Crushing it on the mat & in the field
SEA Games bronze medal winner CPT Tang balanced between being an Armour officer while representing the nation.//Story & Video by Thrina Tham / Photos by Kenneth Lin / Cameraman Ajay Prashad
Tankee by day, judoka by night. This was how Captain (CPT) Vincent Tang trained for over three months while preparing to compete in the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2022.
It was no easy balancing act. An Officer Cadet Instructor at School of Armour back then, he could only do his judo practice at night as he had a packed training regime with his cadets. He would then book back into Sungei Gedong Camp to be ready for work early the next morning.
His judo partner, Mr Lee Song Lim – incidentally a former Armour NSman (Operationally Ready National Serviceman) – was a dad and would only be able to train after putting his young daughters to bed.
Their hard work paid off as they came home with a bronze medal for Singapore.
"It felt surreal. Our first thought was 'Did we really win?' because the other countries were very strong in this category," recalled CPT Tang, 29.
"This was right before August, so it was a nice present for Singapore!"
Here are three things to know about the Army Regular and national athlete:
1. He has won multiple judo awards before SEA Games
A scrawny kid in the past, CPT Tang started judo during his polytechnic days to gain confidence through the sport. He discovered he had a knack for it and continued practising his judo even after graduating.
CPT Tang competes in both the fighting, known as "shiai", and kata aspects of judo. (For the uninitiated, kata is the form where practitioners demonstrate various offence and defence techniques rather than compete in a "fight".)
In 2013, he ranked 12th in his category in the World Judo Kata Championships held in Kyoto, Japan; and 4th in his category in the Asian Judo Kata Championships held locally.
He also represented his university in the 2019 Inter-Tertiary Championships for competitive judo and clinched the gold medal in the advanced category.
Before the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam, he and Mr Lee took part in the 2022 World Martial Arts MasterShips, hosted virtually by Korea – where they won gold in their Kata category.
Though the newlywed CPT Tang decided to take a break from the most recent 32nd SEA Games to focus on work and marriage, he continues to practise judo twice weekly.
"(The judo club is like) a place for me to unwind. It's also nice because we have people from different backgrounds who are all here for the passion," he said.
2. He holds both a Golden Bayonet and a Sword of Honour
CPT Tang – who enlisted in 2014 – first graduated from the Specialist Cadet Course and served as a tank platoon sergeant.
With the support of his seniors, he joined and commissioned from the Officer Cadet Course (OCC) in 2016, signing on soon after.
In fact, he earned the Golden Bayonet and Sword of Honour respectively in the two courses. These are awarded to the top specialist cadet and officer cadet graduands in each cohort.
CPT Tang credited the achievement to his School Of Armour Tank instructors then, saying: "I'm grateful that I was in the good hands of my instructors, who guided me and imparted their knowledge. They've motivated me to inspire the next generation of future leaders as an instructor too."
His most memorable deployment was as a Platoon Commander leading his team at Exercise Panzer Strike in 2017. "We conducted live firing and got to integrate with the German forces. It was quite an experience as it was one of the first exercises where I interacted with a foreign professional Army."
"We cross-shared our knowledge of the Leopard tanks and how we operate," said CPT Tang, who is now the Officer Commanding of the 1st Company in 48th Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment (48 SAR).
Most recently, he took part in Exercise Wallaby and Exercise Safkar Indopura last year.
3. He has taken part in NDP twice
Though CPT Tang is proud to make his National Day Parade (NDP) debut as a flag ensign representing his unit in 2017, his stint in the NDP Celebration Outreach committee in 2019 is also something he holds dear.
The committee held a campaign, titled A Little More, where they took the elderly and people with special needs on a visit to Changi Jewel; and packed NDP packs with prison inmate volunteers.
"It's not the conventional NDP experience, like the parade you see on TV, but more 'back-end'," noted CPT Tang.
"The whole outreach really touched me. It was heart-warming to meet people from many walks of life, and it reminded me of the different people we also meet in the Army. Each has their own battle that they don't show.
"It reminds me to really show kindness to everyone."
