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| Whatever it takes |
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At 40, Low Keng Kwok recently learnt
how to walk on stilts. He is also a self-taught
balloon sculptor and he can train macaws, peacocks
and even monitor lizards to perform tricks. A
man of many talents, he is now perfecting the
art of juggling balls and the Chinese yo-yo.
Throughout his 20-year career on Sentosa,
Keng Kwok has shown that he would do all it takes
to get the job done.
Whether it is innovating, acquiring new skills
or adapting to a changed job scope, he has proved
that with a teachable heart and plenty of perseverance,
nothing is too hard to achieve.
Keng Kwok joined Sentosa Development
Corporation (SDC), a statutory board of the Ministry
of Trade and Industry, in 1984. He worked as a
lifeguard at the lagoon for 12 years.
In 1996,
he had an opportunity to attend a 10-day course
on handling parrots. He jumped at the chance to
learn something new and joined the Animal Unit.
By the end of the year, his unit had successfully
presented Sentosa’s first bird show, which was
for the closing ceremony of the World Trade Organization
1st Ministerial Conference.
One thing led to another.
Soon, Keng Kwok was also training and performing
with monkeys, chickens, peacocks, squirrels, dogs,
ducklings and monitor lizards.
Working with animals
can be tiring yet fun, challenging yet rewarding.
Said Keng Kwok, “Training birds to nod and shake
their heads is quite fast. You can do it within
half an hour. Getting them to pull a scroll takes
one to two days. Teaching more complex behaviours
like ‘bang, roll over and die’ can take weeks.”
In 2002, Keng Kwok left the Animal Unit
to assume a wider job scope as an entertainment
and programming executive. That year, SDC was
renamed the Sentosa Leisure Group.
These days,
Keng Kwok spends most of his time planning and
co-ordinating programmes and hiring musicians
and artistes. He is always looking to introduce new, exciting programmes. For
example, for the recent Chinese New Year
celebrations, he engaged wushu experts, acrobats
who could do Monkey God stunts, and even a guy
who could write calligraphy while breakdancing!
To understand the difficulties faced by
performers, he will try to pick up their skills, which
was why he overcame his fear of heights to learn
the basics of stiltwalking. As for juggling, he said
it is just for relaxation.
Another new skill he learnt recently was balloon
sculpting, but this time it was not by choice. Last
April, his Director attended a US convention where
he saw balloon sculptors in action. When he
returned, he called for an
urgent meeting and
began delegating jobs to
his staff. Keng Kwok was
given a bag of balloons, a
pump and a book, and
tasked to master balloon hats.
He practised hard and by June, he and three
colleagues were ready for their first public
performance at the re-opening of Merlion Park.
In less than two hours that night, the team twisted
some 700 balloons!
Today, Keng Kwok can easily twist over 20
hats and more complicated designs. In fact, his
balloon sculpting skills have won him many
compliments from delighted visitors.
With his positive attitude towards work, it is
no wonder Keng Kwok has won the Model Workers
Award organised by NTUC and the Excellent Service
Award - Gold presented by SPRING Singapore.
Sharing
about what has kept him going all these years,
he said, “As long as I enjoy what I’m doing, work
won’t seem like work at all. And when there are
changes, I accept them quite easily, move on and
just do my best.” |
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| Past
Columns |
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“As long as you enjoy what you’re doing, work won’t
seem like work at all.”
Low Keng Kwok |
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