Irene Ng Phek Hoong (; born 24 December 1963) is a former Malaysian-born Singaporean politician who represented

Tampines Group Representation Constituency The Tampines Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the eastern region of Singapore. The GRC encompasses Tampines and is managed by the Tampines Town Council, with five divisions: Tampines ...

from 2001 to 2015. She is also a Writer-in-Residence at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).

Education

From 1969–1979, Ng studied at Primary Convent Primary and Convent Secondary in

Bukit Mertajam Bukit Mertajam is a suburb of Seberang Perai in the Malaysian state of Penang. It also serves as the seat of the Central Seberang Perai District. , Bukit Mertajam had a population of 12,079. Whilst founded in the 19th century as an agricultural ...

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

. She attended

Nanyang Junior College Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) () is a junior college in Singapore next to Lorong Chuan MRT station, offering two-year pre-university courses leading up to the GCE Advanced Level examinations. Nanyang Junior College is known for its strong acad ...

, Singapore for two years and then did her Bachelor of Arts & Social Science at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

, obtaining her degree in 1986. She obtained her M.Sc in International Relations at the

London School of Economics & Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

in 1998.

Career

In 1986, Ng was the editor of Kyoto Publication and later joined the Straits Times Press as a journalist.

Political career

Before joining politics in 2001, Ng was the Senior Political Correspondent of ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

''. Irene has won several journalism and writing awards. After joining politics, she worked as director of programmes and senior research fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, and later, as a director at

National Trades Union Congress The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) internationally, is the sole national trade union centre in Singapore. NTUC leads the labour movement of Singapore, comprising 59 affilia ...

. In the

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

and 2006 general elections, Ng's party, the

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...

, were up against the

Singapore Democratic Alliance The Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) is a political coalition between the Singapore Malay National Organization (PKMS), and Singapore Justice Party (SJP). The SDA was formed in 2001 and initially consisted of four political parties, PKMS, S ...

over Tampines GRC. On both occasions, her team won with 73.34% and 68.51% of the votes respectively. At the 2011 general election, she was re-elected with 57.22% of the votes against the National Solidarity Party. Ng is currently writing the second volume of the biography on

S. Rajaratnam Sinnathamby Rajaratnam (; 25 February 1915 – 22 February 2006), better known as S. Rajaratnam, was a Singaporean statesman, journalist and diplomat who served as the first Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1965 and 1980, and 2nd De ...

, Singapore's first

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. The first volume, ''The Singapore Lion: A Biography of S. Rajaratnam'', was published in early 2010. It recently won the Excellence Award for the ‘Best Book/Best Writer’ on Asian socio-economic or media scene’ at the prestigious Asian Publishing Awards 2010. On 11 August 2011, she produced another book, ''The Short Stories and Radio Plays of S. Rajaratnam'', which she edited with an introduction. It was launched by President SR Nathan. The collection is now used as text in the National Arts Council’s Literary Arts Programme's Literart Arts Programme for schools. A telemovie title
+65
based on the book was aired on MediaCorp Channel 5 in March 2013. Irene is in the Government Parliamentary Committees (GPC) of Foreign Affairs and Defence, Education, as well as of Information and the Arts. She graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts and Social Science, studying sociology, English language and philosophy. She has a Master of Science in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 2006, Irene was awarded an honorary professorial fellowship at the Edinburgh University. She served as a faculty member of the Salzburg Global Seminar 2012. Later that year, she was a visiting senior fellow at

East–West Center The East–West Center (EWC), or the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peop ...

, Hawaii.

Personal life

Ng was married in her mid-twenties but got an

annulment Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning alm ...

, and subsequently married Graham Berry, the

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

in 2007.

Bibliography

Ng authored two books on

, '' The Singapore Lion'' in 2010 and '' The Lion’s Roar'' in 2024. * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ng, Irene Phek Hoong Singaporean people of Cantonese descent 1963 births Living people Members of the Parliament of Singapore People's Action Party politicians Nanyang Junior College alumni National University of Singapore alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Malaysian emigrants to Singapore Singaporean women in politics Singaporean Christians People who lost Malaysian citizenship Naturalised citizens of Singapore