Esther Ng joined the then Star Publications Berhad in June 1992 as a news reporter after leaving Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. As part of The Star's court and legal affairs team, the journalism graduate covered many important trials in her five-year tenure. During that time, she was also in the Parliament beat, leading the team until the 2000s. She returned to general news after leaving court reporting, covering mainly Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister assignments locally and abroad, as well as political assignments. 

Esther was made Senior Writer in 1999 and moved up the ranks to Chief Reporter, Assistant and Deputy News Editor. She was made News Editor in 2010, which saw her taking charge of the main desk – the largest and most dynamic desk in The Star. During that time, she spearheaded the KPI system, still in use today, for the department. She was then appointed Sunday Star Editor in 2015 where she led the revamping of the edition, making use of her vast experience in news. Until June 2018, she took on the role of Executive Editor before replacing the Editor-in-Chief as Star Media Group’s first Chief Content Officer, a title the company is pioneering in Malaysia in line with the group’s ongoing transformation effort.