This "stupid" man from a lousy school is a much better leader than the PAP elite MPs and ministers

[Patriotmissile]

This proves that food and beverages only way out for those Ah bengs and lians graduated from ite and neighbourhood schools.

 

[JohnTan]

This proves that food and beverages only way out for those Ah bengs and lians graduated from ite and neighbourhood schools.

I too am in food and beverages. I also graduated from a neighbourhood school. Thanks to PAP and its policy on meritocracy, I've climbed up the ranks of society and have become a respected towkay and grassroots leader.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Lunch with Sumiko: Billionaire Hotel 81 founder on why his daughter is leading the business he built​

Hotel 81 founder Choo Chong Ngen now has 38 hotels under six brands in his Worldwide Hotels group. Daughter Carolyn is CEO and also his confidante. Find out about his rags to riches story in this 'Family' series.​

In 1995, Mr Choo Chong Ngen opened his first hotel. His daughter Carolyn joined the family business in 2002.

Sumiko Tan
Executive Editor

June 19, 2022

Ever since Carolyn Choo was about 10, her father would share with her details about his work day.
Sitting in the garden of their semi-detached house in Sennett Avenue in Bedok, Mr Choo Chong Ngen would confide in her about his business. "I talked to her about my expenses every month," he remembers. "How much for house instalment, family, food, car."
Sometimes when he got home late, he'd wake her up and they'd go for supper. "We would eat Bedok bak chor mee," Carolyn says.
When she joined his company a few years after she graduated, she set up a table in his room in the office to learn the ropes.
As the business grew, more space was acquired at its office in Parkway Parade. Even after renovation works, she chose to keep her desk in his room.
The low-profile Mr Choo might not be a household name, but his hotels are.
In 1995, Mr Choo, who dropped out of school at the age of 10, opened his first hotel - Hotel 81 in Lorong 16 Geylang.

He now has 38 budget and mid-tier hotels in Singapore under six brands, with a total of 6,500 rooms - nearly 10 per cent of the hotel rooms in Singapore.
Besides 28 Hotel 81s around the island, the billionaire owns the 1,500-room Hotel Boss in Jalan Sultan and two V Hotels in Lavender and Bencoolen, next to MRT stations.
There is also Hotel Mi in Bencoolen, three Value Hotels in Balestier, and three Venue Hotels in Joo Chiat.


Two more hotels will open next year - a 900-room hotel in Club Street in Telok Ayer, on land he paid $562.2 million for, and a 500-room hotel in Short Street in Rochor, a plot that cost him $276.2 million.
He also owns eight hotels across Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, managed by others.
In 2018, Mr Choo consolidated the brands under the privately owned Worldwide Hotels group, where he is founder and chairman.
Carolyn, his only daughter among four children, is CEO and managing director.

Mr Choo Chong Ngen is the founder and chairman of Worldwide Hotels group and his daughter Carolyn Choo is CEO and managing director. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
The father and daughter have picked The Hainan Story Chapter One, a tenant at their Hotel Boss, for lunch.
The cafe-style eatery has stalls serving Hainanese and Singapore dishes. It is cheerfully decked out in red with a colourful Instagrammable mosaic wall.
At 69, Mr Choo looks youthful in a jacket over a polo shirt. He has a warm smile, is self-deprecating and is more comfortable in Mandarin than English.
Carolyn, 45, looks stylish in a well-cut black dress and heels. She's down-to-earth and friendly but there's an air of steely wariness about her. You sense she is both proud and protective of her father.
There's a very easy chemistry between the two. When I remark that they appear more like friends, she says: "I think because I'm the only daughter, it's always easier... Daughters and fathers click better, and he's not very demanding."
They opt for a fried pork rice set and side vegetables. "We'll share," she says.
Just one set for both of you, I ask.
Yes, she says, it's enough.
Would you like a drink?
Ice water, says Mr Choo.
I get the curry chicken rice set and can't resist the hazelnut oolong milk tea. My order feels extravagant in comparison.
Payment is upfront and I head over to the cashier.
"Paiseh," says Mr Choo.
I assure him that he doesn't have to feel bad because The Straits Times pays for all my interview lunches.

