Hello world. Often the first few lines of code for an aspiring programmer.
I can’t quite remember when I wrote my first “hello world”. Likely over 20 years ago, much has happened between those first lines of code and this hello world 2.0, my journey as an aspiring roboticist.
I’m Daniel (Ng Ming Zhong), and I’ve been building and learning in the AI robotics space since February 2025. I write about my reflections in robotics thus far here.
While I’ve done some programming over the years, I’m not formally trained as a computer scientist nor engineer. I read law at the National University of Singapore, politics at Yale-NUS College, and global affairs at Tsinghua University, Schwarzman College. My professional experiences are centered in law, strategy and operations.
A whistlestop tour
As a child and teen, I spent a lot of time with computers and gaming (Warcraft III, DotA, Runescape, Maple Story, and many more). These games were not only my first foray into programming, they were also the space where I explored entrepreneurship - the first $1,000 I made was through buying and selling Maple Story mesos as a fourteen year old (a fortune then!).
I stopped gaming in my mid-teens and focused my efforts on social justice, advocacy, leadership and law. Much credit to the Boys’ Brigade and the incredible mentors for instilling a sense of other-centeredness in me. I soon entered the Singapore military, an experience I thoroughly enjoyed (more about that, and why I still serve, here). There, my interest in public law and international relations grew further, and I decided to pursue a double degree in law and liberal arts. In university, I spent much time on public law and social justice. I was fortunate to work with incredible teams to systemically improve military justice, criminal law education, pro-bono legal work, youth empowerment, and much more.
I picked up programming again after a legal internship where I did some fairly repetitive and mind-numbing work, and thought, “I’m sure a computer program can do this.” I took a few programming classes in Berkeley and at Yale-NUS, started tinkering again, and boy did those skills reap some benefits. With my programming skills, I did some very interesting work for my professor’s research, developed prototype software for a semiconductor sales company in Singapore (which unlocked a significant revenue stream), designed the tech stack for the company I founded, JustShip, and built many cool things.
Programming was lots of fun - web-scrapers created magic, and well-thought SQL commands took businesses to another level. What I did best was to use programming as a force multiplier for myself, others, and organisations around me. It’s incredible to see what AI is doing as a force multiplier, too.
After the double degree program, Schwarzman, founding JustShip, and a ton of interesting work in between, I began legal practice at Clifford Chance - the same firm I did the repetitive and mind-numbing work that nudged me to relearn programming.
Now, after four and a half years, having advised on billions of dollars of private equity deals, numerous IPOs and debt raises; journeyed with founders, corporates and investors; qualified in three jurisdictions; and worked with some incredible (and less incredible) people, I left Clifford Chance in early 2025. I pen my reflections on legal practice here.
Enter AI robotics
I’m now deep in building and learning in the AI robotics space, a space that is fascinating, uncomfortable, full of promises, yet navigating ROI concerns. It’s been a rollercoaster, and an incredible journey.
If you’re interested in trading notes about anything (business, law, robotics, social justice or even Schwarzman admissions) - feel free to reach out.
All my best, and, hello world.
DNMZ