 He won the Singapore Literature Prize in 1996 for his novel, "Tangerine".The older of three children born to two teachers, Colin Cheong attended Victoria School, Anderson Secondary School, Hwa Chong Junior College, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and National University of Singapore.At the age of 15, he interned at the now defunct newspaper "New Nation" and contributed to an army magazine, "Pioneer", during his National Service days.