Detail

As SP’s former campus at 12 Prince Edward Road prepares for redevelopment, a group of elderly alumni returned on 10 October to revisit their student days. Among them were Mr Wee Chwee Heng and Mr Tay Kheng Soon, who pointed out their former architecture studio. The two were part of the first cohort of architecture students when SP began its architecture programme in 1958. They went on to become among Singapore’s first locally trained architects. Mr Tay Kheng Soon later became well known for projects including the Golden Mile Complex, while Wee, now 86, was involved in important works including the former octagonal Supreme Court building. Mr Wee had wanted to become an architect from a young age but could not afford to study overseas. When the colonial government established SP in 1954 to train local technical talent, he first trained as a teacher and taught for several years before successfully joining the Polytechnic’s first architecture cohort in 1958. He recalled the influence of his architecture lecturer Mr Lim Chong Keat, who encouraged a broad, multidisciplinary education. Students were exposed not only to architectural drawing but also to classical music and opera. Mr Wee also pursued hands-on learning outside school, working with classmates to design and build a small shelter behind his home.

[Lianhe Zaobao]