THE LATE LION ENG AH KOON
PAST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR, LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL
Charter President, Lions Club of Singapore East (Chartered on 9 Jan 1961)

The 3rd District Governor of Provisional District 308 in 1963 comprising of only 16 clubs, the Late PID Eng Ah Koon fought an election against Douglas K K Lee (since PID Dato` Douglas K K Lee) at a District Convention in Victoria Hall, Singapore to become the first full District Governor of District 308 in 1967, when a minimum of only 20 clubs with a membership of 750 was needed for a full District. (LCI now requires 35 clubs and 1250 members to form a full District.) PID Eng served as a 100% District Governor and as member of the District Governor’s Cabinet as District Honorary Chairman.

Then PDG Eng Ah Koon was successfully nominated in 1977 as a candidate for International Director, against PDG Pius Martin (the late PCC), at the District Convention in Kuala Lumpur (with only 8 clubs in Singapore out of over 70 in the District), and endorsed by OSEAL Forum in Manila in 1977 to become the first International Director from District 308 at the International Association’s 61st annual convention in Tokyo, Japan, held from 21 to 24 June 1978.

For his services to Lionism at club, district and international levels, the Late PID Eng Ah Koon received five International President’s medals and also the highest International award, the Ambassador of Goodwill during his term of office as International Director. He also received three Extension Awards, a Master Key, an Old Monarch Award for 15 years of charter membership in the Lions Movement.

To promote harmony among Lions, he used to explain how each Lion was different like the five fingers of a hand but all indispensable! His commitment to Lionism was so intense that he was the only Past Officer of the Association to attend the consecration of the Lions Befrienders in 1995 when most of the Lions leaders in Singapore were opposed to the Lions Clubs taking over the programme from the government. Thereafter, he attended every LBSA Annual Award & Appreciation function with his wife, Louise, even when she, and later himself was wheelchair bound.

As he had accumulated his riches by the dint of his frugal discipline, it showed in his interpersonal behaviour and which led to his being a butt of many affectionate anecdotes among Lions. PID Eng was Managing Director of Bintang (Pte) Limited. He has also been a stockbroker and supervisor of labour for the British Military Administration and recipient of the 1939-45 British
War Medal.

The Late PID Eng was a Life member of the Singapore Red Cross Society, the St. John Ambulance Association, the Singapore Cancer Society and Vice President of the Singapore Jaycees. He was also a Council Member of the Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association, a member of the Advisory Board of the Singapore Social Welfare Department Boys Hostel and had served for eight years as a member of the panel of advisors to the Magistrate Juvenile Court of Singapore.

PID Eng Ah Koon passed away on 25th November 2008, bequeathing a substantial part of his estate to Charity. In 2010 the Estate donated a total of $153,000 to Lions Community Service Foundation Singapore, of which $100,000 was set aside for its Endowment Fund, $43,000 to the MD308 Skill Development Trust Fund and $10,000 to the District308-A1 Lions Leadership Development Fund.

In recognition of the substantial contribution of the Late PID Eng Ah Koon to LCSF, the Board of Directors in 2011 created the Eng Ah Koon Fellow to be bestowed on any Lion who donates at least $1,000 to the Foundation. The first Eng Ah Koon Fellows were bestowed on 14 Lions donors at the Foundation’s Annual General Meeting on July 9, 2011.