Ng Chee Khern

Ng Chee Khern is a Singaporean civil servant and former air force general. He is currently the Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation and Digital Government) under the Prime Minister's Office, and chairman of the Government Technology Agency (GovTech).[1]

Ng Chee Khern
Ng addresses more than 90 international air chiefs during the Global Air Chiefs Conference forum in Washington D.C. on 25 September 2007.
Born	Singapore
Allegiance	Singapore
Service/branch	Republic of Singapore Air Force
Years of service	1984–2009
Rank	Major-General
Commands held	Commanding Officer, 149 Squadron Commander, Tengah Air Base Director, Joint Operations and Planning Directorate Chief of Staff (Air Staff) Chief of Air Force (2006–2009)
Awards	see #Awards

Ng Chee Khern
Simplified Chinese	黄志勤
Hokkien POJ	N̂g Chì-khîn
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Huáng Zhìqín Southern Min Hokkien POJ N̂g Chì-khîn

He previously served as the Chief of the Republic of Singapore Air Force from 2006–2009 and held the rank of Major-General. After leaving the Air Force, he served as the Director of the Security and Intelligence Division from 2010–2014, and then as the Permanent Secretary (Defence Development) in Singapore's Ministry of Defence. Ng is now Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation & Digital Government) / (Strategy) in the Prime Minister’s Office

Education

Ng is an alumnus of Victoria School and Hwa Chong Junior College,[2][3] and was a recipient of the President's Scholarship and Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship in 1985.[4] He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Second Upper Class Honours) and a Master of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford. He also graduated with a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.[5]

Career in the RSAF

Ng enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1984 and served in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). He flew the Northrop F-5E Tiger-II and the F-16 Fighting Falcon.[6]

Throughout his military career, Ng held various appointments, including: Commanding Officer, 149 Squadron; Commander, Tengah Air Base; Director, Joint Operations and Planning Directorate; Chief of Staff (Air Staff). He succeeded Lim Kim Choon as the Chief of Air Force on 24 March 2006[5] and relinquished this appointment to his second brother, Ng Chee Meng, on 10 December 2009.[7]

Post-RSAF career

After leaving the Air Force, Ng was appointed as the Director of the Security and Intelligence Division on 1 September 2010.[8][9] He left this position on 1 May 2014, to serve as the Permanent Secretary (Defence Development) in the Ministry of Defence.[10] He was also appointed as the Second Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health on 1 August 2014.[11]

Ng is also a member of the boards of various governmental organisations, including: Public Utilities Board; CapitaMall Trust Management; Chartered Ammunition Industries; ST Aerospace Systems; Changi International Airshow & Events; MDSO Supervisory Board; Construction Industry Development Board; Defence Science and Technology Agency; DSO National Laboratories; Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.[8]

Personal life

Ng has two notable younger brothers. The older of the two, Ng Chee Meng, served as the Chief of Air Force from 2009–2013 and as the Chief of Defence Force from 2013–2015 and served Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency as a Member of the Singapore Parliament from 2015 to 2020. The younger of his two brothers, Ng Chee Peng, was the Chief of Navy from 2011–2014[7] and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the CPF Board.

Awards

• Public Administration Medal (Gold) (Military), in 2005.

Other awards (years of award unknown):

• Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander)
• Bintang Swa Bhuwana Paksa Utama
• Knight Grand Cross (First Class), Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand
• Legion of Honour

[8]

References

1. Yong, Charissa (22 May 2017). "Three SAF high-flyers in new permanent secretary appointments and portfolio shuffles". The Straits Times. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
2. "VS Class of 2010 - Sec 4 Graduation".
3. HWA CHONG (27 January 2014), Hwa Chong Corporate Video, retrieved 25 January 2017
4. Fernandez, Warren (2001). Without Fear or Favour – 50 Years of Singapore's Public Service Commission. Singapore: Times Media. ISBN 981-232-348-1.
5. "New Air Force Chief Takes Over". MINDEF. 3 March 2006. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
6. Yeo, Mike (March 2011). "Tigers over Lion City". Air Forces Monthly. No. 275. Key Publishing. pp. 86–91. ISSN 0955-7091.
7. Chow, Jermyn (17 October 2009). "Brother succeeds RSAF chief". AsiaOne News. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
8. "Board of Directors, CapitaMall Trust". CapitaMall Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
9. Chua, Tony (14 June 2012). "Capitamall Trust appoints Ng Chee Khern as Director". Singapore Business Review. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
10. "Press Release: MG(NS) Ng Chee Khern to be Permanent Secretary (Defence Development)". Public Service Division, Prime Minister's Office. 2 April 2014. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
11. Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh (25 July 2014). "Two new permanent secretary appointments next month". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2 August 2015.