An Iconic Friend Of The Sea - Mr David Tham
- 1st January 2006

Iconic Friend Of The Sea
MEMBERS IN FOCUS: MR David Tham

The grand daddy of sailing, David Tham, speaks with Belinda Au Yong on founding the SAF Yacht Club and his unrelenting passion for the sea

I was apprehensive before my meeting with David Tham- what would you feel if you were about to confront someone light years ahead of you in knowledge, esteem and achievements?

I spied him easily at East Coast Park hawker Centre - at 77 years of age and diminutive in size, he nonetheless easily filled up the whole place with his personality. Beckoning me over to where he was enjoying a sunset beer after serving as a Race Officer for the 26th Singapore Open Windsurfing Championship at the East Coast Sailing Centre. A Senior Race Officer in Singapore Sailing's race management team, the man often squirms away from the glare of my reporting radar and deflects credit to his contemporary, Mr Lawrence Hoh. Lawrence was his partner from the beginning and the creation of what was then The SAF Yacht Club at Pulau Blakang Mati in 1967.

His eyes lit up as he described the genesis of the SAF Yacht Club, "We began as a boat shed with our sole source of income coming from subletting space to a coffee shop for $50 a month. I was roped in by Lawrence to form the Club's first committee after we took over RAF Seletar Club- all out initial sailors came from his batch of students." The Club remained at Pulau Blakang Mati until December 1969 when it moved to Seletar Airbase. It took over the RAF Seletar Club and changed its name to what it is known as today, SAF Yacht Club.

A founding member of the Sing-Siam Regatta which dates back to 1975 and whose traditions are still kept alive up till this day (with the next race scheduled for the second quarter of this year Sattahip), David has served various positions for the club from being a secretary to being the Vice Commodore for the SAF Yacht Club from the late 1970s to the 1980s.

His unbridled spirit is inspiring. At five decades younger than David, I already sometimes feel the beginning ravages of time - a tentativeness in pace, the gung-ho spirit revealing itself less often, the thought of holing up at home being more appealing than conquering the world. After the meeting, I felt a renewed sense of youth, and a new resolve to keep that je ne sais quois for many years to come. As I headed home to rest, David sprang off his next supper appointment. I remain light years behind.