Merlionsman
with Kevin Martens Wong, CSFP
testimonials
GRADESIDU
Throughout his varied activities and career trajectory, Kevin's passion for Singapore and desire to contribute to the local community is a constant connecting thread.
Assoc Prof Rebecca Lurie Starr
Department of English, Linguistics & Theatre Studies
National University of Singapore
Mr Wong is a passionate civic mentor who devotes his time to teaching and guiding us to figure out the right direction in life. He is always willing to talk with students and to learn more about their feelings. I am always thankful for his kindness and understanding.
​
Ms Teng Xinyi
Eunoia Junior College
21-I4 / Class of 2022
A great teacher who looks out for all of us. Enough said.​
​
Mr Yeo Zedong
Eunoia Junior College
19-A2 / Class of 2021
Ms Arun Snehapriyaa
Eunoia Junior College
19-A2 / Class of 2020
Mr Wong is one of the most dedicated teachers I've had the pleasure of being taught by! He always goes the extra mile to make otherwise drab lessons engaging and easy to digest. He is always thorough in his teaching, feeding us extra vocabulary and perspectives, encouraging us to develop our personal voice and a more perceptive thought process. He constantly initiates consultations with weaker students, assigning extra material and time practices to bridge our learning gap. His passion for the subject has inspired in me a greater appreciation for the English Language and its nuances, as well a greater understanding of current affairs. I am also able to read long articles without feeling daunted by the mass of words, through his techniques and encouragement. Not many people can change the way you think and approach life like Mr Wong has done for so many of us. He puts in so much effort and sincerity in his lessons and is not reluctant to discuss challenging topics. He always goes the extra mile to broaden our perspectives and look at life through different lenses, instilling in us empathy and curiosity. Inspiring is the epitome of what Mr Wong does—he has left a deep impact on myself and many of my peers' lives, and I am immensely grateful for him! Most of us keep in touch with him and admire him deeply — he stands for everything a teacher should be :-) I hope to be at least half the person that he is in the future.
Mr Joshua Ng Wei Ming
Eunoia Junior College
19-A5 / Class of 2020
Mr Wong is a very caring and dedicated teacher. Throughout the 2 years that he has taught me, he has guided me through all assignments and given very thorough feedback. Outside of curriculum time, he also opens up pockets of his free time to his students for consultations even though he doesn't necessarily have to. Furthermore, he created this wonderful tool called Immerse whereby he gets each of us students to craft an AQ paragraph or complete an essay in response to some readings that he has provided us with. This was completely out of the syllabus but was so effective that my grades went from an S to a B. This exemplifies how effective his pedagogy is and how much he invests into his students to make the most out of each of them.
Ms Jessica Kosasih
Eunoia Junior College
19-A5 / Class of 2020
Mr Wong is someone who goes above and beyond in whatever he does as he not only teaches but also connects to his students. Mr Wong is like a mentor or a life coach in the way that he gives students advice on how to navigate their thoughts and the way they think. For example, he encourages discussions and contributions from students during class time by engaging everyone or asking questions without providing the answer directly. He is also known to spend time to talk to students and to provide support for whomever that requires it. These extend beyond the realm of General Paper the subject as Mr Wong always says that General Paper is more than just a content subject, rather it is a subject about life. Whether it is through tutorials, consultations or lectures, Mr Wong actively shows concern for his students and engages them in meaningful discussions that stimulates critical thinking and problem solving skills. Mr Wong makes lessons interactive as well as being someone that his students trust and respect all of which I am extremely thankful for.
Ms Ko Minjae
Eunoia Junior College
19-I5 / Class of 2020
Mr Wong never fails to try his best to engage us during lessons with interesting videos and activities so as to enhance our learning experience. He also makes us to do constant practices so that we can improve our GP, which I am really thankful for. He also sacrifices a lot of his time to give us consultation every week so that we are not lagging behind. Not only does Mr Wong care for my grades, he also cares a lot for our well-being. He constantly checks up on us whether we've been coping well with all the academic and personal stresses, and also creates a safe and comfortable environment where we can share our feelings and thoughts openly. I am really grateful to have Mr Wong as my teacher and I strongly believe all his other students also have this strong sense of gratitude towards Mr Wong!
