One last song: Some 2,500 people including students, teachers and Board of Directors of Chong Hwa High School in Kluang, Johor lined the roadside leading to the school Monday morning (June 23, 2025) for a funeral procession.
They sang the school song to the late principal Goh Siew Yin when the hearse made a brief stop at the school’s entrance.
Siew Yin who had served in the school for 30 years passed away suddenly on June 20, 2025.
An exemplary figure who is loved and cherished by many who knew her, she thrived in adversity and her life story is one that redefines success in her own way.
A brilliant career spanning five decades, Siew Yin became her family’s breadwinner at the age of 17, cycling to give tuition to students in her hometown in Ipoh, Perak.
Her last position was the principal of a high -performance school, Chong Hwa High School in Kluang.
Those were the days …Siew Yin (third row, 10th from left) with her classmates and teacher from Raja Perempuan Secondary School in Ipoh, Perak in the 1970s.
By Foong Pek Yee
foongpekyee@gmail.com.
June 26, 2025
Photos of wake and funeral : johor.sinchew.com.my
LIKE her classmates, Siew Yin was also a giggling teenager.
But she was always the one who quickly put the situation together and got down to business.
In fact Siew Yin’s charisma and leadership was apparent from a young age.
The smartest and brightest among her circle of classmates, Siew Yin was also the life of the party.
Due to financial constraints, she became a tuition teacher right after completing her MCE (Malaysia Certificate of Education equivalent to Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) at the age of 17.
Overnight the teenager became the breadwinner of her family (her mother and elder sister).
Rain or shine, Siew Yin from Ipoh would ride a bicycle to her students’ house to give tuition.
She moved into the next phase of her life in the late 1990s after she got married and settled down in Johor.
She went on to become a teacher and pursued her tertiary education on a part time basis, commuting between Kluang and Kuala Lumpur.
Last year, Siew Yin who has a degree and Masters, was promoted to principal of Chong Hwa High School, Kluang – a high -performance school where she had served for the last 30 years.
And her only child, Liew Jia Yee in her 20s, has graduated from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and working in the city state currently.
” For once Siew Yin was talking about retirement end of this year (2025),” recalls her friend Chut Fong who has kept in touch with her all the while.
But it was not meant to be.
Siew Yin passed away unexpectedly in Kluang last Friday (June 20, 2025).
She was due for retirement end of the year after 50 years of teaching; comprising 20 years as a tuition teacher in Ipoh and 30 years as a teacher in Chong Hwa High School, Kluang.
A happy occasion…Siew Yin was the bridesmaid for her friend Hau Yeen in 1984.
Family together…Siew Yin with her husband Liew Koi Song and their daughter Jia Yee in 2023.
A mother’s dream come true …Jia Yee is Siew Yin’s pride and joy and her graduation marked a milestone in her life.
Best friends… (from left: Hau Yeen, Yoot Moey, Chut Fong and Siew Yin) during one of their gatherings in Ipoh in December 2019.
The last gathering…It was May 11, 2025 when (from left) Siew Yin, Chut Fong, Sau Kuen, Yoot Moey and Hau Yeen met in Ipoh for lunch and dinner. Siew Yin’s health conditions deteriorated suddenly end of the month.
A solemn occasion…Friends, colleagues and students came to pay their last respects to Siew Yin who passed away in Kluang on June 20, 2025.
