SINGAPORE - Mr Ngien Hoon Ping, 47,will take over the reins of the Land Transport Authority (LTA) from incumbent chief executive Chew Men Leong.
Mr Ngien, currently the Deputy Secretary (Performance) in the Ministry of Finance, will assume the position from Nov 12, the Ministry of Transport said on Monday (Sept 26).
Mr Chew, 48, who has resigned, will join the private sector, the ministry said in a press release. He joined the LTA on Oct 1, 2014, and is leaving the authority just after about two years.
During a transition period, Mr Ngien will be appointed chief executive-designate from Oct 31 to Nov 11, while concurrently holding his position in the finance ministry.
Before joining the finance ministry in 2013, Mr Ngien served in the Singapore Armed Forces for 26 years.
During his military stint, Mr Ngien served in several appointments, including as Commander of the Combat Service Support Command.
In that role, he was "responsible for the planning and execution of Army transport, maintenance engineering, supply, medical and ammunition support", the Transport Ministry said.
Mr Ngien studied at the University of Manchester in Britain, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honours) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
He was subsequently awarded a Postgraduate Scholarship (Specialist Development) in 2002 to study at the National University of Singapore, where he graduated with a Master of Science in Industrial and System Engineering.
"The Ministry of Transport would like to put on record its appreciation to Mr Chew Men Leong for his significant contributions and wish him all the best in his future endeavours," it said.
During Mr Chew's tenure, he oversaw the opening of the Downtown Line 2 in December 2015, the development of new rail projects such as the Thomson-East Coast Line and engineering studies for the Cross Island Line.
Mr Chew was also involved in the impending transition to the new rail financing framework, which will take effect on Oct 1.
Under the new framework, the LTA will take over all operating assets of the North-South, East-West and Circle lines as well as the Bukit Panjang LRT Line, from SMRT for $1.06 billion.
This puts the LTA in a better position to make timely investments in capacity expansion, replacement and upgrading of operating assets, the Transport Ministry said.
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