Keeping lt Wlthln the family

Ms Yeah Lee Ching grew up playing with gold. Her father had a small, home-based workshop churning out gold ornaments such as bangles and necklaces.She,d stack up the gold bars lying around the house as though they were Lego bricks. "I,d also help out after school, like knocking in the c916' stamp on the ornaments. It was fun," she recalls.

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"916" refers to 22K gold, an alloy containing 91.6 per cent pure gold which is marked by its rich, yellow appearance.

In 1988, her father, Mr Yeah Hiang Nam, ventured into pawnbroking.

His Value Max chain is the only pawnbroker listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange. (Two others, Maxi-Cash and Money Max, are on the Catalist board.) There are currently 47 Value Max outlets in Singapore, mostly in the HDB heartland.

Besides pawnbroking, Value Max also sells gold ornaments and trades in pre-owned jewellery, watches and designer bags. It also does moneylending, offers property and car financing loans, and trades in precious metals.

Mr Yeah is founder and executive chairman of the company, and all three of his children are in the business.

Ms Yeah, 52, the eldest, is managing director (retail and trading) and also in charge of marketing. Chia Wei, 51, is chief credit and risk officer, and Steven, or Chia Kai, 46, is chief executive.

In July, an associate company in Malaysia, Well Chip Group, was listed on Bursa Malaysia's main market stock exchange. Well Chip, which is owned by Mr Yeah and some relatives in Malaysia, has four jewellery shops and 23 pawnbroking shops in Johor.

I'm meeting Mr Yeah and his daughter at Song Garden, a Chinese restaurant at the Mercure Singapore Bugis. The hotel is across the road from Waterloo Centre, where Value Max has its offices and main outlet.

My guests leave me to do the ordering and I get dim sum, roasted chicken, asparagus and noodles.

Mr Yeah, 76, a grandfather of seven, converses mostly in Mandarin and has a pleasant and easy manner. His daughter is more careful with her replies.

She has fronted interviews for Value Max since 2004, when she joined the business as marketing manager.