Rags to riches​

Last year, Mr Choo was listed by Forbes as Singapore's 16th richest man with a fortune of $2.4 billion.
His rags-to-riches story is the stuff of TV dramas (and if I were the casting agent, he'd be played by actor Li Nanxing, because there's some resemblance).
If there was a drama soundtrack, it would be the Hokkien karaoke favourite Ai Pia Cia Eh Yia (You Need To Fight To Win).
When I ask Carolyn what her dad was like as a young man, she says: "His idea was always, you know the song Ai Pia Cia Eh Yia? He must work."
Or, as Mr Choo puts it succinctly: "Don't work, no money, so I work hard."
He was born in 1953 in a kampung in Jalan Hock Chye in Hougang. He was sixth in a family of eight children. His Hakka father was a contractor earning just $4 a day, and his mother was a housewife.
He dropped out of school when he was 10 because he didn't like to study and also wanted to help his parents make ends meet.
There were ice cream suppliers in the kampung, and he would sell the ice cream on the street for five cents each. He remembers flavours like red bean, plum and coconut, and how he would put the ice cream in a bucket.
"Very small business, $1, $2 a day, very happy," he says.
When he was 14, he worked for a fishmonger at the Hougang Sixth Mile market in Simon Road. After a while, he became a fishmonger himself, and made $20 a day.
He noticed that stallholders selling textiles were making more money than fishmongers, so he switched to selling textiles when he was 17.
For a while, he worked for a neighbour who paid him $30 a month. With $100 from his mother, he started his own textile business. He bought bales of cloth at wholesale prices. Travelling around in a motorcycle with a sidecar, he would sell them at pasar malam around Singapore.
"Once when he had already set up the stall, the rain came so fast that he had to use his body to shield the textiles," Carolyn recounts a story he had told her.
He was so thrifty, he'd eat just one ang ku kueh - a sweet, glutinous rice cake - when hungry, she adds.

Executive Editor Sumiko Tan's lunch interview with Mr Choo Chong Ngen and daughter Carolyn Choo at The Hainan Story Chapter One. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
He served in the part-time Special Constabulary and got married when he was 23. It was arranged by his mother and his wife's mother, who had met at the market. He was doing well enough in business to hold the wedding dinner at Neptune Theatre.
The children came quickly - Ben in 1976, Carolyn in 1977, and Sean in 1978. His youngest son, John, is 29. His young family lived in a flat above an HDB shophouse that he bought in Toa Payoh.
From textiles, he moved into women's fashion. He operated a chain of outlets in the heartland selling women's clothing, mostly coordinated tops and bottoms from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Then in his mid-30s, he made his first million.
He put his heart and soul into doing business. Because he didn't have an education, it would have been difficult to work for others, he explains.
He realised early that property was a good investment and bought his first shop unit in Katong Shopping Centre with a 50 per cent bank loan to be repaid over 10 years. He also bought space in City Plaza, Sultan Plaza and Lucky Plaza.
Units went for $50,000 to $100,000 back then. He bought his first shop in Lucky Plaza for $98,000 when it was still under construction, and another unit for $147,000, says Mr Choo, who seems to have an impressive ability to recall past financial dealings. "His memory is excellent," confirms Carolyn.
In all, he owned about 30 shop units and got $1,000 to $2,000 monthly rental from each of them. Whatever he made was used to buy more units. He has sold all the units, save six in Sultan Plaza that are rented out.
When he was in his late 30s, he bought land to develop apartments. His first plot was in Geylang and cost him $1.5 million. All in, he developed six apartment blocks with more than 100 units in Geylang, Balestier, Lim Tua Tow Road and Telok Kurau.

Hotel empire​

In 1991, he visited Tokyo and stayed at a small "salaryman hotel". He saw an opportunity in small, cheap hotel rooms. Back in Singapore, he decided to build a hotel on land he owned in Geylang.
He was always at the construction site. "My staff said, 'Boss, you don't need to sleep?'," he recalls. "After two hours, I go home, rest one hour then I go back. Midnight I also go."
The family was then living in Sennett Avenue. He named the hotel Hotel 81 after his house number as he wanted something simple. "Pan-Pacific, Shangri-La, all difficult for me," he says.
More Hotel 81s were built in Geylang, a red-light district, and other areas. The chain gained notoriety for its hourly rates and its hotels were described as love motels.
The Choos prefer not to talk about this now, but in an interview with Forbes, Mr Choo said: "We only sell rooms; we don't sell anything else."
In 2008, the Value brand was added, then came V in 2011, Venue in 2013, Boss in 2015, and Mi in 2017.
He owns all the sites. His land bank is substantial and includes heritage shophouses in Chinatown. He doesn't keep track of the value of his portfolio as he is not looking to sell the hotels.
"If there are good locations, I will buy some more," he says, but laments that the days of cheap sites are over. "Last time, whole shophouse I bought for $1 million, now it is $10 million. Difficult."
A nephew helped him in the hotel operations, and is now the chief operating officer.
Carolyn knew she would join the family business, but her father wanted her to gain outside working experience first.
After Tanjong Katong Girls' School and Temasek Junior College, she graduated with first class honours in business from Nanyang Technological University (NTU). She also has a Master of Professional Accounting from Singapore Management University, and is a chartered accountant.
Her diligence was something Mr Choo supported, though he shakes his head when he shares how she is still keen to study. She is going on a Harvard Business School management programme that will see her attending some classes in person for three years.
When she was little, all he demanded of her was that she study. "Lucky for me, I like to study and I also did well enough to meet his expectations," she says.
She did commercial banking at UOB for 3½ years after she graduated. He asked her to join him in 2002.
Did you negotiate your salary?
"He said, 'How much you want, just say'," she replies.
And how much was that?
She'd reveal only that she asked for 50 per cent more than what she had got at the bank. She started in the finance department.
At work, she calls him "Boss" in front of others, but privately it is still "Daddy".

