• Ngiam Tong Dow died on Thursday aged 83 after a long illness
• Numerous leading political figures attended the wake, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, former PM Goh Chok Tong and former president Tony Tan
• He was fondly remembered as a pioneering civil servant, straight talker and loyal family man

SINGAPORE — As a friend, the late Ngiam Tong Dow was "straight as an arrow" and could be counted on to be reliable and willing to speak the truth, friends, family and former colleagues recalled at the wake of the former top civil servant on Friday (Aug 21).

At home, he was a supportive, family-oriented father, they added of Ngiam, who died on Thursday aged 83 after a four-and-a-half-year battle with ill health. Those attending the wake included Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, former PM Goh Chok Tong and former president Tony Tan.

Speaking to members of the media at the wake, which was held at his home in Chestnut Avenue, Bukit Panjang, former politician George Yeo described his friend as a “warm and good human being”.

“His public persona is his friend persona. He is straight as an arrow and he tells you what he thinks. No beating around the bush and because of that, I always found his views to be refreshing, insightful and provocative,” he said.

“I never had an encounter with him which did not leave behind a trail of thoughts in my own mind.”

Mr Yeo also recalled that when he was the Minister for Information and the Arts and “justifying expenses for the development of culture was always a problem”, Ngiam — who was the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance at the time — was very helpful.

“He made my life much easier and later on, we became very close friends. We used to go out to have Hainanese food with him and a group of Hainanese friends. And they treated me as an honorary Hainanese.”

Mr Yeo added that he was sad to see how Ngiam’s health had deteriorated when he visited him a few years ago.

“He was already bedridden and could only show some small signs of being able to recognise me,” said Mr Yeo, who had tears in his eyes.

“He's made an enormous contribution to Singapore's development and we should be very grateful that he was able to play the role that he did where he helped so many people.” 

Ngiam was a veteran civil servant, who has worked for various government agencies and with three of Singapore’s prime ministers. He 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.

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.

Former PM and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh recalled his time working under Ngiam at the Ministry of Finance, telling TODAY that he was a “very good boss” from whom he learned a lot.

“Later on, when I became minister in a new Ministry of Trade and Industry, he was my permanent secretary,” Mr Goh added. The thing he remembered most about his stint there was when Ngiam convinced him to change the low-wage policy to stimulate growth, productivity and higher wages.

“In other words, using the higher wages to compel industries that were holding onto very low-wage workers to move up. So that was my first policy paper as a minister when he was permanent secretary,” he said.

Mr Goh added that he kept in touch with Ngiam and had lunch with him occasionally when he was prime minister.

“He was a very, very respected Singaporean, senior civil servant, and I would say, a friend. I think he's quite easy to get along (with). I mean generally, (he's) quite serious in discussing topics but he’s a good friend, reliable friend.” 

 Mr Goh said that the two of them used to talk about golf but quipped that they never played together because Ngiam was a little slow at the game.

“He has a good, very good brain. A very good mind.” 

Also at the wake was former politician S Dhanabalan, who recalled that he met Ngiam in the Singapore Administrative Service when he joined in 1960.

“He was already there for a year, and we shared the same room for some time. And then when I went to the Economic Development Board (EDB), he also went to EDB, and that’s how I got to know him much better." 

Mr Dhanabalan, who held several Cabinet positions in the 1980s and early 1990s, also said that they shared the same room in Fullerton building when they were both in the Ministry of Finance.

“We were colleagues and friends. It’s not often the case. Sometimes you don’t become friends,” Mr Dhanabalan said, describing Ngiam as “reliable, able and willing to speak the truth” and that he was someone who had “no airs about him” and was “quite ordinary”.

Ngiam’s son, Dr Kelvin Ngiam, said that his father was very loving and supportive, and had placed a lot of importance on education.

“He was a very family-oriented man. We went on many family holidays. In the early years, we would go to Changi chalet, the government chalet and we’d go overseas,” he said, when asked about his fondest memories with his father.

A fellow pioneer who helped build the Singapore economy, Mr JY Pillay, described his friend of 60 years as someone who was “very loyal”.

“He was always very diligent, and he always had the interests of the country at heart. He may have been off-colour, off the track sometimes, but his intentions were always good,” Mr Pillay, who served for 34 years (until 1995) as a top-ranking civil servant, said.

Ngiam was known to be outspoken, and after his retirement in 1999, he was a well-known critic of the Government and the ruling People’s Action Party.

Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who was at the wake, said that Ngiam “led a very well-lived life in service of our country”.

“I first worked with him as a very, very green minister of state. When I first came into politics, I was posted to the Ministry of Finance and Ngiam was the permanent secretary. I learnt a lot from him. He was a great patriot and served the nation.”

Other high-profile figures who attended the wake included Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh and former Cabinet minister Mah Bow Tan.