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LUMEN | JOSEPHIANS
A
Q & A with
Ang Tok Teng
By Nadiah Afiqah Bte Ismail and Chang Zhui Ning
... I subscribe to “ Life can only be understood
BACKWARDS ; but it must be lived
FORWARD ...”
In an establishment like a school such as SJI , the significant people we link it with are mainly the staff : teachers and executive and administrative personnel . Beyond them , there are still many who work behind the scenes to facilitate other aspects of the school that require attention . So who are these people ? Lumen invited Mr Ang Tok
Teng ( Class of 1971 ) to tell us about himself and his involvement in the SJI Campus Redevelopment project .
Nadiah : Can you tell us about your education ? Tok Teng : I went to De La Salle Primary School ( Kampong Bahru ) for my primary education , and then to SJI for my secondary and Pre-University 1 ( 4 months ) education . At primary school , we would attend mass at the Church of St . Teresa , a few steps from the school ' s back gate . By the way , I chose Church of St Teresa for my marriage solemnization . After a brief Pre-U 1 , I was attracted to the technical education at Singapore Polytechnic ( SP ) causing some disappointment to one of my very passionate teachers then . After obtaining my Diploma in Electrical Engineering , sensing the need for business skills , I also obtained a Diploma in Sales and Marketing , a Diploma in Marketing Management and a Bachelor of Science in Economics . It was in SP at the Prince Edward Road Campus that I met my wife .
Zhui Ning : What contributions have you made to Singapore ? TT : Broadly speaking , my happy family of four , my wife , daughter and son .
Another aspect had to be my national service to Singapore . I had taken that seriously ,
and as a reservist officer served extra years and was involved in testing of new SOP ( Standard Operating Procedures ) in major exercises both locally and overseas , and was awarded National Servicemen of the Year Letter of Commendation . I believed I had played my part in MINDEF ' s effort to the defence and national security of Singapore . I hope what I did had benefited other NS men as well along the way .
N : What were the highlights of your time with MINDEF ? Is there a particular person or event which stands out in your memory ? TT : I served to the best of my abilities and for as long as I could in MINDEF and its agencies for close to 35 years , working on very exciting and challenging projects – some of which others would shun to do . I was with setups like SIMT ( System Integration and Management Team ), DSO ( Defence Science Organisation , now DSO National Laboratory ), LEO ( Lands & Estates Organization , an organization of Defence Technology Group ) and DSTA ( Defence Science & Technology Agency ) from which I retired to pursue my own projects . I can still recall the late Dr Tay Eng Soon ( who was our Director and later