Future-proofing​

There were only three graduates when she joined, including her cousin and her.
Setting up Worldwide Hotels in 2018 settled issues like corporate mission, governance and structure. New hires were made and the leadership team now comprises mostly graduates.
The group has a three-phase growth plan that covers expansion in Singapore, overseas acquisitions and international expansion.
It remains firmly focused on economy and mid-tier travellers.
"We are not up-branding to a five-star hotel. We're still very focused on mid-tier," Carolyn says. "We don't do resorts, that's not where we think our key strengths lie, so it's not an opportunity for us."
The company rode on the boom in budget airlines, she points out.
"Travelling was so much easier, and you had a lot of travellers from Asean. It may be their first time travelling, so if they fly on a budget airline, they come here, they're not going to spend a fortune on a five-star hotel," she reasons.
She was made CEO and managing director in 2017. I ask Mr Choo if he had ever thought of getting a CEO from outside the family. "Carolyn can handle it, no need to find someone from outside," he replies.
"If she cannot handle it, then I will call an outsider."

Carolyn was made CEO and managing director in 2017. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Her brother Ben is the human resources manager of Hotel Boss; another brother, Sean, is director of sales, strategy and planning at Worldwide Hotels. John works in a tech company.
Carolyn doesn't think they have an issue with her position because she joined the business a decade before them.
Her husband, Mr Michael Ng, 53, whom she met during a tour group holiday in Turkey, joined Mr Choo a year before she did. He is director of asset management, and they have an 18-year-old daughter and two sons aged 17 and 10.
Her dad and husband get along fine. "He's never critical of him," she says of her father's attitude towards Mr Ng. "Works very hard," Mr Choo says of his son-in-law.
She admires her father for being both process-driven and big-picture visionary.
He takes pleasure in tinkering with details like hotel luggage trolley design and laundry cages to make them more efficient.
One of their rare disagreements concerned a new laundry facility.
She thought a 30,000 sq ft space would be good enough as it was bigger than what they had. He wanted double that size to cater for future expansion. Besides, he said, moving to a bigger factory in future would be troublesome.
The group rode out Covid-19 by diversifying how their rooms were used. One-third was contracted to the Government for Covid-19 accommodation, another third was taken up by long-term stays for foreign workers, and the rest for staycations. "We managed to break even, we didn't have to let anybody go, we didn't have to cut salaries," Carolyn says.
Since Covid-19, Mr Choo goes to the office twice a week as digital banking allows him to work from anywhere. "He still has to approve all the payments," Carolyn says.

The grandfather of eight lives in a penthouse in the east. He has avoided landed property since an armed robbery in his Sennett Avenue home in 1990, when he and the family were tied up and he was cut on the face with a chopper. The robbers fled with $200,000 in cash and jewellery.
"When I go on holiday, I just lock one door. Small house, easy to maintain," he says.
His daughter says he doesn't spend much - "less than me". Other than work, his pleasure is golf. The 18-handicapper plays at Tanah Merah Country Club and Singapore Island Country Club.
In the past decade, he has donated $12.5 million to universities and polytechnics here, and to Institute of Technical Education students. The donations provide yearly bursaries to low-income students.
His first donation of $2 million in 2011 came about after he was invited to a Rolls-Royce viewing.
He had no wish to buy such a luxurious car then. "I buy this Rolls-Royce for what? I drive to the hawker centre," he told Carolyn.
She asked him if he would donate the money he would have spent. "He said 'okay', like in five minutes," she recalls. It went to her alma mater, NTU.

What we ate​

The Hainan Story Chapter One
Hotel Boss
500 Jalan Sultan #01-09
1 signature fried pork set: $9.50
1 Hainanese stewed vegetable: $3.50
1 heavenly four vegetable: $3.50
1 Mama Wee curry chicken drumstick set: $8.50
1 hazelnut oolong milk tea: $4.80
Total (with tax and discount): $26.80
It was only this year that he finally rewarded himself with a Rolls-Royce, she adds.
Lunch over, they pose companionably for photographs, and we say goodbye.
Walking to the carpark, I catch a glimpse of father and daughter driving off in a sleek grey Rolls-Royce Wraith, back to the office they share.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Meet the Singapore stylist to stars around the world​

Alvin Goh with Kendall Jenner (left) and Michelle Yeoh. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ALVIN GOH

Jeanmarie Tan
Senior Correspondent

JUL 14, 2022

SINGAPORE - Meet the home-grown fashion stylist to the stars many Singaporeans may not have heard of.
Hong Kong-based make-up artist and creative director Alvin Goh, 44, has worked with a who's who of international celebrities in the last 15 years.
They include reality television star-model Kendall Jenner and Hollywood actors Margot Robbie, Milla Jovovich, Uma Thurman, Emma Watson, Luke Evans, Henry Cavill, Tilda Swinton, Rebel Wilson and Dakota Johnson.
He has also teamed up with Asian superstars such as T.O.P from K-pop boy band Big Bang, Japanese pop diva Ayumi Hamasaki and Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh.

