From Sandra Tan

Sandra Tan
Member of Fairfield Choir from 1979 - 1982
Member of Dawnbreakers Choir from 1988 - Present

Mrs Seet Sook Ching

Teacher, Mentor, Coach
Sister, 'Mother', Friend
Cheer-Giver, Care-Provider, Counsellor
Prayer Partner,  Pitch-Corrector & Precepts Lead Singer

Imparted Poetry, Music and Bible Knowledge
Today, I love poems, music and the Bible
Imparted English, Grammar and Anglicised Pronunciation
Today, I teach English, with that same Pronunciation

For over 30 years, I have followed you
What am I without you?
No job, no life, no Arts, no Music
No solos, no CDs, not even a love for God

How do I live each Sunday now without you?
My heart aches, my eyes dim
My voice chokes, my mind recalls
My tears stream down, accompanying the wrong pitch

But you've said to me over the years
Through long phone calls and lunches
I must be a pillar of strength, a leader in the choir
A legacy of God's love, and a friend to all

I hear you now, your words so clear:
sing more, give more, smile more
share more, care more, pray more
but most importantly,
don't be late on Sundays, anymore.

3 Fingers

Bryan Chen, who was under Mrs Seet's charge in music lessons and the choir, writes:

Dearest Mrs Seet,

As I bade you goodbye last night, I realised again an important lesson in our journey here on Earth. It is that nothing is permanent and that God, in His wisdom, balanced impermanence with memories of those whom we hold close to our hearts.

Anyone who attended your music lessons and choir sessions will remember the musical “kung fu” that you imparted to us. The power of breathing deep into our diaphragm and sing it out from our mouths wide open with at least 3 fingers wide! Till now, I am sure many, if not all, will share this fond memory forever. You taught me to appreciate music, abit of side-reading and started my love for singing. While I may not be the next Singapore Idol, I have learnt enough to serenade some girls in my life with a couple of songs. J

I also remember how you chided us for attending your lessons; all smelling not-so-pleasant after recess and you will whip out an orange, peeled it to release the orange zest to freshen up the music room.

I will always be grateful to you for the opportunity (and convincing my parents to allow me) to join the boys choir and later on, the main FMSS choir. You will always beam with pride when you see us dance the waltz and sing our hearts out during the performances at Victoria Concert Hall. And together, we all enjoyed sweet victory, emerging top at the Youth Choir Competition.

Even though you were just a music teacher to me, the biggest lesson you taught me is to be a gentleman. To be presentable and smell pleasant when you meet a lady, to be chivalrous in leading a dance with a girl and to romance a love one with proper singing skills!

At the end of it all, I want you to know that you counted for something in my life. For that, I will always be grateful.

Sincerely Yours,
Bryan Chen

To The Family of the late Mrs Seet

Benny Lim, a member of the Fairfield Choir, writes:

I always remember the time when I was in Secondary one when I first enter the Boys Choir then the main Choir. She was one of the many teachers who taught me to love music and singing... The music lessons, the school combine choir and many more.... Mrs Seet is one of the many teachers who have taught value... The last time I saw her was in wesley before I left for overseas and she told me, You look the same still but have mature in Gods way. Mrs Seet thank you for everything....
"The Music Always There In Your Heart."

Benny Lim
1991-1995

Thank you for the music

Chia Yeow Tong, who was a member of the Fairfield Choir, fondly recalls:

I remember Mrs Seet as a great music teacher and choir teacher. She passion for singing and music was evident in the music classes. I was "recruited" into the choir, thanks to her, and I remained in Fairfield choir all the days of my secondary school life. I'll never forget her teaching us to drop our jaws wide enough to put four fingers in! My years in the Fairfield choir were truly memorable ones.

I thank God for Mrs Seet, for instilling the love of singing and music. The song, "Thank you for the music" by ABBA, aptly expresses the gift of music that Mrs Seet has has instilled in all of us:

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me
My thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Oliver Seet (he taught me in NIE), for the loss of his beloved wife, and Dr. Irwin Seet (we used to be colleagues in ACS Independent) for the loss of his mother, as well as their family and loved ones.

Mrs Seet has given the gift of music and worship to generations of Fairsians. She will be dearly missed, but I look forward to seeing her again in the sweet by and by. Thank you for the gift of music, Mrs Seet.

