Dr Ng received the award from the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) Director Charles Wichman on 6 February 2009 at NTBG’s Florida Garden, the former estate and private garden of the award’s namesake Dr David Fairchild.
From 1965 to 1989, Dr Ng explored the tropical rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia, collecting material for the Tree Flora of Malaya Project (1965–1989). He completed the flora by editing and publishing Volumes 3 and 4; and contributing revisions of Sapodilla family, Milkwort family, and Ebony family for the prodigious flora project.
Dr Ng has also extensively explored the forests of Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei, and Kalimantan. Since 2002, he served as an advisor to the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre. While exploring the Sarawak forests, he discovered a new species of ornamental banana named Musa lokok.
He also conducted an exhaustive study of tropical fruits and seeds, published as two volumes in his Manual of Forest Fruits, Seeds, and Seedlings. The study included the germination characteristics and descriptions of seedling morphology representing about 1000 species in 300 genera.
From spearheading the development of the arboretum in FRIM to serving on Kuala Lumpur’s first Committee on Urban Planning to creating a rainforest garden within (and on the roof of) an urban shopping mall, Dr Ng has been at the forefront of conservation, research, and exploration of Indomalaya’s forests.
Among others, Dr Ng was the leading consultant for the planned Natural History Museum initiated by NRE. He is currently working with FRIM on another coffee table book entitled, “The History of FRIM”.
