Lumen Summer 2014 - Flipbook - Page 29
story by Ge n e vie ve Sa n ch e z
O
ne of the many success stories
to emerge from the 1950s9
Colombo Plan*, Dr Cheong has
been Chairman of the Oversea-Chinese
Banking Corporation in Singapore
since 2003 and is a former CEO of
Singapore Airlines.
He was part of the largest group to
ever attend the annual Golden Jubilee
reunion—an event that includes a
commemoration ceremony in Bonython
Hall to give alumni the chance of reliving
the thrill of graduation day.
Born in Malaysia, Dr Cheong came to
the University of Adelaide as a Colombo
Plan Scholar and graduated with First
Class Honours in Mathematics (Bachelor
of Science) in 1963. He then took his PhD
in Mathematics at ANU in Canberra.
Dr Cheong taught mathematics at the
University of Malaya and was an Associate
Professor before leaving the academic
world to join Singapore Airlines in 1974.
He stayed with the airline for 29 years,
eventually becoming the company9s
CEO. In 1998, Fortune named him Asian
Businessman of the Year, noting that
Singapore Airlines had an 8unbroken
27-year record of proûtability through
turbulent economic times.9
His distinguished career includes a
multitude of other corporate positions and
he is the Patron of the Movement for the
Mentally Disabled in Singapore.
He is also a part-time actor, having
starred as a taxi driver in a Singaporean
sitcom, The Yang Sisters.
As keynote speaker at the Golden
Jubilee event, Dr Cheong shared some
reminiscences of his time at the University,
recalling fond memories of inspirational
teachers and fun times at Lincoln
College where he immersed himself
in Australian culture.
