Meet Angelita Teo, the first Singaporean director of The Olympic Museum in Switzerland

It’s a cool, crisp afternoon in Lausanne, and we are outside The Olympic Museum on a trip with Switzerland Tourism, far from home and about to meet the first Singaporean appointed to lead the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage.

It’s an honour Angelita Teo appears to wear proudly, yet humbly. Kind of like her choice of attire today: A red sweater matched with red, round spectacles and fitted, charcoal jeans. Embroidered fairly discreetly on the top left corner of her pullover is the quote, “To see what others do not see, that is true vision”.

Colour me intrigued. We locate a bench outside the museum and sit down to chat. 

Singapore’s former arts and culture powerhouse – ex-director of the National Museum of Singapore being just one appointment in a long, stellar career in the arts – is surprisingly petite in person.

She only has about 10 minutes to spare for this interview, but takes every question with an unhurried, affable air balanced with a youthful energy redolent of the passion requisite for the challenges of this high-profile, international role.

RELOCATING FROM SINGAPORE

Teo arrived in Lausanne at the end of September 2019, and days after, on Oct 1, assumed her new role, reporting directly to the Director General of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“I’m very fortunate to be the first Asian director at the IOC, which is an interesting move for the IOC towards being more diverse,” she noted.

Hailing from a professional background deeply rooted in the arts, the world of sports was a brand new arena for Teo, and the learning curve, steep.

“It was to understand the very complex sporting world, which is an eco-system in itself, with the Olympics being the most prominent of all,” she recalled.

“What also