{"id":1489,"date":"2025-08-26T15:12:38","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T07:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/?post_type=product&p=1489"},"modified":"2026-05-12T18:09:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T10:09:44","slug":"strictly-business-the-kwek-leng-beng-story","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/product\/strictly-business-the-kwek-leng-beng-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Strictly Business: The Kwek Leng Beng Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Peh is a Singapore Literature Prize-winning author and journalist. He is the author of numerous bestsellers, including\u00a0Neither Civil Nor Servant, The Last Fools, and The First Fools.<\/i>\u00a0He also wrote a pair of authorised biographies on former Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong:\u00a0Tall Order<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Standing Tall<\/i>. His maiden solo title\u00a0When The Party Ends\u00a0<\/i>won the\u00a0SIngapore Literature Prize for its gripping on-the-ground reportage of ethnic riots, natural disasters, and political\u00a0upheavals. In addition, he has four picture books, including\u00a0Panjang<\/i>\u00a0which was shortlisted for the Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award and\u00a0Ready, Kueh Set, Go!<\/i>\u00a0which won the Singapore Book Awards in 2026. His books are repeated winners of the Popular Readers’ Choice Awards. He is a regular commentator on Singapore and China affairs, and was The Straits Times\u2019 news editor and China bureau chief. He is a political science graduate of the National University of Singapore and Columbia University in New York.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISBN: 978-981-12-8448-9 (Hardcover), 978-981-12-8451-9 (Softcover)
\nPage Count: 300
\nYear Published: 2023
\nAuthor: Peh Shing Huei
\nPublisher: World Scientific Publishing & The Nutgraf Books
\nDimensions: 15.75 \u00d7 23 \u00d7 3.3 cm
\nFormat: Hardcover, Softcover<\/p>\n

For the first time, the legendary dealmaker opens up on his six decades of breakthroughs in sectors ranging from real estate to hospitality, from finance to manufacturing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just who the heck is Kwek? Kwek Leng Beng may be one of Singapore\u2019s most successful businessmen, but he is also among the country\u2019s most enigmatic. While his companies and brands are blue-chip counters and household names, the man has steadfastly remained reticent and at times mysterious.<\/p>\n

Few know that he owns a global hotel empire across five continents or had the measure of Donald Trump in New York. Even in Singapore, many have only a faint inkling that he had a hand in the iconic architectures that dot the Marina Bay skyline, from The Sail to The South Beach, and also Marina Bay Sands.<\/p>\n

In the hands of bestselling author and journalist Peh Shing Huei, the first authorised biography of Kwek offers:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • The secrets behind the straight-talking business leader\u2019s success over six decades of breakthroughs<\/li>\n
  • Rare access and insights into Kwek\u2019s idiosyncrasies and personal principles<\/li>\n
  • A look into his tormented relationship with his father and his plans for succession<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Strictly Business: The Kwek Leng Beng Story<\/em>\u00a0is a rare private sector addition to Singapore literature, one hitherto dominated by politics and government. Most importantly, it finally takes a stab at answering the question: \u201cJust who the heck is Kwek?\u201d<\/p>\n

    Behind the Book<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Telling the story of this maverick businessman was no mean feat. Kwek lived up to his reputation as a man of few words. It is why, despite hours of conversation, six interviews between Peh, our team, and Kwek in his office in Republic Plaza and the opulent presidential suits at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront and the St. Regis Singapore were hardly enough. Anything that was not strictly business was hardly worth talking about. Small talk? Get out.<\/p>\n

    To fill in the gaps, Peh spoke to nearly 30 of Kwek\u2019s business associates, colleagues, family members, and his few friends. These were supplemented by months of research from books, newspaper articles, and company annual reports.<\/p>\n

    Just like how he had to get creative with his sources of information, he also plays with form in this authorised biography, breaking with conventional prose in certain chapters to present the narrative in interesting listicles and even song lyrics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[15],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1489","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-general","8":"first","9":"instock","10":"taxable","11":"shipping-taxable","12":"purchasable","13":"product-type-variable"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/1489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1489"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/1489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5100,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/1489\/revisions\/5100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=1489"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=1489"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/nutgraf.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=1489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}