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ABOUT THE AUTHOR...
BIRTH
Born in Keban Kebau Hospital (KK
Hospital), Singapore, on 28 Sep 1976, Loh Jing Hui is a healthy
boy at about 6.4lbs.
KINDERGARTEN
He started education in a People's Action
Party's (PAP) Kindergarten, located in Chai Chee at a tender age of 5. Wasn't a
very brave boy, he was very dependent on his mother. So much
that he was aptly named the "cry baby" of the class. Sometimes, his mum even had
to "attend lessons" with him! Till date, his mum, Mdm Ho Swee Choo, still kept
in contact with his teacher.
PRIMARY EDUCATION
He was privileged to
have his primary school education in Red Swastika School. A renowned SAP-scheme
school along Bedok North Ave 3. He was not an outstanding pupil and was easily
not the most popular one too. In primary 3, when Extra-Curricular Activity (ECA)
was compulsory, he took up a job as a librarian. Finding it a very challenging
job, he would work very hard to ensure that the books were in proper order, even
to the extend of scolding other pupils who misplaces books. On a good day,
however, he would consume himself in the facinating world of
TinTin, Famous Five, Secret Seven and occasionally, The Hardy Boys. In primary
4, his father, Mr. Loh Siam Chai, had also enrolled him in a violin class. He
detested violin lesson. He didn't really like his teacher then. However, he
never dreamt of being able to perform as part of an orchestra for school
concerts for several events! This exposure at such tender age was going to place
him in good stead. In primary 5, the teachers had chosen him as a school
prefect. He was quickly rostered to perform field duties as he was able to run
rather fast (in order to catch errant pupils). He also liked to perform
"cross-talk" or "xiang shen" with a buddy on stage. Whenever possible, his
chinese teacher would often arrange time for them to recite carefully selected
pieces to their schoolmates during assemblies.
SECONDARY EDUCATION
His PSLE grades were not
spectacular. He ended up studying in Pasir Ris Secondary
(Tampines St 21) for his 4 years Express Stream Course. He was selected as a
class rep on the very first day in school. However, it was short-lived as he had
to relinquish the responsibility for a higher calling, the Prefectorial Board.
He joined the Air Rifle Club and Boys' Brigade, which were his pride and joy. He
was made the President of both clubs by Sec 2 and held on to it
till Sec 4. However, these activities took a toll on his studies. He had not
obtained satisfactory results and had to choose the Arts Stream. Despite the
setback, he managed to fall in love with pottery. He would often spend his days
in the art room, building pots, honing his skills. In fact, he was so good that
he was building pots for the Sec 5 guys who were taking 'O' levels. Never did he
realise that he had incurred the wrath of his arts teacher. He was banned from
making pot for his arts paper, and was told to make batik, something he thought
was for girls. He never did it. Out of pity, his friend did a piece of batik for
him and submitted as a "O" level piece. Luckily, he didn't fail arts, but he was
certainly dissapointed as he was sure that he could easily aced it if he was
allowed to work on his pot. He got a pathetic C6 instead.
TERTIARY EDUCATION
Moving to tertiary education, he
enrolled himself into Ngee Ann Polytechnic. With a grade of 14
pts for best 5 subjects, he chose Electronics and Computer Engineering (ECE),
hoping to make a career out of it. However, as time passes, his passion for the
subject erroded. After the 2nd year, he switched to Accountancy instead. He
joined NP Strings, a strings and guitar club and played the violin for them. He
was made the President in year 1995, after a uneventful political struggle.
Through a recommendation from a school adminstrator, he also joined the Poly
Stage Productions. He had helped organising many concerts during the years,
notably Andy Lau, Emil Chau, Kit Chan, Sky Wu, Karen Mok, Zhang Ke Fan, Dong Li
Huo Che, Panda Xiong Tian Ping, and some Singapore Mediacorp
Artist. He managed to pick up many skills including operation of Sound and
Lighting Console, Crowd Control, Ticket Designing, Planning of Programme,
Backstage Work, etc. Best of all, he picked up his love for photography, in
which he had taken some wonderful pictures for the
concerts.
PART-TIME JOBS
During school vacations, he had held
several jobs. He started out as a warehouse sales assistant, selling shoes in a
warehouse at ridiculously low prices. The business was very
good and so was the pay. However, never did he dare to tell his customers about
the products they bought, a secret I will keep for now. He also
worked in Isetan Scotts, selling ladies shoes. Based on his previous experience,
he managed to sell the most expensive shoe on the rack, a $405/pair of shoes
which he can't even remember the label! He also worked in a shop in Funan
Center, selling Laptops and other computer products. This is where he picked up
his interest in computers where he begin to assemble and sell his own line of
PCs. A very lucrative trade, I would say.
CAREER
After tertiary education, he enlisted the Army and
signed on as a Regular Servicemen and had stayed there since.
This is also where he suffered his major setback. He suffered a lower back
injury, having 2 slipped discs at L4/L5 and L5/S1. He had his first major
operation done in SGH in 1999. He also served a year of overseas tour of duty in
Taiwan (ROC) from Jan 2003 till Apr 2004.
CONCLUSION
After all these heavy reading, he would like
to share the best part of his life with everyone - His wife,
Tng Lay Hiong. She was there since poly days, serving NP
Strings as the Asst Treasurer while he was the President. Her enthusiasm had
caught his eye and he appreciated her support during the hard times. The
courtship began however, years after graduation, in 2000. It was in 11 Nov 2001
that she had accepted his courtship, and their relationship was made known to
their parents. On 4 Oct 2002, the couple endorsed their relationship in ROM and
was officially pronounced Man and Wife. To my dear wife, who had endured the
days when I was not around, my temper, my unrealistic expectation, my reckless
driving and my impatience, I Love You. I really do. I will honour the vow I made
in ROM for the rest of my life. Thank you for sticking by me with all your
support! Muak!