Yong Pung How

Infobox Judge
name = Yong Pung How (杨邦孝)
honorific-suffix =


caption =
order = 2nd
office = Chief Justice of Singapore
term_start = 28 September 1990
term_end = 10 April 2006
nominator =
appointer =
predecessor = Wee Chong Jin
successor = Chan Sek Keong
office2 =
term_start2 =
term_end2 =
nominator2 =
appointer2 =
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
office3 =
term_start3 =
term_end3 =
nominator3 =
appointer3 =
predecesso3 =
successor3 =
birth_date = 1926
birth_place = Kuala Lumpur, Malaya
death_date =
death_place =
nationality =
spouse = Yong Wei Woo
children = 1
alma_mater =Downing College, Cambridge
religion =

Yong Pung How, DUT(First Class) (zh-sp|s=杨邦孝|p=Yáng Bāngxiào; born in 1926, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya). 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 Exhibitioner, and an Associate Fellow in his college years. Yong did exceptionally well, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Law Qualifying I: Class 1; Law Tripos I: Class 2, Division 2; Law Tripos II: Class 2, Division 1) in 1949, and with a Bachelor of Law (Class 2, Division 1) 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 [http://www.shooklin.com Shook Lin & Bok] , 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 ['Press Statement from Prime Minister's Office', "Singapore Government Press Release No. 52/Aug 02-0/90/08/31"] 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, Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) between 1966 and 1971.

Career as a banker

In 1971, Yong switched from law to finance, and formed Singapore International Merchant Bankers Limited (SIMBL) and the Malaysian International Merchant Bankers (MIMB) 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 (OCBC).

He was seconded in 1982 by the Singapore Government to form and head the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), 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. [ cite web| title = Advisory Board Chairman - Mr Yong Pung How | url = http://www.law.smu.edu.sg/about_school/advisory_board/yongpunghow.asp | publisher = Singapore Management University | accessdate = 2008-01-19 ]
In 1988, Yong became the first Chairman of the newly-formed Institute of Policy Studies, 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. ['Press Statement from Prime Minister's Office', "Singapore Government Press Release No. 52/Aug 02-0/90/08/31"]

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 wigs 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". [cite book|last=Lim|first=Audrey ["et al."] (eds.)|title=Speeches and Judgments of Chief Justice Yong Pung How|location=Singapore|publisher=SNP Reference|year=2006|id=ISBN 9789812481290 (vol. 1)|isbn=9789812481306 (vol. 2) 2 vols. See also citation|chapter=Court dress|url=http://app.supremecourt.gov.sg/data/doc/ManagePage/98/(03)%20(2007)%20%20Part%20II%20-%20General%20Matters.pdf|title=Supreme Court Practice Directions (2007 Ed.)|page=II-14, para. 17 and citation|chapter=Forms of address|url=http://app.supremecourt.gov.sg/data/doc/ManagePage/98/(03)%20(2007)%20%20Part%20II%20-%20General%20Matters.pdf|title=Supreme Court Practice Directions (2007 Ed.)|page=II-15, para. 18.] He also made the Singapore justice system 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 High Court. 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.

However, the speed in which trials are conducted have led some critics to accuse Yong of convicting indiscriminately, leaving the burden of proof to the accused. As Chief Justice of Singapore, he was also known to impose punitive sentences to those appealing cases he deemed to be frivolous. [ cite web| title = Singapore Law - News for 2001
url = http://www.getformesingapore.com/legal_news_2001.htm | publisher = The Straits Times | accessdate = 2008-01-19 ] [ cite web| title = Hell's kitchen for Singapore maids
url = http://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020724ag.htm | publisher = The Age | accessdate = 2008-01-19 ]

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 (JLC) 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. [ cite web| title = In Conversation With Chief Justice Yong Pung How | url = http://app.subcourts.gov.sg/Data/Files/File/AR_1999/conversation3.pdf | publisher = Subordinate Courts of Singapore | accessdate = 2008-01-19 ]

He was succeeded by the Honourable Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, formerly Attorney-General of Singapore.cite web| title = CJ Yong Pung How to retire, Chan Sek Keong to succeed him | url = http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/200887/1/.html | publisher = Channel NewsAsia | accessdate = 2008-01-19 ]

Honours

Yong was conferred conferred the "Distinguished Service Order" in 1989 and the the Order of Temasek (First Class) 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 17 September 2001, Yong was awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the National University of Singapore (NUS), in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Judiciary and the judicial system in Singapore. Yong was credited with introducing sweeping reforms in the legal service, enhancing the quality and efficiency of Singapore's judicial process and making the Singapore Judiciary world-class. Among his innovations was the introduction of case management which helped clear the backlog of cases and reduced the waiting time for the disposal of cases. [ cite web| title = Honorary Doctor of Laws conferred on Chief Justice Yong Pung How | url = http://newshub.nus.edu.sg/ke/0104/articles/honorary.htm | publisher = National University of Singapore | accessdate = 2008-01-19 ]

On 14 July 2007, Yong was awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the Singapore Management University (SMU), 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. [ cite news | title = Former Chief Justice awarded Honorary Degree by SMU | publisher = The Sunday Times | date = 2007-07-15 ]

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 Ministry of Health.

Notes and references

Further reading

* Yong, Pung How (2006) "Speeches and judgments of Chief Justice Yong Pung How". Singapore : SNP Reference.