After completing his National Service duration of two and a half years, Takalah proceeded to do Mechanical Engineering Degree at National University of Singapore.

It is indisputable at that time for one to state that pursuit for thrill is a integral part of Takalah’s life. The quest for thrill seems not to evade Takalah till 24th May 1994.

Takalah encountered a calamity and was plunged into the deepest pit of tragedy. Takalah Tan clinched a job in a coveted company; where out of seven thousand applicants, only Takalah and another were chosen.

As part of the employment terms, he was to be issued a car for mobility purposes. Sadly, just a week before Takalah was to start his career in this coveted Multi-National-Company, he met with a tragic motorbike accident.

 He never thought riding motorbike is that dangerous but the uncalled-for happened. Takalah Tan now knows the truth but it is too late. Just sent to hospital by a Civil Defence Ambulance. In fear that neck movements may aggravate possible prevailing spinal injury, Takalah Tan’s neck was fixated by the attachment of an orange circumferential frame on it.

The accident broke his right leg, dislocated his left shoulder, blinded his left eye, tore away his left-nose, broke his skull (liquid around his brain leaked dry) and had blood clots in his brain which resulted in brain injury. His tragedy prompted his dad to postpone his heart-bypass operation.

Just two weeks before Takalah discharged from NUH, his dad was struck by a fatal cardiac seizure. Upon regaining his consciousness, conscience prick the brain injured Takalah to feel accountable for his dad’s death. Having been the primary cause for such a great sense of hopeless despair in his family, Takalah had little to fend himself with when the family members harshly scolded him for not following their instructions prescribed during the process of his recovery.

The strict treatment and negative feedbacks aplenty from loved ones and peers indeed saddened and disturbed Takalah. To make matters worse, Takalah was thrown into solitude. Due to his brain injury, Takalah could not remember his associative relationship with the many who visits him to care for him. The infliction of permanent amnesia on Takalah has greatly widened the rift between Takalah and peers. Takalah Tan’s memory recall and retention handicap has resulted in his loss of close relationships with many friends. His good chemistry with close-ones has been badly corrupted by Post Traumatic Brain Injury handicaps.