Kevin has remained an exuberant individual whose passion for what he does is clear to all those who have had a chance to work with him. I believe Kevin is motivated out of a sincere appreciation and love for the people whose lives he touches through his teaching, linguistics outreach and writing, especially many of the older speakers of Kristang, about whom he has expressed strong affection and respect for more than once in the past outside of his usually professional demeanour, and with whom I believe he has come to develop truly rewarding and meaningful friendships with. The energy and vigor that Kevin brings to his work as a result has truly been a privilege to observe, and he is a dynamic and multifaceted young leader whose energy and passion has touched me, my colleagues, his classmates, and his local community.
Asst Prof Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine
Department of English, Linguistics & Theatre Studies
National University of Singapore
Mr Aaron Wong Jielun
Eunoia Junior College
21-I4 / Class of 2022
Mr Wong goes above and beyond in his teaching. He doesn't simply teach us what we need to know for GP, he makes sure we are genuinely interested in what we are learning through engaging us with his humour as well as fun activities such as when he spent a lesson letting us dissect a music video together. As an individual with a wealth of unique experiences and the eagerness to share them with us, he inspires us greatly not just in the subject but outside of its constraints as well. His history as an author and the founder of a language revitalisation initiative encourages us to connect with English not just as a means to score in examinations but also a way to connect with the world meaningfully. As he walks us through current affairs during lessons, he injects a distinct personal voice and flair, but at the same time gives us a space to shape and form our own opinions and viewpoints. I am truly grateful to have Mr Wong as my GP teacher.
Ms Chan Xuan Ru
Eunoia Junior College
21-I4 / Class of 2022
Mr Wong is an extremely encouraging and inspiring teacher. Firstly, regardless of prolificacy and performance, he would assure and console us before proceeding to point out areas of improvement. He told our class that for him, our grades do not define us as a person, which was extremely comforting. Secondly, he is also really open to sharing his past experiences to the class, which allows us to connect to him as a person. He brings the class together very well and is able to hence, provide a conducive and safe learning environment and ambience for us to share our ideas. Thirdly, he encourages us to explore various perspectives and unleash our creativity through the engaging and casual writing activities which increases the enthusiasm and motivation of the class to venture into reading and writing rather than just viewing General Paper as an examinable A-Level subject.
Ms Lim Shih Fang
Eunoia Junior College
21-O2 / Class of 2023
Mr Wong promotes fun learning in a conducive environment. He focuses on creating an open and free classroom atmosphere such that free discussion is encouraged, where all opinions are respected. He is also very enthusiastic about engaging his students. For example, when we had a Socratic seminar on a passage about parks, he brought the class to the nearby Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park for a truly immersive experience. Under his tutelage, unique and enjoyable learning is made possible.
Ms Megan Leong Shu Hui
Eunoia Junior College
21-O2 / Class of 2022
Mr Wong is extremely engaging — all his lessons are carefully structured to allow us to think deeply and consider different perspectives without viewing GP as a hard subject. His interesting lesson plans allow us to develop our GP skills without regarding GP as a burden — we went to Bishan park to do a Socratic seminar and analyse a text on parks, which allowed us to use real life context and experiences to better answer the questions and analyse the text. His lessons are always interesting and engagin and he is one of the best teachers I have ever had the privilege of learning from!
Mr Wong cares so much about each and every one of his students and puts in a lot of effort to getting to know each and every one of us and even our friends who need guidance although they aren't even in any of his classes. He uses his ability to observe and understand our psyche (which shows how much effort he puts into getting to know us) to inform how he should interact with us in order to communicate more effectively with all of us.
