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ABOUT THE EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
386
LTC (RET) CHAN SECK SUNG
MAJ (RET) LAM YING KIT, VICTOR
MAJ (RET) LIONEL STANLEY THOMAS
Seck Sung was a youth leader in the People’s Association before
applying for the first officer training programme in SAFTI. He was
sent to Fort Georgia in the United States for Green Beret training
as a commissioned officer ahead of the whole first batch six weeks
before the actual commissioning ceremony. On his return, he set
up the Commandos and the Guards formation. He calls himself
the most re-cycled battalion commander in the SAF, if not military
history. He commanded in turn, 2 SIR, 8 SIR, 2 Guards (stood down)
and the 1
st
Commando Battalion. His last job was Base Commander, MINDEF HQ. A large
amount of material for
One Of A Kind
came from his private collection, and he continues to
collect material for the group’s records.
Victor, reticent to a fault, stoical and tough, asked leave of nobody,
including his father, an ASP in the Singapore Police Force, before
joining the SAF. A keen sportsman, he had represented Singapore
in the Under 23 category in rugby. He naturally gravitated towards
physical training and became head of the School of Physical Training
(PT) in SAFTI after attending the Advanced PT Course in Aldershot,
UK. Apart from service in the SAF, he also served two separate
terms as Warden of the Singapore Outward Bound School. Early
in his career, he co-organised an overland expedition to the UK with other SAF personnel
supported by MID. After his retirement, he continued to indulge in his passion for exploring
exotic places including Tibet. He also became skilled in IT and social media. He maintains a
Facebook record of developments among SAFTI’s “First Batch”.
Lionel was prepared for the stress of Pasir Laba training because
he had been a sportsman in school and had completed the Outward
Bound Course in Lemut, Perak. In fact, he is on record as saying
that life in SAFTI was practically heavenly. He was in the first group
of first batch officers sent to the Jungle Warfare School, Johor.
He was appointed General Staff Officer of 3rd Brigade in 1974.
After completing the Singapore Command and Staff College course
in 1985, he was appointed CO, 5 SIR and later, G3, HQ PDF. He
retired in August 1994 but volunteered to be a facilitator at the Singapore Discovery Centre
for 12 years more during which he took on assignments to make presentations in SAF
detention centres to rehabilitate soldiers under detention as part of the SAF Veterans League
contributions to the military family.