Yong Pung How

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Yong Pung How (Chinese: 杨邦孝; born 1926, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) was a Singaporean lawyer, government official, who served as the second Chief Justice of Singapore from 28 September 1990 to 10 April 2006. His legacy includes significant reform to the judicial procedure, although it has been marred by claims of his preference for efficiency over justice in executing sentences and for his deference to the ruling political party, the People's Action Party, in politically motivated cases alleging defamation. He was succeeded by the Honourable the Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, formerly Attorney-General of Singapore.

[edit] Early career

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.

He practiced as a lawyer when he graduated from Downing College, Cambridge, in 1952, eventually becoming a senior partner in a law firm, Shook Lin & Bok. In 1964, Yong became the chairman of the now defunct Malaysia-Singapore Airlines and stepped down in 1969. Yong had a wealth of experience in the banking sector, and was Chairman of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, and sometime Chairman of the Government Investment Corporation, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

[edit] Chief Justice

On 28 September 1990, Yong was appointed the Chief Justice of Singapore, replacing Wee Chong Jin. During his first speech, he abolished the traditional wigs and archaic terms of address, such as "My Lord" or "Your Lordship", for the judges in the Supreme Court. 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. Currently, it takes only six months for the High Court to conclude a hearing.

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.

Chief Justice Yong 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 were actively recruited to the Singapore Legal Service.