DR SIAK CHONG LENG’S EARLY DAYS
Before the Pacific War, Chong Leng and family lived at Telok Blangah in the vicinity of the Keppel Dockyards. As this area was vulnerable to enemy attack, the family moved out to stay with an uncle in the Geylang area. As fate would have it the family received a double whammy. Their family house got a direct bomb hit and the father disappeared in the Sook Ching Massacre.
Homeless and fatherless, Chong Leng and family moved back to Telok Blangah where the eldest brother, who had earlier got a job as a clerical officer at Singapore Harbour Board, was allotted accommodation. With a monthly salary of $30.00 he had to support the grandmother, mother, 3 sisters and 3 brothers, who all cramped in the quarters. The accommodation consisted of 2 rectangular rooms each 500 cm by 300 cm without separate dinning or sitting areas, the bathroom and toilet was one, with the kitchen cum wash area beside. The most horrendous part was the bucket toilet! The whole setup was for coolies working in the dockyards; not fit for human habitation.
Young Chong Leng was determined to get out of this hovel. He resolved to study very hard to enter university. He studied long hours from early afternoon and when his brain could not absorb anymore, he would stop then and there and head for the boys club field nearby and run around until his mind became clear. After dinner he would resume study till bedtime. From this daily routine he became very fit. He was never beaten in the 880 yard and mile races in interschool sports meets.
At that time, inter-school sprint invitation relay was a big thing in the school programme, at least among the boys’ schools like ACS where Chong Leng studied. Every Monday morning the school principal would announce at chapel the results of the invitational relay held on the previous Saturday. “Will the four relay boys stand up!” Wild applause will follow! Every week ACS would win. Chong Leng was envious and craved for the same adulation. He started to train himself to be a sprinter and break into the school 4 x 110 yds relay team.
Training was very convenient to him. To improve his leg speed, he hurtled down the very steep 40 degree incline staircase leading to the first floor where he stayed. To strengthen his leg muscles, he raced up the stairs. He did 4-5 sets daily for a few months. He also performed squatting weight exercises to strengthen his quadriceps.
At the Harbour Board sports meet, he displayed his sprinting prowess when he won the 100 yards race, clocking a time of 10.3 sec on the grass track. This was a fantastic time for a schoolboy, especially considering that it was done on grass. At the school annual sports meet, he came in second in the 100 yards race ensuring himself a place in the legendary ACS relay team. At last, he could stand up on every Monday chapel and be counted among the Fabulous Four. Subsequently Team ACS went on to beat the best in Malaya when they were invited to race.
After completing his studies in ACS in 1954, Chong Leng went on to study medicine in the Singapore University. Upon graduation, he secured a Colombo Plan Scholarship to pursue his post-graduate studies in the United Kingdom for another two years.
He returned with MRCP (Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, London). Upon his return, he noticed in the mirror he had carried a little paunch and a double chin! At that time, he learned that a fellow runner, a top hurdler in his day, died of a heart attack. Chong Leng resolved to resume regular running to remove the excess weight and to stay healthy. He went to MacRitchie Reservoir after work daily to run.
Chong Leng observed a trend in his regular run in MacRitchie – almost everyone would look at their watch at the end of their run. He realized that runners were interested to know how they had performed. He saw the opportunity to organize these runners, providing accurate information on distance and time, so that the runners remain motivated to continue with their regular running. Together with a small group of runners, he founded the MacRitchie Runners 25 (MR25) Running Club in August 1976.