Singapore’s 40 richest are collectively worth US$59.4 billion, up 9 percent from US$54.4 billion last year, according to the latest Singapore Rich List published by Forbes Asia.

Robert and Philip Ng, sons of the late Far East Organisation’s founder Ng Teng Fong, top the list with an estimated net worth of US$9.2 billion (RM22.08 billion), up US$300 (RM720 million) million from last year’s US$8.9 billion (RM21.36 billion).

Far East Organisation, together with its Hong Kong-based sister company Sino Group, is one of Asia’s largest real estate groups with a combined annual turnover of US$5.5 billion (RM13.2 billion).

The family of the late banker Khoo Teck Puat who left his fortune to his 14 children in 2004, a family that still controls the Goodwood Group of Hotels in Singapore but sold their stake in Standard Chartered Bank in 2006 for an estimated US$4 billion (RM9.6 billion), remains at the number two spot with US$6.7 billion (RM16.08 billion).

United Overseas Bank (UOB) chairperson Wee Cho Yaw came in third with a fortune of US$4.7 billion (RM11.28 billion), up 12 percent from 2011 and boosted his stake in property developer UOL.

There are eight newcomers to the list this year, among them - Eduardo Saverin, the 30-year old Facebook co-founder at No 8 with a net worth of US$2.2 billion (RM5.28 billion).

Other new members include property magnates, Raj Kumar and his son, Kishin RK, at No 11 with US$1.5 billion (RM3.6 billion), and Asok Kumar Hiranandani, Raj Kumar’s brother, at No 19 with US$910 million (RM2.18 billion).

India-born Bhupendra Kumar Modi, now a Singapore citizen who controls Spice Group which has revenue of US$2 billion (RM4.8 billion) with interests in mobile devices, entertainment and financial services, debuts at No 23 with US$755 million (RM1.81 billion).     

Another newcomer, Lim Hock Chee, ranked No 35 with US$345 million (RM828 million), is the son of a pig farmer who started out in 1985 with a stall selling pork but today, his publicly-listed Sheng Siong is a 26-store supermarket chain and Singapore’s third-largest food retailer.

Others who made their debut on this year’s list include Hotel 81’s boss Choo Chong Ngen (US$690 million, ranked No 25), hotelier Michael Kum (US$670 million, ranked No 26) and Satinder Garcha (US$315 million, ranked No 37).

A common theme among Singapore’s richest is their support of education.

Philip Ng, who is also chairperson of the newly-opened Singapore University of Technology and Design, raised US$10 million (RM24 million) for scholarships in less than two hours at an opening of the university.

- Bernama