“I think you join the girls,” a primary school softball coach once told Teo Ser Luck

By Dawn Yip, Les Tan and Jan Lin

Teo Ser Luck is the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Transport.

Before joining politics, he was in the private sector and his last position was as General Manager of DHL Express Singapore.

An Ironman triathlete, Ser Luck, who turns 41 on June 8th, has championed the role of sports, especially for the masses.

When the topic seizes him, Ser Luck also writes an occasional column for Red Sports.

Red Sports caught up with him for an exclusive interview.

Part 1

Red Sports: Tell us what sports you did as a youth in primary school.
Teo Ser Luck: I wasn’t good enough to get into the soccer team when I was in Primary 3, Primary 4. I was from a poor background, I didn’t have money to buy boots, and we didn’t have balls to play with. So I used cans to kick, and you get injured all the time because you’re barefoot. Then you used slippers as goalposts. That’s how I started in soccer.

And at school, since you’re not good enough (for the school team), you have to play separately. We were kampung boys and we formed a little team, a kampung team, kampung boys together.

Where did you grow up?
Hougang, Upper Serangoon.

Which primary school did you attend?
Rosyth. I wanted so badly to play a sport and to represent school because my studies were so average in the beginning. You wanted an outlet at the beginning to show that you were worth something. So I thought sports, and I love sports. I tried for almost every game and couldn’t get in. I tried softball. I got in. But I think the coach’s intention was for me to make up the numbers for the girls’ team.

You mean they allowed boys in the girls’ team?
They had boys in the girls’ team. After playing a few sessions with the boys, he (the coach) just said “I think you join the girls, you just spar with them. The boys will go into another training session.”

Do you remember how you felt?
Woah. Yeah. It was the first setback for me. I’m happy it came early – because it came early, I worked really hard. Next thing you know, I learnt to swim because my parents said, “You got to learn to swim”.

But paying $20 for a month, for four swimming lessons, we just couldn’t afford it.

So I just went to the swimming pool to see how people swim. I would go underwater and just watch how people swim. Self-taught. Kept struggling. This was in Primary 5. I picked it up quite quickly, then I told the teacher I would like to join the swimming class.

There was this instructor. I went there and struggled. I just used brute force to go ahead of the rest. The coach said “You got no style at all. No stroke.” He allowed me to go for some trials and taught me proper strokes and that’s how I got into swimming.

Within about six months, I represented school for the first time. I tell you, you don’t know how I excited I was. I was in Primary 5, I was so happy. I got my first medal ever. A relay event. There were only two teams but coming in second was ok. Two teams, second, alright, no problem!

Do you still have the medal?
I kept my medal. Most precious. I polished it everyday until the thing became dark because I put water even though you’re not supposed to do that. I was really happy that I could find something that I could do well. I got better in Primary 6. My studies also got better. More discipline, more energy.

Because of sports?
I would say it’s sports. I owe a lot to sports. I scored well in PSLE. Top 8%. Special stream. From then onwards, no problem for me in terms of studies. And so I spent a lot more time in sports.

I went to Sec 1. I went to a good school. Victoria. They are so sports-centric. That’s where I really grew. I joined their cross country, represented them in soccer, cross-country, track and field, table tennis, Chinese chess.

So it’s not just CCA, you were wearing school colours for all those sports?
Yeah! It spurred me on.

Was this the norm for guys to play so many sports?
There were a lot of us who did the same thing, playing multiple sports. We were supposed to join a uniform group but because of my performance in so many sports I was exempted. There were a few of us who had this special exemption.

That’s why you really feel you were worth something, especially when I got into the school’s soccer team because it was every boy’s dream to represent school. I wore that jersey to sleep.

I remember when I got that jersey, it was number 18. And that was in 1982, the first time I represented school in soccer. At that time, number 18 was the captain of the Argentina World Cup team. I always remembered that. I put on the jersey and went to sleep with it.

Do you still have that jersey?
The jersey, I can’t find. But I stay in touch with my coach and my teachers because I’m the president of the Old Victorians. I always tell them, “You were the few guys who inspired me.”

You slept with the shirt?
Yeah! Of course! I didn’t have boots, you know. I wore my school shoes to play football.

Was that common among your teammates?
It was just me. Before that first match, they said you got to buy a pair. My mom wasn’t into sports and they scouted around for the cheapest pair of boots.

What position did you play?
I played centre back because I was more ‘garang’ lah. But then I remember Telok Kurau, there was one guy. Strangely, one of my grassroots leader was in that team. He couldn’t remember me. When I mentioned that in 1982 I played Telok Kurau, he said, “I was in the Telok Kurau team in 1982!” Sports brings back all these memories. This guy was so skillful. [Against] Telok Kurau, we drew 1-1. [Against] St Pat’s, we lost.

Were you all championship winners?
No. Only hockey we were national champions, not soccer. Victoria School is famous for cross-country, I was the first batch of guinea pigs, under Mr Ho, who was famous for bringing Victoria to Championship titles for many years.

What is his full name?
Ho Kiat Chong. I was his first batch and he trained us in hill running and everything. He started me in endurance events, I hated running, but because I wanted to represent school, so just go for it.

What was your timing then, you remember? For cross-country.
I think I crossed 4.8 or 5.2 km about 18 or 19 minutes. But now as I age, I get slower!

So that's how it started. But those were the good days, before that it was always struggling just to get into the team, because I didn't have the size. In primary school I was already much smaller than the rest.

In secondary school I had my growth spurt and then I trained, and I became active… I also knew that was the way to attract girls! Honestly, I know some people won't admit it but I admit it that come on, you want to do sports, no matter how good a student you are, somehow you have this thing you see, that you are interested in girls, right? It's very normal.

So sports gave you opportunities? Can you remember a couple?
Great, a lot of opportunities.

But when I really used the opportunity was in JC and university. In secondary school… you were interested but you were not sure how to do it and I was in an all-boys school. Then of course you have some boys who will idolise you, but normal lah, you won't be thinking of other things. © Red Sports

“JC life was quite interesting, that was where I met my wife.” An interview with Teo Ser Luck (Part 2)