Wee Cho Yaw’s business legacy may live on longer in property than in banking

BUSINESS leaders, politicians and friends paid tribute to Wee Cho Yaw, who died earlier this month at the age of 95. The late businessman was one of Singapore’s richest persons, an active community leader and a philanthropist. 

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong hailed Wee as “a titan of Singapore’s banking industry”, citing his business acumen and visionary leadership behind the growth of UOB into one of the most successful banks in Singapore and the region.

Wee helmed UOB, which traces its roots to the founding of United Chinese Bank by his father Kheng Chiang in 1935, for decades. 

Under Wee’s leadership, the bank navigated events such as Singapore’s separation from Malaysia in the…