From 1 October 2019, Mr Goh Yew Lin, Managing Director of G K Goh Holdings Ltd, officially assumed the role of Chairman of the Duke-NUS Governing Board. To help you get to know him a little better, here are six interesting facts about our new Chairman.
1. He’s a Penn alumnus
Mr Goh graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Other notable Penn alumni include Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Grammy Award winner John Legend, and our very own Dean Thomas Coffman.
2. Accomplished pianist
Music is Mr Goh’s main avocation. An amateur pianist, he once played a recital to raise funds for repairs to the Victoria Concert Hall. He also wrote a regular column as a classical music critic for The Straits Times from 1980 to 1997.
3. Career
Mr Goh was a stockbroker for 24 years, until the sale of the stockbroking businesses of SGX-listed GK Goh Holdings Ltd in 2005. Since then, GK Goh (where Mr Goh is Managing Director) has been an investment company with a portfolio that includes aged care businesses in Australia and Singapore.
4. Man of many hats
In 1990, he was appointed a director of the Singapore Symphonia Company, where he presently is Chairman of the board. He was the founding Chairman of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, stepping down in September 2018 after 16 years. He was also Deputy Chairman of the National Arts Council from 2013-2019.
Mr Goh was a Trustee of NUS from 2008 to March 2019, and was also chairman of its Investment Committee. He is presently a non-executive director of Temasek Holdings, and is chairman of its subsidiary, SeaTown Holdings.
5. Enjoys wine, books, walks and photography
Mr Goh is married to Charlotte, and they have two daughters. Apart from music, he also enjoys wine and food in the company of friends, nature and nature photography, and long walks in quiet places. He reads when he can, though in recent years he has started many more books than he has been able to finish. [Current reading includes Julian Barnes’ Levels of Life; Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker; and The Islamic Enlightenment by Christopher de Bellaigue].
6. Public Service Star
In 2013, Mr Goh was awarded the prestigious Singapore Public Service Star (Bintang Bakti Masyarakat). The Public Service Star is awarded to a person who has rendered valuable public service to the people of Singapore, or who has distinguished himself in the field of arts and letters, sports, the sciences, business, the professions and the labour movement.