He's famed in Hong Kong for helping design its contribution to space discovery - tools for the Mir space station and European Mars missions. Ng Tze-chuen recalls in our weekly series the highs and lows of 30 years working with celebrated scientists, battling bureaucracy ... and being tailed by spies
I was in the wrong job and in the wrong place, chasing a pipe dream. Being a dentist helped pay for my real passion - design of precision instruments for use in space vehicles, but Hong Kong was, and still is, no place for someone interested in space exploration.
By 1994, I had designed a series of experimental tools I was convinced overseas space agencies would find useful, yet up to then, there had been no taker. I needed highly skilled engineers and precision mechanics to turn my ideas into prototypes. But where could you find such people in a practical, money-driven place like Hong Kong? I would have to put together a crack team willing to work for glory alone, that is, for free ... Mission Impossible?
I first went to an out-of-the-way machinist shop in Hunghom. The guy looked at me like I had just arrived from outer space when I told him what I wanted to do. But at least he was kind enough to point me in the right direction. 'You need very hi-tech machinery for this kind of job. Find Big-Head Yung and Godfather Chris,' he told me.
They turned out to be Yung Kai-leung, who was teaching engineering at Hong Kong Polytechnic, and Chris Wong Ho-ching, head of the university's industrial centre.
The size of Dr Yung's head, and presumably his brain, was impressive, hence his affectionate nickname. He also turned out to be a college buddy of my elder brother when they were engineering students at Imperial College, in London.
I still remember Dr Yung's surprised and sceptical look when I told him about my space designs. Together, we approached Chris Wong, whom people called Godfather because he was and still is the big boss at the centre, probably the best homegrown precision engineering and machinery shop in Hong Kong.