Interview – Wong Han Xuan
We are extremely proud of Wong Han Xuan (Class of 2015), the winner of the TNP School Sports Stars Award 2015, and interviewed him after his A-Levels to find out more. Beneath his calm and collected personality is a very earnest individual, passionate about shooting and tinkering. Han Xuan shares with us his plan of spending the month of December finishing the electronic shooting target project, and his other plans.
What next after the A-Levels, other than the electronic shooting target project?
I want to restart my training for shooting with the National Youth Team. I have not been training for nearly two months because of the A-levels and I can’t wait to get back to shooting.
What inspired you to take up shooting?
I thought it suited my calm personality. Shooting requires a very disciplined mind. It is my personal belief that while everyone can achieve discipline, shooting is more suited for calm personality types, as the sport requires control over emotions.
But I wasn’t inspired to take up shooting. I grew to like it. After one year, at the end of JH2, I grew to appreciate the mental aspect of the sport. As I trained, I realised that there are skills that I need and can learn through shooting, physical and mainly mental skills. That was when I started to find that shooting as a sport is quite a worthy pursuit. And then I also realised that I was quite good at it.
As I train more and improved, I learnt beyond the basic skills. It was just a natural progression to keep mastering higher level skills. It also felt like a natural progression from liking to loving the sport. There is this very nice feeling when a shooter gets into the zone and the results seem to flow naturally. Such an experience is quite addictive.
You made it into the Singapore Shooting Association’s National Youth Team last year. How often do you train? Do you see this as a long-term commitment?
During school term, I trained twice a week on weekends. Before School Nationals, it would be 3-4 times a week, for 2-3 hours each time. During the holidays, I trained almost every day for two weeks, especially just before representing Singapore overseas in the International Shooting Sports Federation Junior Cup in Germany (July 2015).
I currently don’t see an end to this. NS may limit the training I can do to once a week. I also intend to go overseas for university if I can get a scholarship, but I think there have been shooters who train overseas, so we’ll see how that works out.
Beyond shooting, what are your other interests?
I enjoy reading, especially Fantasy. Maybe I have a subconscious desire to escape reality? I like the medieval setting in Fantasy.
I also enjoy building electronic gadgets. I build something whenever I get some sort of inspiration (once every few months). Several projects can proceed at the same time while I wait for the parts that I’ve ordered to arrive. I’m currently tinkering with the shooting glasses to make it more adjustable. The commercial ones are very expensive and heavy, and I can’t afford them. I’ve the frame and the nose pad done, but I’m still thinking about the lens holder at the moment.
You mentioned working on a project to build an electronic shooting target board for NJC’s shooting team. How is the project coming along?
We had the first prototype using a micro-controller, but it was highly inaccurate. We’re scrapping that and trying a different approach using a Time-To-Digital-Convertor, which should be more accurate. When done, it is supposed to tell you where you’ve hit. From the computer, you can see the shot and it’ll record the score for you. I’ve ordered the new electronic parts online (which costs around $40) and will be working on it with my friends in December.
Given your interest in tinkering, are you intending to pursue further education in related fields?
I’m thinking of reading Material Science. I think it’s very fascinating to understand how the microscopic structure of materials translates to their physical properties. Our materials define the limits of technology, so I hope to do research in this field.
You have just graduated from NJC. What are some of your best memories in NJC?
The memories of my experiences in NJC Shooting; those are the most meaningful. There is a sense of a second family amongst us – peers, juniors, seniors. I’ve learnt much social and leadership skills, especially during my time in the EXCO, such as how to motivate and persuade people, as well as how to empathise. Through my CCA, it is the clearest indication of how I have matured – from a junior looking up to a senior, to a senior seeing the imperfections in the CCA and worrying about how to improve things. I’ve also become better able to appreciate all the nice things in the CCA, such as the bond between members.
