Photo: Dr Tan Eng Liang (centre) receiving a Diploma of Merit from the International Olympic Committee from IOC Member Mr Ng Ser Miang (left) and SNOC President Mr Tan Chuan-Jin (right) for his contribution to sports in 2017.

By Justin Kor

He helped Singapore’s water polo team become one of Asia’s best in the 1950s and 60s, led national athletes to more major Games than any sports official, and laid the foundations for the transformation of sports in Singapore.

Tan Eng Liang was a pivotal figure in Singapore sports. Not only did he spearhead the country’s push for an elusive Olympic medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, he also oversaw mass participation in sports through an ambitious infrastructural push to build neighbourhood facilities across the island, culminating in the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Olympian turned sports administrator died on Sunday, 28 May 2023 in Singapore. He had been battling advanced cancer. He was 85.

The former vice-president of the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) and chairman of the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) leaves behind a legacy of near unparalleled contributions and achievements in the local sports scene.

A dominant figure within Singapore’s sporting fraternity, his impact was considerable, first as a top athlete who represented the country at the Olympics, Asian Games and South-east Asian Games, and later as an official who had so many touch points in the community that he was often called the “Mr Fix-It” of local sports.

“He was not only a sporting giant on whom shoulders we stood on, he was a veritable roaring, no-nonsense giant who demanded the best not only from athletes and officials but from himself too. He also had a heart of gold and cared deeply about our athletes, sports and Singapore,” said Tan Chuan-Jin, President of the SNOC.

IOC Vice-President Mr Ng Ser Miang said, “Eng Liang was a great athlete and passionate sports leader. His love and commitment for sport was both unconditional and absolute. I learnt a lot from him when I was a member of the council of the Singapore Sports Council and he continued to support me when I was handed over the Chairmanship from him. Over the years, we worked closely and seamlessly for Singapore and the Olympic Movement. He laid the foundation for sports infrastructure and sports eco system for Singapore and contributed much to sport internationally, in particular to the SEA Games. I have the greatest and admiration respect for him. The loss of Eng Liang is irreplaceable.”

Following the family’s tradition

Tan’s unwavering dedication to sports stemmed from a burning passion that spanned almost his entire life. It was also in his blood – he was born in 1937 at home in Pasir Panjang into a family of esteemed sportsmen. Three of his uncles had represented Singapore in swimming, football and water polo. His two older brothers, Eng Chai and Eng Bock, would also later coach the national swimming and water polo teams respectively.

The family’s close affiliation with sports led to Tan cultivating a love for it from a young age. As a child, he tried his hands at almost every sport he could access: table tennis, badminton, football and even athletics.

But he soon gravitated to the pool after finding water polo to be his true calling. It seemed only natural since the sport was a family affair – his three uncles had been stellar players. In 1954, uncle Tan Hwee Hock, and brother Eng Bock would clinch Singapore’s first and only water polo gold at the Asian Games in Manila.

Tan never received any formal training in swimming. His skills were honed daily in the open sea, wearing a pair of cloth-stitched swimming trunks handmade by his mother. At 15, he began training at the Chinese Swimming Club and competed against clubs around the region.

As Asian Games champions, the Singapore water polo team automatically qualified for the 1956 Summer Olympics. By this time, a teenage Tan was already playing at a level that put him into serious contention for the national team, and the goalkeeper harboured a fierce dream to play at the pinnacle of sports competition.

To boost his chances of getting selected, he trained every day for a full year while juggling his studies. The effort paid off as he was picked for the journey to Melbourne, where the team finished 11^th against international powerhouses such as Hungary and the Soviet Union.

It remains the only time Singapore fielded a water polo team at the Olympics.

In his autobiography titled “Simple Beginnings: Building a life of integrity, resilience, and service”, Tan would credit the tough training in preparing him for the obstacles later in life as a politician and sports administrator. “I am convinced that because I learnt to push myself and endure, it made me a stronger and better person. I believe that my ability to handle stress and to take pressure or to press on when circumstances are difficult, stemmed from those years of water polo training,” he wrote.

Singapore’s water polo team was a tour de force in the two decades that Tan was a player. It clinched two silvers at the 1958 and 1966 Asian Games, and bagged two golds at the 1965 and 1967 South-east Asian Peninsular Games that would see Singapore embark on a remarkable streak of 27 consecutive SEA Games golds.

From the pool to politics

Out of the pool, Tan excelled as well. He became the first Singaporean to be awarded the Rhodes scholarship, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious international scholarship programmes. It allowed him to earn a doctoral degree in Chemistry at Oxford University.

In 1972, he entered politics, becoming the only Olympian so far elected to Parliament. He took on many roles, becoming the founding chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Senior Minister of State for National Development and then Finance, among others. Through these portfolios, Tan sharpened his skills in management and administration, which would hugely benefit Singapore’s sports scene later on.

