Patriarch Henry Kwee Hian Liong, born in Fuqing’s Yuxi Town in Fujian, China, built his first fortune as a Chinese‑Indonesian textile trader and real‑estate developer.[page:50] In 1958 he relocated to Singapore, joining a wave of ethnic‑Chinese businessmen shifting capital out of Indonesia into the island state’s more predictable environment.[page:50]

Once in Singapore, Henry incorporated Kwee Inc. Pte Ltd in 1959 and, two years later, founded Pontiac Land Group (PLG) in 1961.[page:50] The name would eventually become synonymous with ultra‑prime hotels, offices and residences, but in the early years it was simply a family vehicle for buying and developing property with textile profits.

Henry died in 1988, leaving control of Pontiac Land to his four sons: Kwee Liong Keng, Liong Tek, Liong Seen and Liong Phing.[page:50] The brothers, often described as a “brother quartet”, collectively ran the group and kept it privately held, with no public listing and minimal media exposure.[page:50]

Liong Keng, the eldest, served as managing director of PLG and married Chua Lee Eng of the Cycle & Carriage car‑distribution family, tying the Kwees into another Singaporean business clan.[page:50] Liong Tek served as chairman of Pontiac Land, while Liong Seen and Liong Phing held director roles until a planned step‑back from day‑to‑day positions in 2024.[page:50] Two of the brothers, Liong Tek and Liong Seen, are alumni of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, signalling how the second generation combined family capital with elite business training.[page:50]

Through Pontiac Land, the Kwees own some of Singapore’s best‑known luxury hotels: The Ritz‑Carlton, Millenia Singapore, Conrad Singapore Orchard, Conrad Singapore Marina Bay and Capella Singapore on Sentosa.[page:50] They also control prime office towers Millenia Tower and Centennial Tower and the Millenia Walk shopping mall, a mixed‑use cluster that anchors their Marina Centre footprint.[page:50]

Beyond hospitality and offices, PLG developed and manages Camden Medical Centre and owns high‑end residential properties such as Ardmore Residence, HANA and The Colonnade.[page:50] The result is a highly concentrated, ultra‑prime portfolio: hotel keys, Grade‑A offices, medical space and trophy apartments, all in the top price brackets of a city already known for expensive real estate.[page:50]

In October 2013, the Kwee brothers committed 300 million dollars in equity, backed by an 860 million‑dollar loan from Asian banks, to finance the 53 West 53 skyscraper in New York, adjacent to MoMA — Pontiac Land’s first major move outside Singapore.[page:50] The deal signalled a deliberate hedge against Singapore’s tightening property market and a desire to plant the Kwee name in Manhattan’s luxury condo scene.[page:50]

In the Maldives, Pontiac developed the Fari Islands archipelago, home to The Ritz‑Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands and Patina Maldives, Fari Islands — ultra‑luxury resorts selling seclusion and design as much as sun and sand.[page:50] Together with New York, these projects show a pattern: the Kwees export their high‑touch, branded‑real‑estate model into carefully chosen, globally recognised destinations rather than spreading thin across many markets.[page:50]

Pontiac Land also secured long leases on two historic sandstone government buildings in Sydney’s CBD, marking its expansion into Australia.[page:50] The first phase, Capella Sydney, opened in March 2023 in the former Department of Education building as an ultra‑luxury hotel.[page:50]

The second phase, The Lands by Capella, will convert the former Department of Lands into a roughly 10,000 square‑metre mixed‑use destination of luxury retail, F&B, boutique workspaces and event spaces, opening progressively in 2026.[page:50] Together, the two heritage assets form the “Sandstone Precinct”, billed as one of the largest privately funded tourism‑infrastructure projects in New South Wales.[page:50]

In May 2024, Pontiac Land announced a formal leadership transition and board reconstitution.[page:50] The four second‑generation Kwee brothers stepped back from director roles into advisory positions, while third‑generation members Melissa Kwee, Kwee Ker‑Wei, Philip Kwee and Kwee Ker Fong took on strategic board responsibilities.[page:50]

At the same time, former senior civil servant Peter Ong was appointed independent chairman, joined by independent directors Moses Lee and Andrew Ang, bringing in non‑family oversight without diluting family shareholding.[page:50] A Forbes profile framed the shift as the billionaire brothers “anointing the next gen” to build the empire’s future, not surrendering it.[page:50]

Within the third generation, Evan Kwee — son of Liong Tek and maternal grandson of Japanese‑American entrepreneur George Aratani — serves as vice‑chairman of Capella Hotel Group and acts as a key design and development voice for Pontiac’s hospitality projects.[page:50] He is married to Claudia Sondakh, linking the Kwees to the Indonesian Sondakh business family.[page:50]

Evan’s older sister, Melissa Kwee, is known more for activism than for balance sheets: she has served as CEO of Singapore’s National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, received national recognition as “Woman of the Year,” and is now a director at Pontiac Land.[page:50] Together, siblings like Evan and Melissa marry real‑estate capital to soft‑power networks in civil society and regional business dynasties.

Forbes estimates the Kwee family’s net worth at around 7.3 billion dollars, placing them among Singapore’s richest families.[page:50] They are listed explicitly as Singaporean businesspeople, billionaires and a “business family of Singapore”, as well as Indonesian emigrants to Singapore and people from Fuqing, underlining the cross‑border nature of their rise.[page:50]

The family supports educational, arts and cultural, social and humanitarian causes, with various members serving on nonprofit boards and funding initiatives aligned with their low‑profile, high‑impact style.[page:50] In a city where banks and developers are often household brands, Pontiac Land and the Kwee name remain unfamiliar to most residents — even as their hotels, offices and malls define the skyline.