The Late Dr Lau Teng Chuan and his contributions to SPEA

The late Mr Lau’s career in education began in 1949 when he joined the Teachers’ Training College (TTC) as a trainee teacher and was posted to Bukit Panjang Primary School.  After a few years he was promoted to be a P.E. lecturer in TTC and later as Head of Department in 1960. He joined the Singapore Sports Council in 1975 and retired in 1992 to join the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) as Secretary General. He was an accomplished sportsman, educator, coach and sports administrator.

At the First Physical Education Seminar held in August 1974 at the Singapore Sports Council, in conjunction with the 1974 Pesta Sukan Singapore, the late Dr. Lau Teng Chuan mooted the idea of forming an association to represent and promote the interests of all physical education teachers in Singapore. 

A protem committee, comprising representatives from the Ministry of Education, Singapore Sports Council and the Teachers’ Training College was soon formed, with Dr Lau leading the team to draft the constitution. The Singapore Physical Education Association (SPEA) was then established and duly registered with the Registrar of Societies on 28 November 1975. The Constitution specifically highlighted its focus on addressing the professional standards of the fraternity as well as lending active support for health and fitness in the larger community through its publications and journals. Dr Lau was unanimously elected as the founding President at its inaugural meeting and held the post till 1992, when he handed the leadership to Mr John Koh Nam San.  

During the early years of the association,  Dr. Lau established links with counterparts in Malaysia and Thailand. Members from these associations participated regularly in seminars, conferences and meetings hosted in rotation by the three associations from time to time. Stimulating professional exchanges were facilitated at these meetings, which helped to widen the knowledge and experience of their members. In conjunction with these meetings, friendly games in golf, tennis and badminton were also organized to provide opportunities for closer fellowship among the members. There were no trophies awarded in these games as there were no winners and losers; only handshakes were warmly exchanged with old acquaintances renewed and new friendships developed. 

To widen SPEA’s network to serve its members better, Dr Lau also established useful links with international bodies like the Federation Internationale d’Education Physique (FIEP), American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (AAHPERD) as well as the International Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ICHPER). Because of his passion for Physical Education and Sport, he took on different roles such as the Executive Director, Singapore Sports Council and President, Singapore Physical Education Association. 

Dr Lau was instrumental in the growth of Physical Education and Sports Science seminars through conferences and research studies. These were organised and conducted in Singapore by our specialist teachers, lecturers, coaches and administrators. As a testament to his dedication to the causes of SPEA, Dr Lau’s family contributed $30,000 to the Development Fund (DF) in 2012. The DF was reconstituted to be called “Lau Teng Chuan - Singapore Physical Education Association Professional Development Fund.”  The Physical Education & Sport Science Department of NIE, NTU, has organised an annual Lau Teng Chuan Symposium since 2013. 

As a tribute to Dr Lau Teng Chuan's contributions to Singapore and the National Institute of Education (NIE), the Physical Education and Sports Science (PESS) Department from NIE organised the annual Lau Teng Chuan PE and Sports Science Symposium since 2013. This symposium showcases PESS students’ educational and research achievements to the public and partner organisations [e.g., Sport Science & Management [SSM] students’ poster presentations on their Final Year Projects (FYP) and PESS student-teachers’ poster presentations for their Academic Exercise (AE) projects]. PESS has also invited our partner universities (e.g., Deakin University, Korea National Sport University, Jio Institute,  National Taiwan Normal University, Waseda University, University of Jyväskylä, Tsinghua University, etc.) to participate and present at our symposium, and the response has been very positive.

The late Dr. Tan Eng Liang, the former Chairman of Singapore Sports Council and Vice-President, Singapore National Olympic Council, once described Dr. Lau as an outstanding sportsman who has laid many firm foundations for future generations to grow on, and SPEA is one of the many legacies he left behind. Much of what we witness and experience today can be attributed to the early directions and contributions by Dr Lau and his contemporaries in the early era when we were a young nation.

Jointly contributed by members of the past executive committee 

• Mr Robert Tan, past Honarary Secretary 

• Dr Quek Jin Jong, past President (2000 - 2006)

• Mr Goh Ek Piang, past President (2008 - 2012)

with inputs from Assoc Prof Adrian Kee, Head PESS/NIE

Return to content page.