Interview by REDintern Koh Yizhe

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Tham Chen Munn taking part in the NTU Sundown Swimathon in March this year. Teams had to swim as many laps as they could from 10pm to 7am the next day. (Photo 1 courtesy of Tham Chen Munn)

Tham Chen Munn broke his left arm in three places at the Port Dickson International Triathlon in 2006. He needed 51 stitches after the accident and now has metal plates inside his body. Despite this setback, he not only returned to swimming and running, he encouraged his colleagues to exercise by forming running clubs at work.

Last year, the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) honoured him with a Sporting Singapore Inspiration Award.

A common misconception of this award is that it rewards national athletes for sporting excellence. However, this award gives national recognition to the active man-on-the-street who not only leads a healthy lifestyle but also inspires his peers, family or colleagues others to do so.

Tham Chen Munn won the gold award in the adult category last year and Red Sports took the opportunity to catch up with him.

Red Sports (RS): What do you do for a living?
Tham Chen Munn (TCM): I'm a transport planner with Surbana International Consultants. Basically, I design urban master plans for other cities and countries such as Russia, India, Vietnam, and the Middle East.

RS: What sporting activities do u take part in?
TCM: Running and swimming.

RS: I understand you did triathlons. You don't cycle now?
TCM: I was interested in cycling before, but I had a cycling accident two years ago during the Port Dickson Triathlon in Malaysia. I haven't been able to do the sport since.

RS: Oh, what happened?
TCM: Well, I broke my left arm in three places, leaving me with metal plates inside me and 51 stitches. I don't cycle now as it is physically uncomfortable to hold on to the handlebars for long periods of time.

RS: Will you ever go back to cycling?
TCM: I might consider, but I like to focus on running and swimming for now.

RS: How do you inspire people to participate in triathlon if you don't do it yourself?
TCM: I might not be able to take part in all three disciplines of the triathlon, but I'm able to at least swim and run. In this aspect, I encourage newcomers to the sport by participating in triathlon relays. Sometimes doing all three disciplines may be daunting to them, but I've managed to convince quite a few of my peers to start ‘small'. There's also a kind of science quite unique to triathlon, so I share my knowledge of the ‘science of triathlon' so everyone trains smart.

RS: How did you encourage your colleagues to participate in sports?
TCM: I realized that my colleagues were under a lot of work stress sometime in 2006. It was also after my accident. While I knew I couldn't immediately get back into my normal routine of training long distances, I still had to actively keep fit during my recovery process. It was during this time that I focused on restarting my training program from scratch and also to form a running club at the office.

I thought perhaps I could get my colleagues to restart with me. I encouraged everyone to join me either by walking or going for a slow jog. By using this simple cardio workout as a form of stress relief, my colleagues could come back with a sense of achievement and accomplishment. I would just ask them to exercise for one hour twice a week. They could run at their own pace or even just walk for half an hour, then u-turn wherever they are to return to the starting point All it took was the first workout and they came back rejuvenated.

The word soon got around the office and within a month, almost 20 colleagues joined in the twice-weekly workouts. A couple of weeks later, I sent an email out to the entire office about the Sheares Bridge Run. About 70% of the office (almost 75 staff) signed up for the different race distances. Most of them chose the 6km distance, but it was certainly an achievement in getting them to start ‘small' and think ‘big'!

RS: That must have been quite phenomenal! Is the running club still strong since it began?
TCM: Well, I have since left that company , but I understand that my former colleagues still have regular runs. Some have even taken upon themselves to try longer distances. In fact, quite a few are now regular faces at half marathons and full marathons!

RS: What have you been doing since you won the award?
TCM: I'm still trying my best to keep fit by swimming and running. If you're referring to whether I'm still being an ‘inspiration' to others, well, I don't go all out to consciously ‘inspire' my peers per se. I prefer to say that I try to push for practical health and fitness benefits, and then I'll let my peers decide for themselves if they want to take on personal challenges.

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm now at a different company and I (here I go again) recently started a running club within my division, and other divisions are keen to join in as well. In the meantime, two other colleagues are joining me to form a relay team in the upcoming Aviva 70.3 Singapore Ironman triathlon race in September. Slowly but surely, I hope that through my actions and influence, my colleagues and friends will be inspired somehow.

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Chen Munn (second from left) with his teammates at the NTU Sundown Swimathon. (Photo 2 courtesy of Tham Chen Munn)
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Chen Munn (fourth from right) trains regularly with triathlon buddies at Tanjong Beach, Sentosa. (Photo 3 courtesy of Tham Chen Munn)
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Chen Munn now concentrates on running and swimming after his biking accident two years ago. (Photo 4 courtesy of Tham Chen Munn)