But his proudest achievement by far is being the first Singaporean to style an Oscar winner. He was responsible for the looks sported by South Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung when she won Best Supporting Actress in 2021 for immigrant drama Minari and returned to the Oscar stage earlier this year to present the Best Supporting Actor category.
Goh tells The Straits Times: "Coming from Bedok, I think that's quite big, right? I'd never expected to do the Oscars, not in my wildest dreams."
His achievements in the fashion and beauty industry overseas have led him to be featured in publications such as Forbes China, the South China Morning Post and Elle China.

Yet, for all his eye-popping accolades, Goh - who has 114,000 followers on Instagram - remains curiously overlooked and anonymous on his home turf.
"Every time I do interviews in Hong Kong and China, the first thing I tell them is that I'm from Singapore. I've been doing so many things abroad, so coming back and doing this interview for the first time, it's so special."
However, being back in Singapore for the past two months - the longest period since he packed his bags for Hong Kong in 2005 to pursue his dream - has stirred up mixed feelings.
For one thing, it reminds him of why he desperately needed to leave.
These days, he feels displaced, almost like a tourist.
Goh laments: "I cannot blend in with the environment. I get lost in MRT stations. Even on the streets, I use Google Maps. I just feel like I'm not connected with my home country and that makes me very sad."

The stylist, who describes his family as toxic, had a traumatic childhood and adolescence. Theintroverted and insecure boy with low self-esteem was not only bullied at Jaya Primary School and Loyang Secondary School, but also suffered abusive treatment by his unemployed father, who was a gambler. His mother used to make a living doing odd jobs.
Loansharks often came calling, threatening bodily harm and splashing paint and hanging things on the door of their flat.
"I felt a lot of resentment, shame and disgrace."
He says wryly: "I was exposed to so much drama. It was like a TV series."
Escaping into the world of cosmetics helped him cope with the harsh reality - especially when he thought he looked "very ugly, like E.T.".
At 12, he started using a tweezer to fix his patchy eyebrows and an eyebrow pencil to draw and shape them.
He was also fascinated with his mother's make-up and started practising on himself.
"After doing it, I felt good. That's how my passion came about."
At 19, he left home and rented a room outside. He then spent three years studying hospitality at Temasek Polytechnic, which he hated.
After graduating, he followed his heart and worked as a freelance fashion stylist and make-up artist. He cut his teeth doing makeovers for aunties.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
From Emma Watson to Kendall Jenner: Singapore stylist Alvin Goh on his celebrity clients
LadyBoss: From Dubai to S'pore, Nida Shay Tahir makes 'ethnic' couture wearable for all
But his efforts to make his mark in the local industry came to naught as he was shunned by the reigning rival cliques at the time.
And 20 years later, he feels that the politics and power play remain.
Goh says: "Singapore is already so small, yet you have the old guard trying to control the scene, not letting newcomers and youngsters in.
"That's also why I left. Why would I fight to do Zoe Tay or Fann Wong? It didn't make sense at all."
He adds: "A lot of people did not want me to shine, but the more they want to dim my light, the more I will shine for myself."
When he was 27, he hightailed it to Hong Kong, but ended up being jobless for nine months and burning through his savings.
He spoke no Cantonese and stayed in a shoebox apartment where the toilet was just three steps from the bed.
"I was taking my portfolio to every magazine, knocking on doors. It was the most torturous period of my life. I was so miserable and felt unworthy. I started doubting myself and wondering if I should go home."
He is glad he had the courage to step out of his comfort zone.

The hard work and persistence paid off. In 2006, he got his first proper gig with American actress Maggie Q for a Louis Vuitton project in Asia, and suddenly his name and work were seen on more than 40 magazine covers.
His big break came in 2008 - a Christian Dior x Alvin Goh solo exhibition and crossover project.
Soon, more brands such as Versace, Cartier, Gucci, La Perla and Cle de Peau Beaute came calling, and his celebrity clientele expanded organically. Swiss luxury skincare brand La Prairie also appointed him as one of its three Complexion Artistry Ambassadors, representing the Asia-Pacific region.
He says: "When I look back, I understand why I wanted to be famous so badly. Coming from that kind of negative family background made me yearn for validation."

