The Straits Times - Friday, 24 January 2003

They were doing it way before Khoo Swee Chiow

By Tracy Quek

THEIR friends headed to the New World and Great World amusement parks for night life, joyrides and cabarets in the 1960s, but three young clerks in their 20s had a different idea of fun.

Mr Paul Fong, Mr William Chin and Mr Peter Teo, who met while involved in part-time national service in the Civil Defence Corps, preferred to spend their free time biking in MacRitchie Reservoir or camping by the sea at Pasir Ris.

On weekends, the trio's favourite haunt was the kelong, where they would spend all night fishing and shooting the breeze.

Mr Fong, a 62-year-old retiree who was the club's first president, said: “Back then, there was no television... no Internet. We had to entertain ourselves.

“William used to call us the square club because we enjoyed tame activities like fishing and hiking.”

To their surprise, friends and acquaintances found the stories of their less-than-glamorous pursuits interesting.

Among those who asked to join them were Mr Andrew Cheng, then a bank officer, and Mr Alec Ang, a relief teacher, who were eager to explore the backwaters of rural Singapore.

As word spread and their following grew, as did their desire to venture abroad, they decided to register their motley crew as a club. Thus, the Singapore Adventurers' Club was born in 1963.

It was the only group of its kind back then. The People's Association started the Outward Bound School of Singapore, an adventure-training centre, only four years later, in 1967.

The club’s 20 members met almost every weekend for activities, from motorcycle trips to Kota Tinggi in Malaysia, to deep-sea fishing off Kusu Island.

Today, the non-profit club has 600 regular members who each pay a $30 annual fee, and every year, 50 more people join the group.

The majority are working adults in their 20s and 30s, while more than half are women.

One of them, Ms Kwok Mei Foong, 33, who joined in 1999, said: “I’ve ventured to new places, like Yunnan in China... I've also put myself to the test physically and mentally. Once, I did the trek to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal.

“What's great is that you're with people who relish the arduous climb up a mountain as much as you do.”

As for Non-Constituency MP Steve Chia, 33, an active member since 1996, the club has helped him develop strong friendships.

A team of volunteers, led by current president Ho Ee Kid, a 35-year-old engineer, makes sure the group's calendar is packed with events, from scuba-diving courses and treks in Nepal, to climbing frozen rocks and waterfalls in China.

The club is also big on community work. Recently, about 15 members spent four weekends conducting adventure-training courses for inmates at the Kaki Bukit Prison School and Changi Women's Prison.

Founding member Mr Chin, now 65, said the constant flow and wide variety of activities, and the group's efforts to cater to changing tastes are behind the club lasting 40 years. “Youngsters are more adventurous now. To them, climbing Mount Ophir or Mount Kinabalu is nothing. But back in the 1960s, we were the first civilian group to scale them. It was a big deal then!"

Although their mountain-climbing days are over, the five longtime friends and founding members - all are retired except for Mr Teo, 65, and Mr Ang, 58, who are both businessmen - still make time for club activities.

Every two months or so, they join younger members for jogs at MacRitchie Reservoir and hikes up Bukit Timah Hill. They also sit on the group's advisory council and meet monthly to discuss the club's future and talk about the old days.

Like the time they were confronted by the Malaysian police while on a trek to Kota Tinggi, and how the group suspended all its activities during the turbulent year leading up to Singapore's independence in 1965 because of the riots and violence that broke out.

The club has come a long way, said Mr Cheng, 62, who was its president from 1967 to 1970. “But we survived all that. And when we're gone, we want the club to go on for another 40 years.”