Looking Back At 23 March 2015

The day Mr Lee died is still vivid in the memory of General Paper (GP) teacher, Mr Sum. Mar 23 was also the first day of Term Two for students and lessons had to go on.

"It was really an educator's dilemma because: What do you do as a teacher? Because this is live material," said Mr Sum.

A documentary he watched that morning on Mr Lee helped resolve that dilemma, inspiring a last-minute change in his lesson plans for the week.

It turned out to be a GP lesson he now intends to repeat every year.

Said Mr Sum: "Even as an older Singaporean, I was not aware of the material and background behind the policy that they made, and I thought: 'Come on, the young ones need to know this'.

"I I tried to put together a lesson and themed it legacy and greatness. So I decided to just wing it, 15 years of teaching, I think I can manage this. I let the students watch the footage and from there I facilitated discussion".

Mr Sum added: "Some of them chose to write to Mr Lee to thank him, some wrote to Mr Lee Hsien Loong's family to show support and offer of prayers."