Senior executive of GP Batteries jumps to death from Hong Kong office roof
'Depressed' vice-chairman of GP Batteries had been troubled over business, source says
A senior executive of international battery maker GP jumped to his death from the roof of his office building in Kwai Chung yesterday.
Andrew Ng Sung-on, 64, the vice-chairman and executive director of Gold Peak Industries (Holdings), who is also chairman and chief executive of GP Batteries International, was found lying unconscious on the ground outside the eight-storey Gold Peak Building on Castle Peak Road in Kwai Chung.
He was confirmed dead by paramedics at the scene.
They believed Ng jumped from the roof of the building, where his briefcase and tablet computer were found.
A police source said Ng was seen leaving his office at about 3.30pm and had gone up to the roof a few minutes before he jumped.
No suicide note was found and officers found nothing suspicious.
The source said he had been troubled by his company's business over the past few months and had been depressed.
A post-mortem examination was expected to confirm the cause of death.
According to the Gold Peak website, Ng joined the company in 1975 and had been vice-chairman of the group since 1990.
Gold Peak Industries (Holdings) was founded in 1964 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1984.
Ng was also the founder of the group's micro battery and rechargeable battery divisions, and he had been chairman and chief executive of its Singapore-listed subsidiary GP Batteries International Limited since 1993.
GP Batteries is a major supplier of primary and rechargeable batteries.
The company's website claims that it is the largest consumer battery manufacturer on the mainland.
Ng held a master of science degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.
He is survived by his wife and a son.
Group chairman and chief executive Victor Lo Chung-wing said in an announcement through the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing last night that the board wished to express its "deepest sorrow" over the death of Ng and conveyed its condolences to his family.
The board also expressed its "deepest gratitude" for Ng's "enormous contribution to the group".