Mavis Khoo-Oei (Singapore Businesswoman)

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Mavis Khoo-Oei
Mavis Khoo.jpg
Born
Mavis Khoo Bee Geok

1947
Spouse(s)Humphrey Oei (b. 1966 - 1999)

Mavis Khoo-Oei (born 1947) is the Chairman of the Goodwood Group of Hotels.[1] She is the daughter of the late Khoo Teck Puat, a prominent banker and hotelier who was once the richest man in Singapore.[2] Mavis Khoo-Oei was also a director at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. In 2019, she appeared on Tatler Singapore’s ‘300 List’, a compilation of the most powerful and influential people in the country.[3]

Background

Mavis Khoo-Oei is a trustee of the estate for her late father, thus making her the manager of his financial assets.[3][4] She appeared in eighth place together with the rest of her family on Forbes' ‘Singapore’s 50 Richest 2020’ list, being worth an estimated $6.3 billion as of October 2020.[5]

Family

Mavis Khoo Bee Geok was born in 1947 in Singapore[6][7] to Rosemarie, a former cabaret girl and Khoo Teck Puat, the founder of Maybank and a prominent hotelier whom Khoo Teck Puat Hospital was named after.[8][9] Speaking to The New Paper in 2004, Mavis Khoo-Oei shared the following about her father:

"He never believed in throwing money away. He was never into splurging and was very practical. He believed in providing good service and a good environment, but not a lavish one."[10]

Mavis Khoo-Oei has six biological siblings and seven half-siblings from her father’s first marriage.[11] She is the oldest child of her father's second marriage. Her biological brother is Eric Khoo,[12] a distinguished filmmaker credited with reviving Singapore’s film industry.[9]

Personal life

In May 1966, Mavis Khoo married Humphrey Oei,[6] a descendant of the Chinese-Indonesian tycoon, Oei Tiong Ham who was reportedly one of the wealthiest people in Southeast Asia in the twentieth century.[13] Mavis Khoo-Oei's husband passed away from colon cancer in 1999.[14][15]

Career

Mavis Khoo-Oei has been the Chairman of the Goodwood Group of Hotels since 2004.[16] She was also a director at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital until 2017.[17]

Goodwood Group of Hotels (1965 - current)

Mavis Khoo-Oei started her career at Goodwood Park Hotel in 1965 where she first worked as a receptionist.[10] In 1978, she was promoted to General Manager and was one of the youngest executives in the region to attain the position at 31 years old.[18] She was also the Deputy Chairman of the hotel until 2004.[19] During the SARS outbreak in 2003, Mavis Khoo-Oei sent food and beverages from Goodwood Park Hotel’s restaurants to healthcare workers around Singapore as a sign of solidarity. Speaking about her generous act in a 2013 Straits Times article, she was quoted as saying:

“I was sad for them and felt I needed to show the hotel’s support.”[20]

After her father’s passing in 2004, Mavis Khoo-Oei was appointed as chairman of the Goodwood Group of Hotels, which owns properties such as the heritage hotel Goodwood Park Hotel and Royal Garden Hotel in London.[3]

Board appointments

The following is a list of board appointments Mavis Khoo-Oei has held over the years.

Year Organisation Role Refs.
2004 - current Goodwood Group of Hotels Chairman [21]
- 2004 Goodwood Park Hotel Deputy Chairman [19]
1978 - 2004 General Manager
- Director [22]
- 2017 Khoo Teck Puat Hospital Director [23]

Philanthropy

An active philanthropist, Mavis Khoo-Oei is an integral part of the Khoo Teck Puat Foundation, which has donated to several causes; particularly in the education, medical research and healthcare sectors.[5][24] Speaking to The Straits Times, she said:

"My father (Khoo Teck Puat) had always set a fine example of helping those in need. I would like to continue his legacy of giving back to society."[25]

In memory of her late husband who passed from colon cancer, Mavis Khoo-Oei donated $20 million to the National Cancer Centre in 2007.[26]

Khoo Teck Puat Foundation

In a 2016 article written by The Straits Times, it was reported that the Khoo Teck Puat Foundation had given over $360 million to charity over the past decade.[27] The Khoo Teck Puat Foundation funded the construction of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH), a general care hospital located in Yishun, Singapore.[28] The foundation has also donated $80 million towards funding medical research at the Duke-NUS Medical School.[12] Its new campus and main facility, the Khoo Teck Puat Building, was opened in September 2009.[27] The estate of Khoo Teck Puat was also credited with funding $50 million towards the Khoo Teck Puat-National University Children’s Medical Institute (KTP-NUCMI), a medical cluster for the National University of Singapore’s dedicated to paediatric research.[29][30]

Mavis Khoo Nursing Leaders Scholarship

Mavis Khoo-Oei at the scholarship launch in 2018. Photo from Facebook.

