Who is Catherine Wu, CDL’s Kwek Leng Beng’s adviser?

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Who is Catherine Wu, CDL’s Kwek Leng Beng’s adviser?​

Mr Kwek Leng Beng reportedly met his long-time adviser, Dr Catherine Wu, at a dinner party in Taiwan in 1992.PHOTOS: ST FILE, SPH FILE

Sharon Salim
UPDATED FEB 28, 2025, 05:00 AM

SINGAPORE - Mr Kwek Leng Beng’s long-time adviser Catherine Wu was put under the spotlight when his son Sherman Kwek, group chief executive of City Developments Limited (CDL) said on Feb 27 that she was the underlying reason that led to the family’s public rift.

The pair met in Taiwan in 1992 at a dinner party, according to Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao.

Here are some things to know about her.

1. Dr Wu has been an adviser to Mr Kwek Leng Beng for the past three decades​

She served as a director at Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), a wholly owned and principal subsidiary of CDL Group, the hotel subsidiary of Mr Kwek Leng Beng’s business empire.

Her service was terminated in January 2024, but she returned to M&C’s board as an adviser seven months later.

Dr Wu, who is in her 60s, also acted as personal assistant to Mr Kwek – though she was not an employee – and was paid directly by him, according to an employment tribunal document filed in London in 2018.

When she moved to Singapore from Taiwan in 1992, she had the opportunity to be placed under Mr Kwek Leng Beng’s tutelage. In a 2024 interview with Lianhe Zaobao, she said that in her role, she got to learn the ropes in hotel management, which included accompanying Mr Kwek to meetings and overseeing the hotel decoration and inspection processes.

She is known to be single and has five older brothers. Mr Kwek is married to Cecilia Kok and they have two sons, Mr Sherman and Mr Kingston Kwek.

2. She is musically trained​

At 15 years old, her parents had reportedly sent her to San Francisco Conservatory of Music to pursue her music studies. She won a scholarship and went on to further her studies at The Juilliard School in New York. In the Lianhe Zaobao interview, she had spoken about the pressure she faced and the stressful nature of her academic journey.

“Entering the Juilliard School is like studying law at Harvard University. All my classmates are very talented and competition is fierce,” she said in the interview.

Originally from Taiwan, she went to the US to pursue her studies in music before returning to Taiwan to release her own albums.

3. She entered the early childhood industry​

When she moved to Singapore, she joined the early childhood industry and ran her own business of managing a kindergarten. Marrying her passion for music and education, she told Lianhe Zaobao that she would write and direct a musical yearly for the children to perform at their graduation ceremony.

She sold the business after a decade in the industry and dedicated more of her time to various aspects of the hotel management.

4. She was involved in a tribunal related to a hotel employee based in London​

She was reportedly close to hotel employee Mr Chee Hwee Tan, who was the senior vice-president at global procurement at the Gloucester Millennium Hotel in Kensington, according to British tabloid The Daily Mail.

When he lost his job in 2017, he made a string of claims and complaints against Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, saying that he felt “harassed and offended” when others used the word “diva” in relation to him. While Mr Tan claimed he was not friends with Dr Wu, the tribunal heard they were “close confidants” and had gone to a Graham Norton show together.

5. She took up a new interest in cybersecurity​

In 2024, she was interviewed by radio station MoneyFM 89.3 about cybersecurity threats during her stint as a secretary-general of GeekCon International, an inaugural conference held by security research institute Darknavy.

“I think most importantly, we should recognise the threats and that the vulnerabilities can never be totally eliminated. We know our bodies and when we get sick… Through self checks, you know when something becomes less protected.. It is better to take a proactive approach,” she said.

 

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CDL's Sherman Kwek says Catherine Wu, father’s former PA and board adviser, is source of dispute​

Mr Sherman Kwek says Dr Catherine Wu, who had a "long relationship" with his father Kwek Leng Beng, interfered in matters "well beyond her scope".

