A CAREER MADE OF DREAMS

Think holding only one job your whole life is unimaginable? Military Expert (ME) 4-3 Yip Kwok Weng certainly doesn't think so. When you love your job like he does, 41 years can feel like just a day.

Few of us are fortunate enough to be able to turn our childhood hobbies into lifelong careers. Playing "catching" isn't a legitimate Olympic sport yet, and there are only so many professional video game players in the world.

Unless you're Air Force Engineer ME4-3 Yip, who got to spend every day of the last four decades working with the favourite toy of his boyhood - aeroplanes. And for that, he received the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (40 years) recently.

A boy and his toy

"I've liked aeroplanes since I was a kid! I used to buy model aeroplanes to fix up," ME4-3 Yip said excitedly, his face lighting up at the thought.

Led by this simple childhood dream, he answered a newspaper advertisement asking for technical personnel to "fix aeroplanes" and signed on with the first batch of local air force technicians, who trained under instructors seconded from the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force.

He was only 17 then, and had just completed his Senior Cambridge examinations (now known as the O Levels) at Victoria School.

"At that point, I just wanted to serve my country" was his earnest and innocent reason. "It was a fledgling air force, called the Singapore Air Defence Command, and I wanted to be part of the set-up."

And since that fateful day in February 1973, he has never looked back.

Playing with the big boys

Now 58 years old, the Command Chief of Changi Air Base (CAB) has dedicated more than two-thirds of his life to maintaining the Republic of Singapore Air Force's fighter jets.

"I've worked on the Skyhawks, both the old and modified models, as well as the F-16A, B, C, D and D+," he rattled off with the excitement of a schoolboy learning his A-B-Cs for the first time, proud to have borne witness to the growth and development of the fleet.

His beloved aeroplanes have also taken him around the world: he has participated in exercises and undertaken postings in countries like Australia, France, India, the Philippines, Thailand and the United States.

Building dreams

However, his best memory was not of his travels, but an event close to home - the establishment of Changi Air Base (East) [CAB(E)] in 2004.

"I was part of the project team, tasked to set up logistics elements supporting the flying operations, such as the buildings, service roads and hangars. We stood there from morning 'til night, defining the various requirements and designing and building.

"When we set up CAB (E), it was a piece of empty land with plenty of stray dogs and rats!" said ME4-3 Yip.

"Later, we set up the air base and, subsequently, 145 Squadron (SQN), where I was the Command Chief. Finally, the first F-16D+ landed there in 2004, (signalling the start of operations at the new air base). It beats all the trips I went on all over the world!"

The longest flight

In April, ME4-3 Yip received the newly-created SAF Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (40 years). He was one of 19 servicemen to receive this honour for serving the nation for four decades.

Yet, not a day seems to have passed for the easy-going father-of-two. When reminded of the length of his service, he exclaimed, genuinely surprised: "Wow, 40-over years. I also didn t realise it until that day when they told me to come for this interview!

"We had a gathering recently of our old batch boys. Did you know that there are only four of us remaining in the air force? Two hundred of us came and joined the air force in 1973. Today, four of us are left."

However, he was quick to add with a hearty laugh: "Of course, I'm happy. I'm very grateful for the recognition. I never expected it."

All work, all play

If picking a job you love means never feeling like you have to work a day in your life, then ME4-3 Yip is the perfect example. When asked his secret to staying in his first - and only - job, his reply was simple: "I have fun every day. And I look forward to coming to work.

"'Till today, I still look forward to coming to work and doing my job. That's all. (Also, when) I'm here, I'm with my friends. We take our work seriously but have fun at the same time."

These days, ME4-3 Yip doesn t spend as much time taking care of aeroplanes, but rather, the people who operate them.

"I do my rounds and talk to people (on the base), find out about their work and problems, and offer them encouragement," he said, although he still makes the effort to stay current, especially on the maintenance of the F-16D+ jets.

After a lifetime of fiddling with the real deal, does he still collect model aeroplanes? "No. Now, I play golf!" he chuckled.

New service medals

The SAF Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (35 and 40 years), or SAF Service Medals, were implemented on 1 Apr to recognise long-serving SAF personnel. The medals will replace the 30-year medals as the markers for longest service in the SAF, which was made possible with the enhanced career schemes that allowed for later retirement.

35-year medal recipients will receive the gold, diamond-shaped medal while 40-year recipients will receive a clasp to be affixed on the medal's turquoise ribbon.