Several Yinsonites, including Group Chief Executive Officer Lim Chern Yuan, had the amazing experience of teaching alongside our Teach For Malaysia (“TFM”) Fellows in special co-teaching sessions held in conjunction with TFM Week. The lessons were held virtually.

Lim co-taught a Form 5 Mathematics lesson on statistics with TFM Fellow Sew Jun Wu, while Corporate Communications Manager Jessica Lim co-taught a Form 2 Science lesson on heat and energy with TFM Fellow Mohamad Erwan Menterang. The sessions were also joined by Director of Group CEO Office Chai Jia Jun, Manager Corporate Sustainability Benjamin Ang and Corporate Communications Assistant Manager Sam Jo Lene.

Singapore comedian Mark Lee also made a surprise guest appearance in Sew’s class, much to the delight of the students.

It was an eye-opening experience for the co-teachers from Yinson, as they experienced the various challenges that came about due to the virtual nature of the classes.

“It is humbling to see the immense effort that teachers have to put in to adapt to the new normal that we live in. I think it is much harder to keep engagement levels up in this virtual environment – especially given that many students in this demographic don’t have access to good computers or even stable internet connections. More than ever, Yinson is committed to supporting teachers through our partnership with Teach For Malaysia,” commented Lim.

Jessica said that she was truly inspired by the effort taken by the teachers to keep the classes lively and connect personally to the students.

“Erwan shared with me that many students had to share a mobile phone with their siblings, taking turns to tune in to classes. Others have just stopped coming to class entirely. He takes the time to contact students personally and hangs out with them outside of class hours to build relationships, and this has been helpful in getting students to attend classes. I am truly inspired by what he, and other TFM Fellows, are doing to fight education inequity, especially during these challenging times,” shared Jessica.

TFM Week is an annual event which welcomes leaders from the public, private, and social sector into classrooms to experience the challenge of education inequity, and to inspire students by sharing their own education and success stories.

Yinson has been a corporate sponsor of TFM since 2019.