MEET THE SOMM | Yong Yi Ying
18 June 2026
Yong Yi Ying, 36, is Assistant Head Sommelier in the Singapore Club, which she joined shortly after it opened in 2022. But not before she’d taken in studies in the UK, a harvest in Burgundy and Olympic-fueled wine travel in South America…
Although I spent the first six years of my life in Brunei, I grew up in my native Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur. Our family was liberal, and I was allowed to taste beer and wine when I was young. In the mid-late 2000s, wine culture in Malaysia was starting to grow and I remember my father taking me to the house of his ex-boss, who had a nice wine collection. My father let me taste a few, and I was amazed by their diversity – and the difference to what I’d previously tasted from the supermarket…
I went to university in the UK, in Hull, where I studied Geography and Archeology, which meant heading off to Orkney Islands for digs. After graduating, I went to the University of East Anglia to do an MSc in Atmospheric Science. I was very interested in things like El Nino and how they impact climate and weather patterns, and my goal was to become a weather forecaster.
When I finished my Masters, I continued living in Norwich, where I had a good friend who, like me, enjoyed wine. He suggested we do a course. So we travelled to London to do the intensive, three-day WSET Level Two. It was so interesting – and I could taste the different climates that I’d been studying in the wines, which felt more fun than tracking the Madden–Julian Oscillation. So I signed up for Level Three, travelling to London for a day once every two weeks via the 4.45am bus, which got me into London for 8am. I worked for a while at a local Chinese takeaway to earn enough money to fund the course, and when I passed, I decided that weather forecasting probably wasn’t for me, and changed my career path to wine.
Without any experience, though, it was impossible to get a job as a sommelier that would cover a working visa in the UK, so in 2014, I went back to Kuala Lumpur. There I worked as a junior sommelier at Vintry Restaurant Group, which had three bars and restaurants. I enjoyed working the floor and then managing the inventory and purchasing but I was constantly trying to figure out ways to visit wine regions.
One came up in 2016, when I volunteered as a translator at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. I was assigned to help the Chinese weightlifting team. Best of all, I was able to watch the games for free, including the badminton, Malaysia’s national sport (I remember crying when Lee Chong Wei, the most famous Malaysian player, lost in the final in his last ever Olympics, having also taken silver in his previous two). Even more happily, after the games, I took the opportunity to travel to some wine regions – Mendoza in Argentina and Aconcagua in Chile – which was amazing. Sadly, though, I ran out of money pretty quickly, so in 2017 I returned to KL and joined Vie du Vin, an importer and distributor.
That gave me a different perspective on the industry. It was a small company, so I was doing a bit of everything – logistics, purchasing, sales, events. We had a particular focus on Burgundy, which wasn’t yet all that huge in Malaysia, and I’d scout the market for boutique wineries to add to the portfolio. Eventually I visited a few times, and did a harvest at Domaine Simone Bize in Savigny-lès-Beaune, picking grapes, helping with the sorting, doing the punchdown, tasting the different barrel samples. It was fantastic.
Then Covid killed everything, of course. But by the time things started getting back to normal, I had heard about the opening of 67. I managed to secure an interview with [former Head of Wine] Ronan Sayburn MS and [former Head Sommelier] Roberto Duran MS on Zoom. I was worried, because I found it so difficult to understand Roberto’s accent, but I got the job, and joined as a sommelier shortly after the Club opened in 2022.
Since then, time has gone so quickly. In 2024 I helped with the opening of 67 on Hollywood in Hong Kong, while this year I’ve been working on the new hybrid space here in Singapore, 67 on Scotts. Today, as Assistant Head Sommelier, I still enjoy Burgundy, but I’ve also found myself gravitating to the wines of the Northern Rhône and Nebbiolo. Basically, I tend to like the lighter styles of red.
Over the years, I’ve continued my wine education with various qualifications, including the Court of Master Sommelier Advanced Sommelier in 2023 and ASI Diploma (Gold) in 2024. I’ve also entered several sommelier competitions, picking up a few awards along the way, including Champion at Malaysia’s Best Sommelier Competition (twice) and Champion at Asia’s Best Sommelier in French wine. In October, I’ll represent Malaysia in the Best Sommelier of the World in Lisbon. That’s going to be stressful – especially as I haven’t really had chance to prepare much yet. In August, I’m taking my Master Sommelier exam in Hong Kong, so that comes first. It’s intense, but I wouldn’t want it any other way…
Not a 67 Pall Mall Member? Sign up to receive a monthly selection of articles from The Back Label by filling out your details below
WHAT
I’VE
LEARNED
Philippe Guigal
ON
THE
ROAD
Bordeaux En Primeur
TWO
MINUTES
WITH
Guillaume Lavollée, Domaine Génot-Boulanger