SINGAPORE – Mr Goh Cheng Liang, the richest Singaporean according to Forbes’ annual list of global billionaires in 2025, has died at the age of 98.

The founder of paint and coatings company Wuthelam Group “passed away this morning with family members by his side”, according to a statement from his family on Aug 12.

Mr Goh held a majority stake in Japan’s Nippon Paint Holdings and had an estimated net worth of US$13 billion (S$16.7 billion), according to Forbes.

Growing up in poverty, Mr Goh spent the first 12 years of his life in a shophouse in River Valley Road, squeezing into a $3-a-month rented room with his parents, three sisters and a brother.

When World War II broke out, his parents sent him to Muar in Johor, where he helped his brother-in-law sell fishing nets before returning to Singapore in 1943.

Business ventures

Mr Goh then started a business selling aerated water. It failed, and he found work at a hardware store.

In 1949, when the British army auctioned off war supplies, he bought barrels of paint from them on the cheap. Armed with a Chinese dictionary on chemicals, he got down to mixing colours and adding solvents and created his own Pigeon Brand paints.

In 1950, the Korean War started. With imports severely restricted, his paint business boomed. He later grew his business into a partnership with Nippon Paint after being approached by the Japanese paint manufacturer to be its distributor.

In 1974, he founded Wuthelam Holdings and built it into a global conglomerate. Wuthelam now owns nearly 60 per cent of the Tokyo-listed Nippon Paint.

The Goh family’s other ventures included the former Liang Court and Mount Elizabeth Hospital, both of which Mr Goh developed and later sold.

In a rare interview with The Business Times in 1997, Mr Goh said he was better suited to running a private company than a public one. “My personal philosophy is I never want to go public,” he said. “First, I’m not a professional manager. Second, these professional managers who come and join me, I don’t know how to handle them, I don’t know how to drive them.”

Legacy of giving

Mr Goh was also a philanthropist who funded medical research, particularly in cancer treatment, and provided bursaries and scholarships for underprivileged students, as well as donations to various welfare agencies.

In 1995, with the late Singapore president Wee Kim Wee’s help, he set up the Goh Foundation to provide a more structured approach to his philanthropic efforts.

The Goh Foundation contributed to the establishment of the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and its subsequent expansion to include the Goh Cheng Liang Proton Therapy Centre.

It also awarded grants to support children’s cancer research at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, the Viva Foundation and the National University Hospital.

Mr Goh, who was a cancer survivor, championed research into better treatments for rheumatological and immunological conditions through the ARiSE programme at Singapore General Hospital.

He also backed supportive and palliative care initiatives with the NCCS in collaboration with the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre.

Professor Lim Soon Thye, chief executive of the NCCS, said the institution is “deeply saddened” by Mr Goh’s passing.

“The contributions from Mr Goh and the Goh Foundation had a positive impact on the lives of cancer patients and their families,” he said. “We will carry on his legacy to advance cancer care and improve patients’ lives.”

‘Beacon of kindness’

Beyond his contributions in Singapore, Mr Goh also funded road building, clean water supplies, sanitation systems and several schools in Dawu village, his ancestral home in Chaozhou, eastern China’s Guangdong province.

Mr Goh is survived by three children, Mr Goh Hup Jin, Mr Goh Chuen Jin and Ms Goh Chiat Jin, as well as eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

He loved spending time with his grandchildren and enjoyed activities such as boating, fishing, eating good food and travelling.

To his family and friends, he was a humble and private man known for his great sense of humour, according to the family’s statement.

His eldest son, Mr Goh Hup Jin, said his father was “a beacon of kindness and strength”.

“We are very fortunate to have had him show us how to be a good person – he taught us to live life with compassion and humility,” he said.