Sherman Kwek, Catherine Wu and Kwek Leng Beng. (File photos: City Developments Limited, LinkedIn/Millennium Hotels and Resorts)

27 Feb 2025 09:56PM (Updated: 27 Feb 2025 11:42PM)

SINGAPORE: The legal wrangle and public war of words between property tycoon Kwek Leng Beng and his son Sherman continued on Thursday (Feb 27), with the younger man singling out his father's associate as the source of a dispute within their company City Developments Limited (CDL).
Dr Catherine Wu, 65, is an adviser to the board of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), a subsidiary of CDL.
Mr Sherman Kwek, the group CEO of CDL, said Dr Wu has been "interfering in matters going well beyond her scope", adding that "she wields and exercises enormous influence".
"These matters have troubled us as directors. Due to her long relationship with the chairman, efforts that were made to manage the situation were done sensitively, but to no avail," he said in a statement.
"This led us, with the benefit of legal advice, to propose a resolution to terminate the advisory agreement Dr Wu has with the board of M&C and another to affirm that Dr Wu has no power and authority, among other things, to influence or advise the directors, management and staff of the CDL and M&C Groups.
"We considered them to be necessary to protect the interests of the shareholders and relevant staff of the CDL Group, and to restore proper corporate governance and accountability."
CDL is one of Singapore's largest property companies, controlled by the Kwek family.

Dr Catherine Wu and City Developments Limited's executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng at GEEKCON 2024 International. (Photo: GEEKCON website)
The family feud and boardroom tussle was thrust into the public spotlight on Wednesday when CDL's 84-year-old executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng issued a statement, saying he was taking his son to court over alleged governance lapses and an attempted power grab at the board level.
He characterised his son’s actions as an attempted "coup" and said he was seeking to restore corporate integrity. In a second statement late on Wednesday, the elder Kwek announced that his son and other directors acting with him have agreed to cease further action following a court hearing.

​

What we know about Kwek Leng Beng, his son Sherman Kwek and the battle for control of CDL​

​

Power tussle at CDL sparks concerns over governance and share price volatility​

NO ATTEMPT TO OUST CHAIRMAN: SHERMAN KWEK​

Mr Sherman Kwek, 49, said on Thursday that his father’s first statement failed to present a "full picture" of the dispute.
"The chairman’s claim that there is an ‘attempted coup’ by the majority directors to consolidate control of CDL’s board is not only incorrect, it distracts from the nub of the issue, therefore requiring us to respond to present the full picture.
"There has been no attempt by us to oust the chairman."
Dr Wu was embroiled in an employment tribunal case in London in 2018. In the judgment, she was described as the personal assistant to Mr Kwek Leng Beng, although she was not an employee and was paid by the chairman.
The judgment said she acts as his "eyes and ears" due to his age.
Mr Sherman Kwek said the resolutions to terminate Dr Wu's board advisory agreement was passed by the majority of the board on Feb 21.
His father filed court papers on Feb 25, and the minority directors involving the older Kwek asked the court to hear the case on the merits of an urgent basis, unsuccessfully asking that the resolutions be reversed."The majority directors are alive to their duties and will continue to uphold corporate governance and accountability within the CDL Group," said Mr Sherman Kwek.
Dr Catherine Wu (front row, right), an adviser to the board of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, sits next to CDL executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng and Kwek Eik Sheng at a company townhall. (Photo: LinkedIn/Millennium Hotels and Resorts)…see more

COURT HEARING​

In his statement, Mr Sherman Kwek also touched on the court hearing that took place on Wednesday afternoon, describing it as an attempt to "ambush" the majority directors.
"It has not been disclosed that the minority directors, comprising the chairman, Mr Kwek Leng Beng, Mr Philip Yeo, Mr Colin Ong and Mr Chong Yoon Chou, served five of us court papers just after noon on Feb 26, 2025 for a hearing that was held only two and a half hours later," he said.
"Without giving us the opportunity to respond in time to give the court the full picture, the minority directors tried to get the court to grant interim injunctions to restrain the majority directors on the board of CDL, comprising six independent directors and myself, from implementing a number of resolutions, to restrain two independent directors from exercising powers as directors and to reverse a number of resolutions that had been passed by the majority directors on the board of CDL."
Mr Kwek added that the suggestion in his father's second press statement that the minority directors succeeded in their application and that lapses of corporate governance at CDL and its subsidiaries have been halted is "most unfortunate".
"What in fact happened was that because the majority directors did not have the opportunity to present our case, we voluntarily offered undertakings, as defendants often do in such urgent applications, to preserve the status quo until a full hearing where we would have that opportunity."
This undertaking was that they would cease any further action for the time being.
"This explains why the court made it a point to say it was not making any substantive orders on the minority directors’ application, a point which is not found in the chairman’s second statement," Mr Sherman Kwek said.
"The chairman also did not mention that all the directors, including the chairman and the minority directors, were directed by the court to refrain until the dispute is resolved from doing anything in relation to CDL’s subsidiaries, Singapura Developments (Private) Limited and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Limited, that would prejudice the other party’s position in the dispute."
Mr Sherman Kwek also said that there was no mention by his father of the fact that the lawyers for the minority directors were questioned by the court about whether they had been validly appointed by CDL.
This resulted in the lawyers saying that they would "leave out CDL" for the hearing, he said, adding that his group was the one who asked for the full hearing to be held early. The court agreed to this.
"Therefore, despite the attempt to ambush us, the minority directors did not succeed in persuading the court to hear and decide the merits, and in fact ended up on the receiving end of directions themselves and unable to use CDL's name at the hearing."

