Frances Ong, Teacher

Jimmy Yap, Regional Manager in Industrial Chemicals

Jimmy Yap reflects on rising from humble beginnings to regional leadership through hard work, honesty, and relationship-building. He shares lessons on learning on the job, earning trust, teamwork, lifelong friendships, and discovering passion by putting oneself forward and staying curious. Five “Words of Wisdom” Quotes 1. “Whatever job you do, you have to be honest and work very hard.” 2. “You have to learn on the job.” 3. “Build personal relationships, and gain trust from your customers.” 4. “You have to be really sincere in your friendships, and you will enjoy each other’s company.” 5. “See the whole world, then you can appreciate more.”

Linda Teo, Dental Executive

Linda Teo reflects on growing up in a large, modest family and building a meaningful life through thrift, sincerity, and service. She shares wisdom on love, family bonding, perseverance, friendship, and choosing time, values, and contribution over material success. Five “Words of Wisdom” Quotes 1. “You are your own brand, get noticed using your talents.” 2. “It’s not easy to reach 50 years of marriage, you need to have a lot of sacrifice and patience.” 3. “If you treat others sincerely, you will have a lot of good friends, true friends.” 4. “Action is better than lip service.” 5. “Never give up and try your very best.”

Rajalingam V Nagalingam, Educator

Rajalingam reflects on entering teaching out of necessity, developing passion over time, and spending forty years educating children. He emphasises respect, perseverance, genuine care for students, and choosing work aligned with values to sustain purpose and resilience. Five “Words of Wisdom” Quotes 1. “You must be passionate about education as a career. If not, you'll be burnt out.” 2. “Back then, there was no iPhone, No TV, nothing. And we created our own distractions.” 3. “I believe in respect and giving respect.” 4. “Whatever you like, you should pursue it, and it'll become a passion.” 5. Get good jobs and be happy with whatever they are doing.”

Frances Ong, Teacher

Frances Ong reflects on teaching as a lifelong vocation shaped by faith, compassion, and service. Drawing from decades as an educator and mother of six, she shares wisdom on purpose, boundaries in love, authenticity, and nurturing others without losing oneself. Five “Words of Wisdom” Quotes 1. “Teaching can never be a job or career, it must be a vocation to be able to last this long.” 2. “If you go in for the money, you end up having mental issues because the money is never enough.” 3. “Love is when you sacrifice yourself so that the other person can grow, but not sacrifice until you die.” 4. “You must be authentic to what you really want to do.” 5. “Don't do anything that will hurt either yourself or another person.”

Michael Hogan, Engineer and Museum Educator

Michael Hogan reflects on a lifelong engineering career driven by curiosity, teamwork, and respect for others’ strengths. He shares lessons on friendship, contribution, passion growing from interest, face-to-face connection, and giving back through volunteering and service to society. Five “Words of Wisdom” Quotes 1. “The secret behind my career was taking an interest in what I was doing.” 2. “Good teams try to help out those who are not so good and move forward as a team.” 3. “I always think of it as how much I can contribute to the friendship rather than receive from the friendship.” 4. “When you pursue your interest, it will eventually become a passion.” 5. Don’t make friends on social media. Connect there, then meet and talk.”