Beyond the classroom, he always makes himself available to us, be it for questions on GP or life in general, which allows him to tailor his teaching methods to suit all of our needs. For example, for those of us who need to be immersed in the environment in order to learn more effectively about it, he tries to make that possible, like the Praxis learning journey where he brought us around to see the architecture of his friend's Eurasian-influenced house and other sites at the Bugis area. But for those of us, like me, who needed individualized feedback beyond the detailed notations on essays and AQs to truly absorb his feedback, he always made himself available somehow, which honestly makes me marvel at how well he can manage his time. His slides are impeccable, his lessons well thought out and planned, and his meticulousness along with his gentle but often hilarious corrections are what makes him a good teacher.
But what makes him a great teacher, and an even greater person who deserves more than just an award for his efforts, is his heart that opens to all. Though we know he wouldn't be disappointed with the results we get because he knows we put in the effort, it is his belief in us that pushes us to work harder and smarter because we don't just want to not disappoint him (look a double negative! But this isn't a formal essay anyways), but make him proud.
​
So what if we don't all love the subject by the end of our two years with him, so what if some of us don't get an A for GP, or still make the occasional grammatical or spelling mistake? With him as our teacher, through his obvious passion for language and his ability to connect with all of us somehow and still deliver quality lessons, we gained an appreciation for the subject that would undoubtedly not be there otherwise (at least for most of us). Above all, however, with Mr Wong as our teacher, we gained a true friend; a strong pillar of support.
​
Ms Bernadette Fong Yuan Ching
Eunoia Junior College
19-I5 / Class of 2020
Mr Jerome Tan
Eunoia Junior College
19-A2 / Class of 2020
I believe that Mr Wong is an exceptional GP teacher, one who undoubtedly puts in significant effort into his lesson preparations. This is evident from the high quality of his slides and deliverables, not only in terms of their design, but also in terms of their rich content, which is broken drown in a non-convoluted manner, helping the class to understand whatever the content was intending to teach and thus, to learn more effectively. His elevated and passionate understanding of the world around him and beyond allows us students to have invigorating and refreshing takes on current affairs and older pieces of news alike. Additionally, he takes the initiative to arrange extra sessions and consultations for students weaker in the subject, myself being one of them, going above and beyond what is required from him by the school curriculum. It is clear from all of these admirable aspects of his that he cares and respects his students greatly, training all of us to not only score good marks for this paper at the end of the day, but also to appreciate the subject as a whole more. Overall, for all these commendable qualities of his, I trust that I speak on the behalf of the class when I say that Mr Wong is a remarkable teacher.
Mr James Ong
Eunoia Junior College
19-A5 / Class of 2020
What is special about Mr. Wong is the amount of work that he puts in to ensure that all of his students are able to choose what they would like to learn for GP, on top of the usual tutorials and lectures. For example, we have a program called IMMERSE that allows us to focus on different aspect of GP. For example, we can choose to do vocabulary exercises, write a simple journal paragraph to refine paper 1 skills or do a paper 2 practice. Not stopping there, Mr. Wong also looks through every single assignment we hand in and give us lots of useful feedback even though everyone is doing so many different topics each week. This personalised learning experience and feedback really helps us work on our weaknesses in GP. While we do research for some IMMERSE tasks, we also may gain unexpected insights and this has made us realise that GP is more than a subject, but a subject about life. Thanks Mr. Wong!
Mr Lee Xin Le
Eunoia Junior College
19-A5 / Class of 2020
Mr Wong is an inspiring teacher as he has used a wide variety of ways to exemplify his teaching, while also being very interactive with his students in class, which enriches our learning experience with him. Mr Wong is also an extremely dedicated teacher who is not afraid of going the extra mile for his students, always ready to pick out his own time for us. He has made the IMMERSE learning program to help out struggling students, broadening views and expanding perspectives through the use of weekly reading materials combined with writing activities. He has also had his own content lessons outside of curriculum for all students eager to learn more, even though he did not have to do it, which has allowed students of all abilities to learn at their own pace. He has also provided positive feedback for his students, never forgetting to encourage them to go on and persevere with GP even though it will be a tough and long journey. Mr Wong is also a very motivated person, having a lot of vigour and energy for everything that he does. He also never hesitates to clear up any doubts with his students, offering up many consultation slots for his students, while allocating set slots for learning groups for people who are struggling. As such, I do believe Mr Wong to be a very inspiring teacher.
