Kwek Leng Joo was a property tycoon and philanthropist. He was one of this year’s Forbes Heroes of Philanthropy for his commitment to giving toward worthy causes, including being an advocate of youth development.
He died of a heart attack, aged 62, on 16 November.
Deputy chairman of City Developments (CDL), avid photographer, nature enthusiast. Socially responsible, led CDL’s sustainability strategy since 1995.
Younger brother of Kwek Leng Beng, executive chairman of CDL and Hong Leong Investment Holdings. Son of Kwek Hong Png, who founded Hong Leong Group, which began as Hong Leong Company with his savings of $7000. Started with trading goods, then investing in rubber plantations, the cement industry, and finally property and finance.
1993, Kwek Leng Joo ...
Kwek Leng Joo was a property tycoon and philanthropist. He was one of this year’s Forbes Heroes of Philanthropy for his commitment to giving toward worthy causes, including being an advocate of youth development.
He died of a heart attack, aged 62, on 16 November.
Deputy chairman of City Developments (CDL), avid photographer, nature enthusiast. Socially responsible, led CDL’s sustainability strategy since 1995.
Younger brother of Kwek Leng Beng, executive chairman of CDL and Hong Leong Investment Holdings. Son of Kwek Hong Png, who founded Hong Leong Group, which began as Hong Leong Company with his savings of $7000. Started with trading goods, then investing in rubber plantations, the cement industry, and finally property and finance.
1993, Kwek Leng Joo became the youngest president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI), at the age of 39. He served four terms between 1993 and 2005.
Under his leadership the SCCCI made significant changes, including amending the Chamber constitution to abolish clan-based elections; bringing in female council members; redeveloping the Sun Yat Sen Villa and re-establishing it as the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall. He was instrumental in setting up the Chinese Language and Culture Fund together with the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations (SFCCA), and led SCCCI to partner with MENDAKI to offer scholarships to Malay/Muslim undergraduates from local universities.
He was the managing director of CDL from 1995 until February last year.
Mr Kwek is remembered by his friends and colleagues as a “true gentleman”, passionate about social causes, and an advocate of gender diversity, bringing in the first two women after 89 years into the council of SCCCI.
Fond of taking photographs at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. His photos where submitted as part of the Botanic Gardens recent bid to become a Unesco World heritage site, which was successful.
Picked up photography when he was in secondary school, but stopped when he began work in the family business in 1976. In 2001, when CDL was planning its 2001 corporate desktop calendar, he decided to be its photographer as part of cost-cutting exercises after the Asian financial crisis.
To date, he has sold his photos in prints and art books to raise funds for charities and environmental causes, contributing some $2 million.
In October 2015, he was awarded the President’s Award for the Environment, the highest honour for efforts towards conservation. He was also president of Global Compact Network Singapore, which encourages businesses to adopt socially responsible policies.
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