Editorial Team

Advisor

Mr Koh Yiak Kheng, Leonard

A Secondary School Principal, who had started his career as a PE Teacher 26 years ago with the desire and passion to make a difference in the way PE was taught in schools. Soon after his efforts began to bear fruits and he was awarded the SPEA Outstanding PE Teacher Award (OPETA) in 2002, Leonard joined the Association as a Life Member to continue contributing to his friends and colleagues in the fraternity. In his free time, he enjoys staying active by swimming, jogging, cycling and, if opportunity allows, playing badminton and basketball with his family and friends. Today, he continues to contribute to the PE and Sports fraternity by serving as the Vice-Chairman of the North Zone Schools Sports Council as well as the President of SPEA.

Editor

Mr Ho J Yen, Louis

A PE Teacher for 20 years, Louis has taught in both Junior College and Secondary School. His last appointment was as Head of Department (PE / CCA) in a Secondary School before he went to Physical Education Sports Science (PESS) / NIE / NTU for his secondment in 2023. He enjoys a game of football, frisbee and many other sports including outdoor adventure. He has been serving in SPEA as a committee member since 2018 and hopes that more will step forward to serve the PE fraternity in their ways. His area of interest is assessment literacy, affective learning, and almost everything else under PE, especially football, rugby, and ultimate frisbee.

Assistant Editors

Mr Abdul Halim

A PE teacher for 15 years at Greendale Secondary School, Halim has held the Subject Head (PE) appointment from 2014-2017 and Senior Teacher (2018-present). His areas of interest include Outdoor Adventure Education and Olympic Education. He enjoys integrating technology into his PE lessons and seeks ways to make lessons more fun and enjoyable for everyone. For his outstanding work in professional development, he is the recipient of the Associate of Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST) Award on several occasions.

Mr A Murugapa

A PE Teacher for 32 years, Muru has taught in both Primary and Secondary Schools. He has held the Subject Head (PE) appointment from 1998-2010 and Senior Teacher (2010-present). He is currently pursuing his part-time PhD in the field of “THE PREVALENCE AND EFFECTS OF AUTONOMY SUPPORT VERSUS CONTROLLING STYLE IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION ON STUDENTS' MOTIVATIONAL OUTCOMES” with the National Institute of Education, Physical Education Sports Science (PESS). He has been serving in SPEA as a committee member since 2018. His interest is in motivating and engaging students through healthy lifestyle pursuits like functional fitness and movement-based activities.

Ms Stella Yap Sze Hui

A PE teacher in New Town Secondary School for the past 5 years, Stella has diverse interests, from Arts and Music to Sports, where she specialises in basketball, badminton and swimming. As a strong believer in the power of sports and the arts to enliven, engage, and empower, she strives to connect others through developmental transformations. She believes her lessons should be values-driven, with a meaningful infusion of music, technology, gamification and visuals for her PE classes.

Stella emerged as a Finalist of the 2021 Outstanding Youth in Education Award (OYEA) which recognises the achievement of young educators who have shown admirable energy and commitment in the development of youth beyond the formal curriculum, inspiring and nurturing their students.

Stella has a keen interest in curriculum development, integrating music and physical education, assessment and feedback literacy, affective learning, and technology integration in PE. She looks forward to learning from our dearest PE professionals around the world, seeking to give back to her students and the PE fraternity in every way possible!

Mr Neo Chow Ming, Linus

Linus started his teaching career in Seng Kang Secondary School in 2014. During his time in Seng Kang Secondary, he was given the opportunity to spearhead various programmes. He developed the Healthy Lifestyle Programme in school aimed at increasing participation in physical activities for overweight students. Linus believes in making PE lessons engaging and fun. He developed the Outdoor Education Programme to integrate interesting lesson packages such as infusing the use of ICT in Orienteering and crafting delightful recipes for Outdoor Cooking.

He subsequently moved on to Cedar Girls’ Secondary School (CGSS) as the Subject Head of CCA and Student Leadership. In his time with CGSS, he explored various ways to increase students’ motivation in PE such as leveraging on student voices and use of ICT. He made use of various ICT platforms and tools such as Google Classrooms and Plickers to chart students’ progress and learning.

Linus is a strong believer of using PE as a platform to develop self-confidence. He is a strong advocate of the Self Determination Theory and has used that as a fundamental towards making PE lessons more engaging and meaningful. Linus looks forward to continuing striving to develop highly motivated students with joy and passion in PE.

Mr Yeo Hai Wee, Edward

A Sport and Exercise Science Lecturer for 13 years, Edward has lectured in Republic Polytechnic’s School of Sports, Health and Leisure supporting the Sport and Exercise Science diploma team. As Assistant Director for Capabilities and Industry, he fosters deeper collaborations between schools and industry partners in the R&D space for the sports and healthcare sector. Prior to joining RP, he was a subject head for PE in a primary school. He was awarded the SPEA Book Prize in 2003 and was the valedictorian of his graduating cohort. He has been serving in SPEA as a committee member since 2018 and hopes SPEA can continue to serve the Sports and PE fraternity to achieve its mission. His interest is in evidence-based approaches in training, coaching and human performance. For leisure, Edward enjoys a slow jog and playing small-sided PE-like games with his kids.

Mr Rodney Yeo

Being an avid sportsman and outdoor enthusiast, becoming a physical educator was the most logical career choice for him, and it has been his mainstay for the last 24 years! During that time, he has held numerous portfolios, which has allowed him to experience the full spectrum of being a teacher, an administrator, and a leader. He also ensured that he groomed his head-space by securing his Masters in Sports and Exercise Sciences early on in his career so that he would constantly be up to date with the trends and happenings in PE and Sports.

Currently, he serves in NorthLight School (NLS) as Head of Sports Wellness. This tenure has opened him up to interacting with a different strata of students - an emotionally & socially challenged and disadvantaged group. He proceeded to leverage on sports, outdoor education, and PE as the hardware and heartware to nurture and forge character & values of his charges. Additionally, he deliberately ensured that the Sports Wellness SOW was inclusive so that all NLS SEN students can access and participate actively to reap its inherent benefits. For all his heartwork, he was awarded the OPETA in 2021 and now serves the PE fraternity in the SPEA publication committee as well as serving as a panel member for the OPETA nominees 2023. In his free time, he enjoys the ocassional Football/Futsal game as well as running and spending time outdoors with his family and friends, be it on land on a bicycle or on foot hiking or in the waters, kayaking and snorkelling.

Mr Kumaran

A PE Teacher at Lighthouse School, a SPED school caters to two main disability groups: visual impairment & hearing loss. Kumaran started his career as a soccer coach before venturing as an Assistant Head of Department (Sports) at VivaKids, which runs a program which works with students from disadvantaged backgrounds and youth at risk at MOE schools. He later joined Saint Clare School of Special Education as HOD (PE/CCA), where he worked closely with students with Autism, Down Syndrome, GDD and multiple intellectual disabilities, overseeing the PE lessons and CCA programs in the school. He joined Lighthouse School as Subject Lead (PE/CCA) to enrage and teach a different profile of students with sensory disabilities. Kumaran is also an avid soccer player who has played in the FAS Singapore Football League / Islandwide League for the last 13 years. Currently, he still plays for Yishun FC in the FAS Islandwide League. In his free time, he likes spending time with his daughter and running his programs working with special needs clients in his own time.

Mr. Ng Boon Hong

Boon Hong has been teaching at Eunoia Junior College for the past 4 years. He believes that Sports, Fitness and Health shape character and values and is most heartened when he sees growth and progress in his students. He enjoys crafting novel lessons for his students so that they can improve their fitness through various means, while enjoying the process.

Outside of school, he plays recreational basketball, frisbee, netball and Squash.

Ms Cassandra Siua

A PE Teacher for 20 years, Cassie has a wealth of knowledge and experience teaching in several schools as well as the opportunity to contribute to the PE fraternity through her 3-year stint with PESTA in 2017. Cassie started as a Subject Head for PE, and while she learnt a lot from and with her PE team, she found her new love for Mentoring through the years and became a Senior Teacher in 2020.

In 2023, Cassie was awarded the Outstanding PE Teacher Award (OPETA) for her amazing work in teaching and learning PE. She also received the Associate of Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST) Award for contributing to the fraternity's professional development. Today, she continues to share her passion and wealth of knowledge in Physical Education with the fraternity through her role as a PE Knowledgeable Others (PEKO) in 5 domains.

Outside of teaching, Cassie is a yoga, cycling and hiking enthusiast. She shares her passion for it with her friends and you may catch her hiking somewhere on weekends!

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