Chng Hak-Peng will become chief executive of the National Gallery of Singapore on January 1, 2027, succeeding Eugene Tan after a three-month transition that begins on October 1. The change ends Tan’s dual leadership of the National Gallery of Singapore and the Singapore Art Museum, while both institutions say they will keep collaborating and sharing resources.
A planned handover at the National Gallery
Chng’s appointment is designed to overlap with Tan for three months, with the new chief executive serving as CEO-designate from October 1 before taking the role fully on January 1, 2027. The institutions said the arrangement is meant to ensure a smooth transition, which matters because the National Gallery of Singapore is one of the country’s key visual arts institutions.
The leadership shift also marks the end of a structure that has linked the National Gallery of Singapore and the Singapore Art Museum under Tan’s oversight. The two organisations said they will continue to collaborate and share resources, indicating that the change is managerial rather than a break in institutional ties.
Tan returns focus to Singapore Art Museum
From the start of 2027, Eugene Tan will concentrate on his role at the Singapore Art Museum, where he has been director since 2018. His departure from the National Gallery of Singapore closes a period in which he held top positions at both museums at once, a setup that connected two major public art institutions in Singapore.
That separation could sharpen each museum’s distinct responsibilities. The National Gallery of Singapore focuses on visual art, while the Singapore Art Museum has been Tan’s base since 2018, and the new arrangement gives each institution a clearer leadership line while preserving cooperation between them.
Chng’s route into the arts
Before moving to the National Gallery of Singapore, Chng Hak-Peng spent 15 years with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. He began there as a volunteer in 2008, advising on strategy and organisation, later became deputy chairman, and then served as CEO from 2015 through 2022.
His earlier career also included 10 years at Bain & Company, the management consulting firm. Chng studied electrical engineering at Stanford University, and his background combines corporate management, nonprofit governance and arts-sector experience, a mix that fits a leadership role at a museum with regional ambitions.
Experience across museums and music
Chng has also been a volunteer docent at two local museums, giving him direct experience with public-facing education work. He is currently studying for a PhD in history at the National Museum of Singapore, adding academic training to a résumé already shaped by arts administration and strategy.
In a farewell letter when he left the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Chng pointed to the orchestra’s achievements, including a third-place finish in Gramophone magazine’s orchestra of the year ranking and inclusion among BBC Music magazine’s 21 best orchestras in the world in 2022. Those references show that his previous leadership was tied to internationally visible milestones.
What Chng says he wants to do
Chng said he wants to strengthen the role the arts play in society, and he described the National Gallery of Singapore as a leading visual arts institution in the region. He also said it is uniquely placed to tell the stories of Singapore and Southeast Asia through art.
He added that he hopes to build on the work of Eugene Tan and Tan’s predecessor, Chong Siak Ching, and to help create a gallery that Singapore continues to value and take pride in. That framing suggests continuity rather than reinvention, with the new chief executive expected to extend an existing institutional direction.
Takeaway: The National Gallery of Singapore is choosing continuity and overlap, not a clean break, as Chng Hak-Peng prepares to take over from Eugene Tan on January 1, 2027.
