SINGAPORE - As he toiled, digging trenches in sub-zero temperatures and transporting logs weighing up to 100kg over hilly roads, Lieutenant Nicholas Tang kept reminding himself: Do it for Dad.

The 26-year-old Singaporean soldier had to endure gruelling tasks during a 44-week commissioning course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England. 

But he pushed himself through adversity to receive an award for being the best international cadet, fulfilling a promise he had made to his late father, who died four months before the end of the course.

“From the time I joined the military, my dad was very proud of me and my achievements,” said the section officer at the Officer Cadet School. “It was the last thing I could do to honour him.”

On April 12, LTA Tang was awarded the International Sword for Best International Cadet at the course’s passing out parade, referred to as the Sovereign Parade.

“I did not expect to win it. It’s tough competition, you have talents from other countries as well,” he said. “I felt a sense of pride to be able to represent the country well, and my family, and, most of all, the fulfilment of the promise I made to my dad.”

An engraving on the sword – the name of his father, Mr Jason Tang – served as a final affirmation of his performance.

The infantry-based course at the academy, known simply as Sandhurst, comprises physical training exercises and academic modules such as war studies. 

Sandhurst is among the world’s most prestigious military academies, and its alumni include Prince William, Prince Harry, the Sultan of Brunei and Winston Churchill.

LTA Tang’s cohort for the course, which began on May 5, 2023, comprised 26 international cadets from 19 nations such as the United States and Thailand.

While rehearsing for a parade in December 2023, he received news that his father was in critical condition back in Singapore. At that moment, LTA Tang felt lost. 

The senior Tang had fallen ill in 2021, and then battled liver problems and flesh-eating bacteria, which resulted in the amputation of one of his legs. But LTA Tang did not expect his father’s condition to deteriorate so quickly while he was abroad.

“I was shocked because we didn’t know it would come so soon,” he said.

On the advice of his father’s doctors, LTA Tang immediately booked a flight to Singapore. The senior Tang died about three days after his son returned. He was 58.

“I knew that he was waiting, so I could make that promise to him, and also give assurance that I was doing well and that he didn’t have to worry,” said LTA Tang. “To tell him, ‘Hey, I love you, Dad.’”

He added that his father made many sacrifices to provide for the family, including working night shifts as a taxi driver and skimping on his own meals. 

He did not spend much time with his father, as the latter would begin his shifts soon after LTA Tang returned from school. But he holds dearly the memories of evenings when his father would drive him out for supper, more often than not a bowl of minced meat noodles.  

His father’s death was the biggest challenge, but also the main driving factor for him to do his best at Sandhurst, said LTA Tang at an April 22 media conference at Safti Military Institute in Jurong.

The armour officer had jumped on the offer to attend the course, eager for an opportunity to venture abroad. Officers from the Republic have been attending the course for decades, at the invitation of the academy. 

“I might be the only Singaporean that some of the UK cadets know,” he said. “I wanted to leave an impression on those who don’t know Singapore.”

However, keeping up with his platoon mates, who were much bigger and broader than he was, seemed like an uphill battle. His smaller stature – a 1.65m frame weighing 64kg – meant that most of his fellow cadets towered over him, and he was soon given the nicknames “toy soldier” and “wee Tang”.

“I was the shortest male cadet in Sandhurst. I carried the same load as the cadets from the UK. They were generally bigger and taller than me, so I had to keep up with their pace.”

Having to adapt to the cold climate was also wearying, said LTA Tang, who had never experienced winter before the course. 

He recounted one of his first expeditions – a three-day navigation exercise in the Black Mountains in Wales – where cadets had to trek day and night and complete various activities while carrying a 25kg field pack. 

His legs succumbed to cramps within the first hour. “That was the toughest exercise for me, I had never felt so demoralised.” 

Fellow cadets offered to lighten his load, and the supportive act sparked camaraderie and friendship, which LTA Tang said were among the biggest takeaways from his experience.

Being away from his family for about a year caused him to miss key occasions such as his eldest sister’s wedding in July 2023 and the birth of his second sister’s son in August.

But thousands of miles away, he found a “second home”.

On Aug 9, 2023, LTA Tang’s platoon of about 30, consisting of mostly British officers and a handful of international cadets, commemorated National Day with him, even buying him a Singapore flag. 

“Being there for less than a year, but getting to have that connection, friendship and relationship with people, really means a lot to me,” he said. 

He said his achievements at Sandhurst proved that hard work reaps rewards.

LTA Tang, who is pursuing a part-time degree in human resource management at Kaplan, described himself as an “ordinary and normal Singaporean”.

He holds a diploma in pharmaceutical science from Nanyang Polytechnic and signed on with the Singapore Armed Forces late in 2021.

“My dad was a taxi driver and my mum works in F&B (food and beverage),” he said. “I want to emphasise that as long as you work hard... when you are faithful to whatever tasks you are given and excel in them, there will be doors open for you.”

Back on Singapore soil, LTA Tang aims to nurture cadets to be confident and competent, especially when faced with tough situations.

“My mum told me, ‘The soldiers that you lead are your brothers. Their parents entrust them to you and you are responsible for them.’

“The additional responsibility I have now, I know the gravity of it. I can tell my dad, ‘I know how it feels now’.”

Correction note: This report has been edited for accuracy.