SINGAPORE — Lu Ching Lau has stepped down from her role as global communications director at APP, after just one year with the controversial Indonesian paper giant.

Lau, who is based in Singapore, told the Holmes Report that she is departing for "personal" reasons. She leaves the company during its ongoing global PR review, which the Holmes Report revealed last month.

APP's sustainability and corporate affairs leadership has undergone considerable turnover in recent months. Former Singapore army general Bernard Tan now oversees corporate affairs and sustainability, while Elim Sritaba has replaced Aida Greenbury as sustainability head. 

An APP spokesperson confirmed Lau's departure and noted that Tan had added the MD role for global communications to his existing remit.

Both Sritaba and corporate affairs head Suhendra Wiriadinata report into Tan. Meanwhile, international communications head Randy Salim has also left the company. One year ago, furthermore, corporate affairs VP Jose Raymond left to start his own agency.

The APP assignment is considered one of the tougher briefs in the public relations world, given the scrutiny the company attracts from NGOs over its environmental practices. Cohn & Wolfe, for example, won the global brief in 2010 after Weber Shandwick resigned the business.

It is understood that a number of agencies pitched for the brief yesterday in Jakarta. Current incumbent firms include Edelman and SPRG.

Recent criticism of the company has centred on the construction of a massive new pulp mill in South Sumatra. SPRG's mandate in Singapore, accordingly, involves promoting APP's firefighting and haze prevention efforts. 

PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.wetlands.org/publications/will-asia-pulp-paper-default-on-its-zero-deforestation-commitment/