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PAP formally introduced their new candidates for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC to the public on Wednesday (12 Aug) in a coffeeshop setting. Besides Chee Hong Tat (‘PAP’s Chee condemns dialect learning but gives Hokkien interview‘), PAP presented Chong Kee Hiong who is replacing outgoing MP Wong Kan Seng.
Mr Chong is the CEO of public-listed company OUE Hospitality Trust. According to BusinessWeek [Link] and OUE [Link], he is a familiar face in corporate circles who has held senior positions in many companies:
1990 to 1995 – starting out at KPMG Peat Marwick
1995 to 1997 – Financial Controller at RSP Architects, Planners & Engineers
1997 to 2000 – Group Financial Controller at Tuan Sing Holdings
2000 to 2001 – Senior Vice President of Adroit Innovations
2001 to 2004 – CFO of Raffles Holdings
2005 to 2012 – CEO of Ascott Residence Trust Management Limited (Ascott is a subsidiary of CapitaLand)
2012 to 2013 – CEO of The Ascott Limited
2013 to current – CEO of OUE Hospitality Trust and OUE Hospitality Reit Management.
In addition, he is active in the labour movement, serving as president of the union-linked Orchid Country Club and chairman of NTUC Foodfare co-operative. He is a non-executive director of SLF Leisure Enterprises (Pte) Ltd, Pasir Ris Resort Pte Ltd and Aquamarina Hotel Private Limited. He represents Mandarin Orchard Singapore on the board of the Singapore Hotel Association. He is a corporate member of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
He is a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Finance and Trade and Industry Resource Panel, as well as the Finance and IT Committee at Sentosa Development Corporation, a government statutory board.
On Wednesday, Mr Chong told the press, “We should also bear in mind that policies are not one-size-fits-all but we must be inclusive. By paying attention to the ground, we can then ensure that help reaches those who need it so that everyone has a fair chance of succeeding and no one is left behind.”
He was essentially echoing what PM Lee said in a speech in 2011 that “no one is left behind” in trying to build a more “inclusive” society.
In May, MP Wong Kan Sen introduced Mr Chong to the press, telling them that Mr Chong is “very hardworking” (‘Potential PAP MP ‘working very hard’ in Bishan‘).
“He has organised many things, not just today’s ministerial visit that he’s co-chairman of,” said Mr Wong. He cited the example of Mr Chong organising a big pioneer generation dinner last year, which was attended by more than 4,000 residents.
He added, “They all enjoyed themselves and went back (with) very happy memories. Some of them still talk about that particular dinner, and Mr Chong … (was) the (organizing) chairman of that.”
Upset about not getting a prize for scoring the highest marks in P5 math
3 years ago, during an interview with the Straits Times (‘To be a CEO, read martial arts novels’, 13 May 2012), Mr Chong intimated that he was still feeling upset about not getting a prize for scoring the highest marks in Mathematics in Primary 5.
Then, at the now-defunct Kim Keat Primary School, he scored the highest marks for Mathematics and Chinese in his Primary 5 cohort. But his teacher told him he had won 1 prize too many and gave the Math prize to another pupil who had finished half a mark behind.
“I didn’t argue with the teacher but I was very upset,” recalled Mr Chong. “The fact that I still remember it with such clarity shows that I am still disturbed by it (until today).”
The episode went against the ideals of fair play and meritocracy, he said. Mr Chong is a strong believer in meritocracy. He told the reporter that if you work hard, have the desire to do well and grab opportunities given to you, you will do well.
When he was a child, Mr Chong read a lot of Chinese sword-fighting novels. “In these novels, the heroes will always prevail although they have to undergo a lot of hardships first,” he said with a hearty laugh. “Also, in many of the stories, skillful pugilists and old masters would impart their skills only if the heroes showed great perseverance and sincerity, so I told myself I needed to have those qualities too.”
Being good in his studies, Mr Chong later attended Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College, and received 3 scholarship offers when he entered NUS.
During the interview, he told ST that he and his family live in a semi-detached house in Bishan and drives a Mercedes convertible.
Blogger Ng Kok Lim advises Chong Kee Hiong
With regard to Mr Chong still being upset about not getting a prize for Math when he was in P5, blogger Ng Kok Lim has the following advice for him (‘Choosing the right person & kungfu meritocracy‘):
Mr Chong Kee Hiong claimed that giving the Math prize to another pupil who scored half a mark less than him in Primary 5 went against fair play and meritocracy. Mr Chong has failed, after all these years, to understand his teacher’s important lesson on the philosophy of meritocracy in society.
Meritocracy in society is very different from the meritocracy of winning Math prizes which is more like sports where the winner takes all and nobody remembers the Silver medalist. But meritocracy in society is not winner takes all. If society is run as winner takes all, there will be riot and society will collapse. The best lawyer doesn’t take all the cases; the best doctor doesn’t perform all the surgeries. The spoils of this country are shared by all in proportion to each individual’s respective contribution. So if Mr Chong performed half a percent better than his counterpart for example, he should get half a percent more than his counterpart. He should not be getting everything while his counterpart gets nothing. Singaporean meritocracy is quite often elitism in disguise as the winner takes much more than a fair share of what he deserves while the loser takes much less than a fair share of what he deserves.
Mr Chong shared the beauty of meritocracy as working hard and grabbing the opportunities given to you. Sadly after all these years, Mr Chong still does not understand that “opportunities given to him” is based less on meritocracy and more on relationships. Mr Chong gave the example of how the hero in Chinese sword fighting novels always get taught by skillful old pugilistic masters after showing perseverance and sincerity. Has Mr Chong forgotten how one hero had to rely on his wife’s close relationship with a pugilistic master and bribery in the form of delicious cooked food before the master was willing to teach the hero? Has Mr Chong forgotten about another hero who merely stumbled upon an opportunity to absorb tremendous amounts of “internal energy”? Mr Chong’s romanticized version of meritocracy makes one wonder if he is not another elitist divorced from the true principles of meritocratic society.
http://www.tremeritus.com/2015/08/14/paps-chong-still-sore-about-not-getting-p5-math-prize/
