All My Happy Days Were At St. Michaels - Master Benedict Wong Kee Fah

Recently I attended the funeral of Master Benedict Wong Kee Fah a former teacher with St Michael's Institution (SMI). He was 99 years old.

It was a sombre funeral. During the funeral mass celebrated by Fr Massang he mentioned how Benedict Wong was very active in the Parish especially the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) and as a Eucharistic Minister. The community gained by his tremendous example by the way he lived his life. 

As his coffin was being placed in the hearse I heard the SMI school song being sung led by former Principal  Mr Louis Rosario Doss and Michaelian's present

Later I approached Mr Louis and asked him how had Master Wong touched him. He replied that Master was a great history teacher. Attending his class then was to have freedom of speech when he would ask his pupils to write an essay of not less than 500 words for their homework.

Louis added that Master would always quote William Shakespeare from Richard II "The purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation”.

Indeed, Master Wong did maintain a spotless reputation in life.  I had been told by many a former student that he never reprimanded them and they had a lot of respect for the Master.

I got to know Master Wong several years earlier when I had interviewed him for a local daily. At the time he was in his early nineties. 

He said he came to Malaya with his parents as refugees when he was 5 years old. The year was 1928.

"At the time China was ruled by the Koumintang, the Communist party and local warlords. My uncle had been kidnapped and we had to pay a hefty sum for his release. After that we decided to come over to Malaya. There was twenty of us so we came in three batches so as not arouse suspicion.

.. “ ching chong Chinaman” and a different hairstyle

My family were all Catholics baptized in China. There were 7 siblings, 5 sons and 2 daughters with me in the middle.  In Ipoh the family stayed at Jalan Leong Sin Nam. It belonged to an uncle.

A year later through a strong recommendation by the French priest from St Michael's church I was admitted into St Michaels school.

At the time I could not speak Cantonese only Hakka. My Hakka was a dialect from China which the local Hakka community could not understand. Additionally my hairstyle was different with a tuft of hair in the front. The boys would slap my head and call me 'ching chong Chinaman'.

I studied in St Michael's from primary until Form 5. My Senior Cambridge leaving certificate was in 1941. I recall we were sitting at the exam when Pearl Harbour was bombed ie 8 December 1941. Our exam papers did arrive in London because I got my results after the end of the war.

I decided to become a teacher. In those days there was college and normal class or in service training which I attended for 3 years and after completion I was taken in to St Michaels.

I was a regular teacher in St Michaels from 1951 until till 1974. Then I was transferred to SMK Kampar where I retired from teaching in 1980.

File pic 2014. Master Wong holds a picture of his family taken at his home

In the early days we didn’t specialize. The form teacher taught the bulk of the subjects and the relief teacher came in for 1 or 2 periods.  There was a time I taught Latin. It was when Brother Paul was transferred to Penang. I was selected because I had a credit in Latin in my senior Cambridge.

I didn’t have a problem with students. I didn’t have to scold them but handle the situation and use my own tactics. He described an incident while teaching mathematics class. There was one student who was bad at math and would always copy.

I designed a test paper with just 7 questions.  5 question most can answer, 6th question 90% could handle. The 7th question was an advance level question and I anticipated only one would answer. The not so clever student sat next to the bright 'A' student and he made the mistake of copying wholesale.

On Monday morning I distributed the papers. I commented that there was only 2 students who answered all the questions and scored 100%. I called the ’not so clever' student to demonstrate how to solve the problem and gave a chalk and write on the board. He held the chalk shivering and sweating. After about 5 minutes the class said to him ‘hey you better admit to master you copied lah’. Later I called him and told him ‘you cannot cheat in life, you will always be found out’.  Many years later during weddings my students reminded me of the incident saying they never forgot it. They were in awe of me.

My best days, all my happy memories were there at St Michael's. During my student years for 2 years I won 1st place in the high jump. When we went for picnics at Emerald Bay Pangkor or Cameron Highlands with Bro Pius who was also the Bro Director it was like a family and was so much fun. History was my favorite subject I taught. I could remember all my students I taught by their names. We were like a family.

Getting transferred to Kampar. A Blessing in Disguise.

When I got the notice of my transfer to SMK Kampar in 1974 I was shocked. I was almost 50 and in my comfort zone. I could teach off-the-cuff and didn’t need much preparation.  My facial expression showed it and my colleagues told me to take leave. But upon further consideration I decided to accept.

The saying  ”sometimes God will shut the door but He opens a window” came to my mind and I thought God had opened the window to see the light from a different angle.

True enough. A colleague in Kampar was a former Form 6 student from SMI. She was a Christian from another denomination. Every Saturday and at her own expenses she would go back to Kampar and conduct Bible classes.

Although I was born into a Catholic family and lived accordingly but what did I do for the church. She was instrumental in converting me. At about the same time, Father Wallace, the Parish Priest of the newly opened OMPH Church was recruiting volunteers. I became interested in participating in Parish work and joined the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) Ministry. I met many people and to improve myself I read a lot and I benefited a lot in return. 

“Every day I wake up and thank God for loving me and given me a lot.

Even though I wake with aches and pains yet I manage to wake up.

I don’t have all I want but I have all I need.

I can make it or marr it.

It is a great blessing”.

 

Benedict Wong 2014            

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Master Benedict Wong Kee Fah was called home to the Lord on 30 May 2022

 

KC