In His Love, Joy and Peace,

Chia Yeow Tong
FMSS Class of 1990

A short message...

Karen Lai, who was in Mrs Seet's form class in 1992, writes:

Dear Dr Seet and family,

I am sorry to hear about Mrs Seet's passing. She was my form teacher in Secondary 1 back in 1992 and I was also in the choir through my secondary school years.

Mrs Seet planted in me a lifelong love of choral music and singing. She always had a kind and encouraging word for her choir girls and boys. I remember having dinner at your home shortly after graduation when she invited some of her choir girls over, and the lovely music being played through the evening and warm conversation.

Many of us are now in other parts of the world, and although we cannot attend the wake our thoughts and prayers are with you. I will always remember Mrs Seet with great fondness.

Wishing you God's peace,
Karen Lai

RIP Mrs Seet: An ode to a teacher

Clement Tan, her former Secondary 1 student, writes:

15 years ago, we never quite understood why we needed to bring those thick public phone directories to school for, of all things, music appreciation classes. Not the kind laden with music theory, but the type that were meant to cultivate our aesthetic sense. We found out soon enough.

As it turned out, Mrs Seet made us lie on our backs in the 4th floor music room -- and made us sing with those thick public phone directories on our stomachs. "When the book goes up and down with your breathing," I remembered her saying, "it means you are singing with your diaphragm." An all-knowing, triumphant wink always followed as she turned back and continued playing the piano.

This was in 1995, at Fairfield Methodist Secondary School, when I was in Secondary 1 -- we were her last batch of students before she retired.

Mrs Seet was a force of nature. She's a legend in Fairfield's history and represented a dying breed of teachers who spent their entire professional lives in a single school. She was old school, and expoused "old-world" values but there was nothing out of fashion about her.

Somehow, I suspect that allowed her to get away with being curt and honest. Instead of being resentful and feeling all hurt, her words always festered within my being. She was the sagely grandmother I never had, so whenever she dispensed her life advice, the aura about her somehow made accepting her hard words that much easier. I almost felt like I had to take it in.

"Clement, you are blessed with the gift of the gap," she told me once after I was ostensibly arrogant during an English class. "The downfall of people like you, is their lack of humility...so use your gifts wisely."

It may not have been apparent that her words to me resonated, especially not in those adolescent years, but 15 years to the day she lectured me, her advice continue to inform my approach towards people and my journalism. She may not be the only one, but Mrs Seet was one of the first to have said that to me.

I was really upset she retired the following year. She gave me my first solo -- as a soprano, with my unbroken voice, at Easter service. And she was also the first to recognize my talents buried beneath that obnoxious, insecure exterior.

I don't know what happened to her. But I guess her passing must have been age-related. I do know however that she's in a better place now, taking her rightful place in the heavenly choir with those angels.

I know I must have said this many times, but thank you, Mrs Seet, for your love, your dedication and your faith. Rest in peace.

Information about the wake and funeral

Dear friends,

The wake will be held at the Garden of Remembrance (920 Old Choa Chu Kang Road, Parousia & Hallelujah Halls) on Wednesday 13 Jan & Thursday 14 Jan, 8pm sharp.

The Funeral Service will be held on Friday 15 January 9.30am at the Garden of Remembrance, then to Crematorium at 11.15am for cremation.

Members of the Dawnbreakers Choir will be singing there, and all former members are most welcome to sing with us. For more details, please contact me (Jason Wu) at jasonwujh (at) gmail.com or jasonwu (at) gmx.net.

Blessings,
jason

A passion to praise and worship the LORD

Vivien Goh writes:

When I think of Sook Ching, I remember most her passion to make music to the LORD, her drive in inspiring us to do our best for the Master and her desire to spread the WORD through song.

I believe she acheived all this through her faithful ministry at Wesley and Fairfield and through the recordings that the Dawnbreakers made.

I first came to know Oliver and Sook Ching when they were a young married couple in the Wesley Evening Choir under the direction of Mrs Koh Geok Kheng. Later they joined the morning choir, and at this time I met her at ACJS where I taught Johann and Irwin and their cousins

But it was when I became the pianist for the Dawnbreakers Choir that I witnessed her passion for praising the LORD. Week after week, her enthusiasm and graciousness in face of the boisterous spirits in the choir was unflagging.

I thank God for her life and for sending her to us as a role model for His servants in the music ministry.

