By Eisen Teo

LASALLE College of the Arts' fashion lecturer Tan Peck Leng is styling up the Himalayas.

The 60-year-old has been to Bhutan four times in the past two years to teach a community of 15 Bhutanese basic pattern drafting and garment finishing.

In January last year, the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) invited her to teach at the newly opened Chumney Vocational Institute of Bumthang, in central Bhutan.

The SIF, which has organised volunteer trips to Bhutan for the last nine years, asked her to plan a curriculum and train students to become trainers themselves.

This is needed in a country where most clothing is tailor-made, with the absence of modern mass production methods.

Bhutanese youth could do with some skills too, as the youth unemployment rate is almost 10 per cent, about twice that of Singapore's.

Ms Tan stayed for two weeks each time.

She has been teaching at Lasalle for three years, but has over 30 years of design and production experience in the clothing industry.

Though she had no experience in community service, she willingly agreed when the SIF approached her, and Lasalle gave her time off from her teaching job.

'I've always been interested in garment design since I played with Barbie dolls as a little girl,' she said.

'If someone really needs these skills, I'll go.'

For her first trip in May last year though, she did not figure on the rigours of getting there.

At the end of a 41/2-hour flight to Bhutan's capital, Thimphu, was a 10-hour car ride to the provincial town of Chumney. She thought it would never end.

Getting acclimatised was not easy either.

Living in an austere hostel at a high altitude - 2,800m above sea level - she woke on the hour almost every night, despite a tiring 9-to-6 schedule.

She also felt isolated, missing urban conveniences such as the Internet, television and telephone.

Then, there was the melted cheese.

With every local dish dunked in it, she found herself saying: 'Oh no, not melted cheese again...'

But her students, between the ages of 18 and 40, made it worthwhile.

They were very enthusiastic and eager to learn, she said - something they kept up over her next three visits in November last year, and June and September this year.

Unlike her Singaporean students, they showed up for lessons on time. She attributes this to a tough regimen which begins at 5am with mountain jogs, enforced by the principal to instil discipline.

Fourteen of her 15 students will graduate as trainers after her final teaching trip there next April. The 15th, a tailor in his 30s, has already done so.

Ms Tan does not rule out going back after she retires.

She has a standing invitation from the institute's principal to teach there for a full year.

She urged young Singaporeans to contribute their health-care, business and IT expertise overseas.

'They will be able to share their skills and learn about other cultures from the locals.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.