About

Initially specialising in intellectual property law at reputed law firms Raja, Darryl & Loh and Wong & Partners, David Chiam Joy Yeow followed this with a five-year stint in the Malaysian Government in the Ministries of Youth and Sports followed by the Ministry of Tourism, which encompassed a policy and legal research advisory role. From there, he moved in-house into a senior legal counsel role with British American Tobacco Malaysia which evolved into a head of legal role to which a company secretary position was added in 2013. He began his current role of legal director and company secretary of Dairy Farm International (Malaysia and Brunei) business in 2017, and recently – in December 2018 – added legal director responsibilities for Dairy Farm Singapore entities as well. His main achievements within the department include the provision of strong business-oriented legal services across functions, the expansion of the legal team’s capabilities into more cross-functional areas and the re-building of trust in the legal department within the business. He has also been at the forefront of a number of innovation efforts within the team: ‘I have worked towards the removal of traditional ways of working of an in-house legal department by promoting new functional behaviours and belief systems that promote self confidence in delivery of legal services, cross functional business learning and freedom through responsibility in each layer of the department’.