Ng Yat Chung Ng Yat Chung is a Singaporean business executive and former military officer . He was the fifth Chief of Defence Force of the Singapore Armed Forces ( SAF ) from 2003 to 2007 , holding the rank of Lieutenant - General . Prior to that , he served as the Chief of the Singapore Army from 2000 to 2003 . Ng became an executive in Temasek Holdings after leaving the SAF in 2007 . In 2011 , he joined Neptune Orient Lines ( NOL ) and became its Group President and Chief Executive Officer . Education . Ng received his secondary and pre - university education in Victoria School and Hwa Chong Junior College respectively . He was part of a team that represented Hwa Chong Junior College in a 1978 inter - school mathematical competition organised by the Singapore Mathematical Society of the National University of Singapore . Ng was awarded an overseas scholarship by the Singapore Armed Forces in 1980 and graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts ( honours ) in engineering from the University of Cambridge . In 1987 , he obtained a Master of Arts in mathematics from Cambridge . He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University . He also attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School and graduated with a Masters of Military Art and Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College . Military career . Ng enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces ( SAF ) in 1979 and was commissioned as an artillery officer in December that year . 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 . He relinquished his appointment as the Chief of Army on 1 April 2003 and succeeded Lim Chuan Poh as the Chief of Defence Force . As the Chief of Defence Force , 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 Chief of Defence Force . Business career . After leaving the military , Ng joined Temasek Holdings and took up the following positions in the company : Head of Energy & Resources ; Co - Head of Australia & New Zealand & Co - Head of Strategy ; Senior Managing Director . 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 . 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 . 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 . References .