• Ngiam Tong Dow, one of Singapore’s top civil servants, has died
• Ngiam retired in 1999 at the age 62, having served in several key government ministries and agencies
• He was then sought after for his views and insights into the workings of the public service and public policies 
• He did not shy away from being critical of the Government
• Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said that Ngiam was seen as "Singapore's economic czar" 

SINGAPORE — Former top civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow, who spent more than 40 years in the Singapore Administrative Service and worked with Singapore's founding leaders, died on Thursday (Aug 20) at the age of 83. 

Ngiam’s death was reported by The Straits Times, which quoted his family saying that he had been in ill health for four-and-a-half years.

The veteran civil servant, who has worked for various government agencies and with three of Singapore’s prime ministers, had first-hand experience in witnessing and shaping the public policies and national projects that led to the country’s economic growth in its nation-building years.

He was also known for being an outspoken man and even after his retirement in 1999, he was a well-known critic of the Government and the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

In 1972, Ngiam became Singapore’s youngest permanent secretary at the age of 33 and served in key government ministries, including the Prime Minister’s Office, the ministries of finance, trade and industry, national development, as well as communications. In his time serving in the then Ministry of Communications, he was involved in the public debate when Singapore was planning to build the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network. 

Ngiam had also worked closely with the founding political leaders of Singapore including the late Goh Keng Swee, who served as deputy prime minister from 1973 to 1984, and former finance minister Hon Sui Sen.

He also served under former prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong. When Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was Minister of Trade and Industry, Ngiam was his permanent secretary.

Among the positions he had held while in public service, Ngiam was chairman of various statutory boards and government-linked companies, including the Economic Development Board (1975-1981), Sheng-Li Holding Company, now known as Singapore Technologies (1981-1991), the Development Bank of Singapore (1990-1998), the Central Provident Fund Board (1998-2001), and the Housing and Development Board from October 1998 to June 2003. 

He was also the deputy chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Currency and director of Overseas Union Bank, Temasek Holdings, the Health Corporation of Singapore, Singapore Airlines, United Overseas Bank, among others.

In his later years, Ngiam worked as an adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and at the School of Humanities and the Arts at Nanyang Technological University. 

He was conferred the Distinguished Service Order (1999) and the Long Service Medal (1995) by the Prime Minister’s Office. He also received various other national public service awards, including the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 1971 and the Meritorious Service Medal in 1978.

AN OUTSPOKEN CRITIC

After his retirement, Ngiam continued to take a keen interest in the affairs of Singapore’s development. 

He later wrote a book, Dynamics of the Singapore Success Story: Insights by Ngiam Tong Dow, that gave a glimpse into the country’s achievements from 1959.

His views and insights into the early decades of Singapore’s independence were also published in another book, A Mandarin and the Making of Public Policy: Reflections by Ngiam Tong Dow.

Candid and upfront, Ngiam was not one to hold back on his criticisms of the Government.

He said in 2015 that well-educated Singaporeans should be spread across various segments of society and not concentrated in the public sector. “If you just keep them within the Government, in the long run, (they) become an elite, become fossilised.”

In September 2013, in a controversial interview published by the Singapore Medical Association (SMA) News, he was asked what he hoped to see from newer and younger politicians, following remarks that he had made about being worried that some of the politicians of the day did not have the same qualities as the pioneer generation. 

He replied that the younger generation of ministers were afraid of speaking out in the Cabinet because of their high salaries and that the dedication of political officeholders started going downhill when their salaries were raised.

“When you raise ministers’ salaries to the point that they’re earning millions of dollars, every minister… will hesitate when he thinks of his million-dollar salary. When the salary is so high, which minister dares to leave, unless they decide to become the opposition party? As a result, the entire political arena has become a civil service, and I don’t see anyone speaking up anymore,” he said.

In the same interview, Ngiam also said that PAP had become “too elitist”, unlike “the first generation of PAP (that) was purely grassroots”.

When asked what he meant by PAP being elitist, Ngiam said that “they don’t feel for the people” and “overall there is a lack of empathy”.

After the interview, however, Ngiam had to retract some of the things he said, releasing a statement to say that his comments were "illogical" and unfair. 

"I retired from the civil service in 1999. Since then I have not attended any Cabinet meetings, and have never seen one chaired by PM Lee Hsien Loong. Thus my statement that ministers will not speak their minds before PM Lee is unfair as it was made without knowing what actually happens at cabinet meetings today," he clarified.

Addressing his comment about the newer crop of leaders being elitist, Ngiam said that he “had spoken without realising that many had come from humble backgrounds”.

FATHER DIED WHEN HE WAS YOUNG

Ngiam himself came from humble beginnings. His father was a migrant from Hainan, China and worked as court interpreter, while his mother was a washer woman. His father died of illness when Ngiam was a young boy.

In 1959, he graduated from NUS where he read economics before obtaining a master’s in public administration from Harvard University in the United States in 1964. 

Ngiam was most recently conferred an Eminent Alumni award by NUS on Nov 29 last year. The award is given to the university's alumni who have "distinguished themselves nationally or globally for their exceptional and sustained contributions and achievements".

However, he was not present at the ceremony and the award was accepted on his behalf by his son.

The university said in a statement on Thursday that it is “deeply saddened” by his death. Ngiam was its former pro-chancellor.

Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS' president, said: “Mr Ngiam spent many tireless years serving NUS as an educator and adviser, and we have greatly benefited from his wisdom and deep insights.

"The loss will be keenly felt not just by the university, but by the whole of Singapore.”

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said Ngiam was regarded as "Singapore's economic czar" and had served Singapore with distinction.

When he was prime minister, Mr Goh said that he lunched occasionally with Ngiam because he found it worthwhile to listen to his views on Singapore’s economy.

"I am deeply saddened at the demise of Ngiam Tong Dow, a friend, colleague and highly respected civil servant," he said in a Facebook post on Thursday night. 

"I worked under Ngiam in the Ministry of Finance as a young civil servant, and learnt much from him. Later, he was my permanent secretary when I became minister in the newly created Ministry of Trade and Industry...  I extend my profound condolences to Mrs Jeanette Ngiam and her family during this difficult time."