Fong Chi Chung (; born 1968) is the

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

, owner and current

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Putien Holdings Singapore, the parent company behind the successful and popular Putien restaurant branches, which serves authentic Heng Hwa cuisine.

Biography

Early life

Fong was born in 1968 in the

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, to two local primary school educators. In his youth, Fong studied at schools in China, pursuing a diploma in the

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

prior to moving to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

with his family in the year 2000, originally to set up a factory selling electronic parts with his brothers.

Education

Fong has a China diploma in Arts. In 2010, he enrolled in the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

's Asia Pacific Executive Master's in Business Administration course. He is set to graduate in July, 2012.

Career

Fong established an electronics parts-selling business in Singapore in 2000 with his brothers, but after a few months, he left the business behind to set up a small coffee shop named "Putien" in Kitchener Road,

Jalan Besar Jalan Besar (; literally "Large Road" in Malay, but taken to mean "Main Road") is a one-way road in Singapore, connecting Lavender Street in Kallang and Rochor Canal Road in Rochor Rochor is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area locate ...

, Singapore.Jing Wen, Chen (April 23, 2012
Pu Tien's coastal cuisine is awash with delicious flavours
So Shiok. Retrieved June 27, 2012. The reason for his decision was that he had started to miss the home-style cuisine from his hometown in

Putian Putian or Putien (, Putian dialect: ''Pó-chéng''), also known as Puyang (莆阳) and Puxian (莆仙), historically known as Xinghua or Hing Hwa (), is a prefecture-level city in eastern Fujian province, China. It borders Fuzhou City to the nor ...

, Fujian. In an interview with Singapore

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

my paper ''My Paper'' () was a free, bilingual (English and Chinese) newspaper in Singapore published by the Singapore Press Holdings. It is published from Mondays to Fridays, excluding public holidays; and an electronic copy of the print edition is publ ...

'', Fong stated, "I could not find a place that could satisfy my cravings and revive my memories of home." Putien now has nine outlets nationwide in Singapore, six in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

and one in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Fong now has plans to further expand to Mainland China,

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and to set up 15 new restaurants in Singapore.

Personal life

Citizenship

Fong was once a Chinese citizen, but was granted Singapore citizenship in 2008.Victoria Barker (June 26, 2012) "''Craving for home-style food pays off''" my paper, pg A14. Retrieved June 27, 2012. In 2009, Fong was featured in a public event for new immigrants with then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at the launch of Lianhe Zaobao's new feature section, Crossroads.Thank you, Mr Lee, say new immigrants
The Straits Times. Retrieved January 28, 2013.

Marital status

Fong is married to Lau Ying, who is now the director of Putien. They have two children, Fong Chak Wai, 18, and Fong Chak Ka, 20.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fong, Chi Chung 1968 births Singaporean chief executives Singaporean people of Henghua descent Chinese emigrants to Singapore Living people