Our Teachers Who Took the Road Less Travelled
21
By
Mr Matthew Grey
“ Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
From‘ The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost
Many who opted to study Literature at school will recall this quote. For those who chose another academic path at school, these lines from Robert Frost’ s poem,‘ The Road Not Taken’, will probably be familiar from the numerous advertisements and motivational speeches they have inspired. It is likely, therefore, that all of us will have at least a vague recollection of hearing these words, or similar, often recited with an appropriate level of gravitas, and sometimes accompanied by a portentous soundtrack underscoring the speaker’ s voice.
As we spend this year at SJI thinking about what it means to grow, holistically, as people, and explore the possibilities afforded to those of us willing to take a leap into the unknown, it may be a good time to find out how a couple of our esteemed teachers have grasped less conventional opportunities in life and how they feel more fulfilled as a result.
Mr. Stanley Tan joined the SJI community in January of this year. A History teacher of twenty years and occasionally suffering Liverpool F. C. fan for a further decade, Mr. Tan took on a role at the Shanghai Singapore International School( SSIS), set amidst the bustling megalopolis of Shanghai, in 2008. Home to almost thirty million people, he found the alien traffic culture a little difficult to get used to at first.
“ As a qualified driver in Singapore, I realised that the Shanghai traffic would take some getting used to, the way they changed lanes, argued over who had the right of way, and how the drivers were not expected to give way to pedestrians,” Mr. Tan explains, still clearly amazed by the bewildering Shanghai roads.“ For the next three years of my time in Shanghai, my senses were heightened whenever I had to cross any road or hop on any taxis!”
In time, Mr. Tan’ s traffic anxiety eased and Shanghai became his home for the short term. This shift was aided by the plethora of Singaporean and Malaysian supermarkets and restaurants found in Shanghai, ideal for when chicken rice and bak chor mee cravings took hold of the food-loving Singaporean.
Attending Singapore Day in Shanghai
OUR TEACHERS WHO TOOK THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED