Jee Yoek Poo and Ernest Tan
Jee Yoek Poo:
During Japanese occupation 1942-1945, we were living with fear, restricted moment. Whenever we heard of aeroplane flying over, we had to go quickly into the bomb shelter. My two brothers, one age 3 and one age 1 month, died of starvation and lack of medical treatment. War is evil, destructive and selfish.
I am thankful, respect and honour my mother, who worked so hard for my education. Those were the days, we had to walk for nearly one hour or to cycle by bicycles to school. Porridge or fried noodles sold at 30 cents and 50 cents with eggs.
My first employment as rural development officer of the chief minister office was in January 1959. I received a comparative salary of $200+, and in 1967, I was awarded the Colombo scholarship to study poultry farming in Japan. In 1984, I resigned from government service to join my family business.
After Japanese occupation, we were challenged by opium smoking, gangsterism, racial and religious problems. In year 1950, the religious problem between the Muslim and the Christian broke out, causing death and injuries. More serious cases of racial problem followed up in 1964 between the Malay and the Chinese which resulted to more dead and serious injuries. Opium smoking den at Cumming street and gangsterism at Chin Swee road, were very active before the day of Singapore's independence in 1965. Shops and hawkers had to pay the gangsters for protection money. On the road, one would be beaten up by the gangsters for no reason. All the occurrences were due to the corrupted government. Corruption gave rise to the unauthorized gangsterism and the opium smoking den unlawful legalised. The needy and the underprivileged groups suffered the most under corruption which created social distress.
The general election in 1959 brought back our happiness, peace of mind and freedom. Year by year, Gangsterism, corruption and the den of opium smoking slowly vanished.
Singapore economic immediately rose up. Singapore rose up rapidly from the third-world country to the first-world country. My most impressive General Election was on 31 August 1991. Mr Lee Kuan Yew visited Ulu Pandan constituency for house to house visits. As a Branch Secretary, my duty was to lead the way. We won the general election in 1991. Singaporeans are now living and enjoying in the green and clean environment with good education and stable income to support the happy family. Almost all Singaporean are thankful, respect and honour the government for their kind, polite and genius hard work.
Ernest Tan:
Being the only child in the family, I vividly remember spending a lot of time at my father's veterinary clinic. As I was attending Da Qiao Primary School in Ang Mo Kio, afternoons after school were usually spent upstairs at the clinic in Serangoon North with our dog and cats.
However, in school, I was considered a weak student. I was especially weak in my mother tongue and in mathematics. Hence, it was no surprise that I was eventually placed in the EM3 stream in Primary 4. Thankfully, my parents didn't give me pressure on the academic front as long as I tried my best and didn't fail my exams.
After my PSLE, I attended Ang Mo Kio Secondary School and was placed in the Normal Technical stream. Amidst rapid technological advancements, computers and smartphones soon became commonplace both in school and at home. Thus, it wasn't long before I started getting exposed to online gaming during my secondary school days.
Shortly after my N levels, I was contemplating which course to enroll in ITE as I didn't do well enough to sit for my O levels. Since I was spending a lot of time on online games and had been intrigued by the myriad of technology behind it, I decided to take up a Nitec in Communications Technology at ITE Yishun. I enjoyed the two years in my Nitec course and eventually graduated with a near-perfect GPA.
Upon graduating from ITE Yishun with my Nitec, I was very keen in further pursuing my studies in computing. Eventually, I decided to take up a Diploma in Computer Engineering at Singapore Polytechnic's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
My three years in Singapore Polytechnic saw me exposed to a good mix of hands-on training and industry-relevant concepts, which further piqued my interests in technology. I also made many friends along the way, and before I knew it, I soon found myself graduating with a Diploma with merit.
Following the end of my National Service, I embarked on my undergraduate studies at Nanyang Technological University where majored in computer engineering. My time in university exposed me to a wider breadth and depth of knowledge in computer science and engineering. I even undertook a summer exchange program to Korea University in South Korea with my friends and managed to publish two conference papers by the time I graduated with a B.Eng in Computer Engineering (First Class Honours).
It was also towards the end of my undergraduate studies that I began to volunteer at PAP Serangoon Branch and at Serangoon CC. It was also during this time where I met many people from all walks of life, and even my future wife!
In my final semester as an undergraduate, I secured an EDP-IPP scholarship to pursue my PhD in 5G-and-beyond research at Nanyang Technological University. As part of my PhD candidacy, I travelled to several countries to present my research at conferences. It was through my travels that I experienced the high level of regard that the international community has for Singapore and our reputation of having good governance and a stable political system. I was finally conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 2020, all while chairing the Serangoon Youth Network and the Serangoon Young PAP.
My achievements and lived experience are in no small part a result of our meritocratic system that is regardless of race, language, or religion, foundations which were laid by our forefathers. Today, as a young scientist and fellow branch activist, I look forward to doing my part to keep Singapore a shiny red dot even right up to SG100-and-beyond.
