Tan See Lai was a household name in the 1960s. As the first female newscaster when television came to Singapore in 1963, she was watched by hundreds of thousands of people as they gathered in front of TV sets each night for the few hours of programming.

But See Lai was much more than just a familiar face on TV. She was a pioneer of educational TV in Singapore when, in 1967, she left her job as a teacher to become a TV producer at the new educational TV unit at the Education Ministry.

Twelve years later, it was she who convinced then Education Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee to commit $78 million to expand the educational TV effort by putting a TV set in every classroom, investing in better production equipment, and producing more and better content.

See Lai grew up as the only child of a widowed housewife mother. Her father, who served with the British Army during the Second World War, surrendered to the Japanese and was never seen again. After the war, See Lai attended Raffles Girls’ School. She wanted to be a lawyer, but her mother said girls should be either nurses or teachers.

So after her O levels See Lai went to the closest school, found the principal and said, ‘I want to be a teacher’. The principal told her to look out for the Teacher Training College’s (TTC) advertisement inviting applications for enrolment.

In 1951 she was accepted for the TTC’s course meant for high-flyers which allowed her to do the two-year Certificate in Education training as a fulltime student, unlike most of the other students who had to train and teach at the same time.

After graduating in 1953, she taught at Haig Girls’ School and then Cedar Girls’ Secondary. Because she spoke well, with clear diction and enunciation, she was regularly asked to emcee events at school. This led to her winning, in 1958, a three-year scholarship to study speech and training at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She was the first Asian woman to be awarded a diploma from the school.

When she returned to Singapore in 1961, she ran speech courses for trainee teachers at the TTC, which is now known as the National Institute of Education. Two years later when television came to Singapore and Radio and Television Singapore needed people to read the news in front of the cameras, See Lai was engaged as a part-time newscaster. She also produced and helmed a TV show called ‘Women’s World’.

In 1967 when the Education Ministry launched its Educational Television Service (ETV) unit, See Lai left teaching to become a pioneer TV producer. She produced and directed two educational TV dramas — an English television adaptation of the Chinese classic Lady Precious Stream, as well as a film called ‘The Good Earth’. The ‘Good Earth, Part I’ won a special prize at the 1968 Japan Prize International Education Programme Contest. Another programme ‘The Power of Words’ also won a Japanese award.

As a member of the ETV team, See Lai attended many conferences around the world on broadcasting as a medium of education. In 1974, she won a scholarship to Purdue University in America to do a master’s in educational media. She was the first Singaporean to do such a course.

The Education Ministry was proud of its ETV unit and VIPS were regularly shown around its facility. But See Lai often wondered about the real value of its work because there was just one TV set at each school.

In 1979 Dr Goh Keng Swee became the Minister for Education. In his review of operations, Dr Goh asked See Lai what would happen if he closed down the ETV unit. She told him: ‘Nothing will happen because ETV is so hard to use and there’s not enough money.’

She thought being so honest would cost her the job at ETV. Instead, the next day Dr Goh made her the head of the unit and gave her $78 million to expand its work. A TV set in every classroom would make it much easier for teachers to use ETV programmes to complement lessons, and with more money the team could produce more and better programmes.

In 1987, See Lai left ETV and became the Education Ministry’s director in charge of public relations, computer services, scholarships, higher education and pupil placement. When the Singapore government decided to set up the Singapore International School in Hong Kong, it was See Lai who went to Hong Kong to start the process.

She found temporary premises, helped to secure the support of three Hong Kong tycoons with close links to Singapore, and had a hand in shaping the curricula and hiring the staff for the school, which opened in September 1991.

After her retirement from the Education Ministry, she continued to be active and taught English and phonetics at NIE at the request of her former student who headed NIE’s English department. See Lai died in 2017 at the age of 82.

Tan See Lai was a household name in the 1960s. As the first female newscaster when television came to Singapore in 1963, she was watched by hundreds of thousands of people as they gathered in front of TV sets each night for the few hours of programming.

But See Lai was much more than just a familiar face on TV. She was a pioneer of educational TV in Singapore when, in 1967, she left her job as a teacher to become a TV producer at the new educational TV unit at the Education Ministry.

Twelve years later, it was she who convinced then Education Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee to commit $78 million to expand the educational TV effort by putting a TV set in every classroom, investing in better production equipment, and producing more and better content.

See Lai grew up as the only child of a widowed housewife mother. Her father, who served with the British Army during the Second World War, surrendered to the Japanese and was never seen again. After the war, See Lai attended Raffles Girls’ School. She wanted to be a lawyer, but her mother said girls should be either nurses or teachers.

So after her O levels See Lai went to the closest school, found the principal and said, ‘I want to be a teacher’. The principal told her to look out for the Teacher Training College’s (TTC) advertisement inviting applications for enrolment.

In 1951 she was accepted for the TTC’s course meant for high-flyers which allowed her to do the two-year Certificate in Education training as a fulltime student, unlike most of the other students who had to train and teach at the same time.

After graduating in 1953, she taught at Haig Girls’ School and then Cedar Girls’ Secondary. Because she spoke well, with clear diction and enunciation, she was regularly asked to emcee events at school. This led to her winning, in 1958, a three-year scholarship to study speech and training at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She was the first Asian woman to be awarded a diploma from the school.

When she returned to Singapore in 1961, she ran speech courses for trainee teachers at the TTC, which is now known as the National Institute of Education. Two years later when television came to Singapore and Radio and Television Singapore needed people to read the news in front of the cameras, See Lai was engaged as a part-time newscaster. She also produced and helmed a TV show called ‘Women’s World’.

In 1967 when the Education Ministry launched its Educational Television Service (ETV) unit, See Lai left teaching to become a pioneer TV producer. She produced and directed two educational TV dramas — an English television adaptation of the Chinese classic Lady Precious Stream, as well as a film called ‘The Good Earth’. The ‘Good Earth, Part I’ won a special prize at the 1968 Japan Prize International Education Programme Contest. Another programme ‘The Power of Words’ also won a Japanese award.

As a member of the ETV team, See Lai attended many conferences around the world on broadcasting as a medium of education. In 1974, she won a scholarship to Purdue University in America to do a master’s in educational media. She was the first Singaporean to do such a course.

The Education Ministry was proud of its ETV unit and VIPS were regularly shown around its facility. But See Lai often wondered about the real value of its work because there was just one TV set at each school.

In 1979 Dr Goh Keng Swee became the Minister for Education. In his review of operations, Dr Goh asked See Lai what would happen if he closed down the ETV unit. She told him: ‘Nothing will happen because ETV is so hard to use and there’s not enough money.’

She thought being so honest would cost her the job at ETV. Instead, the next day Dr Goh made her the head of the unit and gave her $78 million to expand its work. A TV set in every classroom would make it much easier for teachers to use ETV programmes to complement lessons, and with more money the team could produce more and better programmes.

In 1987, See Lai left ETV and became the Education Ministry’s director in charge of public relations, computer services, scholarships, higher education and pupil placement. When the Singapore government decided to set up the Singapore International School in Hong Kong, it was See Lai who went to Hong Kong to start the process.

She found temporary premises, helped to secure the support of three Hong Kong tycoons with close links to Singapore, and had a hand in shaping the curricula and hiring the staff for the school, which opened in September 1991.

After her retirement from the Education Ministry, she continued to be active and taught English and phonetics at NIE at the request of her former student who headed NIE’s English department. See Lai died in 2017 at the age of 82.