Long ago, before i went thru my dark period in the army, there was a time when i was a Saint...not a saint as in a godly Christian guy...but a Saint as in a son of St Andrews School (SAS)..also called the Fighting Saints, the place where boys became men, the House of St Andrews, the blue and white, the SA Commonality..n i was a very self-righteous loyalist back in those days
Of course, over the years a lot of things have changed and God has changed me also..however, the 3 men who still made the most important impact on my life remain Jesus Christ, Harry Tan and John Calvin (well my own human father also but he's different, being my dad)...
Harry Tan, our former principal before Priscilla Krempl, passed away of cancer on the 7th of August. He was never my principal, having left the year before i entered the halls of St Andrews, but he came back on and off and taught a few after-school classes in Additional Mathematics which i attended, so he was my teacher at least.I remember him being full of wisdom and insight, being fast on his feet, a real thinker and a godly man who gave fiery devotions from the pulpit at morning devotion(n i was privileged to hear just one of these when he was invited back). His most famous quote was, "if you only had 5 seconds before the examiner said 'pens down!' how would u go about solving this equation?"generations of A-maths students survived and even did well thanks to Harry.And he was an avid commentator on sports, especially rugby, which was a quaint sport in Singapore, a left-over from British days, quite unlike here in Australia where it is the contemporary secular religion..oh n those stories every National Day! (when a boxing ring was set up in the quadrangle and where the boxing club gave a display of their prowess) Those stories of how Harry used to drag boys caught in gang fights and after school scuffles into the quadrangle and have them slug it out in front of the whole school..den they'd have a taste of wat a real fight was like..every son of St Andrews aspired to be like Harry, the epitome of Christian manhood, back in the day..
and he's gone...like dat..thus ends an era of our House's history..the days that are upon us bring no end of challenge and adversity, while we must needs make do without our principal,gone on to be with our Lord in the bosom of heaven..Oh, dat one day when we have finished our journey here on Earth, we also might join in with Harry in God's presence thru Jesus..oh..dat the grief of having Harry taken from us in such manner will be comforted by the thought of the infinite joys of heaven, the least of which is to see him again..dear Saints, brothers and sisters, from Harry's example learn trust, grace and readiness...while in this tent of flesh let us never put away our hope for the Day of Redemption that is to come..
May the final word go to the last stanza of the St Andrews Hymn,
Before us and beside us,
Still holden by Thy hand,
A cloud of unseen witness,
Our elder comrades stand;
One family unbroken,
We join in one acclaim;
One heart, one voice uplifting
To glorify Thy name.
1 comment:
Ameen
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