Singapore kampung boy reaches new heights

There can be miracles, if you believe.

Lyrics from the soundtrack of "Prince of Egypt" movie rings true for Mr Toh Hong Giep.

Last week, Mr Toh graduated from the inaugural class of Tsinghua-INSEAD EMBA Programme. It was a proud moment for his family as he finally received his postgraduate certificates from two of the world's most prestigious schools.

"I still can't believe I graduated with EMBA," Mr Toh said. "It's quite unbelievable."

Indeed, Mr Toh had neither the family pedigree nor high-flying academic record to even give him any advantage to getting enrolled in the course.

Childhood was largely spent building tree houses using loose wooden planks left around by his father, who ran a small construction company. He recalls fond memories of being chased by dogs - of which scars still remain, climbing and falling down from trees and picking durians in the backyard.

He claims that he took his primary school leaving examinations (PSLE) without realising that it was a national-level examination that would determine the standard of secondary school he would go to. His parents apparently did not know which schools to choose and he filled up the decision forms after a chat with his best friend. 

Mr Toh scored well enough to secure a place at the Chinese High School, a premium secondary school in Singapore. Much of his four years were spent at the courts playing a myriad of ball games, like basketball, volleyball and badminton. Academic success continued not to be a priority.

Those formative years were also spent honing his mahjong skills. Mr Toh recounted a memorable day:

"It was during our 'O' levels exams and we met at a friend's place to play mahjong after school. We played the whole night through 通宵, as is usual for mahjong games. 

"As dawn breaks, one of the guys said, 'Don't we have a paper today? I think it's chemistry.'

"Good thing we were still in our school uniforms so we ate our breakfast and went to school together. I got an A," he grins.

Again, Mr Toh scored good grades and spent the next two years at Hwa Chong Junior College, another top school in Singapore. He aced his 'A' level examinations and went on to read Computer Science at the National University of Singapore.

After the passing of his father in his late-teens, Mr Toh supported himself through university. While his uncle provided for his tuition fees, Mr Toh took on odd jobs to earn pocket money. He exercised physical strength by moving electronic equipment or exhibition panels, cultivated his negotiation skills hawking vegetables and improved interpersonal skills giving private tuition.

Mr Toh began his professional career with a government ministry. Although his performance was regularly ranked at the top, he was not satisfied with his prospects. He thought it was not fruitful to bond himself to the organisation just to attend an overseas conference, neither was it fair since colleagues who had obtained government scholarships did not have their bonds correspondingly extended.

Since joining Nokia in 2001, Mr Toh has had his fair share of travelling. At the last count, he has visited over 40 cities in more than 20 countries. To be fair, not all were for business. He enjoys travelling and exploring new places with his wife of 10 years, Ms Han MZ.

"The kids and I are rather glad now that the company imposed a travel freeze in view of the economic crisis," says Ms Han. 

"We hope to travel together more often but let's see."

Despite spending much time on the road, Mr Toh continues to develop strong and long-lasting friendships. He is affable and cares about his friends without making judgments. People who have not seen or heard from him for some time would come up to him to shake his hand, pat his back or go for a coffee or a meal.

To friends familiar with Mr Toh, he is really a laid-back kind of guy who just wants to relax over a cup of cappucino. He would like to blend in with the crowd but he catches the attention of his bosses and is often thrust into leadership roles.

In 2000, Mr Toh took a break from work to attend a three-month development course at his church Trinity Christian Centre. Called the Alpha Track, participants learn to study the Bible and put some principles into practice. 

"Yeah, he went out every morning and sometimes come home with assignments," Ms Han recalls. "He doesn't seem very busy or stressed."

He was awarded the Best Tracker of his class. He joked that the organisers just couldn't pinpoint any exceptional attributes so they presented a generic title. 

Mr Toh makes achieving look effortless. Even while putting long hours and plenty of hard work he does not forget to spend time with his family and keep his humour.

The love for adventure took Mr Toh on his first expedition to Inner Mongolia, China in 1999. In those days, getting there took almost 2 days, starting with a flight from Changi Airport to Beijing, followed by train and finally bus. Stacking bricks to build a school using bare hands and basic tools and living in backward conditions (toilet was a huge pit dug and shared by all 20 team members) was a memorable experience. 

Mr Toh seeks adventure although this takes on a different form nowadays. In 2005, he took on his first overseas posting in Beijing and now lives and works in Finland. His family - wife and two young children Estelle and Jules - are faithful members of his exploration team.

Authors of bestselling Freakonomics Stephen J Dubner and Steven D Levitt offer an alternative perspective to economics and statistics.  If the chapter on a child's development track holds any truth, Mr Toh would not have made it to perhaps, university. By the grace and favour of God, he remains the first and only graduate in his family and has now taken another step further.

Miracles do happen.