Ng Yat Chung

Ng Yat Chung
Born	Singapore
Allegiance	Singapore
Service/branch	Singapore Armed Forces
Years of service	1979–2007
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Commands held	Commanding Officer, 21st Battalion Singapore Artillery Assistant Chief of the General Staff (Plans) Commander, 3rd Singapore Infantry Brigade Head, Joint Operations Department Commander, 3rd Division Director, Joint Operations and Planning Directorate Chief of Staff (Joint Staff) Chief of Army (2000–2003) Chief of Defence Force (2003–2007) Senior Managing Director - Temasek Holdings (2007-2011) CEO, Neptune Orient Lines (2011-2016)
Awards	see #Awards
Other work	see #Business career

Ng Yat Chung is a Singaporean business executive and former army general. He was the fifth Chief of Defence Force of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) from 2003–2007 and held the rank of Lieutenant-General. Before that, he served as the Chief of the Singapore Army from 2000–2003. Ng became an executive in Temasek Holdings after leaving the SAF in 2007. In 2011, he joined Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) and became its Group President and Chief Executive Officer.

Education

Ng received his secondary and pre-university education in Victoria School^[1] and Hwa Chong Junior College respectively. He was part of a team that represented Hwa Chong Junior College in a 1978 inter-school mathematical competition organised by the Singapore Mathematical Society of the National University of Singapore.^[2]

Ng awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship in 1980 and graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in engineering from the University of Cambridge. In 1987, he obtained a Master of Arts in mathematics from Cambridge. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.^[3] He also attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School and graduated with a Master of Military Art and Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College.^[4][5]

Military career

Ng enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1979 and was commissioned as an artillery officer in December that year.^[5] Throughout his military career, he held various appointments, including the following: Commanding Officer, 21st Battalion Singapore Artillery; Assistant Chief of the General Staff (Plans); Commander, 3rd Singapore Infantry Brigade; Head, Joint Operations Department; Commander, 3rd Division; Director, Joint Operations and Planning Directorate; Chief of Staff (Joint Staff); Chief of Army.^[3] He relinquished his appointment as the Chief of Army on 1 April 2003 and succeeded Lim Chuan Poh as the Chief of Defence Force (CDF).^[3]

As the CDF, Ng laid the blueprint for the 3rd Generation SAF by overseeing the development of new operational concepts to further integrate the Army, Navy and Air Force. He also commanded the SAF's humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response in Aceh and Phuket after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, as well as similar missions to Yogyakarta and Phitsanulok in 2006. He retired from the SAF on 23 March 2007 and was succeeded by Desmond Kuek as the CDF.^[4]

Business career

After leaving the military, Ng joined Temasek Holdings and took up the following positions in the company: Head of Energy & Resources; Co-Head of Australia & New Zealand & Co-Head of Strategy; Senior managing director.^[6]

Ng joined the board of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) as an Executive Director in May 2011 and was appointed Group President and Chief Executive Officer in October.^[7] He is also a member of the following organisations: World Shipping Council; International Advisory Panel of the Singapore Maritime Institute; Singapore Advisory Panel of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.^[8]

Ng is the chairman of the board of Trustees for the Singapore Institute of Technology and a Trustee of the National University of Singapore. He is also a member of the board of Singapore Power.^[6]

Failures

Sales of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) to France's CMA CGM

On 9th June 2016, it was announced that Temasek will tender its NOL shares to CMA.^[9] Ng, as the then-CEO of NOL, said that "without the scale necessary to compete on costs, the best choice was to sell." and "compared with our competitors, we also didn't have the scale" as the primary reason for the sale of Singapore's shipping icon.^[10]

Ng defended his performance at NOL as "NOL's past successes were built on its business model as a premium service line... This was always the way for NOL, even before the 2008 financial crash, and it did well." He then acknowledged that the company had been "a bit slow and reluctant to change".^[10]

In the fallout of the NOL failure, Mr Ng will have to step away from his role as chief executive when CMA CGM acquires more than 50 per cent of NOL shares. Thus, effectively when Temasek tenders all of its 66.8 per cent stake. According to NOL's 2013 financial report, Mr Ng's annual compensation was at least USD 2.7 million.^[11]

Awards

• Public Administration Medal (Gold) (Military), in 1998.^[12]
• Knight Grand Cross (1st Class) of The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand, in 2002.^[13]
• Knight Grand Cross (1st Class) of The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant, in 2005.^[14]
• The Most Exalted Order of Paduka Keberanian Laila Terbilang (1st Class), in 2005.^[15]
• Bintang Yudha Dharma Utama (Grand Meritorious Military Order), in 2005.^[16]
• Darjah Panglima Gagah Angkatan Tentera, in 2005.^[17]
• Long Service Medal (Military), in 2007.^[18]
• Meritorious Service Medal (Military), in 2007.^[19]
• Outstanding Service Award, by the National University of Singapore in 2013.^[19]

Year of award unclear:

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Resplendent Banner (3rd Class)^[5]
• Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander)^[5]
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Tripod^[5]

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References