Lennard Yeong
Lennard Yeong Woo Wai (3 October 1987) is a culinary chef best known for being a finalist on Masterchef Asia. He is currently an in-house chef for the German household appliance manufacturer, Miele and is based in Singapore. As of May 2023, Lennard Yeong has amassed 225,000 followers on Instagram and over 998,700 followers on TikTok.
Lennard Yeong. Photo from Instagram.
Background
Personal life & family
Lennard Yeong is of Cantonese-Teochew descent and has a sister named Charlene, who is a Senior Manager at Mandai Nature. On 11 March 2023, Lennard married legal associate Ann Louise Chia.
Lennard Yeong pictured with his wife, Ann. Photo from Instagram.
Education
Lennard was an alumni of St. Joseph’s Institution.[3] Later on, he went on to graduate from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2011, with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Mechanical Engineering.[3]
Career
Jurong Shipyard (2012 to 2015)
Project Engineer (2012 to 2013)
Lennard Yeong first joined Jurong Shipyard in 2012 and worked in the project management department for ship repair.[3] He led multiple teams, including mechanical, electrical, piping, and ducting.
Design Engineer (2013 to 2014)
In 2013, Lennard was promoted to Design Engineer and was involved in the creation of the mechanical layout of the Noble Lloyd Noble, the world's largest drilling jack-up rig.[3]
Sales Executive (2014 to 2015)
In 2014, Lennard transitioned to work with the sales team, securing the Hereema contract to build the world's largest semi-submersible crane vessel, a contract worth USD1 billion.[3] He was also responsible for hosting and liaising with key stakeholders and clients.
Masterchef Asia (2015)
From May to December 2015, Lennard represented Singapore in Masterchef Asia, where he was up against contestants from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
BOMAG GmbH (2016 to 2017)
Was a Service Engineer who oversaw operations in APAC, including conducting service training for dealers on the various types of machinery in the Bomag product range, to provide technical support for the machines, or to commission new equipment.
Content creator (2015 to Present)
Lennard Yeong regularly posts fun “Will It Waffle” challenges and cooking tutorials on his social media pages.[4][5] Some of his most popular clips and recipes have gone up to over half a million views. In fact, content creation has become a source of additional income for Lennard.
“I used to do a lot of intricate plating and the pictures would get reposted on websites such as The Art Of Plating, which helped with my following. I earned almost nothing when I was working in the kitchens, so I was grateful to have a side income through IG.” Lennard Yeong on content creation as a chef.
The chef also shared that while he was initially overwhelmed by the work that is put into running his social media accounts, the pandemic gave him the opportunity to rekindle his passion for content creation. In fact, he realised that being a culinary inspiration to others was “really what drives [him] now”.[12]
A screenshot of one of Lennard Yeong’s many Instagram Reels and TikToks. Photo from Instagram.
Miele Singapore (2018 to Present)
After 2 years at BOMAG GmbH, Lennard decided to leave his job as a mechanical engineer and instead transition into a culinary career. Thereafter, he went on to work as a part-time chef at various restaurants before coming across the opportunity to work at Miele.
“I was in engineering for three years, quit to do the show, then went back for another two years. After leaving the industry, I worked part-time in restaurant kitchens, and it was only nine months later that I took up the job at my current company.” Lennard Yeong on his experiences in the culinary world before Miele.
In 2018, he began working as an in-house chef for German manufacturer Miele in Singapore.[2] Since then, he has been holding cooking classes and cooking for Miele’s private events, as well as formulating new recipes for the brand.[2][6]
“I went overseas to study when I was 17. I felt like engineering was a safe choice, and it was, but after I started working in the field I realised I didn’t really enjoy it. The only thing I looked forward to was the weekends because I would cook.” Lennard Yeong on why he decided to make the switch in his career.[11]
Media coverage
Finalist of Masterchef Asia (2021 to 2022)
Although Lennard Yeong took part in Masterchef Asia in 2015, he was featured by several local media outlets for this particular experience later on. Between 2021 to 2022, Lennard sat down for an interview with HungryGoWhere, Harper’s Bazaar, TimeOut, and Her World.[6][12][11]
Collaboration with Yakiniku-GO (2023)
In April 2023, Lennard partnered with Yakiniku-GO to release a special menu that would last from April to July. The menu will offer two types of meat, pork and beef. Some of its most premium components include wagyu-fat tossed rice and Yuzu Kosho Ponzu.
Here are the main dishes that were promoted:[14] Double Dragon Pork Set (S$19.80) Double Dragon Beef Set (S$20.80) Beef Bomb Set (S$22.80) Pork Bomb Set (S$21.80).
“I have so many memories from eating Yakiniku in Japan, and that is why I’ve taken on the challenge to create this special menu with Chef Yoshida San from Yakiniku-GO.” Lennard Yeong on the inspiration behind his project with Yakiniku-GO.