How Singapore’s skyline continues to be reshaped by one family: the Yongs

A fourth generation of the rich and powerful Yong clan is preparing to take over leadership of the family’s private empire, Woh Hup Holdings

Early projects included Clifford Pier and Changi Prison but plans have expanded to entertainment spaces and luxury flats

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Skyscrapers in Singapore’s Marina Bay Financial Centre. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:10pm, 21 Feb 2020Updated: 9:16pm, 21 Feb 2020

They are places that encapsulate Singapore: Gardens by the Bay, with its gigantic artificial trees and botanical conservatories dripping with orchids; Lau Pa Sat, the colonial-era food hall beckoning with chilli crab and chicken rice; Jewel Changi Airport, the futuristic shopping and entertainment complex straight out of Crazy Rich Asians.

All of those landmarks, and many more, are the handiwork of a company that has endured for nearly a century under a single family: the Yongs. Since the 1920s, when tigers still roamed what was then a steamy outpost of imperial Britain, the Yongs have been shaping the cityscape.

Today, a fourth generation is preparing to take over leadership of the family’s private empire, Woh Hup Holdings.

That the Yongs have maintained control of Woh Hup is testament to Singapore’s transformation as well as the clan’s shifting focus from basic infrastructure – such as prisons and piers – to entertainment and luxury flats.

Woh Hup executive director Eugene Yong is the first to admit construction isn’t a glamorous job:

“It’s more important that people are proud of what we’ve done,” the 67-year-old says.

However low-key the family may be, serving as a contractor to some of the nation’s biggest property projects has created fabulous wealth.