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  • About RSIS
      IntroductionBuilding the FoundationsWelcome MessageBoard of GovernorsHonours and Awards for RSIS Staff and StudentsRSIS Endowment FundEndowed ProfessorshipsCareer OpportunitiesGetting to RSIS
      Staff ProfilesExecutive Deputy Chairman’s OfficeDean’s OfficeManagementDistinguished FellowsFaculty and ResearchAssociate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research AnalystsVisiting FellowsAdjunct FellowsAdministrative Staff
  • Research
      Research CentresCentre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      Research ProgrammesNational Security Studies Programme (NSSP)Social Cohesion Research Programme (SCRP)Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      Other ResearchFuture Issues and Technology ClusterResearch@RSISScience and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      Graduate Programmes OfficeExchange Partners and ProgrammesHow to ApplyFinancial AssistanceMeet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other eventsRSIS Alumni
  • Outreach
      Global NetworksAbout Global NetworksRSIS Alumni
      Executive EducationAbout Executive EducationSRP Executive ProgrammeTerrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
      International ProgrammesAbout International ProgrammesAsia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS)International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
  • Publications
      RSIS PublicationsAnnual ReviewsBooksBulletins and NewslettersRSIS Commentary SeriesCounter Terrorist Trends and AnalysesCommemorative / Event ReportsFuture IssuesIDSS PapersInterreligious RelationsMonographsNTS InsightPolicy ReportsWorking Papers
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      Getting to RSIS

      Nanyang Technological University
      Block S4, Level B3,
      50 Nanyang Avenue,
      Singapore 639798

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  • Ong Keng Yong
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Ambassador Ong Keng Yong

Executive Deputy Chairman, RSIS
Director of Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies; Head of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research
Education
LLB Hons (University of Singapore); MA (Georgetown University)
: [email protected]
: +65 6790 6907
: RSIS / IDSS / ICPVTR
Violent Extremism: What Was Learnt, Where We Are and What’s Next
Authored Books

Ambassador Ong Keng Yong

Executive Deputy Chairman, RSIS
Director of Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies; Head of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research
Education
LLB Hons (University of Singapore); MA (Georgetown University)
: [email protected]
: +65 6790 6907
: RSIS / IDSS / ICPVTR

Following links control the content below

  • Biography
  • Areas of Expertise
  • RSIS Publications
  • External Publications
  • Talks
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Biography

Ambassador Ong Keng Yong is Executive Deputy Chairman of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He is concurrently Director of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) and Head of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) at RSIS.

Mr Ong continues to hold the position of Ambassador-at-Large at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is also Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to Iran. Mr Ong chairs Humanity Matters, a non-profit humanitarian organisation focused on inter-faith understanding and volunteerism, and is based in Singapore.

Mr Ong was High Commissioner of Singapore to Malaysia from 2011 to 2014. He served as High Commissioner of Singapore to India and concurrently Singapore’s Ambassador to Nepal from 1996 to 1998.

Mr Ong served as the 11th Secretary-General of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), based in Jakarta, Indonesia, for 5 years from January 2003.

Mr Ong started his diplomatic career in 1979 and was posted to the Singapore Embassies in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and the United States of America between 1984 and 1994. From September 1998 to December 2002, he was Press Secretary to the then Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Goh Chok Tong, while holding senior appointments in the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, and the People’s Association in Singapore. From 2008 to 2011, he served as Director of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Mr Ong was the Chairman of the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) from 2015 to 2023.

Mr Ong graduated from the then University of Singapore with a LLB (Hons). He studied at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., USA, and graduated with a MA in Arab Studies.

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Areas of Expertise

  • ASEAN’s Strategic Role in Regional Architecture
  • ASEAN’s Relations with External Parties
  • ASEAN’s Community-building Initiatives
  • Relations between Singapore and Malaysia and India

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RSIS Publications

    RSIS Commentary Series

    • Achieving Connectedness and Cohesion

      16 September, 2022

    • Appreciating Diversity: What Has The ICCS Achieved?

