Gregory Yong was born on May 20, 1925, in Batu Gajah, Perak, Malaysia. Born into a family of ten children, he had three brothers and six sisters, Yong being the fifth-born amongst the them.^[1] His mother passed away when he was only 13 years old, and his father, Yong Ah Choy worked as a hospital assistant. His father was a devout Catholic, and at a young age Yong felt inspired by watching the priests celebrating mass.^[2] Yong went to school at St George’s Institution in Taiping, before entering St Michael’s Institution in Ipoh. In 1941, he entered the St Francis Xavier Minor Seminary in Singapore, and three years later in 1944, he attended College General Penang to continue his studies. He spent three years in Penang then went back to Singapore to teach at the Minor Seminary for a time, before again returning to Penang in 1950 to complete his priestly training. A year later, on December 3, 1951, Gregory Yong was ordained a priest by Bishop Michel Olçomendy.^[3]

Upon his ordination, Father Gregory was first posted to Singapore where he served as assistant parish priest at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A couple of years later in October 1953, Father Gregory travelled to Rome to attend St Peter’s College to further his studies with a degree in Canon Law. Three years later in 1956, he received his degree summa cum laude, and graduated with a Doctor of Divinity, becoming the first priest from the Malaya-Singapore region to do so.^[4] He returned to Singapore in August of 1956 and was assigned as assistant parish priest of Church of the Sacred Heart. Sometime later he once again took up a teaching position at the St Francis Minor Seminary, where he would be for the next eight years, teaching the likes of future priest such as Father Anthony Ho, Father Eugene Vaz, and his would-be successor Archbishop Nicholas Chia.^[5]

In 1965, he served as a priest at the Immaculate Heart of Mary for a short time, before he was sent to Penang and assigned to the faculty of the College General Penang, becoming the first local-born lecturer of the seminary. After the death of Bishop Francis Chan on October 27, 1967, Father Gregory was appointed as his successor, being ordained the Bishop of Penang on July 1, 1968.^[6] During his time as bishop, Bishop Gregory both continued the work of Bishop Francis, and focused largely on implementing the changes and ideas brought about by the Second Vatican Council. With focus on three things, to uphold and defend Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, to develop vacant church land, and at the request of Rome to sell the land that College General resided on at the time in Pulau Tikus, Penang.^[7]As the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore for a time, Bishop Gregory was able to successfully negotiate the sale of the land, getting the proceeds from the sale to remain in the Penang Diocese under the St Peter Apostle Fund.^[8] In August 1976, Bishop Gregory, along with Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Dominic Vendargon, and Bishop of Melaka-Johor, James Chan, they worked towards organising the Aggiornamento event to help mainstreams the changes of Vatican II, and Bishop Gregory helped create a ‘Senate of Priests’ to address the issue of the shortage of clergy and priests during the time.^[9]

In 1977, Bishop Gregory Chan returned to Singapore and was appointed to be Archbishop Michel Olcomendy successor, being installed as the second Archbishop of Singapore on April 2, 1977, at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd.^[10] Archbishop Gregory’s priorities continued to focus on integrating the changes brought about by Vatican II, but also worked towards building new churches, bringing in more religious orders, establishing new initiatives, strengthening diplomatic relations between Singapore and the Vatican, and unifying the catholic ecclesiastical administration of Singapore.^[11] Some of the initiatives he helped established included the Singapore Pastoral Institute in 1978, The Family Life Society in 1983, the Finance Commission, the Justice and Peace Commission, the Lay Apostolate Commission, the Liturgy Commission, the Priestly Life Commission, the Commission for the
Pastoral Care of Migrant and Itinerant People, the Commission for Missionary Activity, the Commission for Catholic Schools, Seminary and Religious Communities. and the Parish Councils, and the Commission for the Apostolate of Mandarin-Speaking and Tamil-Speaking.^[12] Archbishop Gregory helped settle the administrative ambiguity of St Joseph’s Church on Victoria street, which was initially established under the Portuguese administration and fell under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Macau. While negotiations began during Archbishop Olcomendy’s time, Archbishop Gregory finalised an agreement with the Bishop of Macau, Arquiminio Rodrigues da Costa, on July 1, 1981, finally placing St Joseph’s church under the jurisdiction of the Singapore Archdiocese. ^[13]Archbishop Gregory also helped open several new churches, including the Church of the Holy Cross in 1980, Church of Christ the King in 1982, and Church of the Holy Trinity in 1990.^[14] Moreover, after Malaysia and Singapore gained their respective independence, and became their own archdiocese, it became increasingly difficult for Singapore Seminarians to obtain visas to enter Malaysia and attend College General Penang. Therefore, on February 24, 1983, Archbishop Gregory made the landmark decision to establish the St Francis Xavier Major Seminary, allowing seminarians to complete their priestly education fully in Singapore. Initially operating in the St Francis Xaivier Minor Seminary, the groundbreaking ceremony for a new building for the major seminary occurred in August 1985, and the project was completed three years later, the church officially being opened and blessed on January 28, 1988.^[15]

In addition to all his works, Archbishop Gregory had a chance to host two very famous and revered figures in the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II visited Singapore in 1986 as part of his tour of various countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and in January of 1987, Nobel Laureate St Mother Teresa visited for three days.^[16] In addition to his duties within the Catholic Church Archbishop Gregory served in various roles outside of the church including being a member of the Presidential Council for Religious Harmony which was formed after the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act was enacted in March 1992. He was also a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights.^[17] After serving as Archbishop for 23 years, Archbishop Gregory retired from the role after turning 75 in May 2000, in accordance with Canon Law, his resignation being accepted by the Vatican on 14 October of that same year.^[18] Archbishop Gregory took up residence at St Francis Xaivier Minor Seminary from July 25, 2001 until September of 2004. He then moved to St Josephs’s home on account of his ailing health.^[19] Four years later, on June 28, 2008, Archbishop Emeritus
Greogry Yong passed away of heart failure at the age of 83. ^[20]His funeral service was conducted by his former student and successor, Archbishop Nicholas Chia and was held at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd a few days after his death. The service was attended by huge numbers of people including priests, religious, and parishioners reflecting just how much he was revered and respected within the Church. Gregory Yong’s remains were interred in the walls of the Cathedral of the good Shepherd on October 10, 2008.^[21]