Obituary: Hinson Ng (B1 1979-83)
HINSON NG (B1 1979-83), born 28th November 1965 in Penang, Malaysia, died in London 19th November 2017. A British citizen, resident in Monaco, husband of Serena, brother of Wilson and the late Anson, and son of Pat.
After attending St Faiths prep school in Cambridge he arrived at Marlborough in January 1979. He and I sat next to each other in Shell Q, with AH Davis as our form tutor, and became firm lifelong friends. He was in A1 and then B1 whilst I was in Turner with the eccentric Hugh de Weldon.
Whilst at school he was sporting as well as academically successful. Physically large from the age of 13 he played as hooker for the 1st XV and a southern county whilst still in his junior years. He arrived as a fully formed player aged 13, and remained that size throughout his time at Marlborough, whilst we very slowly caught up.
After Marlborough he studied LLB at Birmingham University 1984-1987. He was then called to the English Bar, Inner Temple in 1988. Later on he also attended INSEAD for an MBA in 2000-2001.
Switching from the law to stockbroking, his first employment was at Hoare Govett 1988-1990 in London. He then moved to Singapore working for JM Sassoon 1990-1994 and Credit Suisse 1994-1999. Then a stint in the States: Barclays Global in San Francisco, Blackrock, 2002-2007, after which he founded Dragon Global Investors Hedge Fund and expanded into New York. In 2010 he moved to Monaco as a director responsible for the family office Kewson Holdings, investing primarily in global equities, currencies, derivatives and some private equity.
Outside of work Hinson was an avid global traveller with an extremely active lifestyle. Trained as a certified scuba diving instructor, pistol marksman, marathon runner, explorer, mountaineer – he scaled Everest a number of times, not quite to the top.
Hinson was Malaysian with a British education. He was quick witted, with a sharp enquiring mind, and an infectious laugh. A true global citizen, he spoke fluent French, Italian, Spanish and Mandarin. He loved good food and experienced the best cuisine wherever he was in the world, and the cheaper the better. Value for Money was his motto. Not only was he a qualified cordon bleu chef, and also achieved grade 8 piano. Essentially an over achiever and with all the energy required for working and playing hard, he also gave back to the community as the managing director of Stand Up for Kids, a children’s charity in New York.
Hinson was diagnosed with cancer more than 10 years ago, but was successful in fighting it several times, until more recently. Sarcoma took hold and despite trying all manner of treatments, in the UK, Singapore and US, over the last two years he was fighting a losing battle. In June 2017 Hinson married for the first time, in a beautiful setting in Cap Ferrat surrounded by all of his friends. I was his best man and managed the situation as best I could. Many people were shocked to see such a vital man somewhat depleted and in a wheel chair. He had kept it from most. The following week he flew to the Wellington hospital in St Johns Wood and had several more treatments over the next 5 months. He died surrounded by his closest friends and family. It was an honour to have been there for him through the difficult times, as well as all the good over so many years.
by Mark Palmer (TU 79-83)
