“Ignatius is highly dependable to get the work done. His performance is excellent and has great business sense. He lives the “work hard play hard” philosophy. He also doubles up as the informal leader and cheerleader naturally.” – Raphael Chiu, Head, Performance & Rewards, Group HR at Sime Darby Berhad 

Kind and great words everyone wishes to hear about themselves and we agree with Raphael. From Deputy Manager at Pacific Bank in 1996 to now CEO of TNG Digital Sdn Bhd, Ignatius Ong has quite an impressive resume. As someone who likes to see results in his work and achieve those results, Ignatius does not disappoint. Here for an exclusive (and fun) interview with Liveatpc.com, Ignatius talks about his experience working as the new CEO, his work philosophy and his go to karaoke song.

His Visions for the future of the Industry

Ignatius had a vision for TNG Digital, the Touch n Go eWallet and how things were going to pan out. He wanted to help be a part of this evolving industry. 

He shares that he wants TNG Digital to be available at various touch points covering SMEs, mom and pop shops, convenience stores, big lifestyle brands, wet markets, RFID at tolls, street parking, to even our everyday go-to economy rice outlets. 

“Through these experiences and the many roadshows, we held nationwide for the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative, I got to meet many interesting people from different consumer segments and understood our users and potential users better”, he said.

The work they’re doing seems to be paying off as the user base numbers continue to grow to 11 million and their merchant touchpoints is at a strong 220,000. Impressive but there’s always room for improvement as Ignatius said that they are looking to expand the app further to make it even much more holistic for users. 

Reflecting on his work experiences, Ignatius sees how much he has grown as a person, a leader and a geek (being in the fintech space) and he’s thankful for the hard work of his team.

The Work Hard, Play Hard Philosophy.

Ignatius sounds like a really cool boss to have. He shared that he sees all the work his team put into making Touch ‘n Go eWallet the leading e-wallet in Malaysia but it’s not always about work and work for him. A man’s gotta chill or party too. From Raphael Chiu’s quote in the beginning, Ignatius lives the “work hard play hard” philosophy. What’s that about? Like it was mentioned earlier, Ignatius is someone who likes to see results in his work but he also believes in rewarding himself and celebrating his and his employees’ success. 

He reminds us that there’s no shame in recognising valuable effort that has been done and this can become a source of motivation to become better. 

May The Force Be With You

What’s an interview without a few fun questions right? As Ignatius is a huge fan of the Star Wars franchise, he shared his opinion on The Last Jedi. Spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the movie.

He shares he’s not a fan of any of the Star Wars movies without Darth Vader (I mean Darth Vader is the epitome of a Sith lord) and he’s definitely not a fan of The Last Jedi (understandably so)

“The ending where Luke Skywalker projected his image overland was just blasphemous. He has in one way or another outlived his character.”

There’s Always a Silver Lining

Working from home because of the MCO was not always rainbows and butterflies even if we did get to wake up a little later than usual. For Ignatius, he was actually busier than ever when he was working from home but his children will get in the way sometimes. Oh well you know kids.

Though not easy, there was however, a silver lining to working at home. Ignatius got to spend more time with his family. Something many of us took for granted. Ignatius cherished the moment he got to spend with his daughters while they sit together doing their own work. 

MCO back then got us all subscribing to Netflix or renewing our subscriptions, so what did Ignatius watch during that time? 

“One new TV series I have caught on to is Z Nation. It’s really addictive and the story line is captivating but then again, anything to do with zombies, I just love it – like how I watched the entire series of Walking Dead the last 10 years”, he added.

It was a pleasure getting to interview Ignatius and we ended the interview with one last question; His go to karaoke song. His answer? You Needed Me by Ronan Keating. “Always melts the ladies’ hearts!!!”, he said.

Check out our last interview with Ignatius HERE