who is joining the ride-hailing company from the National Research Foundation (NRF) – the Singaporean government agency that develops the country’s research and development policies and coordinates research efforts across institutions.

Lien Choong Luen, Singapore general manager, Go-Jek / Photo credit: Go-Jek

Lien signed up with NRF in 2017. He was responsible for setting the agency’s long-term strategy, as well as putting processes in place to encourage innovation at Singaporean companies.

Before NRF, he served as a strategist at McKinsey & Company, where he headed the consultancy’s Center for Government in Southeast Asia and worked with tech-based and consumer-facing clients on things like corporate structuring and go-to-market strategies.

Prior to that, Lien was an officer in the Singapore Armed Forces, which included a stint as a peacekeeper in East Timor.

Lien has also climbed Mount Everest and skied to the North Pole. In his spare time, of course.

Go-Jek entered the Singapore market last November after announcing its intention to expand beyond its native Indonesia earlier in the year. It launched ride-hailing and food delivery in Vietnam in August and motorbike-hailing and courier services in Thailand in December.

In Singapore, Go-Jek currently only offers its private car ride-hailing service in beta, and hasn’t unveiled plans for additional services in the Lion City.