Yong Pung How

Yong Pung How, . He was the former Chief Justice of Singapore, serving from 1990 to 2006. Prior to his judicial career, he was a lawyer, banker and senior government official.

Early career

A Hakka, Yong received early education at the Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur, and at the Downing College, Cambridge, where he developed close friendships with two of his Singaporean schoolmates, Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his wife, Kwa Geok Choo. He was made an , and an Associate Fellow in his college years. Yong did exceptionally well, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1949, and with a Bachelor of Law in 1950. In 1970 he furthered his education with the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.

Upon graduation, he was called to the English Bar by the Inner Temple in 1951. He returned to his hometown as an an Advocate and Solicitor of Malaya in 1952, practising law as a partner at , a law firm founded by his late father until his retirement from practice in 1970.
During this period he also served in 1953 as the Arbitrator appointed by the Governor of Singapore to resolve the dispute between the Government and the General Clerical Services and Telecommunications workers. He was also admitted into the Singapore Bar in 1964 and appointed the role as Chairman of the Public Services Arbitration Tribunal in Malaya from 1955 to 1960, and as a Chairman of the Industrial Court in Malaysia between 1961 to 1967. He also had commercial powers invested upon him as as Chairman of the now-defunct Malaysia-Singapore Airlines between 1964 and 1969, and as Deputy Chairman, between 1966 and 1971.

Career as a banker

In 1971, Yong switched from law to finance, and formed Singapore International Merchant Bankers Limited and the Malaysian International Merchant Bankers in Malaysia serving as Chairman and Managing Director of both companies. At the same time he also served as a member of the Singapore Securities Industry Council from 1972 to 1981. He announced his retirement from the SIMBL and MIMB offices in 1976. That same year, Yong was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation .

He was seconded in 1982 by the Singapore Government to form and head the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation , and the Monetary Authority of Singapore as well. His experience in commercial banking proved to be invaluable to GIC as he effectively re-organized and streamlined the use of Singapore's foreign reserves.
He was also made Deputy Chairman of the Currency Commissioners, and Alternate Governor for Singapore of the International Monetary Fund.

In 1988, Yong became the first Chairman of the newly-formed , and established the Regional Speakers Programme which saw prominent speakers and intellectuals from around the region to share their understanding of the culture and politics of the countries in the region. This initiative greatly helped with the development of Singapore governance.

In Yong returned to the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation in 1983, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer before returning to law as a judge in 1989.

Chief Justice

On 28 September 1990, Yong was appointed the Chief Justice of Singapore, replacing Wee Chong Jin. During his first speech at the opening of the legal year, he announced the abolition of the traditional worn by judges and laywers, and the use of archaic terms of address for judges of the Supreme Court such as "My Lord" or "Your Lordship". He also made the move faster in processing cases during his tenure by introducing cutting-edge technology into the courtroom.

In 1991, there were about 2,000 lawsuits to be heard at the . A lawsuit could take several years to be heard. Some measures were introduced to resolve the problems which he described as an "embarrassing" state of affairs. When he left, it took only six months for the High Court to conclude a hearing.

Chief Justice Yong instituted the Night Courts in the Subordinate Courts, eliminating the need for members of the public to take time off work to attend court to answer to summonses for regulatory and minor offences. He also initiated the Justices' Law Clerk scheme, under which top law graduates from leading universities in the United Kingdom and the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law were actively recruited to the Singapore Legal Service.

He was succeeded by the Honourable Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, formerly Attorney-General of Singapore.

Honours

Yong was conferred conferred the in 1989 and the the Order of Temasek on 9 August 1999 - with a citation stating that “as Chief Justice since 28 September 1990, Justice Yong Pung How has made the Singapore Judiciary world class”.

On 14 July 2007, Yong was awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the Singapore Management University , in recognition of his contribution to Singapore's legal sector. Yong was appointed as the chairman of SMU School of Law's advisory board in March 2007.

Personal life

Yong married his wife, Wei Woo who is a graduate from the London School of Economics and they have a daughter Yong Ying-I, who is a Permanent Secretary at the .