Ng Chee Meng

Ng Chee Meng (born 8 August 1968) is a Singaporean politician, union leader and former lieutenant-general who has been serving as Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress since 2018.

Prior to entering politics, Ng served in the Republic of Singapore Air Force under the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) between 1986 and 2015 and held the appointments of Chief of Air Force between 2009 and 2013 and Chief of Defence Force between 2013 and 2015, holding the rank Lieutenant-General.

Ng enlisted into the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in December 1986 and was a fighter pilot in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).

During his military career, among the appointments he held were: Commanding Officer, 144 Squadron; Commander, Changi Air Base; Deputy Head, Joint Communications and Information Systems Department; Head, Air Plans; Director, Joint Operations; Deputy Chief of Air Force.

Ng was educated at The Chinese High School and Hwa Chong Junior College, and was awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Training Award (Graduating) in 1987.

He completed a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering at the United States Air Force Academy in 1991, and graduated from the Singapore Command and Staff College in 1999.

He was also Military Private Secretary to the Minister for Defence from December 1995 to July 1996.

Ng was the second general from the RSAF in Singapore's military history to be appointed as Chief of Defence Force, after Bey Soo Khiang in 1995.

In 2002, he obtained a Master of Arts in international relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Ng has an elder brother, Ng Chee Khern, a former major-general who served as Chief of Air Force between 2006 and 2009, and a younger brother, Ng Chee Peng, a former two-star rear-admiral who served as Chief of Navy between 2011 and 2014.

On 10 December 2009, Ng succeeded his elder brother, Ng Chee Khern, as the Chief of Air Force.

He was succeeded by Hoo Cher Mou on 25 March 2013, after his appointment as Chief of Defence Force on 27 March 2013.

He was promoted from the rank of Major-General to Lieutenant-General on 27 June 2013.

A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Punggol North division of Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC between 2015 and 2020.

He served as Minister for Education (Schools) between 2015 and 2018, and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office between 2018 and 2020.

He left the Singapore Armed Forces in order to contest the 2015 general election.

He made his political debut in the 2015 general election as part of a five-member PAP team contesting in Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC and won.

Ng chaired the organising committee for the state funeral of Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, from 23 to 29 March 2015.

He also led the first round of the vigil guard who stood guard during Lee's lying in state in Parliament House from 25 to 28 March.

Ng retired from the SAF on 18 August 2015 and was succeeded by Perry Lim as Chief of Defence Force.

On 18 August 2015, Ng announced that he would enter politics after retiring from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

On 22 August 2015, the People's Action Party (PAP) announced that Ng would be part of the six-member PAP team that would be contesting in Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC in the 2015 general election.

The PAP team won, clinching 72.89% of the electorate's valid votes in the constituency.

Ng was appointed subsequently appointed Acting Minister for Education (Schools), and served as Second Minister for Transport, and Minister for Education (Schools) concurrently from 1 November 2016 to 30 April 2018.

He was then appointed Minister in the Prime Minister's Office on 1 May 2018 until 26 July 2020, when he left his position in the cabinet after losing the 2020 general election.

On 23 April 2018, Ng joined the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and was appointed Deputy Secretary-General.

On 22 May 2018, Ng was elected Secretary-General of the NTUC by the NTUC Central Committee.

However, during the 2020 general election, he led a four-member PAP team contesting in Sengkang GRC and lost to the opposition Workers' Party team, which won 52.12% of the vote.

Despite his electoral defeat, he was co-opted into the PAP's Central Executive Committee (CEC) in 2020 and remains indirectly active in politics.

On 29 June 2020, the media announced that Ng will lead the four-member PAP team contesting in the newly-created Sengkang GRC in the 2020 general election.

On 30 June 2020, Nomination Day, it was confirmed that Ng's PAP team will contest for Sengkang GRC against the Workers' Party team led by He Ting Ru.

The newly-created GRC has more than 120,000 eligible voters in the 2020 general election.

On 10 July 2020, Ng's PAP team lost to the WP team by a margin of 4.26% and he lost his parliamentary seat.

He remained serving as Secretary-General of the NTUC.

On 19 November 2020, he was co-opted into the PAP's Central Executive Committee (CEC).

His appointment into the CEC came as a surprise to local political observers as he had lost re-election.

The party justified it on the grounds that his predecessors had been part of the CEC and that omitting Ng would have been a "massive departure".