Laurence Koh Boon Piang has a long and illustrious career in art, crafts and design education in Singapore. Since the 1950s, he has played a significant role in shaping local art education, planning and developing its curriculum across levels from kindergarten to teacher-training. He also established the Baharuddin Vocational Institute, becoming its founding principal and teaching art, craft, design and italic handwriting at various institutions including the former Teachers' Training College, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and National University of Singapore's Department of Extramural Studies, among other endeavours. Since retiring from the civil service, Koh has been active as a community leader, lettering artist and part-time lecturer.

Laurence Koh Boon Piang was born on 1 Jan 1927 in Singapore. He attended St. Anthony's Boys' School from 1934 to 1946, interrupted from 1941 to 1945 by the Japanese invasion of Singapore. In school, he joined the Boy Scouts Troop and in 1940 was awarded the King's Scout Badge, and in 1948, the King George VI Defence Medal for bravery and service during the Japanese Occupation.

After graduating from school, Koh studied art under Richard Walker, an Art Master at the Singapore Education Department, and in 1950, attained the Qualified Normal Trained Teacher's Certificate. He became a teacher and assistant scout master at St. Anthony's Boys' School, and was soon awarded an Education Department scholarship by the colonial government, upon recommendation by Walker, to study art in England. Koh arrived at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, London, that year, and took up Lettering, Writing and Illuminating as his main subject, and Letter Cutting as an additional subject.

During his time in England, in his capacity as a King's Scout from Singapore, he was presented to Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle during her Coronation year. A year later, he graduated with a National Diploma in Design and, the following year, was awarded the University of London Institute of Education's Art Teacher's Certificate with distinction. He then returned to Singapore, got married, and secured a job at the Ministry of Education as Art Organiser, a post he held until 1957.

What followed was a long and illustrious career in the public education sector for Koh. After his stint as art organiser for the ministry, Koh returned to teaching, this time, from 1957 to 1963, as a lecturer in the Art Department of the Teachers' Training College, and concurrently from 1959 to 1963 as Chairman of the Ministry of Education’s Art and Crafts Textbooks and Syllabuses Subject Committee.

From 1960 to 1972, he was Chief Art Supervisor for the Overseas Cambridge 'O' and 'A' Levels Art Examinations. In 1963, Koh was promoted to Senior Lecturer at the Teachers' Training College, and then in 1964 became Specialist Inspector (Art and Crafts) for the Ministry of Education. While in this post, Koh was appointed in 1965 to be the project officer that planned, set up and ran the Baharuddin Vocational Institute under the Ministry of Education's Technical Education Department. When the institute was finally built and established in 1969, Koh became its founding principal, a position he held until 1973. Baharuddin was the pioneer post-secondary Singapore institution for the formal study of applied arts courses, such as pottery, commercial art, furniture design, dressmaking, and printing.

That year, he was Acting Assistant Secretary of Personnel Administration and Development at the Industrial Training Board for a year. In 1974, he became the Ministry of Education's Head (Art Unit) and Specialist Adviser (Art and Crafts), Ministry of Education, a position he held until 1979 while simultaneously serving as Chief Art Supervisor for the Overseas Cambridge 'O' and 'A' Levels Art Examinations (1975-1977). In 1979, he was Senior Inspector of Schools with the Ministry of Education, served as a judge of the DBS Children’s Art Competition, and became general manager of Grow, a publication of the Ministry of Education, until 1981. In his last posting with the Ministry of Education, Koh was a media specialist with its Division of Educational Technology for a year.

In 1982, Koh retired from the Ministry of Education. However, instead of taking a break, he promptly found work as a publications and public relations officer at the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) Regional Language Centre. He left the organisation after a year and returned to teaching. He became a part-time lecturer first at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts from 1984-1989, and later at the National University of Singapore's Department of Extramural Studies where, from 1986 to 1991, he taught italic handwriting, an art form he had studied decades ago in London.

In spite of the rarity of this craft in Singapore where Chinese and Islamic calligraphy were more common than Western calligraphy, Koh received a number of commissions over the years to create the lettering for cards, plaques, certificates and even tombstones. Some of Koh's commissioned works are on permanent display at such locations as the College of Medicine Building and the St Joseph's Institution Chapel, both in Singapore. He took great pleasure in teaching the craft to students and enthusiasts in his classes.

Koh's commitment to the development of local art and design education is apparent in his active membership with various societies and professional institutions. A few examples are the Singapore Art Society (from 1957 to the present) for which he was Vice-President in 1967, UK's National Society for Art Education (1959-1983), The China Society (from 1959 to the present), and the Singapore Art and Crafts Education Society (1965-1984) for which he served as President for a year in 1967.

Others include the Singapore Science Centre (for which he was a Board member in 1972), UK's National Association for Design Education (1974-1983), the National Museum Advisory Committee (1975-1977), Australia's Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration (1975-1983), and UK's Society for Italic Handwriting and Society of Scribes and Illuminators (1982-present).

Koh was also active in community service for many decades. In 1960, he was appointed Scout Commissioner for the Serangoon District. In 1975, after having obtained a Diploma in Management Studies from the Singapore Institute of Management, he served as Chairman of the Alexandra Citizens’ Consultative Committee from 1976-1982, and from 1977 to 1982, he was Chairman of the Alexandra Community Centre Building Committee. In 1985, he joined the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association as a voluntary aftercare officer.

For his work, he received in 1970 the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Gangsa) [Public Administration Medal (Bronze)] and in 1982 the Pingat Bakti Setia (Long Service Medal) from the Singapore government. He was featured in both the 1981/1982 and the 1991/1992 issues of Who's Who in Singapore. In 2000, his work with SANA was recognised when he received the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association's Medal of Honour (Silver).