Roy Ngerng

Roy Ngerng Yi Ling (born 9 May 1981), is a Singaporean blogger and activist.

Before 2000, the Ngerng family lived in a two-room flat near the now-defunct Hong Dao Primary School, which Ngerng had attended.

Ngerng then joined the Health Promotion Board’s Communicable Diseases department for six years, working on campaigns and presenting at international conferences, and winning an Employee of the Year award for innovation in 2011.

Ngerng started his sociopolitical blog, The Heart Truths, in 2012.

In 2012, he joined Tan Tock Seng Hospital as a contract patient coordinator, where he fronted a campaign to promote the understanding of the lives of HIV-infected people.

Ngerng's family were unaware of his blogging activities until the events of May 2014.

Ngerng states that his interest in people and their interactions started in primary school when he witnessed instances of racism.

At the age of 15, Ngerng revealed his homosexuality to friends, but described facing resultant discrimination.

He went on to study in Serangoon Junior College, where he took art as an GCE Advanced Level subject and won an award for topping his level in geography and art in his first year.

Ngerng majored in sociology at the National University of Singapore, where he participated in its community service club helping autistic or hyperactive children and people with mental disorders.

He was found liable in October 2014 of defaming Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore, in a blog post.

Ngerng is also noted for his protests at Hong Lim Park campaigning against Singapore's Central Provident Fund.

As a result of the events surrounding him, Ngerng was ranked by Yahoo Singapore as the top Singapore newsmaker of 2014.

On 10 June 2014, Ngerng was sacked from his job at Tan Tock Seng Hospital for "conduct incompatible with the values and standards expected of employees" and for misusing resources for personal pursuits.

Ngerng described the sacking as "politically motivated".

NGO Maruah expressed concern on the manner of punishment and the reasons for doing so.

In the same month, a 71-year-old man, Loh Thiam Hock, was jailed for four weeks for vandalising public property in support of Ngerng.

On 21 May 2014, Ngerng applied to be a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP), with the proposal being submitted by fellow blogger Han Hui Hui.

Ngerng was ultimately not selected as an NMP in August 2014.

The People's Action Party team headed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong defeated the Reform Party by 135,115 to 36,711 (78.63% to 21.37%) in the election.

On 15 May 2014, Ngerng made a post entitled "Where Your CPF Money Is Going: Learning From The City Harvest Trial" on his blog the Heart Truths.

Within the post, Ngerng created a chart which mapped the relationships between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the Central Provident Fund (CPF), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Temasek Holdings and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).

In 2015, Ngerng was found guilty of defaming Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

In his blog, he had accused the PM of being a "thief" and criminally misappropriating monies paid by citizens to the state-administered Central Provident Fund.

The judge ruled that the accusation is malicious and "one of the gravest that can be made against any individual, let alone a head of government".

Ngerng was ordered to pay defamation damages of S$150,000.

In the 2015 general election, Ngerng joined a Reform Party team to contest against the prime minister in Ang Mo Kio constituency, but lost with only 21.4% of votes, the second lowest of all GRCs contested.

In 2015, Ngerng was found liable in defaming Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

In his blog, he had accused the PM of being a "thief" and criminally misappropriating monies paid by citizens to the state-administered Central Provident Fund.

The judge stated that the accusation is "one of the gravest that can be made against any individual, let alone a head of government".

Ngerng was ordered to pay defamation damages of S$150,000.

After graduation, Ngerng worked for six months with Autism Partnership, an organisation working with families with autistic children.

In August 2015, Ngerng was part of the Reform Party six-member team contesting Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency in the 2015 general election.

The documentary was Ngerng's first media appearance since his participation in the 2015 Singapore general election and showed snippets of Ngerng's life in Taiwan.

In 2016, Ngerng relocated to Taiwan.

Ngerng's father is a chai tow kway seller while his mother is a retired factory worker.

Ngerng lived with them and his younger sister in a four-room Housing Development Board flat in Sembawang.

Ngerng also has an elder sister.

Ngerng has been residing in Taipei since October 2016.

In 2018, Ngerng took part in an Al Jazeera documentary, Singapore: The House that Lee Built.