Arumugam Vijiaratnam

Who is Arumugam Vijiaratnam?

Dr. Arumugam Vijiaratnam is the only Singaporean who has represented Singapore in four sports — hockey, cricket, football and rugby — doing so from 1946 to 1956. He also holds the distinction of being the first Singaporean engineer.

Vijiaratnam represented Singapore at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games in hockey, where he was instrumental in the 6-1 rout of the United States.

Vijiaratnam studied in Victoria School from 1937 to 1940. He was one of the first government scholars to demonstrate that sports and studies could be balanced successfully. He was awarded government scholarships to study engineering at Kuala Lumpur Technical College in 1941 and Brighton College of Advanced Technology in 1950 where he graduated with an engineering degree. He captained the hockey and cricket teams at the Brighton College of Advanced Technology.

After he returned to Singapore in 1953, he worked for the Public Works Department and Port of Singapore Authority. He retired from the PSA as the director of engineering at the age of 75. He became the first Pro-Chancellor of Nanyang Technological University in 1992 and served until 2005.