Unfortunately, Goh says bitterly, even until today, his loved ones "don't exactly know" what he does for a living and will never think of him as successful, as "their definition of success means having money and property".
His mum would remind him to get a nine-to-five job and be more "realistic and stop dreaming".
"I remember I would always mail clippings of interviews I've done to my mum, but I've stopped trying to show and tell... so I pat my own back," he says with a laugh.
"I've learnt to turn the pain around and use it as fuel for empowering myself. Honestly, I'm still suffering - just not as much as before."
He shares his mental struggles not to elicit sympathy, but to encourage others in the same boat.
"Being vulnerable is a superpower that also feeds our creativity."

And now that he is at the top of his game, he wants to connect with the masses and spread the use of make-up, styling and aesthetics as empowering tools. He is in talks with a local live-streaming platform to achieve that.
Goh says: "I am given the gift to transform and beautify, and I would like to provide this service to more people - real people.
"My purpose and calling in this lifetime is to teach men and women how to look and feel good. Everyone deserves that confidence."
He is also at a career crossroads and pondering his next move - like setting up his new base in South Korea.
He says: "I have very high expectations of myself and I'm someone who will not stop. I always need to push the boundaries and am not afraid of failing.
"I'm very excited to be growing older, to see how my journey unfolds."

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Serial do-gooder pays for the funerals of strangers​

Anson Ng, who owns a second-hand car dealership, cooks for the terminally ill and goes out of his way to help the elderly and the needy.

Wong Kim Hoh
Deputy Life Editor


SEP 18, 2022

SINGAPORE - Madam Aton Bibi Raj Mohamed is getting emotional on the phone talking about a man she calls Boss.
"I've never met anyone like Anson," says the 49-year-old part-time hospital worker.
She is referring to serial do-gooder Anson Ng, a stranger who popped into her family's life after her husband Abdul Aziz bin Mohamed Abdul Karim was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in June last year. A family friend told the couple he knew a kind Chinese man who often helped strangers, and made the introductions.
Mr Abdul Aziz - who also had 12 tumours in his brain - died three months ago. But in the 12 months before the 47-year-old former bus driver succumbed to his illness, Mr Ng took him to another hospital for a second opinion, drove him to medical treatments and appointments, visited his family regularly and helped them out financially.
"When my husband was critical, he was the first one at the hospital, before any relative. And when my husband died, he passed me $2,000 for the funeral," says Madam Aton.
Mr Ng's generosity, she says, did not stop there. After her husband's death, he bought insurance plans - with monthly premiums of $300 - for her two sons, aged 11 and 13.
"He pays $200, I pay $100. He told me I have to take good care of my children. He takes them out for meals to find out how they are doing.

"Saya berterima kasih kepada Tuhan sebab ada peluang jumpa orang macam Anson," she says, lapsing into Malay, thanking God for bringing such a good Samaritan into her life.
Asked why he helps strangers, Mr Ng - who owns second-hand car dealership Presto Expat Motoring Services - says simply: "Whether you are rich or poor does not matter. What matters is if you have a heart."
I met Mr Ng three years ago, introduced by a doctor friend who wanted me to profile a selfless man who cooked for the terminally ill and went out of his way to help the elderly and the needy. He was, he said then, not used to the limelight, and not ready.

But Hao Ren Hao Shi (Good People, Good Deeds), the ground-up movement he started in 2018 to distribute monthly provisions to the needy, has been gaining traction, especially among students in neighbourhood schools, and he wants more to discover the joy of doing good.
From 100 families, Hao Ren Hao Shi - which boasts more than 300 volunteers and was registered as a charity a few months ago - now distributes more than 25 grocery and other essential items every month to 1,000 needy households all over the island.
Straight-talking and energetic, with a tendency to break into loud chortles, the 55-year-old radiates yi qi - the spirit of loyalty, friendship and self-sacrifice often celebrated in Chinese martial arts novels and gangster flicks. His life would have made rich fodder for a drama series.
He has been told that he was born in Bangkok, smuggled into Malaysia and then sold to a taxi driver and his wife who had six daughters but longed for a son.
"I was a parallel import, no original engine certificate," quips the used-car businessman.

