{"id":20330,"date":"2022-07-23T00:12:40","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T16:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianhalloffame.sg\/?page_id=20330"},"modified":"2022-07-24T17:30:32","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T09:30:32","slug":"a-vijiaratnam-inaugural-excellence-award-for-professional-services","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/indianhalloffame.sg\/?page_id=20330","title":{"rendered":"A Vijiaratnam"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1658507093882{border-radius: 10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”20357″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1658509071404{margin-top: 100px !important;margin-left: 120px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1658655025294{margin-top: 100px !important;margin-right: 120px !important;margin-bottom: 100px !important;margin-left: 120px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;border-radius: 10px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

A Vijiaratnam<\/h2>\n

Inaugural Excellence Award For Professional Services<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dr Vijiaratnam represented Singapore in four sports namely, hockey, cricket, football and rugby at the Olympics during the years from 1946 – 1956.
\nSince time- immemorial, he was the only person who have participated in
\nfour games in any competitive sports representing Singapore. His excellence in sports has been recorded in the Singapore Guinness Book of Records.<\/p>\n

He was also Singapore\u2019s first Asian engineer and a top civil servant and the first pro-chancellor of the Nanyang Technical University (NTU), 1992 – 2005. Also in his cap of achievements were: first Asian Vice-President of the Institution of Structural Engineers in UK, first civil servant who proved that sports and studies can go hand in hand and excelled in both. In the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games he was responsible in routing the US 6-1 in the hockey games. Such was his tenacity in the game hockey that he went on to represent Singapore in many more International hockey competitions.<\/p>\n

He did the London Matriculation on his own efforts through a correspondence course, passed with flying colours and achieved a first class diploma in 1948. Another opportunity was offered to him in 1949, when he received a scholarship for civil engineering by the PWD. He was one of the two candidates who secured the prestigious scholarship. This became possible partly because of his excellence in Sports and his remarkable achievements in his exams.<\/p>\n

He went on to excel in his studies at the Brighton College of Advanced Technology and graduated with an engineering degree.<\/p>\n

On his return in 1953, Dr Vijiaratnam, gratefully joined his employer, the PWD and had determined to serve with utmost gusto and grit and to be exemplary to others who want to follow in his footsteps. He did excel in his profession and was truly a leader in his given tasks and many looked at his achievements with awe. In 1964 he was seconded to the Port of Singapore Authority where he helped in its formation and containerisation programme and became its Chief Engineer. He continued his service of excellence in pursing higher goals and innovative ideas in running a successful port. After having served 17 years at the PSA, he was tasked in the reclamation works for the Changi Airport which he carried out successfully and received high commendation and mention in the first PM LKY\u2019s Memoirs, From Third World to First: The Singapore Story. He later returned to the PSA at the age of 75, and retired as the director of engineering.<\/p>\n

While he was progressing well in his work as an engineer, he also continued patronising his other passion in sports, hand in hand.<\/p>\n

He played an important role in the relocation of Sivan temple from Orchard to Geylang. He was a member of the Hindu Endowment Board and he was roped in for his engineering expertise for the shift. He oversaw and ensured the smooth moving of the temple over a four year period. Once he successfully finished the given task, he retired from the HEB.<\/p>\n

He had served as the Chairman of Tamil Murasu (TM) Board (1995 \u2014 2005) and witnessed the takeover of TM by the SPH group of newspapers. He introduced many innovative ideas to improve the readership of the newspaper and one notable example was to publish mock-up exam papers for students. The idea worked and sales rose to 10-15%.
\nVijiaratnam had also served as a member of the Liquor Licensing Board, Science Council, Presidential Council on Minority Rights, Chairman of the Institute of Engineers and as the Commissioner to conduct an enquiry into the collapse of Hotel New World and Arbitrator of Engineering Issues.<\/p>\n

He also started a fund to help poor families for educational purposes under the name, The Needy Family Fund. Indian Movie News (IMN) magazine, donated Singapore $10,000 towards this fund in 2001 at the IMN 50th Anniversary Show held at the Suntec City Convention & Exhibition Hall. Dr Vijiaratnam received the $10,000 cheque from the author, Nathanji.<\/p>\n

Vijiaratnam passed away in his sleep on 18 Feb 2016 at the age of 94, leaving behind a son, Vijendran, and 3 daughters. His wife, Yogasoundary, died in 2011.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”10em”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1658507093882{border-radius: 10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”20357″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1658509071404{margin-top: 100px !important;margin-left: 120px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1658655025294{margin-top: 100px !important;margin-right: 120px !important;margin-bottom: 100px !important;margin-left: 120px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;border-radius: 10px !important;}”] A Vijiaratnam Inaugural Excellence Award For Professional Services   Dr Vijiaratnam represented Singapore in four sports namely, hockey, cricket, football and rugby at the Olympics during the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":13046,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width.php","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20330","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nA Vijiaratnam - 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