In 2017, Mavis Khoo-Oei donated $100,000 to KTPH for a nursing scholarship fund.[31] In August 2018, KTPH launched the Mavis Khoo Nursing Leaders Scholarship, an award for well-performing nurses that provides them with further learning opportunities in areas such as leadership and policy studies.[32]

Newsworthy incident

Court case (1990)

In May 1979, Mavis Khoo-Oei allegedly purchased two residential properties at Scotts Road and Cairnhill Road in Singapore as a nominee of Goodwood Park Hotel of which her father, a Malaysian at the time, was a majority shareholder.[22] The purchase of these properties contravened Section 23(1)(a) of the Residential Properties Act, which states: 

No citizen or approved purchaser shall purchase or acquire any estate or interest in any residential property as a nominee of any foreign person with the intention that the citizen or approved purchaser shall hold it in trust for that foreign person.[33]

As such, Mavis Khoo-Oei was charged with two counts of violating the Residential Properties Act in June 1989.[22] In April 1990, she was found guilty and fined $1,000 for the incident.[34]

References/ Citations

  1. ↑ "Our Heritage". Goodwood Park Hotels. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  2. ↑ Pek, Chloe. “4 Singapore Families On Forbes' Asia's Richest Families List 2017”. Tatler Singapore. November 22, 2017. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 “Mavis Khoo-Oei”. Tatler Singapore. n.d. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  4. ↑ Barone, Adam. “Trustee”. Investopedia. August 29, 2020. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 “#8 Khoo family”. Forbes. n.d. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 “Perkahwinan Tuan Humphrey Oei dan Nona Mavis Khoo”. Berita Harian. May 21, 1966. Accessed on 12 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  7. ↑ Koh, Elaine. “Khoo Teck Puat's daughter charged under Residential Properties Act”. Business Times. June 28, 1989. Accessed on 13 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  8. ↑ Shazni, M. “In Forbes' 2016 Asia Rich List, We See Some Prominent Singaporean Families Being Named”. Vulcan Post. November 11, 2016. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Pek, Chloe. “4 Singapore Families On Forbes' Asia's Richest Families List 2017”. Tatler Singapore. November 22, 2017. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Yeo, Edwin. "Be practical and frugal". The New Paper. March 2, 2004. Accessed on 14 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  11. ↑ “Patriarch Khoo calls the shots at home”. Business Times. October 19, 1987. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. "PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG AT OFFICIAL OPENING OF DUKE-NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE". National Archives Singapore. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  13. ↑ Lee, Hwee Hoon. “Oei Tiong Ham”. Infopedia. n.d. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  14. ↑ Tan, Hui Leng. “$20m cancer goodwill from Mrs Khoo-Oei”. TODAY. April 20, 2007. Accessed on 12 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  15. ↑ "884 CONDOLENCES [OBITUARY + ILLUSTRATION]". The Straits Times. February 11, 1999. Accessed on 14 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  16. ↑ “Goodwood Park Names New Head”. The Straits Times. March 2, 2004. Accessed on 12 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  17. ↑ “Annual Report 08/09”. Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. n.d. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  18. ↑ “Goodwood Park Hotel, A 120 Years Of Timeless Elegance”. Goodwood Park Hotel. n.d. Accessed on 13 October 2020.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 “New Goodwood Boss”. The New Paper. March 2, 2004. Accessed on 12 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  20. ↑ “Hotel's support for health workers remembered”. AsiaOne. February 12, 2013. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  21. ↑ “Goodwood Park names Mavis Oei as chairman”. The Business Times. March 2, 2004. Accessed on 12 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Koh, Elaine. “Khoo Teck Puat's daughter charged under Residential Properties Act”. Business Times. June 28, 1989. Accessed on 12 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  23. ↑ “Annual Report 08/09”. Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. n.d. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  24. ↑ Wong Kim Hoh. "Tycoon's gift for better health care". The Straits Times. November 24, 2010. Accessed on 14 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  25. ↑ "Other heroes". The Straits Times. March 4, 2008. Accessed on 14 September 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  26. ↑ Tan, Hui Leng. “$20m cancer goodwill from Mrs Khoo-Oei”. TODAY. April 20, 2007. Accessed on 12 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Tan, Theresa. “Long-time givers: Who's who”. The Straits Times. June 26, 2016. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  28. ↑ “Khoo Teck Puat Hospital”. National Healthcare Group. n.d. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  29. ↑ Choo, Felicia. “New NUH paediatric centre houses all outpatient services for children under one roof”. The Straits Times. January 13, 2019. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  30. ↑ “Khoo Teck Puat – National University Children’s Medical Institute”. National University Hospital. n.d. Accessed on 13 October 2020.
  31. ↑ “Annual Report 2017/2018”. Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. n.d. Accessed on 13 October 2020.
  32. ↑ Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. Facebook. August 2, 2018. Accessed 12 October 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/khooteckpuathospital/photos/a.918854524793782/2046117818734108/?type=3&theater
  33. ↑ Raj, Conrad. “Teck Puat's daughter charged with illegal purchase of properties”. The Straits Times. June 28, 1989. Accessed on 12 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
  34. ↑ “Hotelier's daughter fined for illegal property transactions”. The Straits Times. April 11, 1990. Accessed on 12 October 2020. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
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