In Remembrance of Wei Cheng

26 November 2007

I'm at a lost of words... Feel so helpless at this moment. Haven't been following the newspaper for a while and when I received news of Wei Cheng's mishap in Cambodia on Sunday, I was already enroute to Bangkok for an ICT conference. How I wish I can be back in Singapore to be there with all who loved him. No amount of words can describe the sense of loss in each of our hearts. Life will never be the same again.

As his form teacher for his Sec 3 and 4 student, I would definitely say that he is not the unknown guy as portrayed by the newspaper. As Jessica puts it.. he is a fine gentleman, worthy of all our respect. He may not be your idea of a leader but he is certainly well-liked by all. He is the kind of guy whom we can depend on for anything. Unassuming and sincere, Wei Cheng's actions speak louder than the words one can utter. As Jessica said.. simply sweet, a sweet guy with a BIG heart.

I am just saddened by the whole thing and it is made worse by me being away at this time. But his death is a reminder to all of us, that life is very fragile. Perhaps, we should not wait until the day that we remember their kindness.. Perhaps, we should just continue to show love to one another each day of our lives, for we know not when we will depart from this world. Have we been too busy with our work that we forget the many people by our side? It's time (esp. for me) to regain our perspective of life once more before it is too late.

To all my friends and beloved students, let's not wait till later to show care and concern, nor wait till later for words of kindness.. remember that life is no more than a vapour

Wei Cheng will live in our hearts, our memories of him as a sweet fine gentleman will continue to burn in our hearts...

Deepest condolences...
Mr Choy
Wei Cheng's form teacher for 2002 and 2003..
With fond memories of a fine, young gentleman who lost his life in pursuit of his passion and dreams, an unassuming man with a BIG heart, one whose sincerity has touched all those around him.

The Passion to learn?

Looking at my last post... time flies. I had wanted to post this earlier but really bogged down with too much work.. ha ha... ok.. excuses, excuses.. Wanted to post this after watching the school's CLDDS performance, 学艺新声 2007. It was one of the few performances that inspired me to make a post. In essence, I saw something that night... Passion.

If you ask me what is the single most important ingredient for success... my answer would be "Passion!". Without passion, it would be hard to persevere on in the face of challenges and difficulties; without passion, it would be hard to find joy in doing mundane but necessary tasks; without passion, it would be hard to pick up the pieces after a failure; without passion, it would be hard to enjoy the fruits of your success. While I was busy taking photos for the CLDDS, the strong sense of passion for their art shines through clearly during the entire performance.

I sometimes lament at the lack of passion in what students do... I sometimes cannot understand why students cannot see the beauty in the subject (Math in my case)... At times, I just cannot seemed to sense the passion in my students to learn... Or perhaps, I might have lost the passion to teach? I hope not and I certainly won't want that to happen.

Teaching has always been my passion and even more so after the BIG setback in my personal life. Teaching is the only thing (besides God) that keeps me going and I want to be a good teacher. It just upsets me when I fail to deliver a good lesson or when my students do not seemed to understand and want to find out from me. Nevertheless, I want to press on towards my goal, and I believe one day... my students will understand and see the beauty in the subject that I love so much.

My students (current and past), if you are reading this, I really hope that you would continue to press on in the face of adversity. I read from some of your comments in my previous posts that you may not exactly get the best of lecturers, but I believe at times, breakthroughs come after a long struggle or even greater setbacks. Remember... with passion, you would not be afraid to make mistakes and learn from them... and I hope I will not forget this as well...

Do you have the passion to learn? Or teach? Just some food for thought... Think about it. If you have lost that passion.. ask yourself.. what happened? When did you lose your first love? Hmm.. not too sure whether I am making sense... but think about it... Will make more sense in my next post (when I am not so sleepy - still struggling with work in school at this hour... 2305 on 7 June 2007)