First Chairman of SCORE – Dr Baey Lian Peck

Even though he was not a public servant, the late Dr Baey Lian Peck devoted much of his life to public service.

Dr Baey was also on the forefront of Singapore’s fight against drugs. He chaired a MHA committee on treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts, helped set up the drug rehabilitation programme that was used for those detained after Operation Ferret*, and served as Chairman of the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA).

In 1976, Dr Baey was appointed the first Chairman of SCORE - now known as Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG) and led the organisation from 1976 to 1986. Dr Baey recalled that he had to mobilise his whole being – his humanity, innovation and business acumen – to make SCORE work. Starting with barely any capital, SCORE had a surplus of $24 million by the time Dr Baey stepped down as Chairman.

After leaving SCORE, Dr Baey continued to be actively involved in public service. He was subsequently awarded the Public Service Star (Bar) and SANA’s Gold Medal of Honour.

* Operation Ferret was the first major nationwide anti-drug operation jointly conducted by Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) on 1 April 1977.