Chong Huai Seng
Mr Chong has been acquiring fine art and collectibles for the past forty years. Drawing on a deep love and passion for art, he acquires art from across the world; using art as a bridge and platform to meet new people, and to connect and understand different cultures and societies around the world.
Mr Chong’s approach to art collecting is greatly influenced by his early career as a stockbroker and investment manager. He is interested in identifying young talents, and has invested much of his time and resources to building a network of artists, galleries, specialists and advisers who would help him spot the star artists of the future. Besides investing in artists, Mr Chong is an active angel investor in Singapore, investing in B2C lifestyle platforms such as The Artling and Ox Street (which was acquired by Carousell in 2021).
His frequent visits to China in the early 2000s sparked an interest in Chinese art, especially Chinese contemporary ink. In 2003, Mr Chong founded The China Art Foundation to promote Chinese contemporary ink artists. In 2004, he supported and helped organise a major ink exhibition called “Xin Xie Yi”《 新写意》held at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. The exhibition, which was curated by Mr Liu Xiaochun, Researcher at the Chinese Art Research Institute, showcased twenty-five artists and attracted over 50,000 visitors. The exhibition was considered to be a significant event in the Chinese art community; it played a part in profiling some of today’s renowned Chinese ink artists such as Wucius Wong, Tian Liming, Li Jin, Nan Qi, Chao Hai, Liu QingHe, Peng Wei, Jia Youfu and Tan Swie Hian. Chong continues to support ink artists from China whilst also collecting works in other medium by contemporary Chinese artists.
Based in Singapore, Mr Chong was the Managing Director of Vickers Da Costa Securities (1984 – 1988) and John Govett Asia (1988 – 1993), both premier London-based investment institutions involved in stockbroking and fund management respectively.
By the mid-1990s, Mr Chong left the investment banking industry and became involved in media and publishing where he was the Vice-Chairman and major shareholder of Singapore-listed company Panpac Media, a major publisher of magazines in Singapore and Malaysia. He also founded Smart Investor, one of the first homegrown magazines with a focus on finance and local businesses, as its Chairman and publisher. In 2003, he exited from Panpac Media and became a private investor, investing in young companies in Chongqing, China and supporting start-ups in the digital economy.
Currently, Mr Chong is the adviser to The Culture Story and drives the business development for Family Office For Art with his daughter Ning. Together they collect art for their personal collection, with a special interest in abstract and figurative art by young and mid-career artists, contemporary street art by international artists, and NFTs.
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