A/Prof Kuldip Singh, in his message of appreciation, attributed the development of the field of quantum information science in the department to Prof Lai’s leadership. Prof Lai is someone to look to in policy formulation and his framework of administrative procedures has also become the templates for other Research Centres of Excellence in NUS. Now Deputy Director with the Centre for Quantum Technologies, Prof Lai has been instrumental in the establishment of the centre from its very beginning. To A/Prof Kuldip, Prof Lai has always been a teacher, mentor, colleague and master administrator.

Emeritus Professor Bernard Tan remembered Prof Lai as a calm and mature character who can strike conversation on any diverse topics from music to politics. Prof Lai had played a major role in advancing the interests in various fields in physics especially in the application of computational science. There was unparalleled stability amidst expansion of the faculty under his leadership. The standards that NUS has maintained could be directly attributed to his judgement. As a friend and fellow administrator, Prof Tan shared his admiration for Prof Lai who holds within himself a stringent standard of morality. He counted Prof Lai as one of the beacons within NUS that others would do well to emulate and he is certainly deserving of the title of Emeritus Professor.

Prof Lai was modest about receiving the award. Reassuring colleagues concerning student enrolment figure, Prof Lai recounted his days at the University with a sense of ease and satisfaction. In his appointment to various administrative roles, including department head, dean and vice provost, in the University, Prof Lai had faced multiple huge challenges ranging from scarcity of resources, revamp of curriculum, merger of departments to faculty recruitment and tenure. Setting up expectations as well as assessment bases and criteria were never a trivial matter. Being committed to give his best, Prof Lai derived tremendous satisfaction seeing colleagues becoming solid and positive about their work.

Indeed all who have interacted with Prof Lai will be drawn to his wealth of knowledge and experience as well as his open-mindedness. An academician with broad research interests and an administrative trailblazer, Prof Lai’s exemplary diligence will always be an inspiration to his colleagues and students.