As a well-rounded athlete since an early age, Dr. Wee quickly landed on badminton as his favourite sport. He helped to promote badminton in Singapore as the co-founder of the Useful Badminton Party, the only pre-war badminton club that exists to this day. He accumulated leadership positions as often as he collected prizes, reaching the presidency of the Singapore Badminton Association in 1958.
Dr. Wee’s daughter, Eng Hwa, noted the historical significance of Dr. Wee’s trophy collection.
“We are able to enjoy these trophies because Wee Kim Wee, just before the war broke out, he told all his people at home, take whatever you want out. Because I don’t know what’s going to happen to this house. But take them out, whatever is precious to you. So he took these badminton trophies, and a book out. So we are able to enjoy them here.”
Can you spot Dr. Wee’s 1938 Singapore junior men’s singles trophy?
Beyond titles and trophies, Dr. Wee developed countless friendships through badminton. In keeping with his personal philosophy where there has to be “give-and- take” and where “you win some, you lose some,” he prized camaraderie and sportsmanship over victory. Fellow Singapore Badminton Association members remembered him as an “honest and hardworking official who always had a way with people.”
Dr. Wee’s investments in badminton would later pay professional dividends. When he stepped into the post of High Commissioner of Singapore to Malaysia, he received a warm welcome from locals, thanks to his contributions to the successful Singapore- Malaya Badminton Team
Video: Badminton