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NINE TO FIVE

IS NOT MY ROUTINE

 

[Name: Soh Chee Seng]
[Profession: Technical Adviser ]

 

 

  SOH CHEE SENG'S ACTION-PACKED LIFE

Ravi Mehta Probes

In the corridor of our online Chinatown, Ravi Mehta, curiously asks Soh Chee Seng, Singapore's world-famous LC specialist:

Mr. Soh Chee Seng, you have so many roles in the LC world. You are DOCDEX expert. You are Technical Adviser to Association of Banks in Singapore. You are on the UCP revision group. You advise on trade finance matters. You lecture in the classroom. You write in trade magazines. You get time to reply e-mails - you never say "out of the office" in reply. I wonder how you manage to get time to perform all your roles, and to update your knowledge despite the busy schedule? May be you read in the flight, or at the airport's waiting hall? Do you...? We are interested to know your way for time management, for knowledge management, stress management - and physical fitness management. The new generation of LC specialists wish to learn from your inspiring action-packed life.

Soh Chee Seng Responds

I don't work nine to five. My working hours can be very irregular and it all depends on the urgency of the assignment, which I receive from my clients. I receive inquiries on documentary collection, LC and trade finance matters every day. Some of them can be very complicated and I may need time to provide my answer. As a technical adviser as well as trade finance consultant, I also provide training, seminar and workshop on trade finance operations, trade frauds and risk management. I also provide opinions to banks on the selection of IT program and software for their trade processing centralization projects. Sometime, I am also invited to provide my opinions and affidavits on LC lawsuits. Because of my roles in LC world, I travel quite often to other countries to provide my services.

When I travel, I carry my laptop computer with me. In fact, my laptop is my mobile office. I work on it almost everyday. I use it to access my e-mail and work in the hotel whenever I travel. I always give priority to urgent matters. As a consultant, I can manage my own time. I update my knowledge by studying, reading cases and exchanging views with my counterparts. I release my stress by listening to classical music and as a sports enthusiast, I play golf and tennis during my free time.

Ravi Mehta Concludes

To sum up Soh Chee Seng's way of Life Management:

  • Laptop for Time Management and Role Management
  • Reading and Conversation for Knowledge Management
  • Music for Stress Management
  • Golf and Tennis for Fitness Management

 

Info Box; Mr. Soh

Soh graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce with First Class Honors in 1973 from the Nanyang University, Singapore. He also attended the Advanced Bank Management Program, conducted by the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, in 1986.

He started his 25 years career in banking in 1976. He was Head of Export Bills Section with Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation Limited, Singapore, a position he held until 1981. In 1981, he moved to Sumitomo Bank Limited, Singapore Branch, where he was the Assistant Manager of Bills Department for one and half years until 1982.

Between 1982 and 1996, he was with United Overseas Bank Limited, Singapore, where he held the position of Vice President of Trade Services, dealing primarily in trade finance operations and marketing. In 1996, he was seconded to Chung Khiaw Bank (Malaysia) Bhd in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he held the position of Head of Trade Services until 1997.

In 1997, he joined Trade Services Department of Overseas Union Bank Limited, Singapore as Vice President and Head of Trade Services Department until December 2001. Altogether, he has about 25 years of experience in banking industry, at least 20 years of which he was primarily dealing with trade finance and documentary credit.

Soh is Singapore representative for the ICC Banking Commission and a member of the Task Force on International Standard Banking Practice (ISBP). He is also a member of the Task Force on UCP Review and the new UCP 600 Drafting Group. The ICC Banking Commission, which comprises international banking experts from various countries, acts to prepare new uniform rules, update existing uniform rules for documentary credits, collections and bank-to-bank reimbursements and to adapt international standard banking practices to automatic data processing techniques. It is responsible for drafting the revisions of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits ("UCP"), including the current version, UCP 500. It also provides definitive guidelines and opinions to bankers in different countries.

Among the 12 members of the Task Force on ISBP, he is the only member from Asia. He is also the only Asian member in the UCP 600 Drafting Group.

Apart from the ICC Banking Commission and the various working groups in which Soh is actively involved, he is also a technical consultant on trade finance issues to the Association of Banks in Singapore.

Soh has been invited by the institutions and banks to lecture on the subject of documentary credits, trade finance, trade frauds and risks management extensively in Asia. He has also been invited to lecture on the subject of International Standard Banking Practice as reflected in the UCP 500 for the judges from the Supreme People's Court of China. He is also frequently invited by the Institute of International Banking Law and Practice, Inc. as a panel speaker in the Annual LC Survey in Asia, America and Europe.

Currently, Soh practices under the name and style of DCTrade Consultants, providing his services as expert witness and as a technical consultant and trainer on trade finance matters.

Soh Chee Seng is a member of the LC VIEWS Editorial Board.