Wong graduated on Oct. 13 with a bachelor’s degree in Chinese language and literature and was the oldest among the university’s 3,611 graduates this year and one of nine retirees receiving degrees.<\/p>\n
His success marked a turnaround from his first examination, when he received a D+ because he could not type Chinese using Pinyin, a system based on the Roman alphabet.<\/p>\n
“I was completely lost. Every student around me was typing quickly, while I couldn’t even type a single word,” Wong told Channel News Asia. <\/em>“It was painful and frustrating because I knew the answers … Everything was already in my head \u2013 I simply couldn\u2019t type it.”<\/p>\n He considered dropping out, but Lee Wee Heong, head of the university’s Chinese Studies department, encouraged him to continue. He began learning Pinyin alongside his university coursework and eventually earned nine A and A- grades, along with several literary awards.<\/p>\n Singapore University of Social Sciences. Photo courtesy of the university<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Wong’s ambition to attend university dated back decades.<\/p>\n After completing secondary school, he joined Keppel Shipyard as an apprentice and rose to become a marine engineering manager during a career spanning more than 40 years. He continued taking technical and vocational courses and sat for the A-Level examination, but a university degree remained out of reach.<\/p>\n After retiring in 2019, he enrolled in a diploma program and volunteered with a community organization. In 2022, he read about a university graduate in his 70s and decided to pursue a degree himself.<\/p>\n His first application to SUSS was unsuccessful, but he contacted the head of department to request another opportunity and received advice on improving his application. With his family’s help, he gathered educational certificates accumulated over several decades before applying again.<\/p>\n “When I learnt I was accepted into the program, I jumped in joy. I was one step to achieving a lifelong dream that I thought would have been impossible at my age,” he said.<\/p>\n His wife, Yeo Siew Guk, 71, supported him throughout his studies, often staying awake until he returned from evening classes, sometimes as late as 11 p.m. “I’m so proud of him, I really support the effort he put in his studies … I knew he would be able to do it,” she said.<\/p>\n Wong wished his late parents could have witnessed his graduation, adding: “Even though they\u2019re no longer here, I feel that I\u2019ve fulfilled that wish for them.”<\/p>\n\n\n
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