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Lucien Wong

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The Honourable
Lucien Wong
SC
黄鲁胜
9th Attorney-General of Singapore
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 January 2017
Appointed byTony Tan
DeputyTan Siong Thye (2015-2017)
Lionel Yee
Hri Kumar Nair (2017-2023)
Tai Wei Shyong
Ang Cheng Hock
Goh Yihan
Preceded byV. K. Rajah
Deputy Attorney-General of Singapore
In office
19 December 2016 – 13 January 2017
Appointed byTony Tan
Personal details
Born1953 (age 70–71)
Colony of Singapore
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Singapore (LLB)
In this Chinese name, the family name is Wong.
Lucien Wong
Simplified Chinese黄鲁胜
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHuáng Lǔshèng

Lucien Wong Yuen Kuai SC (born October 1953)[1][2] is a Singaporean lawyer who has been serving as the ninth attorney-general of Singapore since 2017.

A former corporate lawyer, Wong was the chairman and a senior partner of Allen & Gledhill, as well as the chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.[3]

Education

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Wong graduated from the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1978.[4] He topped his final-year class.[5]

Career

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Private practice

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Wong was called to the Singapore Bar in 1979.[4] He started as a legal assistant in Drew & Napier in 1980, becoming a partner in 1982.[6] He then moved to Allen & Gledhill, where he was a partner from 1987 to 1998,[6] before being appointed managing partner from 1998 to 2012, then chairman and senior partner.[5][6] As a corporate lawyer for over three decades, he specialised in banking, corporate and financial services law.[7] He also sat on law review committees, reviewing amendments to Singaporean company and securities law.[7] As the personal lawyer of Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore, Wong represented him during the dispute with his siblings over Lee Kuan Yew's Oxley Road estate.[8]

Public service

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On 25 November 2016, the Prime Minister's Office announced Wong's appointment as Attorney-General.[4][9] Wong would be Singapore's first Attorney-General without prior experience on the Bench nor in the Attorney-General's Chambers. Human rights lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam, who was later brought to Court by Wong, as Attorney-General, for scandalising the judiciary,[10] said Wong’s lack of Bench and criminal law experience will have little bearing “because he is a top lawyer, one of the best”. He added: “He is a very highly regarded and respected lawyer who has been in practice for a very long time ... For criminal law, he will pick it up very fast. Generally, he has led one of Singapore’s most successful firms".[11] Law Society president Thio Shen Yi described him as a "well-known corporate visionary" and Senior Counsel Lok Vi Ming said he had "few equals in the legal profession".[5] Parliament also debated his age, as he would be 63 or three years older than the retiring V K Rajah when appointed; however, Law Minister K Shanmugam said that the appointment, being for a specified term, was "in accordance with Article 35 of the Constitution".[12]

As a "transitional arrangement", Wong was appointed on 19 December 2016 as a Deputy Attorney-General and a Senior Counsel.[4]

In 2017, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), an opposition political party in Singapore, wrote in to the President of Singapore, Tony Tan, urging him to revoke Wong's position as the Attorney-General as he had refused to look into Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang's allegations that Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, had abused his powers and made false statements in Parliament. The SDP said that the association of Wong with Lee Hsien Loong prior to his becoming the Attorney-General has created an acute conflict of interest which cannot be ignored and any further delay or refusal to act will cause even greater erosion of confidence in Singapore's public institutions. The Prime Minister, however, had stated that the President had been informed of the connection between him and the appointed AG, and had no issues with it.[13]

On 14 January 2017, he commenced his first three-year term as Singapore's ninth Attorney-General, succeeding V K Rajah.[6] He was re-appointed for his second three-year term commencing on 14 January 2020 until 2023. On 26 September 2022, it was announced that Wong will be appointed for his third three-year term as Attorney General beginning on 14 January 2023 until 2026. [14]

Professional appointments

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Wong speaking at the 2024 Commencement for Yong Pung How School of Law

Prior to his appointment as Attorney-General, Wong was the chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. He was also a member of the Singapore Business Federation's board of trustees and director of Broadcom Limited, Singapore Health Services, Cerebos Pacific Limited, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Temasek Holdings, Singapore Press Holdings, Hap Seng Plantations, Singapore Airlines, Monetary Authority of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Capitaland and other companies.[6][15][16][17]

Wong is currently a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights[6] and was the former chairman of the Singapore Management University School of Law's advisory board.[18]

Personal life

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Wong is married and has a son, Paul Wong.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "Yuen Kuai Lucien WONG personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  2. ^ Ming, Chuang Peck. "Lucien Wong named the next Attorney-General". The Business Times.
  3. ^ "Executive Profile - Yuen Kuai Wong". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d "Our Leadership". Attorney-General's Chambers. 2017.
  5. ^ a b c Cheong, Danson (26 November 2016). "New Attorney-General Lucien Wong offers fresh perspective, say lawyers". The Straits Times. Singapore.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Veteran lawyer Lucien Wong appointed Attorney-General". Channel NewsAsia. Singapore. 16 January 2017.
  7. ^ a b Ng, Kelly (25 November 2016). "Top corporate law honcho Lucien Wong is next Attorney-General". Today. Singapore.
  8. ^ "Potential conflict of interest of AGC a matter of concern: Sylvia Lim". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  9. ^ "Appointment of Attorney-General and Deputy Attorney-General". Prime Minister's Office. 25 November 2016.
  10. ^ "Lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam fined S$6,000 for contempt of court over Facebook post". Channel NewsAsia.
  11. ^ "Top corporate law honcho Lucien Wong is next Attorney-General". www.todayonline.com.
  12. ^ Yong, Charissa (11 January 2017). "Exchange over A-G's appointment age". The Straits Times. Singapore.
  13. ^ "SDP urges President Tony Tan to revoke Lucien Wong's appointment as Attorney General". The Online Citizen. July 25, 2017.
  14. ^ "New deputy attorney-general appointed; Hri Kumar to become High Court judge". CNA.
  15. ^ "CV - Annex 1" (PDF). Monetary Authority of Singapore. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  16. ^ "Attachment 1 - Announcement Of Resignation Of Director (Mr Lucien Wong Yuen Kuai)LUCIEN" (PDF). Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  17. ^ "Appointment Of Director". CapitaLand Limited. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  18. ^ "Advisory Board Chairman". SMU School of Law. 6 March 2017.
  19. ^ Tai, Janice (3 March 2017). "Paul Wong: Hotshot Lawyer to Devoted Campus Pastor". YMI.
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