Gregory Yong

Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean (20 May 1925 – 28 June 2008) was a Singaporean Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Singapore from 1977 to 2000.

Early life Yong was born into a Malaysian Chinese family of Hakka descent in Taiping, and received his education in St. George's Institution in Taiping as well as St. Michael's Institution in Ipoh, Malaya. He was an exceptional boy, and liked to role-play as a priest and pretend to say mass in his games.

Priesthood In January 1941, Yong entered the Minor seminary and in 1944 graduated to the Major Seminary. He was officially ordained in 1951

Yong retired on 14 October 2000 as he reached the mandatory retirement age for archbishop.

Personal life Yong's last public appearance was in May 2004, when he was summoned as a prosecution witness in the trial of Catholic priest Joachim Kang, who was convicted and jailed for misappropriation of S$5.1 million in church funds. During the court appearances, Yong appeared to be frail and needed help walking and occasional breaks during his testimonies.