To Oliver, Johann, Irwin and your families: may God send His angels to comfort you at this time of loss.

Vivien Goh

A message from Swee Hong

A message from Swee Hong, Lecturer, Worship, Liturgy and Music, Trinity Theological College:

Dear Dr Seet, et al,

Greetings in the loving name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I just got to hear the news about Mrs Seet's illness. Rest assured that she is in my prayers as are all of you.

May God's grace sustain all of you in this trying times and all of you experience the deep abiding presence of God's love.

Grace and peace,

SweeHong

A heart of worship

Sam Wong
Chorister, Dawnbreakers:

I joined the Dawnbreakers in my early 20's between completing National Service & further studies. I was boisterous, irreverent & more than an occasional pain. Now, 20 years later, not much has changed - but this isn't about me.

I brought this up because I wanted to highlight this wonderful lady's graciousness & long-suffering in dealing with the likes of me. I know, I myself, would have had much less patience with such a recalcitrant as I. Many occasions I was late, missed rehearsals, sang woefully wrong & willfully ignored instructions - you get the picture. On the odd occasion she would be visibly upset, but who wouldn't be, given such delinquency?

Yet Mrs Seet continually displayed grace and forbearance, not just to me, but also to all her choristers. This could only be an outpouring of Grace as a result of God's Love acting in her life.

Was this all? Clearly not.

Over the years, she has impressed me with such a level of care & thoughtfulness towards everyone she met. She had a kind word for everyone, and offered encouragement particularly to those who needed it. And to those who were needy, she offered aid. She was concerned for every choir member and their family. I recall her concern for my son when it came time for his primary school registration, and was thrilled to learn of my intention to send him to Fairfield. She told the choir that she prays for each one of us - and am sure none of us are worse off for it.

Mrs Seet's dedication to her ministry in the Dawnbreakers can only be described as "unparalleled". She carefully selected music week after week, pored over it, inspected the lyrics & tested its musicality - ensuring that it would be suitable for both the church season and the sermon subject. Our church Music Director often told me that no other choir conductor would call him as frequently over music, liturgy and logistic arrangements involving the choir. Certainly this dedication is an inspiration to me, and combined with her other character traits forms an example of how we should offer our service to God.

This song came to mind yesterday afternoon as I thought about Mrs Seet and her current circumstances:

When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart

I bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

Mrs Seet Sook Ching, Thank you. You have truly shown us a heart of worship, are an inspiration and a source of encouragement to us all. You are in my prayers.

She radiated warmth

Audrey Lao, a member of the Wesley Dawnbreakers Choir for many years, fondly recalls:

Mrs Seet was always an inspiration to me. She had an incredible zest and passion for music and i could see and feel her desire to serve the Lord through music. When I was still studying and before I joined the Dawnbreakers in 1998, I recall seeing this elegant lady with coiffured hair on early Sunday mornings, energetically conducting the choir with such zeal despite her senior age, long white sleeves of the choir robe dancing and swirling in the air, it always managed to wake me up. I could see, I could hear God's love, God's word, God's beauty, God's purpose manifested in those voices and those wonderful songs I heard. I learned that that choir was the Dawnbreakers. In time, I joined the Dawnbreakers and got to know Mrs Seet a bit better as my choir conductor.

Mrs Seet radiated warmth. There was something about the way she carried herself and the way she interacted with people. She was always encouraging, loving, and forgiving. She took time to get to know people, to talk to people. Many many people, from all walks of life. Dignified or shabby, old or young, established businessman or rebellious youngster (like me, the chronic latecomer), my impression was that she took the effort to know people and to genuinely care for them. Undoubtedly, this took energy and she always seemed to have a huge dose of that. I always had the impression that the energy stemmed from a genuine passion to serve the Lord, to minister to people and to reach out to people through music, in particular choir music.

I praise God for how so many people's lives were touched by Christ through her ministry in music. I thank God for Mrs Seet, for how she has reached out and brought joy to the lives of countless people, mine included. I pray to God for Mrs Seet, for her recovery and to give her and her family strength in this difficult time. I will remember Mrs Seet.

I love singing...

Ang Theng Eng, member of The Dawnbreakers from October 1987, says:

Dear Mrs Seet

I love singing.

It was through my love for singing the the LORD saw it appropriate to stir my stubborn unsaved soul and, after many years, won me into His Kingdom in February 1974 through The Holy Spirit from the inspired lyrics of hymn writers of ages past.

