SINGAPORE: Educator Eugene Wijeysingha, who served as headmaster at Raffles Institution (RI) from 1986 to 1994, passed away at 90, the school announced in a social media post on Saturday evening (March 2).
In its post, Raffles Institution characterised Mr Wijeysingha, whom many fondly called Mr Wijey, as a “former teacher, headmaster and visionary.”
On Monday morning (March 4), RI wrote that the Year 1 to 4 campus gathered to pay tribute to Mr Wijeysingha, honouring him with a minute of silence and flags flown at half-mast. The school principal, Mr Loh, “shared about Mr Wijeysingha’s legacy which we hope will continue to be kept alive within our school.”
In its earlier post, RI noted that the former headmaster had begun as a history teacher at the Bras Basah campus in 1959, later serving as Senior Master.
“In 1986, he assumed the role as Headmaster of RI, where he fostered discipline, academic excellence, and a vibrant school spirit,” the school wrote, adding that Mr Wijeysingha had also “played a pivotal role in leading RI to independence and orchestrated the relocation of the school to the Bishan campus in 1990, established RI Boarding in 1994.”
Notably, the educator published a book on the school’s history from 1823 to 2003, titled “The Eagle Breeds a Gryphon.” Mr Wijeysingha also helped “passionately preserve” RI’s history with the opening of the Raffles Archives and Museum in 1994, the year he retired.
“He will be fondly remembered as a man for the people, and his legacy will continue to live on in the students and staff who were touched by his leadership and those who were privileged to have crossed paths with him. Our deepest, most sincere condolences to his family and loved ones,” the post reads.
Singaporeans have been paying tribute to Mr Wijeysingha online.
One US-based educator, Ms Mazlina Bachman, wrote, “We have all been positively impacted by his contributions to Singapore’s educational policies, society, & nation. Singapore grieves the passing of an iconic leader in Singapore’s education. Thank you, Sir.”
Meanwhile, a former student commented on the Raffles Alumni Facebook page:
“One word comes to mind when I think of Mr Wijey: SURE — Stoic. Unfazed. Resolute. Enigmatic. That’s how I will always remember him during my last year in RI and his first as Headmaster.
Thank you for the lesson that a teacher/leader/mentor can be firm without being loud, insistent without being forceful, and kind without being patronizing. R.I.P Sir!”
Dr Bernard Thong, the Chairman of the College Advisory Committee of Temasek Junior College, wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday morning (March 3):
“Many of us who are now leaders in our own fields in the public and private sector have much to thank him for – for being the role model and father figure during our formative and impressionable JC years.” /TISG
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