Professor Wee Cho Yaw was born in Kinmen county, Fujian province. At the age of 7, his family immigrated to Singapore, where his father, Datuk Wee Kheng Chiang of Sarawak, was a businessman.
Wee’s education was suspended from 1942 to 1945 because of Japan’s
occupation of Singapore. After the Japanese surrendered, he continued his
education in Chung Cheng High School.
After he left school in 1950, Wee worked at the Kheng Leong Group, a
business owned by his father that traded local commodities. Then, in 1958, he
began to serve as board member in the United Overseas Bank (UOB) that his father
founded in 1935. Two years later, he became the managing director of the bank.
After his father retired in 1974, Wee succeeded him as board chairman and group
president.
At the time, UOB was a small bank catering mainly to the Fujian community.
Under Wee’s management, it expanded and set up several branches in Singapore
and, in 1965, its first overseas branch in Hong Kong.
UOB went public on the Joint Stock Exchange of Singapore and Malaysia in
1970. In the next year, it acquired Chung Khiaw Bank, then Lee Wah Bank in 1972,
Far Eastern Bank in 1984, Industrial & Commercial Bank in 1987, and Overseas
Union Bank in 2001. It also took over five banks in Southeast Asia, two in
Thailand, two in Indonesia and one in the Philippines.
Wee Cho Yaw Photo 2 UOB Xiamen 20th 2005
Today, UOB has a network of over 500 branches and offices in 19 countries
and regions, with 75 of them located in Singapore; 432 in Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand, the Philippines and China; and the others scattered in such countries
and regions as the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Canada, Australia,
Japan, South Korea, India and Taiwan. The group had a net profit of SGD $2.3
billion ($1.85 billion) in 2011. Its total assets came to SGD $236.9 billion by
the end of 2011.
Besides business, Wee also devotes himself to community development and
public service. He was president of the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan
Associations from its founding in 1986 to 2010 and now is its honorary
president. He has also been the chairman of the Chinese Heritage Center since it
was established in 1995.
Wee is the chairman of the Wee Foundation that was set up in 2008 to
support education development and underprivileged welfare.
In 2011, Wee was conferred the Distinguished Service Order, Singapore’s
highest National Day Awards, in recognition of his outstanding work in promoting
the Chinese community and education.
Wee Cho Yaw Photo 9 Distinguished Service Order 2011
About UOB
United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) is a leading bank in Asia with a global
network of more than 500 offices in 19 countries and territories in Asia
Pacific, Western Europe and North America. Since its incorporation in 1935, UOB
has grown organically and through a series of strategic acquisitions. In Asia it
operates through its branches and representative offices as well as banking
subsidiaries in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand.
UOB is rated among the world’s top banks: Aa1 by Moody’s and AA- by
Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings respectively.
UOB provides a wide range of financial services including personal
financial services, private banking, commercial and corporate banking,
transaction banking, investment banking, corporate finance, capital market
activities, treasury services, futures broking, asset management, venture
capital management and insurance.
UOB also plays an active role in the community, focusing on the arts,
education and children. It has, over more than three decades, held the
longest-running art competition in Singapore, the UOB Painting of the Year.
In recognition of its contribution to the arts, UOB was conferred the
National Arts Council’s Distinguished Patron of the Arts Award for the ninth
consecutive year in 2013. UOB also encourages its employees across the region to
be involved in its regular volunteer activities. This includes the annual UOB
Heartbeat Run which is held in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and
mainland China.
For more information about UOB, please visit www.UOBGroup.com.
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