Tan Kim Choo, wife of Ng Teng Fong, dies at 100

[SINGAPORE] Tan Kim Choo, the wife of property giant Far East Organization founder Ng Teng Fong and the company’s biggest shareholder, has died. She was 100.

Her death was announced in an obituary published in Lianhe Zaobao on Aug 5. She died on Aug 1.

Tan owned half of the issued share capital of Far East Organization Pte Ltd and retained a board seat after Ng’s death in 2010. The other half is held by the estate of Ng, who died at 82.

The Far East group is largely privately held, and the Ng family controls three Singapore-listed entities via Far East Organization Pte Ltd and other vehicles: Far East Orchard, Far East Hospitality Trust, Yeo Hiap Seng, as well as Sino Land, Sino Hotels and Tsim Sha Tsui Properties in Hong Kong under the Sino Group umbrella.

The late Ng Teng Fong, who was born in Fujian in China, founded Far East Organization in 1960. He handed over the reins of his sprawling empire to his two sons, Robert Ng and Philip Ng, in 1991. Robert Ng ran the group’s Sino Group business in Hong Kong. He retired as its chairman in 2025.

Robert Ng’s eldest son, Daryl Ng, succeeded him as chairman of Sino Land, Sino Hotels and Tsim Sha Tsui Properties.

Tan and Ng’s younger son, Philip Ng, was chief executive officer of Far East Organization from 1991 to 2023, when he handed the role to his eldest son Jonathan Ng.

Two other sons of Philip Ng are also in the business. Edward Ng is executive director of property services at Far East Organization and deputy chairman of Yeo Hiap Seng; Graham Ng is executive director of the company’s commercial group.

Two of Tan’s daughters previously held roles at the company: Dorothy Chan was an executive director until she stepped down from the board in 2024, and Ng Siok Giok now holds a consultant role in the group.

A third daughter, Tan Siok Hwee, is a former director of Far East Organization.

In 2011, Tan and her family donated about S$100 million towards a hospital in Jurong, later named Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in her late husband’s memory. The hospital opened in 2015.