Who is Catherine Wu? Taiwanese music star the 'eyes and ears' of Kwek Leng Beng

SINGAPORE — The mood in the hotel ballroom turned awkward when Catherine Wu walked in.

At a major function organised by property group City Developments Limited (CDL) in 2024 was Cecilia Kwek, wife of Kwek Leng Beng, the octogenarian executive chairman of CDL with whom Wu is said to have "a long relationship". 

Those close to the Kweks watched uncomfortably as Wu, 65, went around greeting and shaking hands with guests and dignitaries, including government officials.

Sources close to the property group tell The Straits Times that Wu started stepping up her profile in the public arena in recent years, "appearing at events where Cecilia Kwek is present too".

Wu has been thrown into the spotlight this week in a high-profile boardroom tussle at CDL between the father and the elder son.

Sherman Kwek, the son who is CDL's chief executive officer, said Wu is the reason for the rift between his father and CDL's majority board of directors, including him.

Kwek Leng Beng, 84, does not have full control over the Kwek family's stake in CDL. The family's privately held Hong Leong Group owns about half of CDL, with Kwek Leng Beng at the helm. 

The younger man stressed on Feb 27 that there was no attempt by him and the other directors to oust Kwek Leng Beng, once dubbed "Kwek Land Bank" for the land parcels CDL owns across Singapore.

"The primary reason for the dispute relates to a very serious issue of corporate governance within the CDL Group arising from the conduct of one Dr Catherine Wu," he said.

She had served as a director at Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), the hotel arm of Kwek Leng Beng's business empire.

Her service was terminated in January 2024, but she returned to M&C's board as an adviser seven months later.

Sherman Kwek, 49, said she has been "interfering in matters going well beyond her scope, and she wields and exercises enormous influence".

"Due to her long relationship with the chairman, efforts that were made to manage the situation were done sensitively, but to no avail," he said.

The pair have known each other for 33 years. Wu, who is single, has said that she first met Kwek Leng Beng in Taiwan in 1992 at a dinner party, and moved to Singapore that year.

"The pianist", as she is referred to internally according to the grapevine, is from Taiwan. Her parents sent her to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the United States when she was 15 years old.

She obtained a master's degree in piano performance from The Juilliard School in 1982 and a doctorate from New York University. 

After earning her PhD and living in the US for 15 years, she returned to Taiwan and released several music albums, hosted a well-known music TV programme, as well as presented the 1997 Golden Melody awards.

Wu was mentioned in a 2017 suit filed in London by a hotel executive against Copthorne Hotels for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination. 

Tan Chee Hwee, who described himself as Chinese Singaporean by ethnicity and gay by sexual orientation, worked at Kensington's Gloucester Millennium Hotel as senior vice-president of global procurement before he was made redundant on Feb 12, 2017.

Court papers said Wu was "the personal assistant" to the chairman. She was not an employee nor a consultant. She is paid by the chairman and not by Copthorne.

"Dr Wu assists the chairman. Due to his age (then in his 70s) she acts as his 'eyes and ears' on the ground," according to the document. 

"Dr Wu travels to... properties across the world, sometimes with the chairman and sometimes alone; the cost of her travel is paid by the chairman and not the company," the court papers added.

Dr Wu is a fan of English actor Benedict Cumberbatch, documents revealed. She went with Tan to watch The Graham Norton Show when the actor was a guest on the talk show. 

The two often texted one another over WhatsApp, speculating on which male film stars might be gay.

The tribunal eventually dismissed Tan's claims in 2018 and ordered him to pay £432,001 (S$734,200) in costs. 

In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao last year, Wu said that over the past three decades, she had accompanied Kwek Leng Beng to various hotels of the group to attend meetings and inspections, look at model rooms, supervise decorations and have meals.  

However, it is known that Cecilia Kwek, whose age has not been made public, has a flair for music and art, and does interior decoration as a hobby. 

In 1996, Kwek Leng Beng said he valued his wife's opinion, especially when it comes to the softer aspects of his business, such as the renovation of his hotels.

Wu is more recently secretary-general of GeekCon International, an initiative of Dark Navy, an independent security research institute. In May 2024, she introduced the GeekCon cyber-security competition and conference to Singapore. Kwek Leng Beng fully supported this cause and serves as an honorary consultant for GeekCon.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.