They grew up among the rubber trees of Malaysia and Mr Ng studied the science behind the commodity at the University of Otago in 1970.
When he finished his studies in Dunedin, Mr Ng returned to Malaysia where he worked in a laboratory testing and certifying rubber for Michelin tyres.
"We grew up with rubber," Mrs Ng said.
"We used to pick rubber seeds when we were young. My great-grandfather had a rubber shop, with all this latex hanging around."
Rubber tappers would collect the commodity and deliver it to Mrs Ng’s great-grandfather who would sell it to manufacturers and exporters.
So when the Dunedin City Council bought the site their old Para Rubber store was in in South Dunedin and the franchise agreement came to an end, what were they going to do?
Well, open another rubber store.
The Ngs opened Rubberland, in Hanover St, on July 1.
They were preparing to retire and hand the reins over to their son, Aaron Ng.
The store would sell rubber parts to a range of tradespeople and businesses — including Farra Engineering and the University of Otago.
