Reported by
Lee Ai Lin Sr3ScB

     The 28th of August was the Teacher-Parent Interaction Day for Senior 3 students at 8am sharp. Sr3ScB had quite a unique and enjoyable session. Ms Wong Ming Hui, the Form Teacher, was the host of the day.

     Ms Wong commenced with a self-introduction. She has been working in Kuen Cheng High School for 13 years since 2008. We can acknowledge that her passion for education is genuine and steadfast. Then, she showed an analysis of our class’s performance in different subjects. As the examination was held online, this term’s results could not fully represent the students’ abilities. Thus, she advised us not to be overly satisfied with the grades and slack off. Next, Ms Wong shared with us comments from all subject teachers. Overall, our class was quite passive during lessons. They also wished everyone great health and all the best for the SUEC Exam.

     As many parents had previously asked questions related to further studies, Ms Wong invited 6 of her previous students to share their university experience. We have seniors studying in a variety of courses, locally and abroad. However, due to technical difficulties, Ms Wong explained the pre-recorded contents verbally.

     Starting off, we have alumnus Yap Yong Sheng who majors in Physics at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. During high school, he was curious about chemistry and geography concepts but no one could answer him. Physics opened the door to all his questions, thus leading him to choose his course. He mentioned that the difference between courses in Malaysia and Taiwan is that local universities had fixed and planned syllabus, while there was a freedom of topic in his university. His journey to his current university was like a rollercoaster, which made him start his tertiary education later than others. Even so, he did not waver and continued pursuing his interest at a comfortable pace. We should not rush to enter university, but think thoroughly and enjoy the process.

Alumnus Yap Yong Sheng Alumna Tan Xue Ying

     Up next was alumna Tan Xue Ying, who studies Statistics at the National University of Singapore. Statistics was not her initial choice of study, but Applied Mathematics. After being exposed to a small fraction of statistics, she realised her interest in data analysis and transferred courses. Her university had hundreds of co-curricular activities (CCA) to choose from. Several students were involved in 4 to 5 CCAs yet performed well academically. While pursuing academic goals, we should also take time to enjoy campus life. She also mentioned that UEC made her stronger at self-directed learning, which is a skill crucial in university.

     Then, alumna Chiew Ann Yi shared her experience as a medical student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. During her Senior 3 year, she liked the idea of helping others and working in a hospital. At university, she realised there was a lot to sacrifice on the journey as a doctor. Thus, she advised us to think whether we can fully commit to studying before pursuing medicine. One setback of her field during the pandemic was she could not physically attend her housemanship. She hoped that junior medicine students would not face a similar situation during their housemanship.

Alumna Chiew Ann Yi

 Alumna Khoo Loo Li

     Alumna Khoo Loo Li, currently in her final year at Monash University Malaysia School of Pharmacy, was interested in pursuing a healthcare career in the healthcare field during high school. Why study pharmacy instead of medicine? She explained that the two had similar workloads but different specialities. Medicine dives deeper into pathophysiology while pharmacy focuses on how drugs work in the body.

     Like the two previous alumni, Jacyln, who takes Physiotherapy at the University of South Australia, always wanted to be a part of the healthcare field. Physiotherapy covers fundamental medical sciences, pharmacology, movement analysis, pathophysiology, and pain management skills. It also required good cooperation working in a multidisciplinary team. She was shocked at the unpredictable weather in Australia. “There could be 4 seasons in a day!” A piece of advice from Jacyln before she ended her sharing was to have a group of friends to study together.

Alumna Jacyln Alumnus  Pang Kar Wai

     Finally, we have a sharing of a unique course, Mechatronics by Pang Kar Wai who is currently studying in Ireland. Mechatronics is a combination of robotics and electronics. The syllabus covers programming (such as Python and Java) and various machine types. For high school students, he suggested setting the requirements of your preferred university as goals and working hard towards it. SUEC is the last solely paper-based examination, marks are accumulated through various ways in university.

     Ms Wong concluded the Teacher-Parent Interaction Day with a few words of encouragement. Firstly, she advised us not to study just to meet the minimum university entry requirements but strive to get better grades. That way, we can earn ourselves scholarships. It will ease the financial burdens of our parents. She also encouraged us to pursue education till the highest level, the more we learn, the more we realise how little we know about the world. As most successful people, we should humble ourselves and respect one another. The best way to gain respect is to respect others.

     A group photo was taken before the session ended. The class surely benefited from the short but cheerful Teacher-Parent Interaction Day. A huge thank you to our Form Teacher, Ms Wong Ming Hui for creating a meaningful moment that will be cherished for a lifetime.