Mr Anson Ng has funded the funerals and last rites of more than 100 needy folks since he started volunteering. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Life was hard for the family living in a one-bedroom flat in Jalan Besar.
Dumplings and durians were rare treats. Once in a blue moon, his father would give Mr Ng five cents to buy a roti prata.
"If his mood was right and if got eggs in the house, I could take one and ask the prata man to add it in," he says in a mixture of Mandarin and Singlish.
When he was nine, his adoptive father hanged himself with his belt. "I was the one who discovered the body and I can still remember everything, even the colour of the shirt he was wearing," says the former student of Siglap Primary School and Serangoon Garden Technical School.
Neighbours said that his adoptive father was "mad" but Mr Ng realises now his old man probably suffered from depression.
Although they received help from a kind maternal uncle, Mr Ng started working various part-time jobs - among them, coffee-shop assistant, caddy and hotel waiter - so that the family could make ends meet.
Academically weak, he enrolled, at 16, in the Singapore Armed Forces Boys' School, set up by the late Dr Goh Keng Swee to offer free education, meals and accommodation to boys aged between 14 and 17.
After signing up as an army regular, he was deployed to the Special Investigation Branch (SIB).
"My English was bad and I couldn't write reports but I was very good at catching people. I liked fighting especially gangsters because I hate those who bully the weak," he says.
A few years later, he left the SIB to join a friend to sell rubbish bins. A humiliating incident rattled him but also spurred him to make something of his life.
An executive from an Orchard Road shopping mall berated Mr Ng loudly in public after he delivered an order of refuse bins.
The man - who emphasised he was a graduate - was angry that the branding of the mall on the bins was not prominent enough.
"It was not my fault. I was just delivering the bins but he said: 'I've never seen anyone so stupid in my life. You're so stupid that even if I gave you 10 years, you'd not amount to anything.'
"I said to myself: 'I'll remember your face, I'll remember your car number. One day, when I'm successful enough, you will see me.'"

Pupils, parents and teachers of Lianhua Primary School beavering away earlier this year at packing groceries and essential items for distribution to the families of needy pupils in the school. PHOTO: ANSON NG

For some time, a businessman had been cajoling him to become a used-car salesman in his company Hui Teck Vehicle Trading. Mr Ng took up the offer, and started learning the ropes of the trade.
"He was a very decent man and I learnt a lot from him," he says.
Patience and hard work - "I worked Monday through to Sunday" - stood him in good stead. Seven years later, he had saved up more than $200,000 to start his own used-car business Presto Motoring in 1996.
"I started by buying three cars, then four," says Mr Ng who was by then married to an IT executive with whom he has two children, aged 27 and 29.
"The business slowly grew. I could even hire graduates," he says with a grin.
Noticing a gap in the market, he rebranded Presto Motoring as Presto Expat Motoring Services in 2007, catering to the expatriate market. Besides selling vehicles, his company even conducted workshops on the dos and don'ts of driving in Singapore for expatriates.
In 2001, healthcare pioneer Uma Rajan, 82, bought a Volvo from him. The two struck up a friendship and Dr Rajan - the former director of eldercare and school health services at the Ministry of Health - roped him in to help out at the Mun Fatt Tong Nursing Home. It changed his life.
"Dr Uma Rajan gave me a chance to do good," he says, referring to the woman he now calls Ma.
He started by sponsoring meals and organising outings - sometimes chartering up to five buses with medical staff such as nurses and physiotherapists in attendance, and even an ambulance on standby - for the elderly in old folks' homes.
Dr Rajan says: "He was really struck by the problems old folks were going through and started feeling the urge to be involved. He has the same multi-ethnic approach as I do - it doesn't matter what ethnic group or religion, you can depend on him to help."
The community leader - who helped to set up nearly a dozen elderly care centres with voluntary welfare organisations - later introduced him to other charities, including Dover Park Hospice and HCA Hospice Care.
That was how Mr Ng started cooking, with the help of volunteers, elaborate meals twice a week - on Tuesdays and Fridays - for the terminally ill at these two places.
"I did all the marketing myself and made sure the meals were colourful, to cheer them up," he says, adding that he spared no expense in buying fish, prawns and other ingredients because the meals could be the last for some of the patients.

Mr Ng serving the packed food that he cooked and prepared with volunteers to a terminally ill patient at Dover Park Hospice in December 2017. PHOTO: ST FILE
Some people have told him he should help the young and ill instead of the old and dying.
"Every human is a life. You need to respect everyone. That's why I really respect the palliative doctors who are out there doing such good but difficult work," he says simply.
The families of some of these terminally ill patients were so poor that they could not afford to pay for the funerals or last rites when their loved ones died.
He started stepping in to help, and has not stopped. He frequently gets calls from doctors and medical professionals alerting him to needy cases.
"I put my heart into helping the dying because the dying will not lie to me. I'm just helping them fulfil their last wish and giving them some dignity," says Mr Ng, who reckons he has funded the funerals and last rites of more than 100 needy folks since he started volunteering.
The cooking - which was done in the kitchen at the former HCA in Jalan Tan Tock Seng - stopped when HCA moved to its new premises, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, which has no central kitchen, in 2018.
He started Hao Ren Hao Shi after non-profit organisation Apex Club approached him to support its monthly distribution of provisions to needy households in Redhill.
As word grew of this volunteer extraordinaire, who won the Silent Hero 2021 Award presented by the Civilians Association of Singapore, more volunteers, including expatriates, joined the movement.
The number of benefiting families has grown tenfold in the last four years. The number of grocery items and essentials - which are distributed on the first Saturday of each month - has also increased from less than 10 to nearly 30.
"Items are getting more expensive, and the number of families we are helping is growing. We welcome any help we can get," he says.
Every distribution exercise is executed with clockwork precision, with items neatly laid out on multiple tables at different stations, and volunteers organised in different groups. All donations are clearly accounted for, and receipts given to donors.
"Transparency is very important," says Mr Ng who reckons he spends more than $10,000 of his own money every month to do what he does.
He is especially chuffed that the movement has spread to neighbourhood schools. The first was Lianhua Primary, which got him on board two years ago to train pupil and teacher volunteers so that they could conduct their own monthly provisions distribution to the families of 100 needy pupils in the school.
"I now have parents complaining and asking why they can't volunteer alongside their children," he says, laughing.
At least half a dozen neighbourhood schools have followed suit, including West Spring Primary, Northbrooks Secondary and St Stephen's School. River Valley Primary will come on board soon, ditto Temasek Polytechnic.
"It's so wonderful to see the young learning how to serve their peers, and being exposed to those who are less fortunate. It's invaluable education," he says.
The Buddhist hopes everyone will learn to pay it forward.
"You cannot bring your money with you when you go so when you're alive, why not do some good?"

