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Challenge > Personalities
> Lady of the first water |
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| Lady of
the first water |
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The former national sailor
and windsurfer inspires
with tales of adventure
and competition,
and shares the joys of
cheering on Singapore’s
rising sports stars.
Coming away from an interview with Tok Lee
Ching, one can’t help but feel rather inspired.
And it’s not just because she has collected
multiple sailing medals.
Rather, it’s her dauntless spirit, yen for
challenges and selfless attitude that have left
an indelible impression.
Ms Tok took up windsurfing during her varsity
days because “I was looking for something
different. Windsurfing is challenging — there’s
a lot of room for progress. You can use a bigger
sail, sail in different kind of conditions. It’s very
dynamic and I wouldn’t get bored easily”.
Subsequently, she was recruited into the
national windsurfing flet and represented
Singapore in many international events. At the
same time, her career at the Singapore Sports
Council (SSC) was getting off the ground.
Ms Tok enjoyed windsurfing so much that
even after the national fleet was disbanded
in 2001, she went sparring with the youth
team. On the side, she earned certifications for
coaching in windsurfing and diving.
In 2003, the Singapore Sailing Federation
approached her to join the national sailing
team and partner Toh Liying to train in the
470* Women’s Olympic Class.
In a bid to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympic
Games, the duo embarked on intensive training
(six days a week) on the Australian and European
circuits. Although they missed getting a place at
the Athens Olympics, they clinched gold at the
2005 Southeast Asia Games and bronze at the
2006 Asian Sailing Championship.
Last June, however, Ms Tok retired from
professional sailing. It was a difficult decision
that took her many months to make, but
severe knee injury left her with no choice.
These days, the 32-year-old, who is now Senior
Executive in SSC’s High Performance Division,
is charting a new course.
“I hadn’t been really focusing on work as
much as I would have liked to because of
sports. Although I’ve been at SSC for about 10
years, one-third of the time I was doing sports
and away. So now I just want to focus more on
career and my family,” she said.
Sporting a svelte figure at 1.73 metres, Ms
Tok still looks every inch a sportswoman. She
talks about her current self-imposed exercise
regime consisting of twice weekly gym
sessions plus aerobics training. She also finds
time for rollerblading, jogging, volleyball and
diving. No wonder.
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| An athlete-turned-sports administrator, Ms Tok works
with coaches, national sports associations, sports
physicians and sports scientists to ensure that athletes
have optimal support to succeed in major games. |
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Speaking in gentle, calming tones throughout,
Ms Tok surprisingly claims, with a chuckle: “I’m
quite a mild person but when it comes to
sports, I’m probably slightly different. There’s
a competition mode and a normal mode.
When in competition mode, I become more
aggressive.”
Remarking on the challenges encountered
over the years of doing competitive sports,
she said: “I like to challenge myself, so I’ll put
myself in tough situations. Windsurfing is
actually very tough. Even in very windy days
we’d go out. There were a lot of times when
the wind was so strong that we dropped our
sail and couldn’t pull it up to get back to shore
and we’d just be drifting. I would wonder:
‘Why do I make myself continue windsurfing
when I’m suffering?’ But I find it a challenge
and an opportunity to make a person tougher
and stronger. So I always go through the same
cycle even though it’s painful physically and
emotionally.”
Competitive sailing, too, proved to be a test
of her mettle. Once, Ms Tok and her partner
were caught in a terrible storm while racing
in Austria. She recalled: “Visibility was
affected. We couldn’t see where we were
going. The wind was so strong that many
boats capsized. Ours capsized too. It was
so fast that we didn’t know where to jump
off the boat. My partner jumped straight
into the sail and we had a hole in our sail.
We tried to upright it but the wind was so
strong that we capsized a few times. It was
very challenging.”
Another time, just a week before a race in
Adelaide, there were reports of surfers being
attacked by sharks at the competition venue.
The duo braved the dangers, proceeding as
planned. Thankfully, they did not come face to
face with any sharks.
“Sports has actually made me a better person
in terms of handling stress and expectations,”
she said. “I believe anything is possible. It’s
whether you want to do it or not. To me, the
mind is the most important thing. It shapes
your whole life because what you’re thinking
will affect your decisions and from there your
actions. So having the correct mindset is very
important.”
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| Ms Tok and partner Toh Liying underwent rigorous
training in Australia and Europe for the Athens
Olympics. |
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With her positive attitude to life and sports,
Ms Tok makes for an encouraging role model.
Sharing why she used to volunteer as a
windsurfing coach, she said: “I like to pass on
knowledge and experience to help shorten
other people’s learning experience.”
These days, she has her hands full with SSC
work — overseeing and assisting the high
performance development of national sports
associations for chess, golf, bowling, fencing,
wushu, archery and disability sports. She
works closely with the associations as well
as sports scientists, coaches and athletes to
ensure that the athletes have the optimal
support to succeed in major games and other
competitions.
Ms Tok had previously played a supporting
role in the 2002 Busan Asian Games and 1998
Bangkok Asian Games. Besides performing
her Secretariat duties, she would find time
to attend the various competitions that our
athletes are competing in to “give support to
the athletes, which is very important”.
Having ridden the waves of success, she is now
simply content to be the wind in their sails.
“Seeing athletes work hard with the support
we give them and achieve their peak
performance is most rewarding to me,” she
said, in the true spirit of sportsmanship.
Looking forward, Ms Tok hopes to make a
greater impact on high performance sports
by sharing her knowledge and experience
with the industry.
*The 470 is a boat measuring 4.7 metres that is designed for
a crew of two. |
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by Challenge Editorial Team
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| Copyright © 2007 PS21 Office,
Prime Minister’s Office, Public Service Division. All Rights
Reserved. |
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