By Neo Wee Zen and Renee Yeap
Back in May during SIMC 2024, we had some time to spare and starting chatting with one of our Publications TICs, Mr Yeem (AKA Mr Silas).
“Hey this would be a great interview for StAR Day!” we thought, and thus this article was born.
So sit back and enjoy this very special interview!
We heard you studied Geology in school, but now you teach Physics?
Everyone was under the impression that I was going to study Physics at university — I was too — but then I took the first year of Physics and proceeded to have an existential crisis. Everyone else in the cohort seemed to be from Physics Olympiad, so I struggled, and I even failed my first year Physics paper. Luckily, my major was Natural Sciences, so I could change my specialisation to Earth Sciences – it turns out I was much happier being able to touch grass. In a funny turn of events, I did end up doing physics in my Master’s year as I worked on a project on mineral nanomagnetism.
Although I do miss geology very much, I still wanted to fulfil my obligation to the teaching service of teaching physics, so here I am! And actually, now that I have taught Year 6 Physics, I have a deeper appreciation for the Physics I learnt at university – I’d probably be able to get a better score now.
You have an accent that doesn’t sound quite so Singaporean, did you pick it up in the UK?
My accent actually comes from before I went to the UK. When I was younger, my father was very busy, so I would watch a lot of BBC on the TV to keep myself entertained. And one day, my father came home to me speaking like this, and he told me to keep doing it because “being good at English is important”. But I did get bullied for having this accent in school. Later, when I went to the Army, the sergeant heard my accent and was like “Recruit Yeem, you’re doing the water parade today” and the whole company started laughing.
What was the most memorable thing you have experienced in NUSH?
That’s a tough question, I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I think probably the student trip to CERN that I took some Y5s and Y6s on.
And lastly, we cleared up the Mr Silas Mr Yeem confusion once and for all.
Where did you get the name Silas?
I’ve always been called that, but in Malaysia, my father had the misconception that you weren’t able to put Christian names in the official documentation. But it’s also good because sometimes when people say “Is Silas around?”, I can be like “No, I am Kai Ean”.
Thank you to Mr Yeem for allowing us a glimpse into your fascinating background and Happy StAR Day!
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