• Charter / Founding Member of MMTMC since 2002
• MMTMC’s 1st Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) Achiever, 2015
• MMTMC’s 1st Club Advisor (Learning & Development), 2019-2020
• MMTMC’s 2nd Club President, 2004-2005, achieved President’s Distinguished Club Award
• Division D Area D2 Area Governor, 2014-2015, achieved Select Distinguished Area Award

Meet our Mentor, a Charter Member, a Past Club President, a Contest Champion, an entrepreneur, a renowned speaker, a consultant and a friend who has been contributing greatly to the advancement of the Club since MMTMC was first founded in 2002: Mike Ng, DTM.

Tell us a little more about yourself and what do you do?  

I am proud to be a founding member of Money Mastery (Singapore) Toastmasters Club and see the club grow to its current glory. Over the past 20 years, I had immersed myself in the art of public speaking. Along the way, I had coached and mentored members to become prolific and confident speakers. I strongly believe that every speaker has a unique public speaking persona. Intrigued by the vast array of unique speaking styles and experiences members possess, I find passion to work with members who naturally connect with me and find me to be a sensitive and admirable mentor in grooming them to become prolific and confident speakers. Today, I operate Public Speaking Persona as my passion to empower speakers with an authentic voice, a unique public speaking persona and in speaking confidently to the world.

While honing my public speaking skills, I spent 17 years of my corporate career with International Enterprise (IE) Singapore (now known as Enterprise Singapore) covering International Operations for Europe, South Americas and India, Capability Development and Finance. During my tenure, I had overseas posting assignments in London and New Delhi leading more than 30 global staff across different cultures, time zones and markets. I had also managed a $350mil development grant budget to develop firm-level capability, manpower, financial assistance and market access programmes.

I started my professional career as a statutory auditor in Arthur Andersen, an international accounting firm. I went on to be the Finance & Admin Manager at Oasis Holdings, a SME in the food services sector and became an entrepreneurial owner of Nagai, a Japanese Restaurant before joining IE Singapore. I was Singapore-listed Koufu Group’s Vice President, Food Business Development.

Besides my passion in public speaking, I have been an active sportsperson. I represented Singapore in the ASEAN Schools during my college days as a national sprinter. Through sports, I understood what it means to train with focus and discipline, to condition and reach peak performance and to be in the zone to get my personal best results. These days, I swim and golf regularly and also spend my leisure time in acrylic painting and acoustic drumming.

I am married with one son. I hold a Nanyang Fellows MBA and a Bachelor of Accountancy (First Class Honours), both from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. I also attended in-campus executive courses at UC Berkeley, The Wharton School and Georgetown University, Washington. I am a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and a Distinguished Toastmaster with Toastmasters International.

Feel free to talk to me about defining your unique public speaking persona, international business development and organisation leadership at mike.ng@publicspeakingpersona.com or +65 98772481.

What has been your most memorable experience in MMTMC so far?

At the personal level, I remember I was seated and unashamedly tearing like an open tap when fellow club members bid farewell at my last chapter meeting at Toa Payoh SAFRA before I went for my first overseas posting to New Delhi in 2006. Having been together at MMTMC for more than 3 years by then, their warm words of appreciation, camaraderie and well wishes made me so emotional and unwilling to even temporarily leave this family of friends (sob sob). At the contest level, it was winning the Division D Table Topics Contest in 2005 with a contest topic “The Eagle Does Not Eat Flies” (I vaguely remember I talked about leadership and team work); and the opportunity to compete at the District level in Jakarta with fellow international contestants! At the leadership level, I enjoyed my “tour of duty” as Club President (2004-2005) achieving the President’s Distinguished Club award, Area D2 Governor (2014-2015) achieving the Select Distinguished Area award and as the Organising Chair of MMTMC’s 15th Anniversary Celebrations in 2017.

All in all, it’s the people at MMTMC that’s always providing me with memorable experiences. To see their personal breakthroughs, to hear their moving stories and to feel their fun & craziness within the creatively themed chapter meetings!!

How has being a toastmaster changed your life?

Being a Charter Member with MMTMC since 2002 had built my personal confidence and abilities as a public speaker, presenter, panel moderator, communicator and coach. It prepared me well to express my thoughts and content sharply within time. It raised my attention towards my audience’s needs and refined my engagement with them throughout the speech. Through toastmasters, I learned the art of giving positive feedback, persuasion and inspiration. It helped me at work when I strived to motivate and improve the performance of my colleagues. Speaking off the cuff became comfortable through the numerous impromptu table topics that I had practised over the years. In 2017, I steadily handled a “live” business interview by a Mexican Bloomberg-linked TV station without knowing the questions beforehand (https://youtu.be/kIT2QapwQxc). I’m always grateful to Toastmasters for developing me into a proficient communicator in all situations.

What motivates you to take up a role as a mentor?

Simply, it’s for me to pass on what I’ve gained as a toastmaster so that members can fast track their learning journey and discover their public speaking persona quickly. Over the past 18 years, I’ve walked a path of learning, made a family of friends and gained a chest of experience with MMTMC. Having benefited tremendously and becoming the first Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) in MMTMC, it’s my desire to be a role model, lead and show members how to optimize their efforts in this Toastmasters path of personal growth. To remain effective as a mentor, I’m continuing my personal growth under the new Pathways Education Program, so that I’m familiar with every new toastmaster’s curriculum and learning journey. I walk first, so others can follow with confidence.

What is your top de-stressing activity?

A swim in a pool and preferably the pool comes with a cocktail bar! I also enjoy my acrylic painting as I splash colours onto a white canvass; or a weekend round of golf at a beautiful oceanic course.

If you can invite anyone for a dinner, who will you invite and why?

As an avid Arsenal fan for more than 2 decades, definitely Arsene Wenger, the longest serving manager in the English Premier League’s history. I’m eager to learn from him on how he can calmly manage Arsenal under all the public pressure and media limelight over his decision-makings on reputable recruitment (or the lack of it), player selections, and tactics during the games. His leadership and management abilities to withstand the harsh scrutiny, work within the limitations imposed onto him (often financial and due to player injuries), groom young talents instead of buying from the transfer market and continue to do what he thinks is right for the club and the fans is admirable. His in-depth views will be applicable in the business world for entrepreneurs like me to remain calm, professional and focused to do what we are made to do. Will you want to join me in this private dinner with Arsene Wenger?

Curious about bringing out your authentic voice, defining your public speaking persona and in speaking confidently to your world? Want to find out more?