FETED at high-society events and billed as a poster girl for female entrepreneurship, Jannie Chan – erstwhile known as Jannie Tay – once graced pages of Tatler and The Peak. But these days, the cofounder of The Hour Glass is making headlines for other reasons.
After numerous court appearances over personal and business matters, Chan – who was made bankrupt in 2019 -returned to the media limelight last week when the Singapore High Court on Feb 19 accepted a creditor’s previously rejected debts, which slapped another S$18.9 million of claims against her bankruptcy estate. Here are some things to know about her:
Lecturer turned businesswoman
Born in 1945, Chan grew up in Ipoh, Malaysia, the eldest daughter of a wealthy family. At 17, she left home to study in Australia and later graduated from Monash University, where she met her future husband, a doctor, Henry Tay. The couple married in 1969 and returned to Singapore in 1971.
She began her career as a lecturer of physiology and pharmacology at the University of Singapore, now known as the National University of Singapore. In 1973, she left academia to join her in-laws’ family watch business, Lee Chay, as a salesgirl.
Chan and Tay cofounded Orchard Watch at Colombo Court in 1977. Encouraged by its success, they set up The Hour Glass in 1979 with department store Metro Holdings, which held a 51 per cent stake. The shop in Lucky Plaza sold Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet and Piaget watches.
In 1987, the couple bought over Metro’s stake in the company and listed it on the Singapore Exchange junior board in 1988 and mainboard in 1992. From there, The Hour Glass grew from strength to strength and expanded across the Asia-Pacific.
As demand for luxury timepieces boomed during the pandemic, the company’s sales surged past S$1 billion in 2022, generating a net profit of S$154.7 million. But as competition grew and demand for luxury watches slowed, the company’s last reported earnings slid 20 per cent on the year to S$61.4 million for its first half ended September 2024.
Almost a politician
Beyond fame from helming The Hour Glass, Chan was a visible socialite active in various businesses as well as women’s and environmental circles. She founded the Women’s Business Connection, a group of female professionals and businesswomen, served as president of the Singapore Retailers Association for 17 years, and started the Save Our Planet Foundation focusing on reforestation.
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She nearly entered politics and considered running for Singapore’s presidential race in 2011, which was won by veteran politician Tony Tan.
First brush with bankruptcy
In October 2012, Chan guaranteed credit facilities granted by Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) to Timor Global, a coffee plantation and trading company where she was also a director and shareholder.
The Timor Leste company ran into trouble in 2012, linked to its loss of 38 containers of beans worth some US$2.26 million that were believed to have been misappropriated, ST reported in 2014. When it defaulted, ANZ sought recovery from its directors, including Chan.
Chan applied to the High Court to set aside ANZ’s statutory demand but was unsuccessful. She was briefly declared bankrupt in 2016 over failure to repay the sum to ANZ, but the bankruptcy order was annulled after she reached a settlement with the bank.
During this time, TYC Investment – which holds the family’s interest in The Hour Glass – notified authorities of Chan’s disqualification as a director due to her bankruptcy and filed legal action to appoint her replacement.
Chan filed a counter-claim and in 2018, the court ruled that Chan’s TYC directorship be reinstated as her bankruptcy had been set aside.
Further financial woes
In 2019, Chan was declared bankrupt again over S$4.15 million owed to licensed moneylender SME Care, which had loaned of S$500,000 to JASC Pte Ltd, where Chan was the controlling director and sole shareholder.
The loan was secured by a mortgage of two of JASC’s properties and a personal guarantee from Chan. JASC was incorporated in 2010 though its business activities are not known.
When JASC defaulted on the loan, SME Care went after Chan as guarantor. By June 2019, the debt had swelled to over S$4.15 million. Chan’s appeal against her bankruptcy order was dismissed by the High Court (BT).
Claims against her bankruptcy estate swelled by another S$18.9 million on Feb 19 after the High Court accepted debts the private trustee of Chan’s estate previously rejected. The private trustee’s role is to examine creditors’ debt claims to decide whether to admit them.
The claims came from Fulcrum Distressed Partners, a boutique investment firm, which specialises in the trading of distressed and special situation investment opportunities, that had taken over the debts of Timor Global.
Separately, Chan’s application for S$4.3 million worth of claims from SME Care to be set aside were dismissed.
Domestic strife and family feuds
Alongside her financial difficulties, Chan’s family troubles also spiralled onto the public stage.
In 2010, Chan and Tay split after 41 years of marriage, but both remained directors of TYC. The split was less than amicable, with the two in and out of court over the years.
In 2014, TYC took Chan to court for allegedly withholding payments it needed to make. Chan claimed the proceedings were attempts by Tay, who was involved in the suit as a TYC director, to financially “starve” and compel her to make payments to him.
Chan retired from her executive vice-chairman and executive director positions at The Hour Glass in 2016, having held the posts for nine years. In 2011, Tay obtained an injunction barring Chan from making payments from TYC funds, but the two later settled out of court.
The duo respectively held 44 per cent and 46 per cent of the voting rights in TYC, with their children sharing the remaining 10 per cent, ST reported in 2018.
In 2017, the High Court gave Chan a two-week suspended jail term for flouting court orders to stop sending Tay defamatory emails. The jail term would be suspended if she stopped sending the emails and continue with monthly psychiatric treatment. This was the third time Tay had taken legal action against Chan.
He first sued her in 2014 over some 1,260 emails she sent between November 2013 and September 2014 that he alleged were defamatory or amounting to harassment. Emails were also sent to family members, friends, employees, and Cabinet ministers.
The case was dropped after Chan apologised. A second case resulted in her being fined S$30,000.
In 2019, Chan was jailed for two weeks for contempt of court, after her appeal against the sentence was dismissed. At her hearing, she said she suffered from depression.
Then, Chan added that she was “happy to go to jail” as her daughter was in jail. Her daughter, Audrey Tay May Li, was sentenced to a 22-month prison term for drug charges in October 2018.
