Interview by Lin

BEFORE THE MEETING...

I first heard about... no, saw the "Sky & Teoh" logo, it was on another astronomer friend's T-shirt last year. At first glance, I thought I was looking at my first sample of a genuine "Sky & Telescope" T-shirt. But the mind registered something amiss as the word below "Sky" looked too short to be representing the word "Telescope". This was my first introduction to the concept of "Sky & Teoh".

I have since heard much about the Mr Teoh behind this concept. He has a fiery passion for spreading astronomy to the masses, especially to schools and children. He even built an observatory, they said.

In my mind, I saw a small dome, much like the one that has been advertised ready-made for sale in the astronomy magazines. No, they say, his observatory is much bigger. Still, my mind didn't register the notion of bigger. I certainly didn't think anyone can build a personal observatory that will be bigger than the one at the Singapore Science Centre.

9th February 2001, Friday : I finally had the pleasure of meeting Mr Teoh and viewing his private observatory. He kindly hosted a couple of us who went to Penang for the opening of the Astrophotography Exhibition and Astrofest at his home.

We had just arrived at his home after almost 5 hours of driving on the roads. Only his daughter was home then, doing her homework, Mr Teoh and his wife were still helping out at the exhibition. Mr Teoh, to say the least, has an astronomer's home. A telescope here, a tripod there, equipment nicely decorating the house as naturally as some of us would do flowers or sculptures; books on astronomy, the latest astronomy magazines, astrophotographs lined the walls alongside family portraits. A phone call and half an hour later, he returned home.

I was introduced to Mr Teoh & his family by mutual friends. The first thing that strikes you is his cheery smile and warm, personable nature. It immediately puts you at ease with his presence. He was bursting with new updates on the exhibition and his recent trip to Hong Kong. It was only a matter of seconds before his infectious enthusiasm hits you. He showed us some of his latest equipment acquisitions, and the slides taken from his latest trip to Hong Kong where he met up with a couple of other astronomers.

THE OBSERVATORY

The next morning, we drove over to the observatory which is currently located in another house across the street. (We could have walked there but we were going out for breakfast, so we thought to take a quick tour before moving on.)

The observatory is a 4-storey tower of construction, there are 3 short flights of winding stairs to climb before one reached the top floor which housed his telescopes. Mr Teoh plans to shift the location of the observatory to his house and reduce its current height to 3 storeys. "So that I don't have to climb so many steps," he winked.

Originally, he had planned the tower with development in mind, thinking that he could still have an unblocked view of the sky, even if his neighbours decided to construct a third storey in the future. "It is a good exercise daily though, this stair climbing."

It is hard not to feel the pride in him when he talks about his beloved observatory. It was a dream of 30 years, a year in the making, and 5 more years of showing the many local and overseas visitors the universe from up here. It has become a popular icon around his neighbourhood and in the state of Penang, well-known to the Malaysia astronomers.

Since its inception in1996, Sky & Teoh has appeared in numerous newspaper articles across the country. Despite his sublime fame, he remains as humble as ever about his achievement, wishing only to share this dream observatory with anyone who wants to be that much closer to the stars.

So what's next? "I want the world, especially Malaysia, to know how easy it is to build an observatory. Hopefully, we can build a bigger and better public observatory for all to share in Penang."

THE INTERVIEW BEGINS..

After meeting Mr Teoh in person, I knew that his was a story that will be an inspiration to the rest of the amateur astronomy community. He was more than happy to share the history of "Sky & Teoh", and here is his story.

THE BEGINNING

He was fascinated by a picture of the planet Saturn in a school library book and the starry nights back in an era where light pollution was unheard of. Armed with another book on telescope-making, he made his first telescope with a focal length of 100cm at age 14 using glass lenses which he bought for RM$1 and a magnifying glass. So what object did he first glimpsed at and how was it? "The Moon. There were a lot of aberrations when enlarged, so I had to reduce the Moon from a visual diameter size of about 5 cm to 2 cm before the image looked decent enough to me."

2 years later, he made his second scope with a focal length of 1.5m. He salvaged parts from discarded scraps to build his tripod & mount, took apart a pair of binoculars and coupled it with an eyepiece from a microscope that his school gave him.

