1959–1970: Early beginnings On 1 August 1959, Ngiam began his career as a civil servant in the
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, before being posted as an administrative assistant to the economic development division under the
Ministry of Finance after a few months. The newly created division only consisted of three other people — Minister for Finance
Goh Keng Swee, permanent secretary
Hon Sui Sen, and the office boy. In 1960, Ngiam provided figures for the five-year development plan, titled "State of Singapore Development Plan, 1960-1964". The plan aimed to increase employment opportunities in Singapore through a series of investments from the
World Bank and the
United Kingdom. In 1961, Ngiam joined Hon Sui Sen in establishing the
Economic Development Board (EDB), and was quickly promoted to its chief promotions officer. Subsequently, in 1964, after graduating from Harvard University, he was promoted to serve as the land and estates manager, in charge of managing S$80 million worth of land assets under EDB, such as the
Jurong Industrial Estate. Inviting the Minister of Finance
Nico Diederichs to their hotel room at the sidelines of the 1968 World Bank meeting, Goh and Ngiam began negotiating a purchase of 100 tons of gold, at a fixed price of US$40, As both the serial numbers on the banker's half and his half matched, Ngiam's identity was verified, and the gold purchase was completed.
1970–1972: Ministry of Communications In 1970, Ngiam was promoted to acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Communications. On 28 July 1970, Ngiam led a delegation of five to the
British Board of Trade, to discuss launching a regular flight service between Singapore and
London, operated by
Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA). However, on 8 August 1970, talks between both countries broke down. In return for approval, firstly, MSA had to give a second British airline,
Cathay Pacific (CPA), increased flights to Singapore and rights to fly to
Australia and
New Zealand via Singapore, when the first British airline,
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), already had such privileges. Secondly, if MSA needed to charter aircraft to operate the Singapore-London service, only aircraft from CPA and BOAC could be chartered. Unagreeable to the terms, Ngiam issued a statement that the landing rights of CPA and BOAC would be revoked by August 1971, if MSA was not given the rights to operate the flight service. On 28 September 1970, talks restarted at the
Fullerton Building, and an agreement was reached after 10 days. MSA began operating the Singapore-London service from April 1971. On 19 October 1970, Ngiam led another delegation of four to
Bern, to discuss launching a regular flight service between Singapore and
Rome, operated by MSA. After five days of talks, an agreement was reached. Throughout 1971, he led various delegations to discuss and launch regular flight services from Singapore to
Ceylon,
Czechoslovakia,
Tokyo, and North American cities via Tokyo. Announced on 26 January 1971 by the governments of Malaysia and Singapore, MSA was split into
Malaysia Airlines and
Singapore Airlines. To ensure that existing services operated by MSA were not disrupted, both countries came together to discuss an
air transport agreement. Ngiam led the Singapore delegation, and discussed the distribution of existing air routes and fleet of aircraft to both airlines. On 21 August 1972, at the age of 35, Ngiam was the youngest civil servant to be promoted to permanent secretary in the Ministry of Communications (now known as
Ministry of Digital Development and Information). Shortly after, on 21 December 1972, he was transferred to be permanent secretary of development in the
Ministry of Finance (MOF).
1972–1994: Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister's Office In 1973, Ngiam accompanied Minister for Finance Hon Sui Sen to represent Singapore for the first time at the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade during the
Tokyo Round, allowing Singapore to enjoy concessions on trade tariffs with other member countries. In addition to his existing portfolio, on 12 February 1979, Ngiam was appointed as permanent secretary in the
Prime Minister's Office (PMO). On 22 March 1979, he was transferred from the Ministry of Finance to become permanent secretary in the newly created
Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). On 1 April 1980, Ngiam succeeded
Ridzwan Dzafir as the chairman for the watchdog committee on inflation, ensuring that shops and supermarkets cease from price gouging. At the annual EDB dinner in November 1980, Ngiam announced that he will relinquish his role as chairman of EDB from January 1981 to
P.Y. Hwang, ambassador to
Belgium, after holding the position since January 1975. However, in December 1980, Minister for Trade and Industry
Goh Chok Tong requested Ngiam to remain as chairman for another year, while reassuring that Hwang will be the successor. As such, Ngiam stepped down as chairman on 1 January 1982. In 1985, he was selected for the
Eisenhower fellowship. While continuing as permanent secretary in PMO, Ngiam was transferred from MTI to return as permanent secretary of budget in MOF on 1 January 1987. Ngiam was also appointed as the first permanent secretary in the
Ministry of National Development on 1 February 1987, before stepping down on 1 November 1989 and assuming the role of permanent secretary of revenue in MOF. On 1 February 1990, Ngiam succeeded
Howe Yoon Chong as chairman of
DBS Bank, and a year later on 1 February 1991, he was promoted to chief executive officer (CEO). Under his tenure, DBS grew internationally. In 1990, DBS started a joint venture bank with
Tat Lee Bank in
Indonesia, and launched a full-service branch in
Hong Kong. In 1992, DBS began issuing
American depository receipts, bought a 10% stake in
Wing Lung Bank for HK$380.7 million (S$81.3 million) and a 3.4% stake in
Thai Danu Bank for S$7 million. In 1995, DBS was the first local bank to receive approval to open its first branch in
Shanghai, further expanding its international footprint. On 9 May 1998, Ngiam stepped down as chairman and CEO, with
S. Dhanabalan and John Olds succeeding as chairman and CEO respectively. On 12 October 1994, after more than 15 years on the job, Ngiam relinquished his position as permanent secretary in PMO.
1994–2020: Later career On 1 August 1998, Ngiam was appointed as chairman of the
Central Provident Fund (CPF), and in October 1998, he was also appointed as chairman of the
Housing Development Board (HDB). On 7 June 1999, after almost 40 years on the job, Ngiam retired from the civil service, while retaining his chairmanships at CPF and HDB. On 1 August 2001, Ngiam stepped down as chairman of CPF. During his term at HDB, Ngiam introduced various initiatives, such as the
Lift Upgrading Programme and the
Build-to-Order scheme. In July 2003, Ngiam stepped down as chairman of HDB, and was appointed chairman of HDB Corp (now known as
Surbana Corporation), the privatised arm of HDB. From 1999 to 2019, Ngiam served as the
pro-chancellor for the
National University of Singapore (NUS), and was an adjunct lecturer
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy from 2005 to 2017. During a dialogue session held at NUS in 2012, Ngiam urged academics to "help the State to ask the right questions" by offering their opinions on national issues, arguing that this was the key to Singapore achieving economic development. Stressing that universities should not research for the sake of doing so, he reiterated that academics across disciplines should come together to study a local issue, so that "thinkers in ivory towers" can make better decisions for Singapore. In September 2013, Ngiam was interviewed by the
Singapore Medical Association. In the interview, topics such as the
Certificate of Entitlement scheme, the civil service, and his personal life were covered. When asked for his opinions on transforming Singapore into a global city, he questioned the benefit of organising the
Formula One (F1) night race yearly, and believed that taxpayer money should be spent wisely and not on a frivolous expense such as F1. Ngiam also felt that ever since the salaries of ministers increased to align with the top earners in Singapore, every minister would hesitate to speak their mind. Ngiam also commented that the civil service was much tamer than in his time, and that the
People's Action Party had become "too elitist" with a "lack of empathy" for the people of Singapore. On 11 October 2013, Ngiam had to clarify and retract some of the statements made during the interview, citing that he retired from the civil service in 1999 and would not have any knowledge about what happened in the civil service and government anymore. == Personal life ==