This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 18, 2016.

HEADMASTER, disciplinarian, teacher and hairdresser to many.” This is, of course, a reference to our beloved Yong Chee Seng — who passed away peacefully on May 14, 2016 — as remembered by one of my Methodist Boy’s Secondary School, Kuala Lumpur (MBSSKL) classmates. I never had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of one of those infamous haircuts. But I am sure there are many among those reading this now who have, and would today feel a sense of pride in that they were in a select company to have had that cherished moment with one of the true pillars of the modern MBSSKL.

Yes, Mr Yong was by all accounts one of the true MBSians who used to climb the stairs and roam the school compound while living in the railway quarters just behind the school back in the day before he even started Year One in 1938.

Following the completion of his Cambridge School Certificate in 1949, Mr Yong began his teaching career at the Methodist English School in Tanjung Malim the following year. But as he would recall later, he did not have teaching as a career in mind and he might not have even liked it. He would go on to say later: “I have no regrets at all in becoming a teacher. It was God’s guidance. I have come to love my job.”

He eventually returned to MBSSKL first in 1956 and later for good in 1964 after completing his Higher School Certificate, teacher training and a Bachelor in Economics from University Malaya.

Mr Yong was appointed disciplinary master in 1972, senior assistant in 1976, before becoming acting principal in 1979, and principal from 1980 to 1985. In post-retirement, he remained active in various alumni activities, including serving as a member of the Centenary Celebrations and the Centenary Building Fund Committees, and education secretary of the Methodist Council of Education. Mr Yong was aptly described as “the beacon and the bridge” that lights the way and links us to the past, the present and the future of our alma mater in the 110th MBSSKL Anniversary Souvenir Book.

For many of my classmates and I, our most direct memory of Mr Yong — when we were in Form One through to Form Six from 1975 to 1981 — comes from his time as disciplinary master, senior assistant and principal. That is where the “hairdresser to many” comes in. But fortunately for us, Mr Yong saw his work at MBSSKL so much more than that.

He pointed out the difference between an educated person and a literate person in his first message as principal in 1979, and his desire to see all who passed through MBSSKL leave as an educated person — someone “who has a well-rounded personality, is outgoing and who shows goodwill to all.”

Mr Yong had an unwavering belief in MBS as “a school that can play a role in unifying students of all ethnicity, creed and socio-economic strata, who enter its portals as Malaysians, and be imbued with the spirit to serve with honesty, integrity and industry for the good of self, community and country.”’

He believed in MBS as a “people’s school” with an egalitarian ethos focused on providing a holistic education that “encompasses in its widest sense the inculcation of moral values, character building, physical, spiritual and emotional development.”

As we mourn the passing of Mr Yong, many have shared personal stories of his devotion and commitment to his vocation as a teacher, his students, his alma mater, his family, and his faith. For me, I remember him as a firm but fair discipline master and principal. While I never had the privilege of a personal hair cut from Mr Yong, I did get called into his office for fighting when I was in lower secondary school.

Fearing the worst, I was surprised he asked me for my side of the story before meting out my punishment. I remember he was stern, but he listened patiently before deciding to let me off with a warning. That was mostly because I was merely in the wrong place, at the wrong time. But I was still surprised I escaped the caning that befell some of my co-conspirators. I think from that day I respected him more than I feared him. I remember saying to myself that I would be better, that I would apply myself and make sure I did not disappoint him again.

Many years later when I became a prefect, and later school captain, I often wondered if he remembered that first meeting we had in his office. In all these years, I have never asked him.  But in looking back, I like to believe he knew and he remembered. I hope when he did, he was pleased that our brief encounter was part of that “education” he spoke of. As we mourn, reminisce, and celebrate the life of Yong Chee Seng, I call upon my classmates to proudly affirm and proclaim that his life’s work has not been in vain and his belief in his alma mater and its impact on all of us during those formative years has been noble and true. Not bad for someone who started his career not being sure he wanted to be a teacher.

Chia Swee Lim was school captain at Methodist Boy’s School, Kuala Lumpur in 1981.