TO BE THE best we can be in 2013, when Singapore plays host to athletes of South-east Asia in the SEA Games.

That's also when Ang Peng Siong's four-year tenure as Head Coach of Singapore swimming's High Performance Team ends.

And, like in all his previous ventures, both in and out of the pool, he wants it to end on the highest possible note. That's Peng Siong for you.

Still, it's good to remember that it's only just begun. So, I had arranged to meet with the former champion, wondering if such a high-profile position had changed him. After all, he had been in the so-called 'hot seat' for over 100 days and that's usually when the assessments start.

I wondered, was he losing his hair? Was it, maybe, turning grey? Would I see deep rings under his eyes - the result of several sleepless nights? Would he be irritable? Would the muscles have sagged? After all, that's what stress does.

I wondered...

What a nice story angle that would be.

So we met and, just like that, I had to think up another angle.

You see, Peng Siong hadn't changed much.

It was around lunch time when we were to meet for that one-on-one, maybe at the Toa Payoh pool, or so I reckoned.

It wasn't to be.

'Come, let's meet at this Japanese restaurant,' he said, sounding quite chirpy over the phone. I told him I had eaten. 'Then sit with us. Wendy will be there with our son.'

Now, how many of us would meet with the wife for lunch on a working day? Peng Siong would. Same ol' Siong, I thought. Always the family man. Always the doting dad.