CDL

"even as his family business Hong Leong enjoys a household name status in Singapore and Malaysia, and his flagship CDL company is held up as a blue-chip bellweather stock on the Singapore stock exchange, Kwek is a man seldom heard in public and even less often seen. A favourite story among business circles was how he was shooed away by the security guard at his own Orchard Hotel in Singapore after turning up one day in a new car. His staff recognised his wheels, not his face."

"When he spoke in public, it was almost always because of a company results’ briefing. On the rare occasions of a media interview, they were called for because of a major business project, such as the launch of his M Social chain of hotels. As former top Singapore civil servant Philip Yeo, who is a director in CDL, said: “Leng Beng is a very serious and quiet guy."

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kwek had to get used to virtual meetings. He was often a good 10–15 minutes early, and bristled when others logged on closer to the scheduled time, as is the norm, said his nephew Kwek Eik Sheng and group chief operating officer of CDL. “He scolded the guy who signed in last — even though he was five minutes early. The poor chap got it from him,” he shared with a rueful smile. Veteran hotelier Daniel Desbaillets said: “For me, he’s a natural. What you see is what you get.”"

"His younger relatives who worked with him in Hong Leong and CDL said that they relate to him mostly as a boss and rarely as an uncle. “His work is all consuming, and therefore, it is very hard to distinguish between him as an uncle and as chairman,”"

"Such a clinical attitude is fuelled partly by impatience. Almost everyone interviewed for this book had a personal story — often fairly humorous — of how he is in a perpetual state of restlessness. “If you travel with him, you must wear running shoes because he used to walk so fast,” said long-time CDL group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong. “When we got off the plane, he walked so fast. He also ate very fast, he didn’t want to waste time."

"At its peak in 2013, nearly one in every five private homes sold in Singapore was built by his property firms, headlined mostly by CDL."