David Yong

David Yong
Born	1987
Education	Bachelor of Law
Alma mater	University of Bristol

David Yong (born 1987) is a Singaporean lawyer, businessman and musical artiste currently based in South Korea.

Background

Early life & family

David Yongwas born in 1987 in Singapore. Not much is publicly known about his family, other than his father being the founder of Evergreen Group Holdings, which Yong now helms as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Education

Throughout his schooling years, Yong has lived in China, South Korea and the United Kingdom. He has taken business administration programmes in Peking University (2010 - 2011) and Seoul National University, before enrolling in the United Kingdom’s University of Bristol in 2011. There, he studied law and graduated with second upper-class honours in 2014.

Career

Evergreen Group Holdings (2012 - Present)

Evergreen Group Holdings (then known as Evergreen Teak Asia) was founded by David Yong’s father in Singapore in the 1990s. The company first started out as a small business processing and trading timber, but slowly grew into a multi-national enterprise across 30 years. They have acquired and assisted in managing businesses in the lifestyle, food and beverage, automotive and real estate industries in countries like South Korea, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Yong currently holds the position of CEO in the company, and is the Director of their holding company Evergreen Assets Management.

YSL Legal LLP (2020 - Present)

After graduating from law school at the University of Bristol, Yong was called to the Singapore Bar in October 2014. Yong was a partner at a mid-sized law firm before becoming a Managing Partner at YSL Legal in 2020.

He currently leads YSL’s private client services, although his areas of expertise include but are not limited to personal injury, insurance claims and civil and criminal litigation.

Musical artiste (2021 - Present)

David Yong first became interested in K-pop after he accompanied younger brother to see girl group Twice in concert in 2017. In May of 2021, he moved to South Korea to pursue a music career.

School 2021 OST

On 25 November 2021, Yong released "My Way", a collaboration with South Korean R&B group 4MEN, as part of the original soundtrack (OST) for the Korean drama School 2021. The track was produced by Yun Min Soo. The song was also part of the OST for Jack Neo's "Ah Girls Go Army".

Official debut (2022)

David Yong made his official solo debut on 8 July 2022 with the single "In My Pocket", a hip hop-inspired track featuring South Korean rapper Kid Milli. The music video for the track has racked up 10 million views as of October 2022.

RBW Entertainment exclusive artiste (2022)

David (left) signing his exclusive contract with RBW Entertainment. Photo from Instagram.

On 24 August 2022, David Yong revealed in an Instagram post that he had signed an exclusive contract with South Korea’s RBW Entertainment. Said entertainment company is home to girl groups Mamamoo and Purple Kiss, as well as boy groups Vromance, Oneus and Onewe.

Media coverage

The Straits Times

In September of 2022, Yong was interviewed by The Straits Times, where he talked about juggling three full-time jobs at once and what he wants to do in the future.

“I’m looking at releasing more music and making variety show appearances on Korean broadcasting networks as well. It would be a full schedule. I commit about three to four days a week now to vocal and dance lessons, which still gives me time left over in the week to attend my business meetings.”

He also states that his end goal is not to be an idol, but to be someone who can co-create with fellow artists and apply different mindsets and practices of the industry across businesses in Southeast Asia.

“I’m not trying to be an idol, not looking to get super famous or compete with other K-pop artistes. My aim is to co-create with them and expand my network of partners. I want to know the good practices of K-pop so I can apply it across the region successfully. It’s hard to do entertainment from the outside. It helps to do it from the inside and understand it through the lens of an artiste, rather than just an entrepreneur, so you can efficiently communicate with the talents.”

When asked about those calling him “cringe”, he said,

“There will always be naysayers so I just take it with a pinch of salt and move forward knowing that my goal is bigger than myself.”

Mothership

In early October, Mothership spoke to Yong about his K-pop training centre that he has planned to open in 2023. He expressed that his lifestyle change – because of his training – had actually made him healthier, and he wants to bring this experience back to local K-pop star hopefuls.

“After signing on as a professional artiste, my whole lifestyle has become more disciplined and regulated [because] I have a schedule to follow. I have to prepare for filming, recording sessions and practice sessions. So I think it's done me a lot of good, also because we have a professional team that takes care of my well-being, dietary requirements and exercise routines."

Yong also says that although this training centre aims to ensure that audition hopefuls are at least “at the bare minimum standard”, he does not want his potential students to give up their studies in pursuit of their dreams. Instead, he wants them to be all-rounders.

"For the young generation, they shouldn't limit themselves to having [just] one pursuit in life. They should open themselves up to more opportunities that might come along the way rather than just having one goal in mind [...] and who knows, it might even do better for them."

Noteworthy happenings

"In My Pocket" Dance Challenge

To promote his song, "In My Pocket", Yong came up with the In My Pocket Dance Challenge. His YouTube features a smattering of YouTube shorts of him partaking in the challenge with other K-pop idols such as MAMAMOO's MoonByul and Purple Kiss' DOSIE and GOEUN.