New Chairman and Chief Executive Officer to be appointed to the National Library Board

The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) announced today two leadership changes – Mr Lee Seow Hiang’s appointment as Chairman of the National Library Board (NLB) with effect from 1 January 2020; and Mr Ng Cher Pong’s appointment as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NLB effective 1 December 2019. Mr Lee will succeed Mr Chan Heng Kee as NLB’s new Chairman. Mr Ng will succeed Mrs Elaine Ng, who will take on a senior leadership position in the public service. Mrs Ng will relinquish her CEO/NLB appointment on 1 December 2019.

Mr Lee Seow Hiang 李绍贤 is the Chief Executive Officer of the Changi Airport Group. Best known for driving the development of the iconic “Jewel”, Mr Lee is concurrently, amongst others, Deputy Chairman of Changi Airports International Pte Ltd, Director of Jewel Changi Airport Holding Pte Ltd and Chairman of Changi Foundation Board. He holds the appointment of President of Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific Regional Board and is a Member on the ACI World Governing Board. He also sits on the Boards of NTUC FairPrice Co-operative Ltd and SMRT Corporation Ltd. From 1989 to 2005, Mr Lee held various appointments in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the Ministry of Defence, with his last appointment being Deputy Head of Air Operations in HQ RSAF. From 2005 to 2008, he was the Principal Private Secretary to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in the Prime Minister’s Office. Mr Lee was awarded the SAF (Overseas) / President’s Scholarship in 1989 and the SAF Postgraduate Scholarship (General Development) in 2002. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Cambridge, UK, and a Master of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

Mr Ng Cher Pong 黄子鹏 has been the founding Chief Executive of SkillsFuture Singapore since October 2016. He is also concurrently Deputy Secretary (SkillsFuture) in the Ministry of Education. SkillsFuture Singapore is a statutory board under the Ministry of Education, which drives and coordinates the implementation of the national SkillsFuture movement. Mr Ng joined the Administrative Service of the Singapore Civil Service in 1996. He had served in various capacities across many Ministries and government agencies such as the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency. He spent the last 10 years being involved in the education and training sector. He graduated from the University of Cambridge, UK in Electrical Engineering, obtained his Master in Business Administration from INSEAD, France and attended the Advanced Management Programme in the Harvard Business School.

• In Appreciation of Mr Chan Heng Kee and Mrs Elaine Ng

Thanking Mr Chan and Mrs Ng for their contributions, Ms Yong Ying-I, Permanent Secretary, MCI said, “Heng Kee has played a pivotal role in overseeing NLB’s development over the past four years, transforming the network of public libraries into integrated touchpoints for lifelong learning. He oversaw the development of next generation libraries such as library@harbourfront and also set the foundation for the National Library and National Archives of Singapore to be custodians of Singapore-related documentary content with the National Library and National Archives masterplan. I thank Heng Kee for his leadership and invaluable contributions to the NLB.”

Ms Yong added, “Elaine has been instrumental in leading the transformation of the NLB that we see today. In her eight years as CEO, she led the adoption of technology in our network of libraries, revitalised the physical spaces at our next-generation public libraries and the national archives to become welcoming community learning spaces for the public. She also extended and deepened NLB’s partnerships with the community, and significantly increased the digital collection and access of library materials. Under her stewardship, NLB has been recognised as a leader in outstanding service delivery, mobile technology innovation, community engagement, and creative library services. As an advocate of partnerships, Elaine has strengthened NLB’s standing internationally, establishing collaborations and exchanges with libraries and archives around the world. I thank Elaine for driving these changes, and wish her the best in her new role. I also welcome Seow Hiang and Cher Pong to the MCI family.  Seow Hiang’s leadership in driving innovation and Cher Pong’s commitment to lifelong learning for our people will be valuable to NLB as it charts the next chapter of its transformational journey to promote readers for life, learning communities and a knowledgeable nation.”