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Anson Ng – 2021 SG Silent Hero​

19 September 2021

Anson Ng
Outstanding Adult Winner – 2021
Nominated by: –

Mr. Anson Ng Ching Kok is the founder of Hao Ren Hao Shi (好人好事 meaning Good Man Good Deed). Together with a group of friends, Mr. Ng founded the organization to promote the spirit of volunteerism and build a strong community of volunteers. Through community partnership, Mr. Ng’s organization seeks to help those in need regardless of race and religion, through the organization’s core beliefs of Joy, Hope, Confidence and Convenience.

Mr. Ng has been helping needy families, elderly who live alone and terminally ill patients either in kind or in deed since 2001. In the past year during Circuit Breaker, Mr. Ng has been consistently distributing monthly food and necessity provisions to approximately 500 needy families across Singapore.

He also regularly visits and befriends terminally ill patients, assisting their families when border restrictions were put in place. Mr. Ng also regularly conducts provision distribution partnerships with schools, where students learn to plan, organize and volunteer from a young age.
Finally, Mr. Ng has lead distribution efforts at dormitories, to help ease their financial burden and to provide moral support. Mr. Ng’s spirit of giving and significant contribution to the community has result in positive and sustainable change. He is truly an inspiration and a role model for “giving to others”.
Profile Video

Mr Anson Ng was nominated for the “Outstanding Adult” Category for the SSH Awards 2021. He was the selected winner and received award from Guest of Honour: Mr. Lawrence Wong – Minister for Finance, at Shangri-La Hotel on 28th August 2021.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Second-hand car dealer who pays for funerals of strangers up for ST Singaporean of the Year award​

Mr Anson Ng helps strangers with whatever they need, like paying for medical bills and settling funeral arrangements. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

Syarafana Shafeeq

Oct 19, 2022

SINGAPORE - When his father died when he was nine, Mr Anson Ng’s uncle stepped up and worked closely with the grieving family to handle the funeral arrangements. The noble act stuck with the then primary school pupil, who now pays for the funerals of strangers.
He said: “I was lucky to have an uncle who could help, but can you imagine those who don’t have anyone to support them? I know how they feel. So now, I am that uncle who helps people.”
Mr Ng, now 55, runs Hao Ren Hao Shi (Good People, Good Deeds), a ground-up movement set up in 2018 that distributes monthly provisions to the needy.
The project feeds 1,000 households every month and taps volunteers from primary schools to pack and distribute the items.
Mr Ng is one of the nominees for The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year award this year that is presented in conjunction with UBS.
The annual award, now into its eighth year, aims to recognise a Singaporean person or group for making an impact on society. Last year’s recipient, Mr Sakthibalan Balathandautham, donated part of his liver to a one-year-old child after he came across a plea online from a young couple.
Mr Ng started helping out at old age homes and hospices more than 15 years ago, cooking meals for the residents. Befriending them, he learnt about the last wishes and funeral rites that the elderly wanted.

“I can’t bring my money with me when I die. I would rather spend it to make these people happy and provide them with a send-off they deserve. Money is really not everything.”
Mr Ng, who owns second-hand car dealership Presto Expat Motoring Services, said volunteering to help the terminally ill was not easy for him to deal with emotionally at first.
“Everyone there does not have much time left. It’s hard to see them deteriorate and pass on after I have got to know them. I told myself I must be strong. If I’m going to continue helping people, I can’t cry every time I lose someone.”


