A Tribute to an Inspirational Teacher

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. 

Temasek Graduates of 2009 <3

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 :')

Week 9 After Midnight Musings

I need strength to do this. I know I can. God please grant me a clear mind and some productivity! 

My Ballsrolling supply chains game group just left, and now it's time to continue tying the Org Proc group essay together. I really don't want to sleep so late, but this has to be done! One major thanksgiving I have first though, is the friends I have made here in SUTD, especially while in ESD and living in hostel. The other is for the spiritual feeding from CF, being mind blown about more and more things about Christ through Genesis every week. And of course, for the occasional times I get to play floorball and exercise, like today.

As tiring as Uni life is, I don't want it to end! (:

1 Red, 2 Yellows

Something really mysterious happened today during worship practice! I didn't bring my yellow soft guitar pick because it wasn't in my wallet today, and I was using the harder red pick. It made my left hand cramp a bit maybe because I'm not used to the stiffness. Halfway through I sat down at the drums and put the red pick into my pocket, and when I returned to my guitar, I was holding a yellow pick and found a second one in my pocket 😳. Which made playing totally better after. No more hand cramps because of the appearance of the soft yellow ones!

The strange thing is, the red pick totally disappeared and on it's place are two yellow picks! And the red one never left my hand or pocket till it disappeared. And I thought my pocket was empty before the practice!

VERY INTERESTING! Maybe God knew I needed the soft pick and He swapped them 😂😂😂

Here's an update: 

The yellow picks look like ones I've used before. Maybe they had been in the shorts pocket and washed together. But the interesting thing is the timing! Cause I didn't find anything in there before practice and then the red one disappeared and I couldn't find it even after overturning my pockets during practice. 

And the red one suddenly reappeared a while after I got home when I reached into the pocket again! O.O

Miracle or not, I think the timings and appearances of the picks is really cool! Cause I feel that through this God's reassuring me He knows my needs my needs and provides in His timings! And He knows what I need at the exact times. Praise God! 😄

I've been feeling super fretful about work this week because I truly had bad writers' block for my HASS Essay on Organizational Design. It took me a really long time to finish it and I submitted it to Turnitin 5 minutes before the deadline. With that. I'd a lot of homework from Supply Chains and Simulations left to clear and these are really difficult. But it just feels reassuring that these things will eventually be completed and I don't need to waste energy worrying about them!

I've always wondered how it was like to experience something tangible from God and I think this is is considered one. It's humbling that He would make what I need appear at the time when I was suffering and needed it. Father, thank you for everything!

SUTD Week 3 (The Start)

Right now I'm on bus 14 on the way back to hostel from the Conjunct mid point presentation at the hub. It's been a pretty tiring and dissatisfying day in school in terms of academic lessons - Probability Simulations is tough to understand. On a brighter note, my interview for the winter IAP at MIT went pretty well, and I'm thankful for that! 

So that's some context as to how my day has been. I sometimes feel tired and inadequate, especially after spending almost my entire weekend doing things related to ministry, unrelated to self improvement in school, but I ultimately realize that it's not something I should be comparing about, but I am thankful for all these opportunities to give back to God in a tangible way. 

On a funny note, this is the photo we took in the gym last Monday, after we all ended up there without planning to!

Chunyong actually exercised! HAHAHAHA and his motivation was the IPPT. 

Shine Kids

Feeling really really really tired as of now, going home from Shine Kids. Today, there were about 5 volunteers to 20 kids and the boys were really rowdy. I realized I need to learn how to look stern and be fierce when I need too, and do that well. But on a nicer note, Nicholas came today to help teach the upper primary kids frisbee, and we had a really good time! And because there were only 3 upper primary kids, I was able to get the lesson about respect across nicely, toether with Nicholas, who then helped them see how they could apply 'respect' in playing frisbee! 

Though I feel tired, I feel this inner joy in serving still in this local mission field. It's a joy that comes from Jesus' love for me and love for the children of the world. A nice text from Ian about joy in serving really helped put all this into perspective! 

Blogging from my phone is pretty awesome (: I think I will update about life on-the-go from now on!

God, give me strength, when everything is crashing down at the same time.
Here's where I can't even say some things to the closest friends I have because they will judge me anyway.

The Next To Dos

There is really just so much that I want to write about, reflect, log down and share, especially since summer is coming to a close. The thing about having so many activities and things to do everyday is that life becomes a fast blur. Everyday, coming home tired and needing to sleep to wake up for work again just prevents the process of thinking, learning and appreciating what has happened. 

I really wanted to blog about my Europe trip in June but I haven't even had time to sort out the photos from the trip in Lightroom. And then about the then upcoming (now present) Conjunct project I'm working on, then about the little awesome things that happen, such as the love I see growing in my girls' SG, and all the really interesting events that have been happening. There have certainly been many challenges, especially in relationships, but this isn't the platform to write about that just yet.

These are the significant events that have occurred this summer and I do want to log them down. I know every time I say it, I will just forget it. So I will not think too much and just get down to writing them this week before school begins! 

1. Europe Trip

2. Conjunct Project

3. YMLC

4. Meetup with a dear old friend - Ena

5. Extended Leaders Retreat 

6. Turning 21 & My Birthday Party

7. 10S55 2014 Reunion - Growth & Maturity

8. Frost & Sullivan Internship 

9. Garden Festival

10. Big Picture Workshop

11. Trampoline Park - Weightlessness & Fears

12. Shine Kids 

I have quite a few things to do today first, which is to sort out my photo library and clear memory space on my phone, tidy up my room, and to spend some time just resting and asking God about a lot of things. And planning the CF camp game, which Marcus has already given me all the resources to help me with! (: