Appointment of Singapore's High Commissioner to South Africa

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRESS STATEMENT

APPOINTMENT OF SINGAPORE'S HIGH COMMISSIONER TO SOUTH AFRICA

The Government has appointed Lt Gen (Retd) Winston Choo Wee Leong as High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa, resident in Singapore. Lt Gen (Retd) Winston Choo is concurrently non-resident High Commissioner to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. He will present his credentials to His Excellency Thabo Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa, on 27 July 2001.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
25 JULY 2001

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BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY

Lt Gen (Retd) Winston Choo was born on 18 July 1941 in Singapore and received his Secondary and Pre-University education in Singapore. He enlisted into the Singapore Military Forces in December 1959 and attended the Federation Military College, Malaysia, for officer cadet training. Upon graduation in December 1961, he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Singapore Infantry Regiment.

In the early years of his service, he was assigned various command and regimental duties in the Singapore Infantry Regiment and was deployed for operational duties in East and West Malaysia in 1963 and 1964. In August 1965, he was selected to serve the President of the Republic of Singapore as his Aide-de-Camp.

After serving as a Brigade Commander with the rank of Colonel in 1972, he was posted to the Ministry of Defence where he held several Head of Department appointments before becoming the Chief of the General Staff in 1974. He was promoted to Brigadier-General in 1976, Major General in 1978, and Lieutenant General in 1988. His post was given the new title of Chief of Defence Force in May 1990, and he retired from service in 1992. General Choo went on to serve as Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia and Fiji from March 1994 to June 1997. He is currently Singapore's High Commissioner to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, resident in Singapore.

Prior to assuming his diplomatic post, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Singapore Technologies Pte Ltd from 1984 to 1992. In 1992 he was appointed Chairman of Chartered Industries of Singapore and Deputy Chairman of the Central Provident Fund Board. He held these two appointments until April 1994. He is still a member of the Board of Directors of Keppel-Tat Lee Bank and a member of the National Youth Achievement Award Council. In December 1996, he was appointed Chairman of the Singapore Red Cross Society. In July 1997, he became a member of the Board of Directors of DBS Land Limited and Australand Holdings Limited. In September 1997, he was appointed as a Chairman of Sun Cruises Holdings Pte Ltd. In September 1998, he was appointed Chairman of Burson-Marsteller (S.E.A) Pte Ltd. In March 1999, he was appointed as Director of Keppel FELS Energy & Infrastructure Ltd and in July 1999, he was appointed as Director of Raffles Town Club Pte Ltd.

General Choo attended the Command and General Staff College in Singapore in 1971 and in Fort Leavenworth in the United States of America, in 1972. He obtained a Master of Arts Degree in History at Duke University, United States of America, in 1982. In May 1992, General Choo completed the Advanced Management Programme in Harvard University, United States of America.

During his 33 years of service with the Singapore Armed Forces, General Choo received many distinguished honours and awards, among them the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 1978, Public Administration Medal (Gold)(Military) in 1981, and the Meritorious Service Medal (Military) in 1990 from the Singapore Government. He is also a recipient of awards from all ASEAN countries, United States of America, Republic of Korea, Republic of China and France.

General Choo is married to the former Katherine Seow and has two children, a daughter and a son.

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Nov 2000