How Wee Ee Cheong is planting the seeds for UOB’s next 90 years

Wee Ee Cheong leans back in his chair in the boardroom of UOB Plaza and behind him a deep green bonsai peeks into view from a shelf, poised like it is meant to be part of the conversation.

Wee’s minders had told us not to be surprised if he talks about his beloved plants. It is his hobby, after all. A lush bonsai graces the cover of the bank’s annual report for its 90th anniversary, a nod to the enduring roots of Singapore’s only remaining family-controlled bank. But he shows little interest in discussing horticulture – until he is prompted to do so at the very end.

Still, the metaphor of nurturing resilience winds its way into the interview as Wee talks about legacy and the need to secure the future of an institution founded by his grandfather, Wee Kheng Chiang – a Hokkien born in Sarawak – and which his father spent a lifetime cultivating before the son took over in 2007.

“Looking back, I’m happy to take that legacy and just continue to move forward, but I think it’s more than just a legacy. I think stewardship is the most important; to make the bank more forward-looking, more future-proof,” he said about UOB’s ambitions.

“Legacy is just your own personal thing. To me, let’s take aside the personal part and look more at how to inculcate a stewardship mentality.”

Over the decades, many of Singapore’s family-owned banks have either been sold or merged with others. As recently as the early 2000s, government regulators considered the domestic market too small to sustain more than two local banks, encouraging the others to consolidate.