Residential College events expose students to diverse life and career experiences

Ms Melissa Tsang shared her experiences in a culinary career. Image provided by Glen Ang.

At Yale-NUS College, opportunities for learning extend beyond the classroom and into the residential environment, ensuring that students always have access to a wide array of residential life programmes that enrich their learning and personal growth. The latest series of Saga Rector’s Teas, hosted by Associate Professor for Science (Life Sciences) Hoon Eng Khoo, Rector for Saga College, are just another example.

These sessions take place in the convivial environment of the Rector’s Commons, with students gathered around a speaker specially invited by the Rector for the broad perspectives they bring to the student body. For this semester, talks centre on the theme, “The Road Less Travelled” inspired by the Robert Frost poem “The Road Not Taken,” highlighting four speakers from Singapore, whose lives and professional experiences have been unconventional and noteworthy.

Sharing her inspirations for the sessions, Rector Khoo remarked with reference to the poem, “I have been inspired by and have a lot of respect for people who have taken “the [road] less travelled by”. It signifies to me that we need not live a life where we regret not having travelled both roads, because we make choices whenever we come to “two roads” that diverge. Whether we take “the one less travelled by” or a more well-trodden one, that decision need not give rise to regrets.”

The first Rector’s Tea held on 25 August, welcomed Ms Melissa Tsang, an experienced chef who left law school midway for a culinary education and a career in fine Chinese cuisine. She described the difficulty of working in a male-dominated environment with tough conditions, but highlighted that her persistence and passion eventually helped her overcome those obstacles and succeed in the culinary world.

Indeed, as Cindy Huang (Class of 2025) shared, “Listening to Melissa’s unique path taught me that there are endless possibilities in life, and an open mind and heart can bring out so much new knowledge and skills.” She noted it was admirable that “Melissa overcame career blocks and mental barriers through true passion, eventually arriving at a place where she is comfortable in life.”

The most recent instalment on 15 September put the spotlight on Mr Kenny Leck, founder and owner of the beloved local bookstore BooksActually. In the span of an hour, he fascinated the audience with a chronicle of his life and the bookstore, stretching from its humble beginnings in a Telok Ayer shophouse to a thriving, international business, a favourite in Singapore and popular across Southeast Asia. For Max Pasakorn (Class of 2024), this unique entrepreneurial journey “was particularly inspirational for [him] as a Singapore resident from a squarely lower-middle class background”.

Also recurrent throughout the sharing was the theme of family and friendship; from securing the loans for BooksActually’s first premises to ensuring the bookstore’s survival, the closest people to him had been there for him every step along the way. This rang true for Yale-NUS students, whose adventures at the College are often made possible by the strong support from those closest to them.

The Saga Rector’s Tea sessions are held monthly, with Pauline Ong, a pastor at a local inclusive church, and CD Liang, an engineer turned Director in a philanthropic organisation with a focus on education, as upcoming speakers.

As Rector Khoo observed, these sessions hold a common hope. “I hope students will take away the messages shared by our guests, that they took these “unconventional” paths because they had a dream or passion or came to a “cross-roads” of life and chose the path that they are now on. I expect that they will share how these paths also come with their own challenges, but that living a fulfilled life means negotiating the challenges and ensuring that they do leave a legacy.” She added that such conversations are one of the advantages of living in a residential college, noting, “unless the students actively seek out “unusual” individuals, they may not have the opportunity to meet the variety of guests whom we invite to Rector’s Teas and other Residential College (RC) activities.”

Other RCs have also rolled out their own events to inject vibrancy into the new semester. For Elm College, this came in a series of weekly events aptly titled, “Elmish Living”. There, students and Elm’s resident faculty can interact through various pursuits including “Be a Masterchef—Pizza Night” with Vice President (Engagement) Dr Trisha Craig, and coffee roasting with Associate Professor of Science (Neuroscience) Ajay Mathuru. With the Mid-Autumn Festival fast approaching, each RC is also hosting its own mooncake-making sessions to commemorate this important occasion in Chinese culture. Though hosted by the respective RCs, events are open to all students in the Yale-NUS community.