Ng is the bestselling author of Hong Kong State of Mind and No City for Slow Men. His work Umbrellas in Bloom is the first book in English to chronicle the Umbrella Movement and the last instalment of a Hong Kong trilogy that tracks the city's post-colonial development. He also contributes to The Guardian and Hong Kong Free Press as a columnist. He also served as the president of PEN Hong Kong from 2016 until 2019.