24 LUMEN | ALUMNI
A Josephian with a
Passion Christ for
A devout Catholic , Mr Bernard Yeo who is semi-retired now focuses his time on his volunteer work for the Catholic community . Jonathan Farnell and Justin Chak speak to this Josephian who has gifted hands for carpentry like St . Joseph , the carpenter .
Bernard joined SJI in 1977 from St . Michael ’ s School , where his father , Mr Francis Yeo taught at , and graduated in 1980 . “ Back then , I was in the Bras Basah campus . It wasn ’ t as modern as today , but it was a big community . SJI definitely gave me a holistic education .”
He says that SJI being a Catholic school , he always embraced faith as nothing is impossible , as long as you do not give up . There was no blame for failure , no jealousy and it was a wholesome approach to life . Most of all , it taught him to be more understanding and that you have to forgive if you want to be forgiven .
“ As long as you are a man of integrity , you will make it in life ”, he says .
During his time in SJI , he was part of the scouts . Spending his Saturdays in school , the scouts has taught him a lot , especially about being
“ boys today and leaders tomorrow ”. Scouts not only taught him basic survival skills but provided him with a close group of friends that he still remains in contact with .