Ng Yat Chung


Ng Yat Chung is a Singaporean senior executive and previously a Chief of Defence Force of the Singapore Armed Forces from 2003–2007 with the rank of Lieutenant-General. Ng was recruited as a senior executive in Temasek Holdings after retirement from the SAF in 2007. In 2011, he was recruited by Neptune Orient Lines to be its Group President and Chief Executive Officer. In 2017, Ng was recruited by Singapore Press Holdings as its Chief Executive Officer.

Education

Ng received his secondary and pre-university education in Victoria School and Hwa Chong Junior College respectively.
Ng awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship in 1980 and graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts in engineering from Christ's College, Cambridge. In 1987, he obtained a Master of Arts in mathematics, also from Christ's College. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University. He attended the six-week 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.

Career

Singapore Armed Forces (1979–2007)

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

Temasek Holdings (2007–2011)

After leaving the military, Ng was recruited by Temasek Holdings and was rotated in the company: Head of Energy & Resources; Co-Head of Australia & New Zealand & Co-Head of Strategy; Senior managing director.

Neptune Orient Lines (2011–2017)

Ng joined the board of Neptune Orient Lines as an Executive Director in May 2011 and was appointed Group President and Chief Executive Officer in October. 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.
On 9 June 2016, it was announced that Temasek will tender its NOL shares to CMA. 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. As a result, Maersk Line and CMA CGM were reported to be interested to acquire NOL and eventually, CMA CGM emerged as the buyer.
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".
Following the sale of NOL to CMA CGM, Mr Ng eventually relinquished his role as chief executive of NOL. 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 US$2.7 million. After the sale, Ng stayed on as Special Advisor from June 2016 to May 2017.
On 20 July 2016, Ng was appointed as Singapore Press Holdings' independent director.
On 19 May 2017, Reuters reported that CMA managed to turn Neptune Orient Lines around, with NOL posting a $26 million net profit for Q1 2017. Ng has been criticised by numerous publications for not being able to do so, despite five years as CEO.

Singapore Press Holdings (2017 – 2020)

Ng was recruited as CEO of Singapore Press Holdings on 1 September 2017, whereby he was appointed to tirm and cut a few departments within the group.
On 12 October 2017, Ng announced a retrenchment exercise, which was aimed at lowering the company's wage costs by up to 9%. As Singapore Press Holdings's wage costs in 2016 were approximately $362.55 million this suggested that they would be lowered by just under $33 million.
On 5 June 2020, SPH was removed and replaced in the Straits Times Index.

Membership

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.

Awards