Guided by passion, Calvin Chung knew that he was born to be an engineer and strove to follow his dreams. JTC gave him the opportunity; the rest is history.

By Melissa Leong

As a teenager, Calvin Chung had already begun to engineer, starting with his life. Discovering a passion for the sciences at secondary school, he was already convinced then that a career in engineering was the only way to go. Determined to pursue his ambition, he completed his GCE ‘A’ Levels and went on to achieve an Honours degree in Civil Engineering from NUS.

Like many fresh graduates, Calvin went through the rigours of job hunting through classified ads in the newspaper. A career with Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) seemed a natural and outstanding choice to him because as a statutory board, he felt that the organisation would be able to provide him with the most exposure and opportunities in his field...

Moreover, a post in its product planning department was in line with his graduate research. “I was also looking at the other job scopes in the organisation and realised that there were opportunities to switch to other departments,” recalled Calvin.

Landing the job

The selection process was harrowing, involving two rounds of interviews and an essay to write. With his stellar educational credentials backing him up, Calvin succeeded and clinched the job, beginning with work in R&D and infrastructure. Moving on, he participated in land reclamation along the western coast of Singapore. Now a Principal Engineer with JTC, Calvin hasn’t looked back since.

JTC is an industrial landlord, committed to providing the best standards for its clients while supporting Singapore’s economic growth by planning, promoting and developing a dynamic industrial landscape. Most notable amongst the organisation’s achievements is one-north, the 200-hectare hub at Buona Vista designed to be a conducive location for R&D and entrepreneurial firms to thrive.

Despite his rather predictable educational path, Calvin’s work at JTC is anything but mundane. Having worked there for almost four years now, his dedication has earned him two promotions; early on, to Senior Engineer and then to his current post.

His present job scope involves the planning and physical execution of reclamation projects. This involves overall prioritisation for such works and master planning for future reclamation efforts. Such works include reclaiming land on offshore islands and the proclamation of newly reclaimed land by the JTC. In addition, Calvin also does technical studies and represents JTC in inter-agency committees.

As with any job, there are challenges. “During planning, there are constraints in coming up with the most viable plan. Even after doing so, we must still convince the relevant authorities and often, it’s very difficult to meet everyone’s requirements,” Calvin explained.

Calvin must also ensure that works in an area do not adversely affect the lives of the local population. For example, he and his team were once tasked with finding means of discharging water from a rural area that was being developed without disrupting the ongoing reclamation process.

As part of fulfilling its commitment to the environment, JTC also requires its reclamation teams to monitor the impact of their work on the surroundings with the help of a round-the-clock alarm system to ensure that any adverse effects are minimised.

Calvin’s job also involves regular interaction with colleagues from other departments. “Reclamation works also entail planning for infrastructure such as roads, so when we do this, we have to liaise with them,” Calvin explained. “Usually, we have to pull people from different departments to work together, thus there is no fixed team.”

Reclamation projects are usually drawn out and tedious, but Calvin reveals that by being open and flexible, constant changes keep him passionate about his work. “The industry is always changing, never mundane,” he chirped.

What’s really gratifying though is the appreciation shown by partner agencies for his work, especially when the fruits of his team’s labour are evident. Aside from his team, also lending a hand to projects were the senior engineers at JTC who offered guidance and experience.

Building memories

Calvin has been involved with reclamation works on Pulau Ayer Merbau and Pulau Ular, where he would visit the sites with his team at least once a fortnight to check on progress. One of his most memorable times was when he went on a site visit to a Shell refinery and met its engineers who explained their processes to him.

Being in the reclamation sector also gives him opportunities to experience other reclamation works overseas. Earlier this year, he went on an eye-opening trip to Belgium to witness the christening of newly reclaimed land.

Unsurprisingly, Calvin is happy with his job, and has plans to reach greater heights in his career. He said: “I want to handle bigger projects and transfer knowledge to the younger engineers.”

Other than a desire to be involved in more master planning, Calvin also intends to move on to the marketing side after five years, and work more closely with clients and partner companies to gain different perspectives on the industry. He finds that his experience in land reclamation has given him advantages in technical know-how, an ability to understand constraints well, and a wide network of industry contacts, which are bound to come in handy.

According to him, new engineers can look to contractors, consultants or statutory boards as major employers. Contractors handle on-site tasks, consultants manage the contractors and provide the detailed engineering designs while statutory boards like JTC are involved with the industry on a macro level. “The engineering industry is at its peak now but it will have its lows too. Don’t rush into a job because of the pay; look at the long term prospects,” he advised.

His top tips for fresh graduates on the verge of entering the working world: “You need to like what you do, you need to read through the job scope. If you’re not sure, ask questions. It would be a waste of time if you quit in a few months or a year because you realised too late that a particular job wasn’t for you.”

Most importantly, “be really sure,” said Calvin.

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