My Brush with Tony Buzan

My Brush with Tony Buzan

Contributed by Moh Teck (12 May 2020)

I am sure you must have heard of mind-mapping. Many Rafflesians have intuitively uses mind-maps even before the word mind-mapping was invented. But it was Tony Buzan that had popularised it and wrote books about it and made a business out of it.

He was born 2 June 1942, in Palmers Green, Enfield, Middlesex and completed his undergraduate studies in psychology, English, maths and science at the University of British Columbia. He passed away on 13 April 2019 due to a heart attack.

When in Raffles Institution, I chanced upon and bought the first editions of both his books Speed Memory and Speed Reading. Both books were printed in1971, published by Sphere Books, printed by Hazell Watson & Viney Ltd, United Kingdom. I bought the paperback books for S$2.70 each.

It was not I knew him as an author nor his works, but I was enchanted with the stories told to me by my uncle, who was a former top boy in RI. He related to me in his conversations with his classmates and other schoolmates on the techniques of speed reading, mnemonics, and other memory techniques. After leaving school for so long, he was able to draw the world map, with location of ports indicated, using a plain paper and pen. Who will not be excited?

When I came across Tony Buzan’s books in a Indian owned book-store (probably located in Tay Ban Guan emporium), I got excited and bought the books with whatever little pocket money that my mother would give me each week for school. 

It would not be years later in 2016 that Tony Buzan came to Singapore for an event, that he autographed both books and I got a copy of his business card. He was personally surprised to find the books being sold in Singapore and even more surprise that I have the first edition of his 2 books. This was a personal request from me. He was not doing any book signing event.