Greatly saddened to hear of the passing of former Chief Justice Yong Pung How today.
He was born in Malaya, but made Singapore his home, and contributed immensely to our society. He served Singapore to the fullest, especially as Chief Justice, but also as Managing Director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and a member of the Council of Presidential Advisors. An astute banker, he also became Chairman and CEO of OCBC for a period!
As our second Chief Justice, Mr Yong made bold and wide-ranging reforms, aggressively tightening the ship. He removed or adjusted anachronistic practices (like wearing horsehair wigs in court) to better suit the needs of Singaporean society.
Mr Yong is featured in the Judicial Heritage Centre which opened this week at the Supreme Court. I visited there yesterday, and hope many Singaporeans will too, to learn something more about what he accomplished.
To me personally, Mr Yong was a treasured family friend. My father got to know him as students in Cambridge, and I first met him and Mrs Yong as a very young child, when my parents visited them in Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Yong has left an indelible mark on our legal profession and our society. My deepest condolences to Mrs Yong and her family. – LHL
My condolence letter can be read in full, here: https://on.pmo.sg/2FywFbd
(Mr Lee Kuan Yew with former Chief Justice Yong Pung How at the Millennium Law Conference in 2000. / Photo: Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore)