Indeed, sports was never far away. In 1975, he became chairman of the newly-formed SSC. Then, sport was frequently overlooked for purposes more pragmatic for a young nation, such as education and housing. But Tan had a vision to make sport an integral core of national building. Although he often saw appeals for funding for his plans rejected, he was never deterred.

“If you believe in something, you need to fight for it,” he once said. He succeeded, helping to invigorate a stagnating sporting scene. In a tenure that spanned 16 years, he masterminded the development of neighbourhood sports complexes, and spearheaded the construction of the iconic Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Establishing a legacy

With sports being such a key part of his life, it was no surprise that Tan dedicated most of his years to SNOC, where he became vice-president in 1992 and served for over three decades. His time there was most noted for his role as chair of the Special Training Assistance Committee, the organisation’s sporting watchdog that ensured high standards across the National Sports Associations (NSA).

He is remembered among colleagues for being strict but compassionate, tough yet nurturing. He was not afraid to call out those who did not meet the requisite standards. At the same time, he was willing to stand up for those who needed help.

IOC vice-president Ng Ser Miang, who was also SNOC vice-president alongside Tan, recalled how the veteran sports administrator had fought tirelessly to secure an additional funding of S$300,000 from SNOC for 12 NSAs in the lead-up to the 2015 SEA Games: “He met the individual officials, heard their needs and studied their proposals, and watched how they prepared their athletes. When he was convinced they needed the extra help, he tried his best and pushed for the support. This is an example of how he would fight for something he believed in.”

His straightforward and blunt approach may have caused some consternation among some in the sporting fraternity, but to Tan, it was purely business. “His critics say that he is very demanding, but I would say he is persistent because of his passion. He has this doggedness to get things done,” said SNOC secretary-general Chris Chan.

Tan upheld himself to the same high standards as well, sometimes even at the expense of his health. In 2006, despite undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer just a month before, he led Singapore at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne as chef de mission and saw the team record their best performance at that time with a haul of 18 medals.

In 2008, despite suffering from a slipped disc, a 71-year-old Tan obstinately defied doctors’ orders to once again lead the country to the Beijing Olympics, surviving the debilitating pain with a cocktail of painkillers for two weeks. It was worth it.

In the Chinese capital, he saw first-hand the vindication of Project 0812 – the sports project that aimed to end Singapore’s 48-year Olympic medal drought – when the women’s table tennis team clinched silver. When the team was about to be torn apart because of internal rivalry, Tan was called in to ease tensions and mend relations.

He had been one of the driving forces of Project 0812, which saw more dividends four years later with two bronzes at London 2012.

In an interview for The Sunday Times in 2016, he reflected on the seemingly foolhardy trip to Beijing: “Sometimes when I think back, I also think I’m mad. I just felt that I must finish the mission that I want to do and finish my job. It’s not fair if I just quit and get someone to take over. This is me, it’s part of my character.”

In all, he served as chef de mission a record 12 times, leading Singapore’s athletes at two Olympics, two Commonwealth Games, two Asian Games, and six SEA Games.

In 2021, 70 years after helping to pioneer a strong water polo tradition, he spearheaded the Singapore Olympic Foundation-Tan Family Water Polo Fund with a donation of $500,000 to help develop young water polo athletes and groom elite players and establish Singapore as an Asian power.

Less than two weeks ago, the Singapore Taekwondo Federation conferred him an honorary fifth dan honorary black belt – the highest they have bestowed – for his contributions to the sport in Singapore. The gesture comes after what had been a trying few years for the NSA. Following a suspension by World Taekwondo, Tan chaired an interim management committee to have its membership restored and improved its governance and introduced reforms to its high performance programmes.

His influence is strongly felt within Singapore’s sport scene today. Over 30 sports complexes are scattered across the country, a legacy of his unwavering determination to ensure that every Singaporean would have easy access to such facilities. National athletes have steadily become more competitive in the international arena, a result of his relentless push to ensure that elite sportsmen get the necessary support to perform.

But he always remained humble as a dedicated servant of sport. “The test of a man is whether a man changes after becoming rich and powerful, and despite his extraordinary success, he (Tan) did not change. He is someone from an ordinary, middle-class family who has made Singapore proud in many ways,” said Ambassador-at-large Professor Tommy Koh, when Tan launched his autobiography in 2016.

In his epilogue, Tan had written: “At the end of the day, these qualifications and awards will be forgotten. What lasts is how you lived your life. It is how you made your life useful to others and how you helped others to lead better lives.

“Character and service counts above all.”

(Note: days before his passing, he conveyed this message to his family to share with the sporting fraternity.

“I am at the last stage of my sporting journey. It has been a great experience serving in sports all these years. I have enjoyed my time tremendously. There are too many people in the local and international sporting community to thank. Please convey my gratitude to all whom I have worked with. It has been my privilege and honour to serve  them throughout these years. I wish them the very best and continued success locally and internationally. Majulah Sports Singapore!”)