Helping Hands

Dr Tan Eng Liang and his daughter Lynn Tan refl ect on the process of writing his autobiography Simple Beginnings and the events that changed the path of his life.

- Gemma Koh

HE WAS A self-taught swimmer who competed in the 1956 Olympics, the region’s first Rhodes Scholar, former senior minister of State... And over the decades, much has been written in the press about Singapore’s original multi hyphenate whose name is inextricably linked to the growth of sports and urban development. Now at age 79, Dr Tan Eng Liang sits on the board of three publiclisted and numerous private companies, and is the vice president of the Singapore National Olympic Council.

In his recently released autobiography Simple Beginnings, Tan shares anecdotes from his humble growing up years; private life as a father to twin girls and a boy, and grandfather to five; and his years in public service. It was co-written with the younger of his twins, Lynn Tan. She resigned from Estée Lauder (a company she had been with for two decades) to focus on the book. The result is an inspiring read of Dr Tan’s impressive life, his tenacity of a sportsman and his values of a gentleman.

Prestige talks to father and daughter about the writing process.

WHAT WERE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF WRITING THE BOOK TOGETHER?

L: It was nice I got to spend time with my dad because before that, he was always busy. He’s still busy [but] because of the book, we would make time.

EL: It allowed me to be impressed by her talent. I never knew how well she wrote. She made the book easy to read and brought out the message that I truly love sports. For example, in the Prologue…

L: …I imagined him as a cancer survivor after chemotherapy,leading Team Singapore as chef de mission to the Commonwealth Games into the same stadium exactly 50 years after he went in first as an 18-year-old for the Olympics.