I was determined then to serve the LORD through singing as the LORD has put in my heart that music has a mysterious way to touch a human soul which no one can yet explained.

After around 14 years of life in the Christian community, including 6 years with a choir known as 3:16 Ministry - we toured Thailand & Indonesia in collaboration with Youth For Christ Ministry, singing contemporary Gospel songs to reach out to various schools and organisations), my desire to serve the LORD through singing remained unfulfilled.

But without any formal voice training nor reading music scores (other than self-taught solfege system from many years of learning Mandarin songs and harmonica playing), it was with some diffidence when I was introduced, at age 36, into the choir's practice sessions by a dear Christian brother, Peter Poon.

I was immediately welcomed by Mrs. Seet and instead of the normal 4 - 6 weeks of understudy before being ready for singing for Worship Service, Mrs. Seet personally agreed to let me sing after 3 weeks.

Mrs. Seet's magnanimity, patience, kindness, forbearance towards choir members begins to  unfold over these 22 years of my service in Dawnbreakers. She takes the time to call every single member of the choir, past and present, and with the caring heart of loving shepherd, pray and encourage for them. Such was her devotion and it hurts me to see her being taken for granted (i.e. not paying attention to her and at times, just being absent without keeping her informed).

On many occasions, her encouraging words instill confidence in me. Through another member, she enrolled and sponsored me for voice lessons under Mrs. Myrna Chan (another mission-oriented  teacher for the LORD) with whom I had many wonderful years of voice training and fellowship with her other choir members.

Mrs. Seet demonstrated her desire for continuing growth as a choir and members through her continuing search for new songs and scores for the choir and this has benefited the choir as we are constantly learning new songs.

While attending to our singing needs, she is also concerned about members' spiritual growth through members' personal sharings in between choir practices.....a practice that have benefited those who takes it seriously.

I look forward to every Sunday since October 1987, knowing that my desire to sing for the LORD is being fulfilled every week and Mrs. Seet has been instrumental in helping me fulfill this desire. 22 years has sped by quickly and singing in The Dawnbreakers has been a joy ever since until this very day

I'm forever grateful to the LORD for Mrs. Seet and her ministry in The Dawnbreakers.

Thank you, Mrs. Seet.

Always encouraging...

Let me start the ball rolling. This would also be an example of how your messages will be published here.

Jason Wu, who was her student in Secondary 1 in FMSS and who is also part of her church choir, the Dawnbreakers, says:

Mrs Seet was always very encouraging. My most endearing memories of her all center around the many, many words of encouragement she had for me. She constantly tells me that she enjoys my playing, and also never fails to pass on others' kind words to me. There are times when I know I have made a lot of mistakes, and yet I will still get a kind word from her. Rather than focus on my mistakes, she praises me for the things I have done well. This is really what everyone should aspire to be like, and I find myself trying to emulate this excellent trait of hers.

She also genuinely cares very much for me. Some time back, when she realised that I was feeling down because of some personal issues, she kept asking me to share them with her. Eventually I did, and she kept checking back with me to ask me how I was. She also told me that because it was a problem for me, it was also a problem for her and she felt very troubled about it. That, to me, was simply true empathy that she had for me, and for that I was and still am very grateful to her for. Finally, she kept telling me that I was constantly in her prayers.

Well, now she is constantly in my prayers too. Not only her, but also her entire family, and all who are affected by this. I pray that God will grant everyone around her strength, and that they will know that whatever happens is all part of God's marvelous will and plan.

May God's peace be with them all.

Dear friends...

Dear friends,

This blog was created for all of us to leave our words of encouragement for Mrs Seet and her family. Please feel free to email me at jasonwu (at) gmx.net with your message. Please make sure to include the following:

1. Your name (it will be published as part of the blog post)
2. How you are related to Mrs Seet (e.g. she taught you music in school in 19xx etc.)
3. The title of your message (it will be used as the subject of the post)
4. The message itself (it will be quoted literally, word for word)

Do also remember to include the words "Dear Mrs Seet" in your email subject so that my spam filter doesn't block off your email.

I'm sure we all have something to say to this very special lady who must have made a lot of difference in a lot of our lives. At the same time, please do remember the family in your messages and prayers as well. 

Blessing,

jason