Mr Tan Hwee Hock

Mr Tan Hwee Hock graduated from the Teacher Training College (TTC) in 1952 and was among the early PE teachers to be sent to Loughborough College for formal Physical Education (PE) teacher training in 1956. As early as the 1960s, he, together with other PE pioneers, believed and advocated for the establishment of a local training institute to cater to the professional development of PE and sports teachers in Singapore.

Mr Tan was a pioneer PE teacher and an outstanding sportsman in aquatics. He served in every aspect of PE and sport in Singapore schools. He had taught PE in both primary and secondary schools, and in TTC. He later became a specialist inspector with Extra-curricular Activities Centre (ECAC) Branch and with Curriculum Development Branch at MOE. He then returned to teach PE as a lecturer at Institute of Education (IE), College of Physical Education (CPE).

Mr Tan was one of the first aquatics specialists who took the nation to great sporting heights. He represented Singapore in swimming and water polo at the first Asian Games in New Delhi, 1951, where he won 2 silvers - one for 4 x 100m medley and one for water polo. In 1954, he won an Asian Games gold with Singapore's water polo team in Manila. He was often the goal scoring inspiration for the early water polo teams in international competitions.

Besides being an outstanding athlete, Mr Tan also served as a coach in aquatics. Among his many appointments as a coach, he was coach of the Singapore water polo team (Asian Games, Jakarta, 1962) and coach of the Malaysian swimming team (Olympic Games, Tokyo, 1964). In 1986, he was awarded Coach of the Year (Water Polo) by Singapore Sports Council for the success of the national water polo team.
 

Recollections of Mr Tan Hwee Hock by former PE students:

PESTA would like to thank Mr Tan Hwee Hock for the interview on 29 July 2011. We would also like to thank Prof Nick Aplin, Mr Robert Tan and Mr Antony Gomez for their sharing on Mr Tan Hwee Hock.