2007 ~ 2012 |
A NEW CAMPUS AND THE BIRTH OF SASS
The Monash Men
Aaron Raj
In my years studying at Monash, female students
dominated all my classes.
60
I learnt
something
important
in that class:
Never mess
with women
if you are
outnumbered.
Nevertheless, here is a compilation of some of the “Men
of Monash” who made me the person I am today.
Dr Julian Lee
It was close to midnight when I got a text from a friend
telling me that she had a crush on him.
“Another one?” I thought to myself. Almost all the
girls I knew just found this guy gorgeous and they all
wanted to be in his class.
The best part was, he wasn’t even a student.
He was none other than Dr Julian Lee, a lecturer in his
late 20s or early 30s. He had just joined the School
of Arts & Social Sciences and all the girls were going
nuts about him.
It helped that Dr Julian was of mixed parentage and
that he had nicely groomed facial hair. I, for one, was
growing a fluffy beard then and my friends said mine
was not comparable at all to his.
During one class, I just watched all the students
ogling at him. It was during one of the most interesting
lessons he taught although, as I am writing this, I can’t
remember what it was about. But I do remember him
conducting a quiz in class once and admitting being a
club deejay at some point in his life.
This made girls go nuts about him even more!
It wasn’t until word got out that he was already in
a relationship that the hype started dying down.
This was one of the semesters to remember.
Since then, I have kept a neatly trimmed beard.
Dr Yeoh Seng Guan
Ask any student who took communication studies at
Monash University and they will all remember Dr Yeoh
Seng Guan. For me personally, Dr Yeoh has taught me
so many things and I could always go back to him if
I needed help or advice on anything. But I will forever
remember his study trips which served as an eye
opener for a lot of us. Having taken part in five study
trips (two as a student and three as an alumnus) I have
seen almost every side of the Yeoh Seng Guan effect.
2007 (In Search of Baguio and Sagada) – A female
student decided to go across to another hotel to
spend some time with a pen pal dude who had
suddenly turned up out of nowhere. Dr Yeoh found
out and phoned her to come straight back to the
hotel we were staying at or he would call her parents
immediately. She came back with the dude and he
tried to be funny with Dr Yeoh but to no avail. Using a
hotel peephole, we spied on the entire conversation
and it was the first time any of us had ever seen
Dr Yeoh pissed off! Thankfully, it was also the last time.
2008 (In Search of Siem Reap) – Coincidentally, it was
also Dr Yeoh’s 50th birthday during the trip. The plan
was set. A surprise was in place. We got a cake, and
pretended a relative of mine was sick and that I had to
leave immediately for Malaysia. He came down from
his room to settle my problem only to realize it was a
surprise birthday party for him.
2009 (In Search of Yogyakarta) – I was travelling with
another alumna, Eunice, and we asked Dr Yeoh to
help us get accommodation. He booked a small room
with a small double bed in the same hotel where the
other student-travellers were staying. Thank God the
same hotel had other rooms available!