Ng Liang Chiang (; 4 August 1921 – 5 September 1992) was a Singaporean hurdler. Ng and sprinter Chee Swee Lee are the only Singaporeans with a gold medal in athletics at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

. He is a Singapore Sports Council Hall of Fame inductee. In 1999, Ng was ranked 16th in a list of ''Singapore's 50 Greatest Athletes of the Century'' by ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...

''.

Athletics career

Born the eldest of 12 children to a lift-fitter, Ng studied at Serangoon English School. He took up athletics in 1934 but did not have formal training, learning only from books. Ng returned to the track after the Japanese occupation. In May 1948, he was chosen to represent Malayan Chinese at the China National Meet for local and overseas Chinese athletes in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, where he set new China national record times of 16.0 s and 57.9 s in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles respectively. Ng's records led to his selection to represent the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

in the 400-meter hurdles at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was not selected for Singapore as they were only affiliated to the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

in late August and his name had been submitted by China. In London, he suffered a toothache, which prevented him from performing his best and he did not qualify from the heats. Along with close rival

Lloyd Valberg Lloyd Oscar Valberg (14 April 1922 – 26 March 1997) was the first person from Singapore to compete at the Olympics when he went to the 1948 Summer Olympic Games held in London, United Kingdom. Early years He took up the high jump when he wa ...

, Ng was one of two athletes from Singapore selected to represent

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

at their first

British Empire Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

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. He was eliminated from the 400-meter hurdles heats following similar issues at the London Olympics. The highlight of Ng's career came when he was selected in the Singapore contingent for the inaugural Asian Games in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. On 10 March 1951, he won Singapore's first medal in athletics when he came in third in the 400-meter hurdles. He followed the medal with a win in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 15.2 s to clinch one of Singapore's five gold medals at the Games. In May 1951, Ng shaved 0.4 s off Valberg's Malayan record and improved on his Asian Games time with 15.1 s in the 110-meter hurdles. He was ineligible for the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

as he had represented China at the previous Olympics. In December 1972, Ng joined the national coaching set-up, mentoring the national hurdlers, including

1967 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games The 1967 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, officially known as the 4th Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Bangkok, Thailand from 9 to 16 December 1967 with 16 sports featured in the games. Cambodia ...

gold medalist

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, for the

1973 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games The 1973 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, officially known as the 7th Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Singapore from 1 to 8 September 1973 with 16 sports featured in the games. This was the fir ...

, which Singapore hosted.

Personal life

Ng married fellow athlete Lim Sian Heng in 1960. The couple have four sons – Christopher, Andrew, Thomas, Augustine. Ng died of throat cancer on 5 September 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ng, Liang Chiang 1921 births 1992 deaths Singaporean people of Chinese descent Singaporean male hurdlers Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Asian Games gold medalists for Singapore Asian Games bronze medalists for Singapore Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1951 Asian Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Malaya Chinese male hurdlers Olympic athletes for China Medalists at the 1951 Asian Games