- Mr. Ng Kok Song, 75, announced on Wednesday (July 19) his intention to contest the upcoming Presidential Election
- He is best known for his previous role as chief investment officer at Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC
- After retiring from GIC in 2013, he co-founded Avanda Investment Management in 2015 and currently serves as the chairman of the private hedge fund
- Mr Ng also made headlines previously for teaching founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew how to meditate
- Mr Ng grew up in a Sengkang fishing village and once described in an interview his humble beginnings
- Mr. Ng was born into a family of 11 siblings of which he was the second eldest.
- Mr. Ng has the Catholic church and his childhood school to thank for their efforts to him focus his studies because Kangkar (the community he grew up) was “infested with gangsters”
- Mr. Ng is currently, engaged to a woman who is 30years younger than him.
- Before GIC, he served MAS for 15 years in reserve management and financial market operations.
- His other contributions to the Singapore finance industry were as Founder Chairman of the derivatives exchange SIMEX during 1983-87, and of the Wealth Management Institute from 2003 to 2017.
- Kok Song is on the Global Advisory board of PIMCO. He also serves on the board of governors of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore and of the Asia School of Business in Malaysia.