That was also the same year he tried serious pursuit of astrophotography using a 6x6 cm Super Ikontar Zeiss 85mm, and a 35mm format Exacta [Below picture] to photograph the constellations, Jupiter.. "As a dot and a trail," he grinned, "but it sure felt like a great achievement then."

He also got a 2nd-hand aerial lens [Above picture] and took his first lunar photograph. "It was a blurred image but you could see the craters."

A year later, armed with 20 of his best astrophotographs, he entered his third self-made telescope for the 1971 state-level science competition that eventually led him to the national science competition.

"That was when I discovered the joy of sharing and promoting astronomy with the masses and I never looked back since." It was during this competition that he caught the eye of an overseas undergraduate, Koh, who had returned to Penang for the school vacation. Koh offered to help him apply for a scholarship overseas so that he may further pursue a degree in astronomy & astrophysics.

[Above] : The design for an equatorial mount to track the stars.

[Below] : The prize winning astronomical equipment design complete with a home-made 2-element telescope by Mr Teoh that won the state-level science competition in 1971. He went on to represent Penang and bagged 2nd place in the nationals.

This undergrad was to become the future (current) Chief Minister of Penang (Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon). A year later, he was given the scholarship but finally chose to turn the offer down. "My father and girlfriend were afraid that I wouldn't come back. There was also the logical concern about earning a living with such a unique degree then." Still, winning the national science competition was a booster to his early efforts in astronomy.

From then on, he received construction tools like hand drill, vice, clamps, etc.. for his birthday presents. "From my girlfriend whom I had to train at first to appreciate the stars," he quipped merrily, "and who's now my wife and greatest supporter still." He next constructed a tracking device [Left picture] for his brother's 20x50 Hoya binoculars.

He entered Nanyang University and pursued a degree in Chemistry. In 1974, he entered the university's science exhibition and delivered a presentation, "Is There Any Life in Outer Space" from a chemist's point of view.

Years later, in the 1980s, while transiting at the airport, he laid eyes on the American magazines "Sky & Telescope" and "Astronomy". He ordered his mirrors from Edmund Scientific and began construction of bigger telescopes. By 1988, he had successfully assembled and constructed a 4.5-inch, a 6-inch, an 8-inch mirror telescope, and a 12.5-inch Dobsonian. "There would have been a 17.5-inch scope too. I had already paid for it, but unfortunately the boss died of a heart attack and the order got lost amidst the organization chaos." In the early 1990s, he got his first commercial telescope: a Celestron C8 which he brought to Sabah to photograph the solar eclipse of October 1995.

After 30 years of dreaming which included 4 years to research and design, and 1 year of construction later, Sky & Teoh Observatory was built. "Assembly of the 12-metre tower was done in a day. Prior to that, it took a few months to assemble the foundry and complete the steelworks." he explained. He gives a casual tour of the entire observatory construction with fond familiarity. The fibreglass dome, the internal motor rails that rotated the dome, the internal stairwell construction, the central vibration-free concrete pillar atop which was fixed his self-designed RA-Dec mount. "Hopefully, before this year is through, I would have finished constructing my 6-inch refractor." he grinned with unrepressed excitement. Yup. He has probably built every kind of telescope imaginable. I was in the presence of a Master. :)

How did you come up with the name "Sky & Teoh"? He looked at me momentarily. "I didn't." he smiled. "A couple of years ago, a friend of mine helped me to apply for an e-mail account. The name I wanted had been taken, so knowing how sky-crazy I was, he chose the name for me and it stuck." Ahh..

SKY & TEOH WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT...

"Family support." he replied without hesitation. "That is essential in astronomy."

"Also, no drinking, smoking, gambling, or womanizing!" he laughed. "I have an agreement with my wife. We set aside a sum of money which we call 'the scientific fund' which I use exclusively for astronomy."

Mr Teoh has kindly offered to host the top 3 winners of the AstroChallenge 2001 and to bring them on an astronomical learning extravaganza in Penang.

My sincerest thanks to Mr Teoh for allowing me to publish his vintage photographs and for sharing. It is such an honour for me to be granted a piece of your history. - Lin