Tan Tiek Kwee

Tan Tiek Kwee (; December 1945 – 26 August 2014) was a Singaporean educator. He served as the principal of the Commonwealth Secondary School from 1987 to 1990, after which he was appointed the principal of the Victoria School. He remained there until he was transferred to Raffles Institution at the start of 1995, serving as headmaster there until his stepping down in 1998, after which he headed the Anderson Junior College for seven years before retiring.

Early life and education Tan was born in a village in the Klang District of Selangor in December 1945. He did not know his own birthdate as, in his hometown, "records of such things didn't matter." His parents, who came from China, could not speak English. This brought them "much inconvenience" in their day-to-day lives in Klang, and so they sent Tan to receive an English education.

He received his primary education at the Klang Primary School there, and a teacher of his in this period who gifted him a badminton racket influenced him to choose to become a teacher himself. In the 1960s, he then for a Bachelor of Science degree in pure and applied mathematics and a Diploma of Education at the University of Malaya, where he played badminton alongside Tan Aik Huang at the Inter-College Games.

Commonwealth Secondary School Tan stepped down from Temasek Junior College at the end of 1986, and was posted to Commonwealth Secondary School (CWSS) as its headmaster from the start of the following year. The school then had a "very serious discipline problem". He claimed to have spent around 80% of his initial time handling disciplinary and counselling matters. From 1991 to 1993, CWSS rose from 122th to 29th place in the national school rankings; Ong attributed much of the school's success to Tan.

Victoria School In 1990, Tan was transferred to the more reputable Victoria School (VS) as its principal, succeeding Nicholas Tang. He oversaw the construction of a new amphitheatre and the renovation of the entrance, which was to be "grand and distinctive" as part of his attempt to "forge a unique identity" for the school. He also initiated the school's attempt to go independent from the government under the Independent Schools Scheme, feeling that the school would otherwise fall behind those that had gone independent, being unable to "attract and retain the best teachers and students." However, VS was ultimately told by the Ministry of Education to stop their push for independence due to growing criticism of the increasing school fees at independent schools. The year after his transfer to VS, Tan was appointed to several "key" committees relating to the improvement of various aspects of education in the country. Additionally, he founded the school choir. Tan Kiak Seng, then the principal of the Serangoon Garden Secondary School and a former vice-principal of Victoria Junior College, was selected as his successor at VS. From 1991 to 1994, the school rose from 15th to sixth place in the national school ranking, which he considered as his "proudest archievement".

Raffles Institution Tan assumed the post of headmaster at RI, the "premier boys' school" in Singapore, on 1 January 1995. He succeeded Eugene Wijeysingha, who opined that Tan's inclination towards athletics would "go down well with RI boys and help him fit in." On taking office, Tan announced that he would be emphasising extracurricular activities as he believed the students "[needed] to get a few knocks and an informal education that they [would] never find in books." The paper later opined that his appointment was representative of the growing trend of Chinese-educated principals being appointed to traditionally English schools in the country. The school had been underperforming in subjects such as Chinese, and Tan felt that this was due to the limited amount of classtime allocated to them. Additionally, the mid-year examinations for 1996 were abolished, and the teachers were instructed to use the mid-year period to instead give more lectures and finish the curriculum early such that students could begin on revision for their O-level examinations ahead of time. He also introduced more speaking activities for graduating classes to help boost students' confidence. For the rest of his tenure, the school continued to perform well academically remained at the top of the ranking. As principal of RI, he oversaw the erection of a new boarding complex for the school, comprising five blocks with a capacity for 400 completed in 1996, and a $10 million four-storey extension to the school, completed in 1997. Tan announced in October 1998 that he would be stepping down as the principal at RI. He planned on returning to a government school after this, though he then "did not know which." He chose to leave then as he hoped to enjoy some time in paid leave before returning to work. Wong Siew Hoong, a previous principal of Tanjong Katong Secondary School, was selected as his successor. A student at RI under Wijeysingha and then Tan opined that the former had had a "better grasp of the importance of giving [the students] holistic development", whereas Tan "impressed upon [them] academic achievement as almost the be-all and end-all."

Anderson Junior College Tan was then posted to the Anderson Junior College (AJC) as headmaster, succeeding Tan Teng Wah. He assumed the position at the start of 1999. At AJC, he was seen as a "respected mentor and visionary leader." He reportedly "set clear goals" for the school and introduced teaching methods that were more "student-centred" to encourage students to engage in self-learning. According to a vice-principal of AJC at the time, he "focused on students' skills and multifaceted development, rather than just rote learning." He was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Silver) at the 2004 National Day Awards for his contributions to education in the country. He retired from the post the year after.

Personal life and death Tan was married to a fellow educator whom he had met through a classmate of his in Klang. The couple had three children, two daughters and a son; his son enrolled in VS during his tenure as headmaster. Despite his "busy work schedule", he reportedly still "made time for his family". He attained Singaporean citizenship in 1981. He remained a "keen" sportsman and an "ardent" badminton player as schoolmaster. He was also an avid golfer. He was known to play sports and exercise with colleagues and students.

He retired in 2005 to spend more time with his family. In early 2013, Tan was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. Despite medication and undergoing chemotherapy, his health continued to deteriorate, and he died of the disease at the Singapore General Hospital on 26 August 2014. The funeral was held at the Church of St Teresa, after which he was buried at the Christian cemetery at the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery.