Commencement Guest Speaker: Er. Lim Peng Hong

Introduction To Er. Lim Peng Hong

NUS Pro Chancellor Mr Stephen Lee, Distinguished Guests, Graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen. Good evening. We are indeed honoured to have Er. Lim Peng Hong as our Guest Speaker today.

Er. Lim Peng Hong is the Managing Director of PH Consulting Pte Ltd. Er. Lim’s career, as a Professional Civil Engineer, spans more than three decades, with extensive experience in geotechnical, infrastructural, transportation and structural engineering in the region. In addition, he is registered in the specialised branch of geotechnical engineering under the Professional Engineers Board, and is a Specialist Accredited Checker for Geotechnical Engineering works under the Building and Construction Authority.

Er. Lim has successfully managed numerous projects. They included the Ministry of Home Affairs Headquarter Complex at Novena, and the design of the infrastructure for the Changi Water Reclamation Plant, as well as infrastructure rail and expressway projects such as the Stations Upgrade of Underground MRT Stations, Kallang/Paya Lebar Expressway, the Circle Line, Downtown Line and Thomson-East Coast Line in Singapore. He was involved in Gardens by the Bay at Marina South, which is one of the largest urban botanical gardens in Asia.

Er. Lim was also connected with major infrastructure and building projects overseas, such as the construction management of the 130 km Mizoram (India) State Roads Project Phase 1, Public Transportation Study in Tianjin (China) for World Bank, and the design of the Rail Transit System for the Marmaray Project (Bosphorus Crossing) in Istanbul, Turkey.

Er. Lim is an alumnus with the NUS Faculty of Engineering, where he obtained his Bachelor in Civil Engineering with first class honours, as well as his Master of Science for Civil Engineering. He was also selected to attend the Master Programme in Concrete Structures in Imperial College, London University, under the Commonwealth scholarship.

In recognition of his contributions to engineering in Singapore, Er. Lim has attained a number of awards at national level, including three National Heritage Awards by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and three Association of Consulting Engineers Singapore Design Excellence Awards. This year, he received the ACES Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the consulting engineers community.

He is a current member of the Professional Engineers Board and the Engineering Accreditation Board, and chaired the Engineering Academic Advisory Committee in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), and the Technical Committee for Structures and Sub-structures in SPRING Singapore.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming our Guest Speaker, Er. Lim Peng Hong.

Speech By Er. Lim Peng Hong, Managing Director Of PH Consulting Pte Ltd; At The Engineering Commencement 2017 Ceremony (C18), For CEE Graduation On Tuesday, 11 July 2017 At 8 Pm.

NUS Pro-Chancellor Mr Stephen Lee, Graduates, Distinguished Guests, Fellow Engineers, Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening.

I graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1983, and frankly speaking, it was a long time ago, and I cannot remember who the guest speaker was then. The guest speaker is not important. What is important tonight is that you are graduating as engineers, ready to practice and learn as you venture out into the world with the training provided by the University.

The training that NUS Engineering has provided formed the basics that you will grow from. The engineering principles that you have learned will put you in good stead in whatever that you embark on. And as you practice, you will continue to learn. Life is all about learning. All our previous experiences and knowledge are put together to solving the next challenge. The more you learn, the more you experience, the better your next solution. If we stop learning, we have stopped living. So, practice and learn.

In January 2016, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh said "everything not invented by God is invented by an engineer". A very concise way of saying that engineers are the solution providers for the world. For better or worse, we are responsible in making things happen. We therefore hold great responsibility in ensuring that our inventions help mankind, and the world. That whatever we do will sustain the world and make it a better place to live in.

Look around you. We are sitting in air-conditioned comfort because of engineers; we have a roof above us because of engineers; we can drive, we can walk, we can work, play and sleep in comfort because of engineers. What will this world be without engineers? We will be back to the primitive world of yesteryears.

For over three decades, I have practiced engineering. It has been very fruitful and challenging. For more than a decade, I worked in the Public Works Department. It gave me the opportunity to learn different aspects of civil engineering. I was in departments that deal with transportation, structural, civil and geotechnical engineering. Working in a government department gave me the opportunity to work with other disciplines and learnt to interact, understand and appreciate the complex structure of a project team. The technical aspect is just one factor to the successful completion of a project. There is human interaction, protocols, and the need to understand the clients' requirements and the necessary government procedures.

Being moved to a corporate consultancy, when PWD was corporatised, gave me the opportunity to experience overseas projects, and the many facets of business and people that we have to manage. Overseas projects are very different from our local Singapore projects. I would say that the engineering and technical parts are similar, but the scale is different, and the social and community interactions, and way of working, differs from country to country.

When I reached my half century of life, I decided to start my own consultancy and run it the way that I think a consultancy should be run. I wanted to test out an important philosophy. That the modern world, with its excellent communications system, and with good thinking engineers, does not need the engineers to be in the office all the time. They think and live engineering anywhere and everywhere. So we have work-at-home days which is called flexi-place. We have flexi hours so that we can accommodate to the differing family requirements of the staff. However, social interaction is still necessary. There are days when office hours are protected so that we see and meet each other.

I have no regrets in being an engineer. It has given me sufficient rewards. In seeing buildings and infrastructures being completed with my involvement, in finding solutions to challenges. There is a lot of satisfaction looking around Singapore and the world, and realizing that I have my fingers in many of the pies that were baked.

Circumstances are such that I have also been able to give back to society. I have found time to contribute by being in the Professional Engineers' Board, the Engineering Accreditation Board, the Association of Consulting Engineers Singapore and the ITE Engineering Academic Advisory Committee. It really broadens my horizon to interact with different people and to appreciate the different facets of the engineering industry. PEB gave me a better appreciation of the regulatory framework for the Professional Engineers, and EAB, the academic framework for a tertiary engineering degree. Being in the ACES Council, and its President for 3 years, allowed me to interact with the community of practicing Professional Engineers. And sitting in the ITE EAAC opens my eyes to our very important technical support - the graduates from ITE.

Tonight, we celebrate your commencement. You are about to continue on a journey which you started when you choose engineering as your university degree. The engineering world is very vast, and the engineering training that you have received allows you to move into many other fields. I don't expect all engineers to continue as engineers. Our minds are so well trained that we can almost enter into any areas that we want. Engineers have the ability to analyze and provide solutions. To reduce challenges into manageable sizes, which can then be solved systematically.

Each of you will pursue your different pathways. The most important thing is to be true to yourself. To practice with a conscience. And to be able to wake up daily, happy and keen to take up the challenges for that day and the days to come. There will be up time and down time, there will be challenges to sharpen your mind. The satisfying moments when you overcome obstacles, and the fulfilments as you achieved the end results, be they a completed building, a finished product, a bridge, an entire rapid transit network, an invention that help mankind.

Above all these, face each project as you would a mountain. A mountain is there for you to reach its summit. You should always attempt to climb to the top, not to stop halfway. So engineers are here to provide quality solutions. The highest mark of quality, not a half solution. Be committed to your endeavors and believe in what you are doing. Ensure quality work, because when you practice and deliver quality, your clients will respect you and your circle of clients will grow. Engineering is a fruitful, challenging and enriching career.

Each of us has our own mountains to climb. There is no mountain high enough that we cannot surmount. We set our own personal targets, we climb our own mountains. Whatever target you set, remember to climb your mountain, to the top.

For your accomplishments at NUS, I offer you and your families my heartfelt congratulations.

Thank you.