Teo Ser Luck wears many hats. The Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol grc is also the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (mcys), as well as Ministry of Transport. Earlier this year, he was also appointed the Mayor of the North East Community Development Council. Not only does he manage to successfully juggle all his duties, he also finds time for sporting activities, and has taken part in four Ironman events, the most recent being the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore Triathlon this April.

“Sports is part of my life, it’s part of me. If I don’t do it every day, I’ll feel really uneasy. If you have time to eat, you can find time to exercise. If it’s part of your life, you can fit it in, no matter how busy your schedule is,” he says. Sporting a healthy tan and looking much younger than his 41 years, Teo finds an hour or two every day to do his workouts, run, swim or bike.

“Sports is not something you obsess about. It’s (about) keeping a healthy lifestyle. I’m passionate about it as a participant and I believe in the value of it. In many ways, I owe who I am today to sports,” he says. As a student, he participated in a variety of activities – soccer, basketball, volleyball, swimming, water polo, and track and field. He candidly confesses, “When you’re in a school where there are girls, you’ll do many (kinds of sports) to try to impress them,” then adds jokingly, “Unfortunately, my wife isn’t into sports.” The father of two says his wife does accompany him to his races, cheering him on at the starting line or waiting at the finishing line.

Good Dynamics

Teo’s passion for sports makes him perfectly suited for his role at MCYS. He joined the ministry in 2006 and has since focused primarily on the sports portfolio. Having chaired the Sporting Culture Committee, he reviewed and put forward recommendations to develop Singapore’s sporting culture. Credited for playing a key role in steering Singapore to win the bid to host the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, Teo has many exciting plans for Singapore’s sporting future.

“The sports industry is as important as any other industry in Singapore because it can create jobs. It’s important for economic benefits as well as the social front. Sports can galvanise the people and bring the nation together,” he stresses. While he says it’s an industry still under development, it has already made successful advancements. “Five years ago, it was in its infancy but from 2001, when we had the $500 million sporting fund, that sort of catalysed many changes. We are now entering a second phase where sports has grown and it is taking shape but there’s still room for growth. And we need to ensure that sports is in the lifestyle of every single citizen and family.”

The Singapore Sports School which was initiated in 2001 and started in 2004 was in the first phase of sports development. “It has been very successful as it has produced many junior champions. In fact, most of the gold medalists and the medalists at the Asian Youth Games were students there. It’s also lifted the standard of sports so much so that other schools are paying attention and also developing their own sports systems – it has helped by building a sector that’s a lot more competitive now.” He reveals that part of the current initiatives is a mega sports hub costing almost $2 billion which will be ready in a few years’ time. This will bring all sports together and position Singapore as a regional hub.

There will also be satellite centres where children can participate in sports outside of school. Talents will be identified and put through a programme where they will be trained and developed. If they become junior champions, their sports career will be planned for them to groom them into national, Asian, then Olympic champions. “Once they graduate from school and start work, they must still have the facilities to get trained and this has to fit into their schedules, so we will need a sports institute which is also in the pipeline. And when their sporting career is over, we would also have to plan their post-sports career.”

Reaching Goals

The benefits of hosting the Youth Olympic Games are numerous. “You will have immediate economic spin-off, with hotels and tourism and there will also be social impact – we’ll be raising the profile of young people and Singapore as well as sports within the country and outside of it. More importantly, it is the legacy that will be left behind.” He also hopes that it will help to focus on youth culture and volunteerism, encouraging young people to step up to volunteer as well as participate in sports. “This is the place where everybody can shine if you’re willing to work hard, think outside of the box and chase your dreams,” he says.

On the personal front, Teo aspires to finish all the Ironman triathalons in the world. He has done four so far and is aware that a few more are added every year to the current 30. He expresses, “I have to clear one continent at a time. I hope to do a few Ironman races in a year, maybe five or six. And I hope it won’t take too long, because the longer I wait, the more will be added and it’ll be tougher as I age. I just have this objective to finish them all.”