A staff member at Hao Ren Hao Shi said Mr Ng would doggedly look for the food and kueh that the hospice residents were craving in the markets.
Mr Ng, who is married with two children, gets calls at all hours of the day from those asking for help with, say, medical bills or funeral arrangements.
“Why do I do this? When a family is dealing with someone sick or if someone dies, it’s very stressful. It’s worse when you have to worry about the financial part of it, so I’m doing my best to make things easier for them,” he said.
“If you ask me whether I am tired, I can tell you that I am. I’ve been doing this for many years, but when I see people who come to me for help, I can’t imagine not helping.”


“One of my aunties told me at my mother’s funeral not to cry too much since she wasn’t my real mother. But I don’t believe emotions are tied to blood,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter that I am a stranger to these people that I help. They are in need, and I am lucky to be in a position where I can make their lives a bit easier.”
Nominations for the award will be open until Dec 15 at this website (https://str.sg/wVPP). Nominees must be Singapore citizens, and recognised for performing their act of service in 2022.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Car dealer who pays for strangers’ funerals is ST Singaporean of the Year 2022​

Syarafana Shafeeq

Feb 9, 2023

SINGAPORE - A second-hand car dealer who has made it his life’s mission to help strangers in need was named The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year 2022 on Thursday.
Mr Anson Ng, 55, gets calls and messages throughout the day from friends and strangers who need help paying medical bills or covering funeral fees.
He started helping out at old age homes and hospices more than 20 years ago, befriending seniors and cooking for the terminally ill. Learning about their last wishes, he offered to make arrangements for those who could not afford it.
Mr Ng, owner of second-hand car dealership Presto Expat Motoring Services, said: “I can’t bring my money with me when I die. I would rather spend it to make these people happy and provide them with the send-off they deserve. Money is really not everything.”
Mr Ng, who is married with two children, feels strongly about helping the less fortunate. When he was nine, his adoptive father killed himself, leaving him to work odd jobs to help his family make ends meet.
His charity Hao Ren Hao Shi (Good People, Good Deeds) has given out monthly provisions and food to the less fortunate since 2018, and helps about 1,000 families a month.
For his kind deeds and positive impact on the less fortunate, Mr Ng on Thursday received the Singaporean of the Year award from President Halimah Yacob, who was the guest of honour at the award ceremony at Raffles Hotel.

Mr Ng said: “I didn’t expect to win the award, since so many people are doing good. But it is a good chance to tell Singapore about how important it is to serve our needy and elderly. We must teach our young to do good, so that our nation will be in good hands in the future. Who else will take care of our sick and old in the future?”
Madam Halimah said the 2022 nominees were a varied lot, but they were united by the impact they made on society.
“These Singapore stories of grit, goodwill and glory will remind us to stand together, and inspire us to move forward as one united people. Let us lift our heads, let us celebrate the light in each of us; and in turn, let us all be the light in our society,” she said.

Organised by The Straits Times and presented by UBS Singapore, the Singaporean of the Year award is given each year to a Singaporean individual or group that has made an impact in society.
This could be through achievements that have put Singapore on the global stage, for improving the lives of others, or showing resilience in the face of adversity. The award is now in its eighth year.
Mr Ng was nominated alongside other finalists, like Mr Priveen Suraj Santakumar and Mr Charanjit Singh Walia who fed Ukrainian refugees in Poland; Ms Khairiah Hanim Mazlan, a private-hire car driver who talks to passengers about their mental health; and Associate Professor Too Heng-Phon, a biochemist passionate about Singapore’s life sciences scene.
Other finalists include Ms Alison Lim and Mr Anjang Rosli, a pair with dementia who help others with their condition; the founder of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder organisation Unlocking ADHD, Ms Moonlake Lee; married badminton players Terry Hee and Jessica Tan; as well as table tennis player Feng Tianwei.
Mr Ng was awarded a trophy and $20,000 in cash, while the other finalists received $5,000 each. The prize money is sponsored by UBS, which has supported the award since its inception.
Other sponsors include airline partner Singapore Airlines (SIA), global hotel partner Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, and Raffles Hotel Singapore.
The winner gets a five-night stay at any of the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels’ global properties and a three-night stay at Raffles Hotel Singapore, as well as a pair of SIA business class tickets. The remaining finalists each received a three-night stay at any of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels’ global properties and a pair of SIA economy class tickets.
Editor of The Straits Times Jaime Ho said: “This year, we honour a dedicated individual who has devoted more than 20 years of his life to the less fortunate in Singapore.
“He epitomises the selfless and generous ideals we all aspire to ourselves, and leads the way in showing that every deed, big or small, starts with one person and has infinite potential to inspire.”
Mr Edmund Koh, president of UBS Asia Pacific of UBS Group and UBS, said that the award showcases daily heroes who inspire Singaporeans through their actions.
He said: “Anson Ng, our Singaporean of the Year 2022, demonstrated how it was possible to give dignity and respect in death through his charitable work for over two decades.”
The 2021 award went to Mr Sakthibalan Balathandautham, who donated part of his liver to a one-year-old girl he had never met after he came across a plea online from a young couple.