The SIRS Family
Welcome to the Singapore Institute of Retail Studies, fondly known as SIRS to our partners, learners and friends! We are a small team with big ideas, and each of us are well-honed professionals from diverse backgrounds that span the full spectrum of strategic business operationalisation including Business Management, Digital Marketing and Digitalisation, e-Commerce, Service, People Development, as well as the key critical areas of the Retail industry.
We hold the tenet that that people are the greatest assets of any organisation, and it is not just the knowledge and depth of experience that each of our team brings, but also the bond that all of us share through our common goal: to inspire and transform the retail industry, individuals and businesses towards their greatest potential in achieving excellence.
Contact us for information on grant-supported solutions that can support your business and workforce capability development.
Heads of the SIRS Family
Megan Ong, Director of SIRS
Megan has been in the education and training industry since 2006 with over 25 years of Public and Private sector experience under her belt. Under her strategic leadership, SIRS propelled to being a key training partner with some of the most established global and local companies including Alibaba, Amazon, Lazada, Qoo10 and Shopee. These are collaborations which have played a significant role in contributing to the fast-forwarded digitalisation and transformation of the retail industry, particularly in the e-commerce space. Megan is also keenly focused on supporting SMEs to succeed and thrive, working unceasingly within SIRS, and externally with other key bodies including Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore and the Federation of Merchants’ Association but to name a few, to deliver training and consultancy solutions as well as career development and mentoring support to both companies and individuals alike.
Getting to know Megan
When you are strategic but detailed, speedy but careful, energetic but chilled, optimistic but measured, it’s no wonder that Megan is likened to Harry Potter’s Dumbledore by the SIRS’ team – it takes some powerful “magical” ability to juggle and balance all that, be as fiercely loyal & deeply protective of everyone around her as she is, and then running off to beat her friends at a game of netball. Whew!
Megan ❤ SIRS
“Being in SIRS is being in the 2 industries that I love! Straddling public duty that also supports the retail industry is meaningful and stimulating work, and the positive impact that we are able to make is what drives me and what I find most satisfying.”
Karen Tan, Head of Administration
Karen is our whiz at SIRS when it comes to getting things organised and running full steam ahead. With over 20 years in both the Public and Private sectors, she brings a wealth of experience managing a broad scope of operations and administrative initiatives. At SIRS, Karen’s primary focus is to ensure a well-oiled process of efficiency and effectiveness for our learners and corporate partners in reaping the value of their interactions with us. Working with our Business Development, Customer Relations and Programmes teams, Karen oversees SIRS’ office administration & operations including facilities & IT, as well as adult learners’ administration and finance related matters.
Getting to know Karen
A gentle and demure disposition belies a steely focus and confident gatekeeping. Karen is a true disciplinarian at work and a free spirit at play. Catch her at the right time to experience the best of both worlds!
Karen ❤ SIRS
“While SIRS is a stat board, we work like a corporate entity with agility and dynamism.”
Shermaine Wee, Head of Customer Relations Centre
With over 20 years as a home-grown retail entrepreneur, Shermaine has a deep bond with and understanding of retailers and the retail industry. Her experience brings significant value-add to her role at SIRS where she leads the Customer Relations Centre team in supporting jobseekers on upskilling and reskilling towards enhancing their employability and career success through SIRS’ broad suite of training programmes. Shermaine also spearheads driving community engagement for our key national training programmes, working with government agencies and industry partners for synergistic outcomes to the benefit of retailers and workers.
Getting to know Shermaine
Life around Shermaine is anything but dull with her being a self-confessed “shopping is in my blood”, and who enjoys a broad range of both in and outdoor activities from travelling, reading, watching Netflix movies and to getting in shape with a regular dose of Pilates. Shermaine ascribes her personality and values to being aligned with that of her MBTI personality type of ESTJ, and Scorpio horoscope, where she expresses herself as being the awesome combo of being ambitious, deeply emotional and sensitive, loyal to friends.
Shermaine ❤ SIRS
“The greatest satisfaction about working in the training industry specifically at SIRS is to be able to positively impact lives and livelihoods so that both individuals and retail companies can remain relevant and top of the game in terms of their productivity, competence, and capacity.”
Cindy Koh, Head of Product Development and Marketing
Cindy comes with over 20 years of experience in branding, digital marketing, customer experience, data analytics and consumer research forged in the dynamic global banking landscape where she pioneered significant future-forward digital innovation initiatives, before making her foray into the training industry.
In her dual capacity at SIRS, she drives the development of learning programmes via the strategic cultivation of partnerships that cut across a broad range of industries and agencies to bring about the latest innovations and thought leaderships in key demand areas including emerging technology and sustainability. Delivered through SIRS’ training programmes, these in turn delivers the drive to success for partners, retail businesses, and SIRS.
Getting to know Cindy
Cindy has a wide and eclectic range of interests, most of which may be deemed rather “geeky” in nature! Alongside, diving in with fervour on anything that catches her interest, and indulging in the immersive world of gaming to exert her competitive spirit and the grit to excel, are also some of her pastimes…when she has time.
Cindy ❤ SIRS
"Working with our incredible team who subscribes to the ideology of “inspiring others to achieve their aspirations” in what and how we do our work…and who plays just as hard when we celebrate our success together!"
James Fong, Head of Programmes Operations
James is the man behind the operationalisation of our training programmes at SIRS. In his last 15 years with SIRS, he has garnered deep industry knowledge working with our government agency partners, and provides the support behind the scenes in making our extensive range of training programmes available to our learners. Prior to SIRS, James’s experience was acquired from key retail management roles in merchandising and operations.
Getting to know James
A good book and a good meal – what more can one ask for. James is an avid cook who whips up meals with as much gusto as he whips up learning programmes; and loves nothing more than settling down with any book that catches his whim…which includes an eclectic range, from armchair travel to his secret stash of TinTin comics. And if you are lucky, you may just get an invite to share an inspired, spur-of the-moment meal, and conversation about his many varied interests!
James ❤ SIRS
“The greatest satisfaction is my ability to impact lives in positive ways where at SIRS we are constantly working to enable opportunities for individuals and companies to remain relevant and valuable through acquiring needed skills and capabilities.”
Jiawen Lai, Head of Business Development
With nearly 20 years of experience in consultancy, licensing and retail brand management, Jiawen along with her team is the high-powered driver behind SIRS’ key partnerships that include retail businesses, government organizations, and trade associations. Her focus is on creating synergistic and exponential value for retail businesses through a broad range of innovative collaborations that propel their successful growth and expansion through the digital age.
Getting to know Jiawen
While Jiawen may appear a little reserved and serious when at work, we have often seen her fun and playful side too with her ability to inject a dose of humour when we least expect it! She tells us that if you need to look for her outside of work, “you will find me at the gym, having coffee at a café or playing with cats.”
Jiawen ❤ SIRS
"Seeing how our solutions and programmes at SIRS impact our clients gives meaning to my work and keeps me going on!"