      28 June, 2019

    • CO17240 | Israeli-Palestine Conflict: Compromise and Restraint Needed

      26 December, 2017

    • CO17148 | ASEAN into the Future: Need For Leadership

      07 August, 2017

    • CO17146 | Future of Agriculture and Implications for ASEAN

      03 August, 2017

    • CO17127 | Singapore and Food Security

      30 June, 2017

    • CO16217 | Man of Guts, Instinct and Tenacity

      25 August, 2016

    • CO16202 | ASEAN Community: Economic Integration and Development of SMEs

      10 August, 2016

    • CO15277 | ASEAN and the EU: Different Paths to Community Building

      22 December, 2015

    • CO15227 | Strengthening Energy Security: Key to Sustainable Development in Asia

      26 October, 2015

    • CO15064 | Pursuing Mutual Strategic Interests: Lee Kuan Yew’s Role in Singapore–US Relations

      24 March, 2015

    Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses

    • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses (CTTA) - Volume 12 Issue 01

      06 January, 2020

    Books

    • The APPSMO Advantage: Strategic Opportunities

      04 August, 2016

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External Publications

Authored Books

  • Violent Extremism: What Was Learnt, Where We Are and What’s Next (with Damien D. Cheong). Singapore: World Scientific, 2025

Journal Articles

  • “Amb Ong Keng Yong on the Role of ASEAN” in Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 2021
  • “ASEAN Arts and Culture: The Role of Singapore” (with Ajit Singh, and Le Luong Minh) in ASEANFocus: Bi-monthly Publication of ISEAS-Yusof Shak, Issue 4, 2019. pp. 11-14
  • “The ASEAN We Don’t Know” in The Soft Power 30, 2018
  • “ASEAN Arts and Culture: The Role of Singapore” in Culture Connections, Vol. 3, 2018, pp. 9-13
  • “The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” in The Little Nation That Can - Singapore's Foreign Relations and Diplomacy, Vol. 26, 2017, pp. 90-94

Chapters in Edited Books

  • “ASEAN, China, and the South China Sea” (with Nazia Hussain) in Yanjun Guo and Sothirak Pou, Sustainable Peace of the South China Sea: The 20th Anniversary of Signing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. Singapore: World Scientific, 2025, Series on Asian Regional Cooperation Studies. Vol. 11
  • “US-China Strategic Competition and Southeast Asia” (with Hoo Tiang Boon) in Henry Huiyao Wang and Mabel Lu Miao, Enhancing Global Governance in a Fragmented World: Prospects, Issues, and the Role of China. : Springer, 2024, pp. 205-214
  • “Advancing the ASEAN-Korea Partnership: From Sectoral Dialogue Relations to the New Southern Policy Plus” (with Sarah Teo, and Shawn Ho) in Kwon Hyung Lee and Yoon Jae Ro (Eds.), The New Southern Policy Plus: Progress and Way Forward. Sejong: Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, 2021, pp. 49-67
  • “The Making of America Foreign Policy” (with Jean Tan) in Tommy Koh and Daljit Singh, America: A Singapore Perspective. Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2021, pp. 120-127

Op-Eds

  • “Tourism Key to Building Connections Between Kazakhstan and Southeast Asia”, TODAY, 1 December 2020
  • “G20 Religion and Policy: ‘We Need More Interactions and Pooling of Resources to Tackle the Challenges’”, KAICIID, 11 October 2020
  • “The Challenge is How We Make the Most of Diversity”, The Straits Times, 27 June 2019
  • “Asia Values: A Free and Open Indo-Pacific”, 2018 Halifax Papers, 8 January 2019
  • “What ASEAN’s Enterprises Need to Succeed” (with Phidel Marion G. Vineles), East Asia Forum, 19 August 2016
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Talks

  • Speaker, Virtual Panel Discussion on “An ASEAN Answer to Myanmar’s Crisis?”, organised by the
    Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, 27 April 2021
  • Speaker, Tokyo Conference 2021, organised by Genron NPO, 22 March 2021
  • Speaker, TIU Global Dialogue on “ASEAN and its Challenges”, organised by the Tokyo International University, 25 February 2021

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