Ong Beng Seng is a tycoon credited with transforming Singapore’s hospitality sector. He recently became mired in a public corruption scandal that led to his conviction and sentencing. The 79-year-old Malaysian-born entrepreneur is courageously fighting multiple myeloma, an uncommon type of bone marrow cancer. At the same time, he is the subject of grave accusations related to Subramaniam Iswaran, Singapore’s former minister of transport.
Born in 1946 in Malaysia, Ong immigrated to Singapore as a young child. In the mid-1980s he established Hotel Properties Limited (HPL). Since then HPL has been involved with operating prestigious hotel brands such as the Four Seasons and Marriott. Ong was instrumental in winning the Formula 1 Grand Prix for Singapore. This event represented a major step toward transforming the country’s tourism sector.
It was in this context, in December 2022, that Ong invited Iswaran to visit Qatar. Thus, he offered to pay for everyone’s costs, including their hotels and flights on his private jet. This apparently kind deed was the catalyst for multiple investigations. It emerged that, unbeknownst to Ong’s boss, she assisted Iswaran in concealing evidence during his corruption investigations. Later, Ong pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct justice.
The legal actions taken against Ong were no joke, with a potential maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment. A judge released him on the rare provision of “judicial mercy,” as his health was failing. As the judge stated, he knew that sending him to jail meant risking making his life impossible. Generally, a reasonable sentence would be three months of incarceration. The court ruled that returning him home to do so would place his health in even greater jeopardy.
Ong’s case has raised questions about where attention to public health ends and criminal punishment begins. His stature in Singapore’s business community cannot be understated. Yet his actions have helped bring to light critical questions concerning ethics and governance in the nation’s political landscape.