A Series of Happy Coincidences

Dr Ken-Soon Tan (‘94) talks to Charlotte Woodward about the fortunate sequence of events that led to him joining Oakham School on a bursary, the lifechanging opportunities that his education here gave him, and why he now supports The Oakham School Foundation.

DrKen-Soon Tan is Director of Renal Medicine at Logan Hospital in Brisbane, Senior Lecturer in Medicine at the University of Queensland, and a clinician scientist. Ken left Oakham in 1994 to study Medicine at the University of Cambridge. After graduation, he worked briefly in the UK before returning to Australia to complete his training as a kidney specialist and clinical pharmacologist. This included a memorable stint in Central Australia, based at Alice Springs Hospital, where he also assisted with Flying Doctor retrievals. In 2007 he moved to Brisbane where he has been ever since.

It was a lucky coincidence that I ended up at Oakham. Whilst taking the Royal School Music exams in Malaysia, my examiner was kind enough to recommend me to a couple of his former colleagues, one of whom was Graham Smallbone, the Headmaster of Oakham at the time. An impromptu audition for a Music Scholarship was arranged and a recording sent back to the UK. It still seems amazing that on the basis of this I was awarded a Music Scholarship. Further support followed in the form of a (Jerwood Foundation) bursary and then a Form 6 (Jerwood Foundation) Academic Scholarship, which meant that my final two years at Oakham were free. My luck with financial support did not end when I left Oakham. Through his friend who was by now a fellow at Gonville and Caius College, the late great Rod Smith persuaded the then college Admissions Tutor to organise two valuable bursaries to help with my university costs.

Peterborough House photo, 1989. Ken is in the front row, second from left.

The support was incredible when I was at Oakham. People always went out of their way to help and encourage you and you learnt to take up all of the opportunities offered to you. Oakham gave me this sense that you can just go for things, even if the odds seem against you. That was the sort of can-do attitude that the School cultivated; it’s the sense of grasping an opportunity and just going for it. And I learnt that sometimes the results really will surprise you. Oakham instilled that in me and it’s still with me today.

I’m very invested in supporting bursaries and scholarships. It’s impressive to see what the Foundation has achieved, especially with its offering of bursaries and it means a lot to me to see this as I know it will offer pupils the same “leg-up” I was privileged to receive. I like to think that people should try and give back where they can. We as a family all do our part and donate to what we believe in; as such, I am committed to supporting the Foundation and I’m proud to be part of the 1584 Society.

Oakham School helped me to develop a good social conscience. The jobs that I’ve done have generally been in areas where there’s a high amount of social disadvantage. Growing up at Oakham School, with its focus on charity and community, helped me to develop a real sense of empathy and compassion. The School has always had a good social conscience and I know that this is something that is instilled in students today.

Ken playing violin in Chapel, 1989.

During my time at Oakham, my greatest sporting feat was “running” around most of Rutland Water in aid of charity. One Leave-out weekend, Rod and Dave Smith persuaded a small group of “Chapmans stayers” to take part in a charity walk around Rutland Water organised by RAF North Luffenham. As the youngest member of the group, it was widely anticipated that I would fall behind. It was a surprise to all (not least me) when I ended up being the first member of the group to cross the finish line! I did pay the price as I was unable to walk for most of the next week, although to compensate, I got to attend a fancy lunch at the RAF base. Expectations were high when I subsequently did cross-country during the Easter term. I regret to say that I never lived up to any of them!

I still like to keep up with OOs and School news. I would have loved to watch Jack van Poortvliet (‘19) when England played in Brisbane this summer, but I wasn’t able to get tickets. I also recently saw the events Oakham did for Pride; that moved me quite a bit and it was really nice to see the School supporting the event.

Some schools are all academic or sporty, but Oakham has always been more balanced. I think the 50:50 gender split helps to develop your emotional intelligence. When I went to university it was so obvious which students had been to a single sex school and who had been to a co-educational school by how comfortably they could talk to other people. That’s what I’ve always admired about the School.

Ken and his wife, Rachel.