Head of environmental NGO suspended from duty pending internal investigation

Edwin Seah, Executive Director of the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), has been suspended indefinitely from duty from Thursday (Oct 13).

In an email response, an SEC spokesperson said: "The SEC Board has decided to suspend Edwin Seah with effect from today. We are unable to comment further as investigations are ongoing.”

Apart from the phone call from SEC executive committee chairman Lam Joon Khoi on Thursday morning, Seah said there has been no interview request from authorities to assist with the investigation.

“As far as I know, this is an internal investigation,” said Seah in a phone interview with Yahoo Singapore.

An SEC meeting would convene on Oct 19. It is unclear if Seah is now on no-pay leave pending this meeting.

Seah is surprised by this move, saying that no staff has been suspended before. He is supposed to be on childcare leave on Thursday and Friday, before heading for a work trip next week in Ukraine.

He said there was a good relationship with board members like Professor Leo and Philip Su, as well as with his colleagues.

An unnamed employee said: “Edwin has been so supportive since he stepped up. I really couldn’t have asked for a better boss."

Seah was appointed Executive Director in April 2015, after having joined the SEC as Director of Communications in October 2014.