The Telecommunications Authority of Singapore
A month after arriving in Singapore in 1993, I joined Spectrocan Monenco Pte Ltd. Monenco Agra was developing an integrated frequency allocation and license management system (IFALMS) for the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore (TAS). Spectrocan was a wholly owned subsiduary of Monenco Agra, Canada, incorporated to provide Singapore-based support for the IFALMS development team based in Ottawa, Canada.
TAS was responsible for allocating and licensing radio frequencies to all radio users within Singapore including all commerical radio stations, taxi cab radios, the military, mobile phone companies, and walkie-talkie users for large construction and event sites. It was also responsible for approving the use of telecommunciations and radio equipment within Singapore, the licensing of telecommunications installers, and enforcement of laws in this area.IFALMS was a Digital VAX VMA and Oracle - based application. The system was delivered incrementally in two or three phases. For eighteen months, I worked at the TAS offices, reviewing specifications with the customer team and providing onsite system management, database administration, support, and training for the systems as it was delivered. I alsodeveloped modules in PL/SQL to support the payment of TAS Licenses and renewals through the Singapore Post Office and Inter-Bank Giro systems.
For most of the initial deliveries, the onsite team were led by Chris Rawlings with his wife, Jan, working as his pa and project secretary. A number of engineers from the Canadian team did stints in Singapore including Remi, Blair Foley, and Maxine Lee.
Our TAS counterparts were led by Yeow Teow Koon and included Magdalene Soh Bee Tin, Leong Siow Quen, Lim Sok Eng, Stewart Leck and Siti.
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When I joined TAS Yeow Teow Koon became my boss and had to put up with me as I really struggled to come to terms with the Singaporean-style of management, working half-days on Saturdays, and the usual frustrating absurdities that seem to pervade civil service organisations the world over. Fortunately, I had Magdalene and Sow Quen working for me and after a couple of months of coaching and encouragement it was obvious that they were more than able to administer and trouble-shoot the system. So when an opportunity at United Overseas Bank (UOB) suddenly presented itself I did not feel too bad in taking it.