Shangri-La Hotels (M) Bhd has announced the appointment of Lin Diaan Yi as its new managing director, succeeding Christopher Phong Siew San, whose last day will now be Monday, earlier than the previously scheduled May 31 departure.
Lin brings extensive experience in strategy and transformation within the hospitality, real estate and retail sectors across Asia, including prior consultancy work with the Shangri-La Group. Her expertise spans portfolio strategy, asset repositioning, capital allocation, financial and operational management, governance, sustainability and organisational transformation.
Lin previously spent 22 years at McKinsey & Company (2002–2024), where she rose to senior partner and led the social, public and healthcare sectors across Asia during her final four years. Between 2015 and 2020, Lin served as managing partner for McKinsey Singapore.
Throughout her tenure, she worked closely with governments, government-linked companies and sovereign wealth funds to design and implement large-scale transformation programmes, accelerate digitisation and foster economic development.
Lin’s portfolio also included advising clients in financial services, telecommunications, infrastructure, logistics, energy and sustainability on strategy, corporate finance and governance.
Before McKinsey, Lin began her career in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York and London.
She currently serves on the boards of the Viva Foundation, The Esplanade, The Straits Trading Company Limited and the Communicable Diseases Agency of Singapore.
At Monday’s midday break, shares in Shangri-La were down two sen or 1.2% at RM1.71, valuing the company at RM752.4 million. Over the past one year, the stock has gained 7.5%.
