Dr Eng Liang Tan obituary
24 June 1937 鈥� 28 May 2023
Dr Tan Eng Liang graduated from the University of Malaya with a Bachelor of Science in Botany and Chemistry in 1960, obtaining his First Class Honours in Chemistry 1961.
In 1961 Dr Tan was the first Rhodes Scholar from Singapore, Malaya and Brunei. He completed his PhD at the University of Oxford. Thereafter, he lectured in Organic Chemistry at the University of Singapore from 1964 to 1967.
As a passionate water polo player Dr Tan represented Singapore at the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956. His team won Silver at the Asian Games in Tokyo (1958) and Bangkok (1966), and Gold at the South East Asian Peninsula Games in Kuala Lumpur (1965) and Bangkok (1967).
A strong advocate of the importance of sports in nation building, Dr Tan served as Chairman of the Singapore Sports Council from 1975 to 1991 and the Vice-President of the Singapore National Olympic Council from 1992 to 2020.
He served as Chef de Mission of Team Singapore for a record twelve times at various international games including two Olympics, two Commonwealth Games, two Asian Games, and six South-East Asian Games.
Dr Tan also took on significant roles in both the public and private sectors. In politics, he was a Member of Parliament from 1972 to 1980, Senior Minister-of-State for National Development from 1976 to 1978, and Senior Minister-of-State for Finance from 1978 to 1979.
He was the Founding Chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) from 1974 to 1978, and Minister–in-charge of the Singapore Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Technical College from 1976 to 1978. In the private sector he was the Chairman of numerous companies ranging from manufacturing, retail, property, hospitality and health services.
For his numerous accomplishments Dr Tan received many accolades including the University Blue award from the University of Singapore (1962), the Public Service Star (Bar) Singapore (1985) and the Meritorious Service Medal (1991) from the Singapore Government for service to the country, the IOC Olympic Movement Unity Trophy (1995) for his service to Olympism, the NUS Outstanding Alumni Award (2005) and the NUS Distinguished Science Alumni Award (2006).
In recognition for his lifelong dedication to enhancing the region's sporting scene, Dr Tan was conferred the SEA Games Federation Council Lifetime Achievement Award - the Order of the Golden Rings in May 2023.
He is survived by his wife Kathryn, three children and five grandchildren.
“I will always be grateful to those who encouraged, guided and stood by me along the way. In life, we must always remember and be grateful to those who helped us to attain success. Besides hard work and dedication, what is most important is possessing values like humility, integrity and care for others. I believe that such values enabled me to garner the support from those around me. Having strong values also kept me true to myself all these years."
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