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By Matthias Chew
When Northland Secondary School teacher Allan Yeong was told that his cancer-stricken wife was dying, it was days before he was to accompany the school's Boys' Brigade pipe band to Jakarta for a regional competition.
The 52-year-old wanted out, but his wife insisted that he go. 'She said it was not on, and that I had to go because I couldn't let the children down. It was their dream to take part in the competition,' he told The Straits Times on Tuesday.
On the day of the competition, he received a call informing him that his wife was about to die. He rushed back to Singapore that afternoon, just in time to see her before she fell into a coma. She died that day, in June 2007.
BACKGROUND STORY
POSITIVE INFLUENCE
'I was called a tyrant in Secondary 2, and parents kept their children away from me. But Mr Yeong saw the good in me and made me pipe major. It allowed me to channel my passion for good.'
Former pipe band member D. Prakash, 24, on Mr Yeong
For his dedication to his students, Mr Yeong was one of this year's three winners of the Caring Teacher Awards. He was seen holding back his tears as he dedicated the award to his wife at the award ceremony on Tuesday at the Nanyang Technological University Alumni Club.
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