Chan Boon Yong, a second-generation

diamantaire A diamantaire (''French origin'') is a gem-quality diamond manufacturer or producer, master diamond cutter, and graduate gemologist specializing in diamonds. Such individuals demonstrate considerable expertise in different types of gemstones, p ...

born in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and currently based in Shanghai since 2008, is a prominent

jeweller A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewellery, jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stonesetting, stone sett ...

specialising in large

diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

and founder of The Carat Club. Upon graduating from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

,Ernst & Young Emerging Entrepreneur
Retrieved 21 May 2008. Chan began his career as an

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...

with the Rothschild's group in London. After stints in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, he left to set up his own investment company before starting Capital Diamonds International in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. In 1997, he transformed the diamond wholesale business and founded The Carat Club, a diamond retail operation based in Kuala Lumpur. The company grew to some 150 people with distribution in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Macau and the Middle East. Under his leadership, The Carat Club was consistently nominated for Suria KLCC's Best Luxury Retailer and Best Service Awards and in addition, was also the recipient of The 4th Asia Pacific International Honesty Enterprise Keris Award and the SMI-Unicity 2003 Best Product Award. In 2010, the company moved its base to Shanghai to better serve the Chinese market, focusing on the 3 carats and larger segment. He was one of the hosts and a judge of the

corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series '' The Firm'', where he played himself, acting as a corporate leader and mentor.Chandran, Sheela (27 June 2007)
You’re fired! - Watch how 10 contestants battle to scale the corporate ladder in Ntv7's The Firm.
''The Star''. Retrieved 21 May 2008. The show

première A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its firs ...

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

nationwide on ntv7 and Astro's Channel 7 in Malaysia in 2007. As one of the three

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short s ...

judges on ''The Firm'', the other two being Peter Pek and Tengku Zafrul Aziz, he is considered one of Malaysia's few corporate

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

. He also starred in ''The Firm (Season 2)'' with Peter Pek. The second season of the show premièred on 2 August 2008. Chan was a former president of the

Entrepreneurs' Organization Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) is a global non-profit organization formerly known as Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (YEO). The organization was founded in 1987. History In 1987, 22 young entrepreneurs created an organization and what w ...

(then known as Young Entrepreneurs Organisation), and was once the youngest member appointed to the Board of the Diamond Exchange Singapore. He was the recipient of the

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Delo ...

Emerging Entrepreneurs award in 2002, Martel's Elite of the Year in 2005 and Johnny Walker's "walk of Inspiration" recipient. He has been a member of the Young Presidents Organisation since 2003 and has served on the Malaysia and Shanghai Chapter boards.

References

External links

The Carat Club website
* Living people Malaysian businesspeople Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian television personalities Year of birth missing (living people) {{Malaysia-bio-stub