Ms Leia Ong Rui En
Eunoia Junior College
EJC Press / Class of 2021
Mr Wong is my CCA (Press) teacher and he may not teach me GP but he inspires my CCA mates and I in lots of different ways. He teaches us about the role of Press in the real world, while giving us insightful methods to evaluate content. For example, he emphasises the importance of navigating tensions between more controversial topics to tackle these with nuance, sometimes going beyond what's taught in GP. Furthermore, he's very genuine and sincere in teaching and really affable with us.
Kevin’s efforts mean that many Singaporeans both within and outside of the Portuguese Eurasian community are now being exposed to Kristang for the very first time. Through Kevin’s search and outreach, many elderly speakers are reuniting with old friends and acquaintances, and making new connections and friends. Some of them now help out with the classes, including both of Kevin’s grandparents. Many younger Portuguese Eurasians are now encountering Kristang for the first time, whether through social media or hearing about it from online news channels that have profiled Kevin’s work, and they are coming forward to learn the language. Even some young non-Portuguese Eurasians have decided that this language is an important enough part of their shared Singapore heritage to learn at a class every week.
​
The Eurasian Association recognises that the preservation of the Portuguese Eurasian language Kristang is an important undertaking that requires sustained and committed attention. Kevin’s energy and devotion to the language and to our community are truly admirable and we fully support what he hopes to achieve. His efforts, recognised and supported by the wider international community will help revive Kristang, a valuable part of our nation’s heritage and cultural fabric.
Mr Benett Theseira
President of the Eurasian Association of Singapore, 2012-2018
Ms Olive Edema
Kodrah Kristang
Group 1
Kodrah Kristang in many ways has impacted my life. I am from the pioneer group in [the College of Alice & Peter Tan]. I have made many new like-minded friends. We converse in Kristang, it is so fun. Before this I only spoke Kristang with my family because I wanted to keep my Kristang heritage alive. Kevin's classes are interesting, lively, interactive and engaging. We have learnt many new words which have added much more depth to the language. After each session I look forward to the next one. Our trip to Malacca and our occasional get togethers have bonded us as a family which is extremely encouraging. The power of language brings people like us together. I am happy, thankful and proud to belong to this group.
Ms Agnes Pereira
Kodrah Kristang
Group 1
To see the revival of the language that was spoken by my parents, grandparents, sibilings and friends during my growing up years has brought back fond memories. Now being able to learn it more in depth and hearing it spoken by many makes me proud to be a part of the Kodrah Kristang group. The classes have inspired young and old alike, lessons are fun and interactive, especially with the games so well planned and incorporated in the lesson plan. I hope more will join this inspiring group of young adults who have taken pride in our "heritage" and imparting their knowledge of the endangered language of the Portuguese-Eurasians. A big "Thank You" to Kevin & his vibrant and enthusiastic Team for setting the language into gear again.
Ms Francesca Drose
Kodrah Kristang
Group 3
Kevin and his team are doing excellent work here in Singapore. As an elderly student I am so proud that he has made Kristang accessible and easy for all. He and his team is still working tirelessly to keep the language fresh and fun. As a student I am proud to get back to rediscover my birth language. Kevin has opened up a brave new world for many of us.
The first day I sat in that Kristang class, I knew my life was about to change. Something sparked in me and the vibes in that class just said that something big was about to begin. In 30 years of my life, I have never quite felt a sense of true belonging to the country as I have in Kevin’s Kristang classes.
​
Ms Cassandra Gayle Anthonisz
Kodrah Kristang Group 1
With so much love always to those who made me the teacher, mestri and person that I am today