Home ¢ Jason Woo is the Communications Executive at MCS Comms. / Photos courtesy of Col (Ret) Quek Koh Eng and Kelvin Tan
The Greatest Showmen Col (Ret) Quek Koh Eng
The largest Singapore flag (formed by 8,667 volunteers holding umbrellas), according to the Singapore Book of Records, being formed on National Day 2007 at the Padang in an NDP show directed by Kelvin Tan
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ingapore’s National Day is always an occasion to which Singaporeans look forward. We are not only treated to a visual spectacle that pays tribute to our country’s progress and achievements through the years, but are also reminded of our long journey together as a people of varied races, religions and experiences in building a nation we can be proud of. This is very much so the case for two members of the local Methodist community, who could not have been more different in their occupational backgrounds and life experiences. Quek Koh Eng, who is Area Director and Operations Director in the Methodist Missions Society and worships at Charis Methodist Church (MC), is a retired Colonel of the Singapore Armed Forces. He had the privilege of being involved in the organising of several National Day Parades (NDPs) from the ’70s to the ’80s, when Singapore was just a young nation finding its footing in the world. Kelvin Tan, who works in the creative industry and attends Trinity MC, contributed his time and skills to NDPs over a span of 22 years from the late ’70s to the early 2000s, half of which in the capacity of creative director.
Witnessing the development of a nation As a young officer in the Singapore Armed Forces in the ’70s, Col Quek Koh Eng found himself quickly placed in a position that allowed him to steer the direction of several NDPs for much of the next decade, an important period in Singapore’s early history as the parades were a way to get Singaporeans united behind a collective vision of nation-building. He started as the Organising Secretary for the 1976 NDP at the National Stadium. “As the Organising Secretary, my roles were to organise the meetings for the Chairman and assist him to coordinate and follow-up on all actions related to the agencies and institutions involved in the parade.”
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METHODIST MESSAGE AUGUST 2020
