FORMER Aware president Josie Lau has moved on from banking to retail.

The former DBS Bank executive started her first day of work on Thursday at Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) as the centre manager of the new Mandarin Gallery, slated to open in mid-October.

'She's very well-qualified for the job and we're lucky to have her. She has experience with retail from working at the Singapore Tourism Board, and has dealt with high-end customers at DBS. She is eminently suitable for this job,' said Thio Gim Hock, chief executive officer of OUE.

This marks the start of a new chapter in a saga that involved Ms Lau's controversial presidency of women's rights group Aware.

Mr Thio is the husband of Thio Su Mien who was also embroiled in the Aware issue as Ms Lau's 'feminist mentor'.

A former law dean, Dr Thio is related to Ms Lau's husband, Alan Chin. Mr Chin is Dr Thio's nephew.

All four of them had attended the same church - Anglican Church Of Our Saviour at Margaret Drive - earlier in the year.

Ms Lau became president of Aware after the association's annual general meeting in March.

Upon her assumption of the role of president, she was criticised by her-then employer, DBS, for not heeding its advice against taking up the position.

By May, it was revealed that Ms Lau had been redesignated from her role of vice-president for consumer banking group, cards and unsecured loans to an unknown position within DBS.

In response to a query by BT yesterday, DBS issued a statement saying: 'Ms Lau decided to leave DBS to pursue other opportunities. It was a personal decision, and we wish her the best in her new endeavours.'

She was later ousted by Aware's previous leadership along with her executive committee through an extraordinary general meeting in May.

Ms Lau and her supporters had opposed the group's activities, including its Comprehensive Sexuality Education programme in schools, which they had claimed promoted homosexuality.

This article was first published in The Business Times.