Last night, I was deeply shocked to hear of the passing of one of my ex-Temasek teachers, Mr Terrence Yeo, from Facebook. He suffered from a brain hemorrhage and left all of a sudden. Most of us, his ex students and friends were evidently deeply shocked as he had still be active till today, climbing Kota Kinabalu last weekend with students, running the Iron Man marathon a few months ago and all.
Although Mr Yeo never taught me directly, he was a really inspirational figure back there in TMS, always going the extra mile to help students, especially in physics. I remember when the O levels were coming near, Peishan looked for him for physics help, in panic cause she didn't understand it at all, and he patiently helped even though he wasn't 4/2's physics teacher (Heh, I remember him jokingly ignoring me, saying I was too smart with physics already hahaha!). Even after leaving TMS, I would occasionally see all his posts on FB about his marathons and other things, and they were always adding value to the lives of others. He left TMS after 2010 to be the VP of Queensway, but was never far from us ex-Temasekians with all this social media.
As I scrolled down all the posts by his old friends and students, one thing that struck me was the impact he had on the lives of everyone he interacted with - posts about him being a family man and mentor to so many, to keeping his relationships with ex students and meeting them to help them in physics for A levels and university physics during his own spare time... He's a fine example of someone who saw value in the greater things in life as an educator and his goal was always to create positive impact and not about the career of a teacher or principal in itself. Knowing how much admin nonsense and things that MOE teachers have to do (from first hand accounts of my friends), I'm amazed At his dedication to do everything he did through his passion for teaching. This is a reminder to me, to us, who will be growing up and leaving university soon, that life is transient and even the healthiest and fittest person cannot be certain that this life won't end when you least expect it.
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| Temasek Graduates of 2009 <3 |
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| Grad Night 2009, Mr Yeo (far left) |
Mr Yeo, I pray that you are in a better place now and for angels to be protecting your family and young children. I pray that they will live with the inspiration and legacy you left behind and when they get older and understand, they can know who you were better through all the recollections posted by everyone today. Thank you for your life and believing in your students :')
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