A Quest To Remain Evergreen

Timber scion David Yong has grown his family business by grafting new ideas

- Denise Kok

Seven years after the military junta silenced pro-democracy demonstrations in September 1988, Burma – swiftly renamed Myanmar by the reigning dictatorship – found itself in the woods. Battling a suspension of foreign aid, trickling volume of trade and foreign debts of over US$5.5 billion (S$7.8 billion), nothing glittered for this country that was once known as the Golden Land. In the midst of it all, an eight-year-old Singaporean boy stood in the lobby of The Strand Hotel – one of Yangon’s most exclusive addresses or, depending on how you view it, a fading relic of colonial rule – unimpressed by the dust and chaos of a city on the mend. “The sofas were dirty,” recalls David Yong, now 33 and chief executive officer of Evergreen Assets Management, who used to tag along with his father Yong Ing Fatt, 70, on business trips. “Because the infrastructure was so backwards, a five-minute phone call easily cost US$500.” Where the young timber scion saw dirt, the elder Yong saw economic bright spots – long before global investors scurried to get a foot in the door of Myanmar’s long-isolated economy. His role as a commodities trader in the timber division of Intraco Limited, a company set up by the Singapore Government in 1968 to source for raw materials and explore overseas markets, exposed him to the timber eco-system in Myanmar. Armed with knowledge and networks, he left Intraco in 1990 to found Evergreen Teak Trading, where he set his eyes on age-old Burmese teak. Along with jade and ruby, Burmese teak is one of the country’s most prized natural resources. Its golden lustre, durability, naturally water-resistant qualities, and association with the Burmese elite, makes it one of the premium hardwoods available for use in furniture or interiors. It traded at US$615/m3 in 2005 and reached a high of almost US$1,000/m3 in 2014.