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Wong Kim Hoh meets...
Meet the Cambridge maths graduate who built an international music empire
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Mr Kuok Meng Ru acquired Swee Lee when he was 23, reconfigured the business model and turned it into a major force in the music industry.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Kuok Meng Ru is giving me a tour of his new office building - comprising several beautifully conserved shophouses - in Neil Road. More than a century old, they were once the homes of the very wealthy, with enclosed frontyards, airwells and compounds with ponds and water features.
He and his staff have just moved in so many boxes remain unpacked but a mural on one of the walls outside gives an idea of the business he is in. Executed by artist Sam Lo aka SKLO, the kaleidoscopic artwork is called Evolution/Revolution and features, among other images, a disco ball, cassette tape, gramophone and the names of local singers, musicians and bands through the ages - from M. Osman to Zircon Lounge and The Oddfellows to Force Vomit.
