Star Media Group's COO Kang Yew Jin and CMO Lam Swee Kim step down

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Star Media Group's COO, digital and print, Kang Yew Jin (pictured left), and CMO, product division, Lam Swee Kim (pictured right), will be moving on from the company to pursue other interests. The company confirmed the move to A+M, adding that in the time that they have been with Star Media Group, they have contributed to the growth of the company, including introducing innovative strategies to further enhance the Group’s offerings and services, and played an active role in improving operations across multiple divisions.

"We would like to thank Kang and Lam for their contributions and extend our best wishes for their future endeavours. They will be leaving the company in promising shape with considerable growth prospects," group CEO Alex Yeow told A+M.

Naturally, Yeow said it is disheartening to lose someone of their calibre. However, the company believes that the foundation they have set has paved the way for greater progress moving forward. "The management is also in the process of identifying suitable replacements for both roles," Yeow added.

Kang was promoted to his role in January this year, overseeing the technology, analytics, circulation, and production departments. He was previously the group CTO for close to three years, focusing on the digital transformation of Star Media Group including traditional print business, events business, property business, and traditional radio. According to his LinkedIn, Kang also oversaw digital improvements of digital-focused businesses as group CTO, such as streaming video and its OTT service dimsum, as well as the online and mobile news portals. He also worked at Hong Leong Bank, OCBC Bank, AmBank, IBM Global Services, MetLife, and Accenture.

Meanwhile, Lam was named to her current role last June and is also the CMO for SMG Entertainment, a subsidiary of Star Media Group. At SMG Entertainment, Lam oversaw its video-on-demand service dimsum entertainment which reported a surge in subscribers during the first Movement Control Order last year. From 18 March to 3 April 2020, Lam said previously that new daily subscribers increased by 3,264%, with a spike within a few days. During the same period, the number of viewers checking out the content catalogue increased by 1,001%, while video views increased by 206%. A few months later in May 2020, dimsum entertainment partnered with Huawei to offer its content on Huawei Video.

However, the company's ambitions for dimsum entertainment did not pan out as expected and it announced last month that the service will wind down operations by 30 September. The decision follows a strategic review carried out by the Group's management team who has identified several new opportunities it will pursue "to further strengthen its position in the industry", The Star reported previously. When the news broke in April, Lam said then that while the decision to close the platform was difficult, the team is "excited to explore promising new ventures in the near future".

Meanwhile, Star Media Group has also seen some leadership movements over the past few months. In March, Chor Chee Heung was named chairman, taking over from Fu Ah Kiow who resigned on 1 March. In February, Yeow joined the team as group CEO from Tropicana where he was group CEO and executive director.

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