Resilience and determination helped him become one of the youngest to be appointed, on Feb 26, as QC in London this year, according to a report in The Star. Ng specialises in commercial disputes and arbitration.
Ng, an old boy of La Salle Petaling Jaya, graduated with a BA Honours in Law from Cambridge University. He was called to the English Bar (Lincoln’s Inn) in 2002 and has been in practice at Essex Court Chambers, London since 2004.
The Star reported that Ng initially wanted to return and practise in Malaysia or some other Asian country. However, when someone told him the English Bar was not for him he decided to give it a try, he told The Star.
He applied for pupillage and was accepted by Vernon Flynn QC at Essex Court Chambers, and they decided to retain him.
“The number of cases in which I was acting as lead counsel was steadily increasing and my opponents were invariably QCs, so I started thinking about the prospect of applying for QC.
“The catalyst was when I had clients who candidly told me that I had lost out on an appointment as counsel, not because of my ability as advocate but because they felt the case needed someone with the magic letters behind their name.
“That was when I thought I would take the plunge by applying. This is notwithstanding the fact that I was applying at what many would consider a young age and, at 38, I was, in fact, one of the youngest to be appointed as QC this year, even more so given that, at the time I submitted my application form, I had only been in practice for some 12 and a half years,” The Star reported him as saying.
He hoped his appointment as QC would inspire young people with the skill and passion to succeed as advocates to pursue their dreams irrespective of their background.
“If an average person like me who went to my neighbourhood school in PJ can compete with the world’s best on the global stage and help inspire others with similar (or even different) backgrounds to reach for the stars, then I would have achieved more than simply becoming a Queen’s Counsel.”
He is married to fellow Malaysian Soong Mei Jean and they have two children.