Cover story: how Dato’ Yong Yoon Li and Chen Tien Yue are ensuring Royal Selangor’s 141-year legacy continues to thrive

Yong Koon’s original store, Ngeok Foh (Jade Peace), operated on what is now Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin, just minutes from the Royal Selangor Gallery at the newly restored Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad. The gallery allows customers to experience the brand through a thoughtful curation of archival pieces. “When there was a call for collaborators who contribute to Kuala Lumpur’s historical narrative, we thought it was a perfect match to be here,” Chen says, delighted with the synchronicity.

A willingness to adapt shaped how Royal Selangor manufactured its products after Yong Koon’s time. “The artisanal process of manufacturing pewter starts with a sheet of pewter, hammered over a timber or stone mould to form shapes. It’s laborious and not very accurate in terms of repeatability. It also requires a lot of skill to get it ngam-ngam,” says Yong.

In the early 1960s, Royal Selangor transitioned from sheet moulding to casting, a process more commonly associated with European pewter production. Pouring molten pewter into steel moulds captures fine details with much greater precision. “It provides accuracy which makes it easier for us to repeat the quality that we require,” Yong says.

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This evolution in manufacturing reflected a broader understanding of what it would take to sustain the business. “A hundred years ago, during founder Yong Koon’s time, a single pewtersmith had a combination of abilities to produce items from start to finish,” Chen says. “The challenge with that is that it’s then difficult to train the next craftsperson, because they’ll have so much to learn. What our grandfather, Yong Peng Kai, understood then was growth could only come if we trained people.”

A progressive thinker, their grandfather was one of the first to hire women into the industrial workforce, allowing them to play a foundational role in the company’s growth in post-independence Malaysia. By 1979, the Sultan of Selangor had awarded the company a royal warrant, later prompting the 1992 rebrand from Selangor Pewter to Royal Selangor.

Before success, growth brought tough lessons about what could jeopardise a family enterprise and destroy a hard-won legacy. After World War II, Yong Koon’s four sons’ disagreements ended in competing businesses. Only the business founded by Yong and Chen’s grandfather, Yong Peng Kai, survived. The conflict left a lasting impression on the next generation, which recognised that family relationships required as much structure and care as the business.

“My father’s generation decided to write a family charter in the late 1990s to govern how relatives could engage with the business. It was quite revolutionary, especially for a family business in Southeast Asia. The third generation was very progressive as a result of prior bitter experiences,” Yong explains. The regularly reviewed charter ranks familial cooperation and long-term business interests above individual ambition, recognising that family succession cannot depend on goodwill alone.

The charter also requires younger family members to build careers outside the business, developing skills and perspectives independently before deciding whether to return. Both Yong and Chen complied. Before joining the family enterprise, Yong spent a decade in automotive engineering and motorsports, working with Team Lotus International and Nissan Motorsports before establishing a TVR factory in Malaysia. Younger cousin Chen, meanwhile, gained experience in management consulting at McKinsey & Company.

Yong’s interests were partly influenced by his close relationship with his grandfather, Yong Peng Kai. On school holidays home from England, the pair spent weekends working with their hands by restoring old cars. The elder Yong never proffered unsolicited advice to his grandson about the family business; he only remained a gentle presence who valued time with his growing family.

“The private sector can do a lot to support local arts and culture,” Yong says. In 2026, Royal Selangor drew inspiration from the Langkasuka Movement’s research on Telepuk, a traditional Malay decorative craft at risk of becoming unfamiliar to younger generations. For Yong and Chen, preserving Malaysian crafts is a matter of civic responsibility.

In Telepuk, intricately carved woodblocks stamp adhesive onto fabric before gold leaf is applied to create raised embellishments. Royal Selangor explored tin leaf as a more accessible alternative to gold for teaching the technique. “We found that tin leaf at the right thickness behaves just like gold, but far cheaper,” Yong explains. Through workshops and its Telepuk: the Imprint of Heritage exhibition at the Royal Selangor Visitor Centre, which runs until December 31, 2026, the company has helped introduce the craft to new audiences.

What began as an effort to raise awareness also opened up possibilities for experimentation. “We found it an interesting way to try new things,” Chen says. “I feel that we’ve got a lot of stories to tell in Malaysia. We’ve got a lot of cultural heritage to draw on as design inspiration.”

Through its international retail presence, including stores in London and Hong Kong, Royal Selangor stays rooted in local production while bringing Malaysian culture to foreign audiences. “We still make everything here in Malaysia, and we’re very proud of it. It’s a whole team of Malaysian craftspeople,” Chen says, as over 200 craftspeople and a design team of around 40 support the factory.

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In perpetuating a living legacy, Yong and Chen do not expect to preserve Royal Selangor exactly as they inherited it. The challenge remains evolving the business without losing sight of the people behind the pewter. At the Royal Selangor Visitor Centre in Setapak, the Wall of Hands features handprints of employees who have been with the company for more than five years, with those who have served for over 40 years distinguished by a gilded finish. More than 940 handprints mark the wall.

“We are very proud of the number of craftspeople who stay with Royal Selangor for their whole careers,” Chen says. “Often, the next generations end up joining us too. In a way, it’s a small company but a large family, as many share a sense of belonging.”

Yet sustaining this community of craftspeople also means ensuring the work remains appealing to those entering the workforce today. For decades, Royal Selangor has embraced innovation and new techniques, diversifying into more functional product ranges and collaborating with familiar franchises from The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. to create pewter collectables.

“Appealing to a younger customer base benefits our employees. Imagine trying to entice a young person to a lifetime of working with their hands. It’s not the easiest thing to do,” Chen explains. “But engaging with youths through things that they’re familiar with, like Marvel, gives them something to identify with. It helps us attract a new generation of craftspeople, and that’s important because how else could one keep the craft alive?”

Yong concurs, having separately observed a notable shift since the pandemic. “I feel fortunate to see young people want to be craftspeople, to want to slow down and work with their hands.”

In an age of AI and automation, the cousins are committed to ensuring that pewter skills in casting, filing, soldering, polishing, engraving and more are passed on. “We must make sure that we’re preserving the craft. Therefore, we take the effort to invest in and develop the next generation,” Chen says. Royal Selangor cooperates with universities to offer student internships, extending knowledge exchange beyond the company’s own workshops.

A recent collaboration with Nottingham Trent University offers a tangible example. Through a design mentorship programme, the top three students were shortlisted from 43 projects to develop contemporary pewter products, from a sculptural candle holder to a cocktail shaker. Guided by Royal Selangor’s head of design and development, Richard de Lancey, and working alongside its digital sculpting team, the students gained first-hand insight into the material’s possibilities and the realities of bringing a design into production.

Remarking on the mentorship programme, Yong had expressed: “Whilst we often view innovation as the future, these designers have proven that forward-thinking emerges from a deep respect for the past.” This very sentiment captures Royal Selangor’s stewardship under Yong and Chen.

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