Businessman George Goh: 5 things to know about the Singapore presidential hopeful

SINGAPORE — Singapore's upcoming presidential election is heating up, with businessman George Goh Ching Wah becoming the second person to announce his intention to contest after Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

As the group executive chairman of SGX-listed Ossia International, Goh's business career spans over four decades. Goh has emphasised that he is an "independent candidate" with good business acumen and credentials as reasons for his suitability in taking up the role of president.

Here are five things to know about Goh:

1. He was a poor kampung boy

Goh was born in 1959 and grew up in a village, or kampung, in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. He was the seventh of nine children, but his parents had to give away two sisters as they could not afford to raise them, and a sibling died at four weeks old as his family had no money for medical help.

"At 16, I wondered if my family would get out of poverty," Goh wrote on his website.

2. He started his first business at 22 years old

After making the decision to drop out of school, Goh travelled to Singapore and found work as a sweeper in a shoe-manufacturing factory to support his family.

He began learning the skills of shoe-making and started his first business in 1982 at the age of 22 with a capital of S$5,000. Goh said that he pooled together money from his sister and one of his brothers as well as his own savings to start the shoe manufacturing business.

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3. He has incorporated over 100 companies

Over the next 40 years as an entrepreneur, Goh said he has incorporated and invested in over 100 companies across multiple industries, diversifying into property development, fund management, hotel and resorts, water and wastewater treatment, the Internet and technology investments, management of property funds, B2B directory and magazine publication.

His company Ossia International is an investment holding company that imports, distributes, and retails apparel, sporting goods, footwear, accessories, bags, and golf products primarily in Taiwan. He also owns the sports retail chain World of Sports and has a stake in Harvey Norman Ossia, the company that holds the right to import and sell Harvey Norman products in Singapore and Malaysia.

On his website, Goh stated that the businesses he owns span across 14 countries including Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Japan, New Zealand, India, and the US. Goh has owned seven publicly listed companies listed on various stock exchanges from Singapore to Australia and the United Kingdom with a collective market capitalisation of about S$3.15 billion.

4. He is a philanthropist

In 2015, Goh and his wife Lysa co-founded Border Mission Charitable Foundation, a self-funded charity organisation. The organisation provides care and help to isolated and poor communities in Singapore and the Himalayas through the provision of educational, medical and community care outreach.

The organisation also partners with centres that serve people with disabilities to meet their specific living needs and to empower para-athletes. In addition, the organisation assists elderly cardboard collectors to earn a better living by providing better trolleys and advocating for better prices for their collected items through the Urban Recyclers Project.

5. He was Singapore's ambassador to Morocco

Goh was appointed as Singapore's non-resident ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco in 2017. He served for two terms until his resignation in June 2023.

During his term, Goh set up the Honorary Consulate-General office in Casablanca. Together with his counterpart Ouadia Benabdellah, he set up the Moroccan Chamber of Commerce in Singapore to facilitate investments and connect businesses in both countries.

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