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OCBC publishes book documenting its growth in S’pore

SINGAPORE — In 1969, when OCBC started to outgrow the China Building that has housed it for nearly 40 years, it began work on a new “superstructure” that would become the bank’s present headquarters on Chulia Street today.

A book titled “Wind Behind the Sails: The People and Ethos of OCBC was launched on Tuesday (Oct 31). Photo: Najeer Yusof/TODAY

A book titled “Wind Behind the Sails: The People and Ethos of OCBC was launched on Tuesday (Oct 31). Photo: Najeer Yusof/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — In 1969, when OCBC started to outgrow the China Building that has housed it for nearly 40 years, it began work on a new “superstructure” that would become the bank’s present headquarters on Chulia Street today.

The day the move was completed, Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Teo Chee Hean was there looking on as massive cranes arrived and huge safes were being moved. His father Teo Cheng Guan was then an assistant general manager of the bank and had taken him along to the site.

These and other behind-the-scene accounts that were not made public before, have now been put together in a book titled, Wind Behind the Sails: The People and Ethos of OCBC. It was launched by OCBC on Tuesday (Oct 31).

It was nostalgic for DPM Teo, who officiated the book launch, as it brought back memories of his parents, who were both employees of the bank.

“Both my mother and my father worked in the China Building. That’s how they met,” he said.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also wrote a foreword for the book, saying: “The stories told in this book are an honest appraisal of not only OCBC’s successes, but also how it transformed its failures into lessons and new opportunities.”

Readers will find details of OCBC’s corporate battles or developments, such as problems with its venture in Australia, where it gained a full banking licence in 1985.

The book also documented the move from China Building to its temporary premises along Upper Pickering Street before the Chulia Street tower was completed. It took five weekends to move 144 truckloads of documents, valuables and other bank property.

Bank employees had to check, file and move documents, much of which were customer records. This was because computers were not used to keep records then.

The book is not for sale, but copies will be donated to public libraries. Members of the public will be able to borrow these by the end of December, OCBC said.

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