Ms Sybil Lau and Mr Ng Kok Song came into the spotlight yesterday (19 July) morning when the latter arrived at Elections Department Singapore (ELD) and collected his presidential candidate forms.
In particular, the 45-year-old Ms Lau has garnered attention for being 30 years younger than the ex-GIC chief.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
However, there’s more to her than meets the eye.
Apart from being the presidential hopeful’s fiancee, Ms Lau is also a woman of commendable achievements in finance and asset management.
The pair recently shared their love story with Shin Min Daily News after Mr Ng collected his application forms.
Apparently, the latter had caught Ms Lau’s attention in 2018 when she saw him discussing investments in a video.
The pair connected in 2019 through a mutual friend and Mr Ng shared that he fell for her “very early on”.
“At that moment, I was so happy I actually cried. I never thought I would find true love again,” he said.
Mr Ng’s first wife passed away in 2005 from stomach cancer.
As it turns out, Ms Lau comes from a rather prestigious background.
Shin Min Daily News reported that her father, Mr Liu Zhaohang, was actively involved in public affairs.
As a diplomat in Canada, he served as the country’s High Commissioner to Brunei.
Mr Liu was also reportedly the first Chinese-Canadian diplomat to be appointed to a G7 country.
Additionally, Ms Lau’s maternal grandfather, Zhang Yuliang (transliterated from Chinese), is also a prominent businessman in Hong Kong who deals in real estate and finance.
Much like Mr Ng, Ms Lau has had her fair share of experience in funds management.
In fact, she has been managing her family’s wealth for over a decade.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms Lau started off as the Director of Emerging Market Equities in 2009.
She is now the family’s Chief Investment Officer and has been since 2017.
Before she managed her family’s wealth, Ms Lau cut her teeth in the finance sector at two reputable companies.
She was a financial analyst with Goldman Sachs from 2005 to 2007.
After which, Ms Lau joined Credit Suisse as an investment specialist until 2009.
Ms Lau joined the Dalio Family Office in 2020 as a board member when the American billionaire, Ray Dalio, opened a family office in Singapore.
Source: Prestige Online
When she joined WELL Health Technologies Corp two years later, the Chairman and CEO of the digital health company said a few words:
We are honored to welcome Sybil Lau to our board. Her passion and focus on healthcare industries and preventative health overall are of tremendous value and interest to WELL and its future direction as a company.
Additionally, Mr Hamed Shahbazi acknowledged her expertise and “years of experience” with capital allocation and new market development decisions.
This year alone, Ms Lau joined the boards of SG Enable and The Delta in January and April respectively.
In 2022, the National Arts Council (NAC) recognised Ms Sybil Lau as a Distinguished Patron of the Arts.
She had purportedly contributed S$100,000 and above towards promoting cultural and artistic activities in Singapore in 2021.
One of the projects that she was involved in was the Words Without Walls digital storybook developed by Edipresse Media Singapore and Playeum.
The previous year, she had given between S$10,000 and S$49,999 — making her NAC’s Friend of the Arts.
Ms Lau has also been included in the National Gallery Singapore’s (NGS) 2019/2020 donor list as an “associate”.
As it turns out, the 75-year-old Mr Ng managed to find love again in a woman who shares an interest in his life’s work.
While Mr Ng had decades of experience managing Singapore’s reserves, Ms Lau oversees her family’s wealth.
The former told reporters that “his heart sank” when he found out her age.
Ms Lau thankfully reciprocated his feelings.
Safe to say, the duo might be what we call a power couple, finding support in each other despite their age gap.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News 新明日报 on Facebook.
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