 

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Who is Catherine Wu, the woman said to have a ‘long relationship’ with Kwek Leng Beng?

www.businesstimes.com.sg

• Dr Catherine Wu graced the cover of a magazine in Taiwan. PHOTO: FACEBOOK

CITY Developments Ltd (CDL) group chief executive Sherman Kwek highlighted a Dr Catherine Wu on Thursday (Feb 27) in his latest response in the “attempted coup” saga that broke in the public arena the day before.

In a detailed statement, he said the “primary reason” for the ongoing dispute at the property behemoth relates to “a very serious issue of corporate governance” involving Dr Wu, adviser to CDL executive chairman and his father Kwek Leng Beng.

He cited Dr Wu as holding an official position as adviser to the board of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), a wholly owned and principal subsidiary of CDL.

 

[eatshitndie]

jane of all trades, mistress of one?

 

[firehyrant]

This CDL saga can become Taiwanese hokkien drama series at the rate it is going....

 

[eatshitndie]

hokkien uncumsummated virgin who knows music, plays the piano, appreciates floral arrangement, and may be hear whistling sounds, knocking noises, and firecracker sexplosions too?

 

[eatshitndie]

This CDL saga can become Taiwanese hokkien drama series at the rate it is going....

69k episodes lasting 69 years.

 

[firehyrant]

69k episodes lasting 69 years.

So long, must be damn soapy drama

 

[eatshitndie]

So long, must be damn soapy drama

from stroller to walker.

 

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[ChenShuang]

KLB tio kum cheng gong dao

 

[firehyrant]

 

[ChenShuang]

Low ses people use sammboy to wash dirt but high class people Sherman Kwek is using state media to shame his own dad’s mistress

 

[firehyrant]

Hokkien bu can be toxic
@NanoSpeed tio bo?

 

[ChenShuang]

Quotes below seem to be that Catherine Wu is a slut who is not business, economics or IT trained .


The pair met in Taiwan in 1992 at a dinner party, according to Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao.

Dr Wu, who is in her 60s, also acted as personal assistant to Mr Kwek – though she was not an employee – and was paid directly by him, according to an employment tribunal document filed in London in 2018.

Teaching music on KLB bed

When she moved to Singapore from Taiwan in 1992, she had the opportunity to be placed under Mr Kwek Leng Beng’s tutelage.

In a 2024 interview with Lianhe Zaobao, she said that in her role, she got to learn the ropes in hotel management, which included accompanying Mr Kwek to meetings and overseeing the hotel decoration and inspection processes.


She is known to be single and has five older brothers. Mr Kwek is married to Cecilia Kok and they have two sons, Mr Sherman and Mr Kingston Kwek.

 

[Pinkieslut]

No horse run MILF.

 

[True Believer]

Catherine Wu may not be a spring chicken, but she is about 20 years younger than Kwek Leng Beng, so she's still a "sweet younger thing" to him.

 

[VanDick]

To summarize, she is just a high-end sugarbaby whore. Her cock-sucking skills must be so good that KLB got hooked by her for 3 decades.

 

[cocobobo]

Likely the person behind all these moves is his wife.

 

[ChenShuang]

Likely the person behind all these moves is his wife.

KLB wife ?