Berita Kampus

Achieve the Impossible Dream

Greetings fellow TARCians from the “Great White North” – Canada! My name is Lai Yue-Choy but most people here call me Siggy. I have been in Canada for 17 years and have settled in a town a half-hour east of Vancouver.

When I left TAR College in the summer of 1983, I tried a few jobs around Kuala Lumpur before embarking on a trade apprenticeship with a Malaysian conglomerate. The apprenticeship was in an area called non-destructive inspection (NDI); which included the use for industrial radioisotopes and ultrasonic devices to examine the integrity of materials and structures without destroying it in the inspection process.

Family picture with Ice, our cat – Christmas 2005

After two and a half years of training and working at the conglomerate’s shipyard in the southeastern tip of Johor, I was back in KL for six months. But the temptation of site-work was too strong so I went back to work in the various shipyards in Johor and Singapore. During my 3 years there, I managed to get my MBA by doing a part-time course.

At the end of 1988, my wife, Shirley, who is a School of Business Studies graduate, and I applied for immigration to Canada and were accepted. We left KL in mid-May 1989 and headed to Toronto, where we had friends. Eventually, we decided to settle down in Edmonton due to the availability of work and lower cost of living. But winters in Edmonton were really brutal with temperatures dipping below -50°C. So after 18 months there, we moved to Greater Vancouver with our firstborn son, Shaun. Since then we have been blessed with a daughter, Stephanie, and another son, Samuel.

Well, you may ask, “What is the purpose of telling this story?” Back in 1981, when my classmates and I were enrolled in the School of Arts and Science, we doubted if we could find “meaningful” work after graduation. But we made the most out of the opportunities presented to us. In fact, when I applied for work in the United States, the Campbell University degree helped me in getting a work visa! So, whether you are a Science, Business or Engineering graduate from TAR College, you will make your way in life if you persevere and have the ability to adapt and learn new tricks.

On board supply boat leaving Tukau "A" platform - offshore Sarawak.		Boiler tube inspection - Shell refinery in Montreal, Canada.
Performing tube inspection inside a heat exchanger - Oxychem, Niagara Falls, New York.		At Point Lapreau Nuclear Generating Station in New Brunswick, Canada.

Berita Kampus is a publication of the Department of Development and External Relations of TAR College (the Publisher). No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means - electronic or mechanical including but not limited to recording, taping, or information storage or retrieval systems - without prior permission of the Publisher. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information published, the Publisher shall not be held responsible for any errors and or omission therein.