ITE centre to be named after Tay Eng Soon

SINGAPORE - A convention centre at Singapore's newest ITE campus will be named after the late Dr Tay Eng Soon, a Senior Minister of State for Education who was a "passionate advocate" of skills training.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the move to honour Dr Tay at Friday's official opening of the ITE Headquarters and College Central campus in Ang Mo Kio.

Mr Lee said: "He was convinced that learning should be applied towards something useful and should not take place in a vacuum. "He recognised the importance of skills to improve Singaporeans' lives."

Dr Tay was responsible for nurturing the polytechnics and the ITE's predecessor, the Vocational and Industrial Training Board.

He set up the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in 1992 and started its Centre for Music and the Arts to develop students' talents, confidence and public speaking skills through music, the arts and culture.

He died of acute heart failure in 1993 at age 53.

While prizes and scholarships have been named after Dr Tay, the convention centre carrying his name will mark the completion of a plan to consolidate the 10 ITE campuses into three regional campuses.

The other two campuses are in Simei and Choa Chu Kang. They were officially opened in 2006 and 2011 respectively.

Mr Lee said: "I hope the name will inspire future generations of students to aim high and do their best."

The late Dr Tay's widow, Mrs Rosalyn Tay-Brighton, 66, flew here from her home in Perth to attend the opening with her children Lucy, 42, the principal of St Andrew's Secondary School, and Robert, 39.

Mrs Tay-Brighton told reporters: "It's a tremendous honour."

GOH CHIN LIAN

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