Ong Wey Shi
Founder, Piping & Drumming Instructor
Wey Shi started learning bagpipes in 1996 with The Boys’ Brigade, 12th Singapore Company (Barker Road), where he learnt picked up his skills from his BB officers, who were also the band instructors. As one of the pioneers of the band, he was quickly recognised for his piping skills and appointed to lead the band in performances for school and community events. He also led the band to win the BB Pipes and Drums Festival Champion’s banner a couple of times.
In order to improve his piping skills, he saw a need to join an adult band. He joined Merlion Pipes & Drums in 2000. He led the band to compete in Ballarat for the 2012 Australian Pipe Band Championships and was eventually appointed as the Pipe Major in 2015. In the same year, he led the band to win the Grade 4 Championship at Singapore Pipe Band Championships organised by the Pipe Band Association (Singapore).
His breakthrough in piping was when he signed up for his first overseas workshop, the Inaugural Summer School in 2011 organised by the Pipe Bands Australia. He learnt under many internationally acclaimed pipers, such as Mr Jack Lee, Pipe Sergeant of Simon Fraser University Pipe Band (Grade 1), Mr Brett Tidswell, Principal of Pipe Bands Australia and many more. His earnest approach in learning was rewarded with a scholarship to the Piping Hot Summer Drummer in Canada organised by the SFUPB. His present style of Piping was greatly influenced by Mr Richard Parkes, Pipe Major of Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band during his 3rd year in Summer School as a piper.
He learnt many of his band management skills through his tour as a guest piper. He played with Hawkesbury & Nepean Valley Pipe Band (Australia), under Pipe Major Barry Gray, in 2012 for World Championships in Scotland and 2014 for Australian Pipe Band Championships winning the Grade 4 Championship title. He also played with a Grade 2, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service Pipe Band (Scotland) in 2014.
In 2014, he stayed in Scotland for 10 weeks to further his piping studies at the College of Piping (CoP), under a renowned piper and solo piping adjudicator, Mr Willie Morrison. He was awarded with Level 6 Certificate – Bagpipes, under the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) and Piping and Drumming Qualification Board (PDQB).
He has successfully attained two Bachelor Degrees; Bachelor of Engineer (BEng), Materials Science and Engineering, minor in Business from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, and Bachelor of Technology (BTech), Product Design from University of South Australia, in 2009 and 2013 respectively.
Accreditation
