Too, Ng Pock

CONVOCATION, OCTOBER, 1993
NG POCK TOO
to be Doctor of Laws

Whatever the troubled state of the world economy, there is one place where optimism still prevails and the evidence of business growth and potential is substantial. That place is Singapore. Ng Pock Too is an engineer and a business executive who has played an active part in the phenomenal development of Singapore and he is today one of its liveliest promoters. He is Group Chief Executive of the Sembawang Group of Companies, a name synonymous with ship repair and the building of offshore rigs for the oil and gas industry. Under Mr. Ng's direction, however, Sembawang is already well on its way to becoming much more than this. His dream is to make the group into the engineering giant of Southeast Asia by diversifying its activities principally in the areas of engineering design and construction. With the American company, Bechtel, as his model, Mr. Ng has recognized the enormous need there is throughout Asia for major infrastructure development -- roads, airports, harbours, waste disposal facilities -- and he has seized the opportunity to diversify his companies to exploit this potential.

Clearly Mr. Ng is a man with a vision. Where other people see problems, he sees opportunities. Where others may panic, he urges patience. Where some might see only limitations in Singapore's tiny size and limited natural resources, Mr. Ng has recognized the full potential of his nation's location, skilled labour force, and financial expertise. It is difficult to know to whom or to what to credit his considerable ability. But we would like to think that the University of New Brunswick had something to do with it. For this remarkable business leader, we note with considerable pride, graduated in Mechanical Engineering from this university. Mr. Ng took his degree in 1968 after spending four years here as a Columbo Plan scholar. He also received a degree from the Harvard Business School in 1976. His working career, however, developed in Singapore, where he was first employed by the government's Economic Development Board, and later became involved with the labour movement. His interest in organized labour suggested ways in which it could modernize itself and protect its members financially. To this day he remains chairman of the Board of Directors of the major trade union insurance cooperative. His many interests eventually carried him into politics. During the 1980s he was elected to the Singapore Parliament, became chairman of the government's Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs, served for six years as political secretary to the Prime Minister, and worked with the Deputy Prime minister on a program to modernize the labour movement.

Since 1990, Mr. Ng has been the chief executive officer of Sembawang, which is largely owned and controlled by the Singapore government. Under his direction, the group has been reorganized into divisions, the emphasis has shifted to engineering processes and construction, and it has completely regained losses suffered in an earlier transition. In July of this year, a group of leading Asian investors ranked Sembawang among the best managed companies in Asia, topped only by that other high flier, Singapore Airlines.

Today it is our pleasure and privilege to welcome back Ng Pock Too along with his lovely wife Yoke Lin. While Singapore is a long way from Fredericton, we are delighted to re-establish our link with that nation and with one of its most illustrious citizens. We congratulate him on 25 years of remarkable achievement and express our considerable pride in UNB's contribution to his success. And we wish him well in pursuit of his dreams which presage both material success for Sembawang and Singapore and also a better life for people throughout Asia.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3