Saints at Mr Harry Tan’s wake
Posted by otterman on 8 August 2008
Worried we could not make it down in the evening, Shahiran, Chien and myself went down to Mt Vernon in the afternoon to pay our last respects to our secondary school principal, Mr Harry Tan.
It was good having my buddies with me when our secondary school teachers turned up – we jumped to our feet when they entered and did the drill – step forward, declare our names, year of graduation and the classes they had taught us. You see, while we know their full names, we do realise they’ve taught a couple of thousand boys since our time! They’re sweet to us and can get by just calling us Saints.
They all still teach in the school which illustrated the wonderful continuity we had discussed being blessed with. Chien related a recent foray into the secondary school when he had fun fair ticket sales duty (his son is in the primary school. So he visited the earmarked secondary school classroom to do his bit. Now Chien’s a strapping lad and towered over her the teacher, who was quite surprised he knew her name. He then announced to the boys in the class grandly that he’d been taught by the very same teacher and they should count themselves lucky – the boys cheered at this admission but some invariably asked, “teacher you so old ah!”
We also chatted with some boys from the ‘88 batch as well and left surprised at the extent of what we shared in common. It was no fanciful reflection it seemed, all of what we had talked about.
RIP Mr Tan and you’re remembered well by the boys.
esther said
Hi Siva
I was there when you and your pals were interviewed by April. She did a great piece on Mr Tan. The family is grateful and greatly encouraged.
I thought you might be interested in Mr Harry Tan’s testimony, written two weeks before he was promoted to glory, shared today during the funeral at the Church of the Ascension.
Date: 23 July 2008
TESTIMONY OF HARRY TAN WRITTEN IN TAN TOCK SENG HOSPITAL
Ward 13A Room 13
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ and friends,
Since Nov 2007, I was diagnosed with cancer and I felt I should fight this dreaded disease with the strength of the Lord. I have since become a missionary to those who visit
- to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ
- to tell backsliders to return to God
- to my friends who are not yet Christians, I share with them God’s love.
God loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to die for us. Jesus takes away our sin and rescues those of us who believe, from eternal damnation in hell.
In all other religions, man tries to reach God but this is impossible. In the Christian faith, however, God reaches out to man. When we accept God’s grace, believe in the Lord Jesus as our Lord and personal Saviour and confess this with our mouth, we will be at peace with God. So my friends, if you are not yet a Christian, don’t try to reach God but let God reach you with His grace.
During the past 40 days, I have been very uncomfortable. I have requested to be on morphine to ease my discomfort. I know that my days are numbered but I know I will be with the Lord in Paradise.
Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging support. To all my Christian friends and relatives, we will definitely meet each other again in Paradise.
Thank you and please continue to support my family.
God bless.
Harry Tan
23 Jul 2008
Walter said
Thanks for this post Siva. I didn’t know that you were an ex St Andrew’s boy too. I studied in St Andrews Secondary from 1983 to 1986 and Harry Tan was my principal too. What I could recollect then was that he was a very strict and moral disciplinarian who didn’t have any compromise. Boys were fearful of him, though some made fun of him for his holier than thou attitude and his penchant for associating anything mischievous with the devil’s work!
Rest in Peace Mr Tan. You will be glad to know that you have former students who remembered the impact that you had on their lives.
otterman said
Hi Walter, I knew you were a Saints boy…thin we talked about it before.
Ivan aka Cheng Im said
I only came to know about Harry Tan’s passing just a couple of days ago, it is unfortunate that I couldn’t pay my last respect to my principal. Looking through the blogs, Youtube, etc I am happy that not all was missed. Thanks for this.
Our prayers goes out to the family in this time of bereavement, Harry Tan will be be greatly missed by those who crossed his path.
Chien, Shah & Chow Chee Sun glad to see you guys are still in touch. Kudos bros.
Yew Chee Chien said
Hi Cheng Im, it’s been a while since we last met. We were glad that we made it to the wake to pay our last respects to Mr Harry Tan. May he rest in peace.
Yes, Shah, Chee Sun, Siva, Stephen Cheok and the whole bunch of us are still pretty much in touch. Our sons are all in St Andrew’s Junior Sch and we meet up regularly. Hope to see you at the St Andrew’s Alumni dinner on 30 Aug.
Chien
Ivan said
Hi Chien,
Good to catch up, can send me yr contact to ivanoci2000@yahoo.com
Cheers
Cheng Im
Benjamin Yee B.T. said
Guys, I miss the wisdom of this great man, i was in SA from primary to sec from 1979 p1 to sec 3 in 1987. I migrated to perth western australia and had the privilege of greeting Harry and family coincidently on the streets of Perth. I take comfort that even though Harry has died in the flesh , but he has life eternal in the presence of our heaven father. That is the strong hope and conviction i have. Blessed Assurance!
With the love of christ who is RISEN!
Ben Yee