JOSEPHIANS | LUMEN
13 the Senior Minister of State for Education ) very passionately sharing with us his knowledge and experience in project discussions . In my whole tour of duty I was quite privileged to have witnessed from the air the live firing of a missile , and as a project manager , led a team to plan and develop the first permanent home and infrastructure for the men and their special machines ( as in the photo ). I am very grateful and fortunate now to be in active retirement with the flexibility of time to pursue my projects and spend more time with my family , and of course also currently engaged by SJI to serve my alma mater in the Campus Redevelopment project .
ZN : What motivated you to return and serve your alma mater ? TT : It started with the call I received from my exclassmate Mr Chan Keng Luck , current member of SJI Board of Governors and also the Chairman of the Board Committee for Campus Redevelopment . He knew I had retired and had the time and experience to contribute to the campus redevelopment . I did not hesitate to say yes to him , and next met the Principal who agreed to engage me for the job . I must say that I am glad to be back , interacting with so many passionate staff , seeing students in school , and most pleased to see again Mr Chew Sung Luan , the science lab technician who was the lab technician during my school days , and we chatted about those days . court in the hall . Quite often , Brother Patrick , the Principal then would join us and we enjoyed the game together , but of course we had to train extra hard with him around .
ZN : What do you think is the biggest difference between the SJI of your time and the current SJI ? Is it a good or bad thing ? TT : Since my return , I noticed there are more younger teaching staff around as compared to the more elderly and fatherly looking teachers ( when they sighed we would know what to do ). Those days we could see more Brothers around as compared to now . Good or bad ? Change is a constant now .
N : Your devotion to your career and alma mater is most admirable . What keeps you going ? TT : Basically you have to enjoy what you ’ re doing even when there are challenges like what we ’ re facing now in the campus redevelopment project . But I subscribe to “ Life can only be understood backwards ; but it must be lived forward ” – Soren Kierkegaard , to keep going . Having said that , my family ’ s support for me has motivated me to carry on .
ZN : Is there any advice that you can give to a current Sec One Josephian , and to a Josephian in their graduating year ? TT : To a Sec One Josephian , remember to treasure your time in SJI , this is the best time for learning , sweating , interacting with your teachers and friends . Keep reading , reflecting and debating , and be curious in your learning . Remember also to “ Seek first to understand , then to be understood – Stephen R . Covey ”. To a graduating Josephian , remember success in life does not depend on academic performance alone . Go pursue your dreams , but if you can ' t figure out the future , it ’ s ok , focus on what you can do now that will be good no matter what the future brings . Learn to be good to discomfort and work hard . Remember “ Either I will find a way or I will make one – Sir Philip Sidney ”.
N : Would you encourage other Josephians to return and serve SJI as well ? Will they find it rewarding ? TT : Certainly yes , and if I am aware of certain needs of SJI that certain Josephians are able to contribute back , I will try to link them up , I ’ m quite sure Josephians will find it rewarding to be given the opportunity to be back to serve SJI .
N : What do you remember most fondly about SJI ? TT : I can still recall fondly rushing after class for badminton training , and there was only one
Facing page ( top ):
This page ( right ): Tok Teng ( second row , second from the right ) back to SJI ( now Singapore Arts Museum ) for his class reunion