Ng Yat Chung


Ng Yat Chung is a Singaporean senior executive and previously a Chief of Defence Force of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) from 2003 to 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 (NOL) to be its Group President and Chief Executive Officer. In 2017, Ng was recruited by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) as its Chief Executive Officer.

Ng Yat Chung
BornSingapore
Allegiance Singapore
Service/branch Singapore Army
Years of service1979–2007
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)
Awardssee #Awards
Alma materChrist’s College, Cambridge
Stanford University
United States Army Command and General Staff College
Other worksee #Business career
Chinese name
Chinese伍逸松
In this Chinese name, the family name is Ng.

Education

Ng received his secondary and pre-university education in Victoria School[1] 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 (Honours) 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.[2] 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.[3][4]

Career

Singapore Armed Forces (1979–2007)

Ng enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1979 and was commissioned as an artillery officer in December that year.[4] 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.[2] 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).[2]

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.[3]

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.[5]

Neptune Orient Lines (2011–2017)

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.[6] 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.[7]

On 9 June 2016, it was announced that Temasek will tender its NOL shares to CMA.[8] 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.[9] 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".[9] 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.[10] After the sale, Ng stayed on as Special Advisor from June 2016 to May 2017.[11]

On 20 July 2016, Ng was appointed as Singapore Press Holdings' independent director.[12]

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.[13] Ng has been criticised by numerous publications for not being able to do so, despite five years as CEO.[14][15]

Singapore Press Holdings (2017 – present)

Ng was recruited as CEO of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) on 1 September 2017,[11] whereby he was appointed to trim and cut a few departments within the group.[15]

On 12 October 2017, Ng announced a retrenchment exercise,[16] which was aimed at lowering the company's wage costs by up to 9%.[17] As SPH's wage costs in 2016 were approximately $362.55 million[18] this suggested that they would be lowered by just under $33 million.

On 5 June 2020, SPH was removed from the Straits Times Index (STI), which tracks 30 of the largest companies by market capitalisation listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange after a quarterly review of the constituents of the STI. It was replaced by Mapletree Industrial Trust.[19][20]

On 13 October 2020, SPH, which publishes The Straits Times and The Business Times, posted a net loss of $83.7 million for the full year.[21] Ng attributed the loss to COVID-19 affecting all major business segments.[22]

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.[5]

Awards
Year of award unclear:

References
  1. "Victorian Samurai – Ng Yat Chung". Old Victorians' Association. 7 September 2012. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  2. "Change of Chief of Defence Force and Service Chiefs". MINDEF. 6 February 2003. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  3. "New Chief for the SAF". MINDEF. 23 March 2007. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  4. "LTG Ng Yat Chung" (PDF). USACAC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  5. "Ng Yat Chung". World Shipping Council. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  6. "Ng Yat Chung takes over as NOL's CEO from Oct 1". The Edge Singapore. 30 September 2011. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  7. "Board of Directors". NOL. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  8. Lee, Jamie. "Temasek tenders NOL shares; CMA offer now unconditional". The Business Times. Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  9. hermes (8 June 2016). "NOL did not adapt fast enough, says CEO". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  10. "NOL 2013 Financial Report" (PDF). www.nol.com.sg. Neptune Orient Lines Financial Report. 2013.
  11. "Ng Yat Chung to be SPH CEO from Sept 1; Alan Chan to retire after 15 years". Straits Times. Archived from the original on 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  12. Kenneth Lim (20 July 2016). "SPH appoints NOL's ex-CEO Ng as independent director". Business Times. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  13. "Shipping firm CMA CGM upbeat as profits rise again". Reuters. 19 May 2017. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  14. Loh, Andrew (21 May 2017). "French company makes NOL profitable – less than 1 year after acquiring it from S'pore". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  15. Tan, Martino (27 May 2017). "Ex-NOL CEO Ng Yat Chung is the best person to lead Singapore Press Holdings?". Mothership.sg. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  16. Quah, Michelle. "SPH revamps for better footing in digital information age". The Business Times. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  17. Tani, Mayuko (12 October 2017). "Singapore's biggest newspaper publisher accelerates 10% job cut- Nikkei Asian Review". Nikkei Asian Review. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  18. "SPH Summary Report 2016" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 October 2017.
  19. "SPH to be removed from Straits Times Index, replaced by Mapletree Industrial Trust". TODAYonline.
  20. "SPH dropping out of STI shows how yield-driven S'pore stock market is, say analysts". TODAYonline.
  21. "SPH shares dip below $1 after company posts first net loss". The Straits Times. 14 October 2020.
  22. "SPH reports first net loss of $83.7m amid Covid-19". The Straits Times. 14 October 2020.
  23. "Profile of Board of Trustees". National University of Singapore. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  24. "Chief of Army Receives the Knight Grand Cross". MINDEF. 2 May 2002. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  25. "Chief of Defence Force Receives Thai Royal Award". MINDEF. 22 February 2005. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  26. "Chief of Defence Force Receives Bruneian Award". MINDEF. 24 May 2005. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  27. "Chief of Defence Force Receives Indonesian Award". MINDEF. 23 September 2005. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  28. "Chief of Defence Force Receives Prestigious Malaysian Military Award". MINDEF. 15 November 2005. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  29. Wan, Gail (31 January 2007). "SAF Medals – Recognising dedication, reflecting the times". MINDEF. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  30. "Outstanding Service Award 2013 – Mr Ng Yat Chung" (PDF). National University of Singapore. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
Military offices
Preceded by
Lieutenant-General Lim Chuan Poh		 5th Chief of Defence Force
1 April 2003 – 23 March 2007		 Succeeded by
Major-General Desmond Kuek
Preceded by
Major-General Lim Chuan Poh		 Chief of the Singapore Army
1 April 2000 – 1 April 2003		 Succeeded by
Brigadier-General Desmond Kuek
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