Loving Science without Losing Faith- Ang Shee Yen

21 March 2014 by Adeline Lum CM-

Ang Shee Yen always had a passion for science in school but she never seemed to get good grades.

But God knew what she was capable of. Although Shee Yen did not believe in herself, God believed in her and sent her many remarkable teachers to encourage, teach, and groom her.

Today, she is no longer a student but a passionate teacher of a home school she started with David Wee and Milor Kong.

From left to right : Milor Kong, David Wee, Ang Shee Yen

“Just because someone did not do well in school, they are not fitted in science. That is the problem, they don’t do well in their school or exams, they feel that they cannot do science anymore…There are actually different ways of learning science,” said Shee Yen.

As she looked back, all the dots seemed to connect! She realized how the Lord has equipped her with skills, knowledge, and passion to teach the young ones science and mathematics, especially for those whose learning styles do not fit into the mainstream education, like her.

She understood how it felt to be different. But because of the dedication and patience of her private tutors in college—physics teacher Mr Moey and mathematics teacher Mr Chia—all her C’s in her science subjects became A’s in the end. This excellence in her academics empowered her to pursue her Chemical Engineering degree in Imperial College.

However, while her teachers helped her to redeem her confidence in science, her Christian faith plummeted after she read the Da Vinci Code written by Dan Brown.

She questioned whether the church was hiding anything from her. Without satisfactory answers from her pastors and Christian peers, she doubted her faith and found it hard to believe in God. All she was told is to have faith and avoid any literatures that contain information not found in the Bible.

Nevertheless, this period of doubting turned out to be the watershed of Shee Yen’s walk as a young Christian. It was the time she was first introduced to Christian apologetics, given book after book on apologetics by Pr Wilson Wong of Acts Church Kuala Lumpur during then.

One of her earliest recollection about learning apologetics is how the Bible was canonized through a thorough vetting by early scribes, supported by historical data found in various sources outside the Bible. As she read from cover to cover, Shee Yen began to develop a voracious appetite for apologetics!

Indeed, like what Selwyn Hughes who wrote the daily devotional Every Day with Jesus said, “Those who doubt most, and yet strive to overcome their doubts, turn out to be some of Christ’s strongest disciples.” Shee Yen became stronger in her faith, knowing that the Word of God is the truth.

Nevertheless, her faith was again tested when she completed her Master’s degree in London and worked as a researcher in Nottingham University. At that time, ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins was published, becoming a hot topic among her colleagues who were scientists and researchers.

They would taunt and challenge her Christian faith with questions such as ‘Why religion is causing war’ or ‘How can you say that God created the world, which have no scientific base?’

It almost appeared that people who believed in God had their intelligence assassinated. Scientists in particular appeared to have a difficult time in believing that God could exist without empirical data, shared Shee Yen.

But again, the Lord was good to Shee Yen. He sent her an ordained pastor and philosopher in England—Ian Wither—who graduated with a triple degree on Bible studies, sciences, and Master’s in Philosophy.

Heading the cell group together with Ian, Shee Yen was equipped and groomed to learn, answer, and even teach about apologetics.

Science, she learned is a subject that involved observation of laws or natural circumstances that happen in this world. It is a tool to understand the hands of God who created this world that we live in.

However, although Shee Yen grew in her understanding about apologetics, she found it challenging to adapt to her colleagues in UK, who were indulging in the binge-drinking and loose-lifestyle culture. This inadvertently led to persecution of her desire to live a life following Christ.

The final straw came when Shee Yen underwent a hurtful heartbreak. During that period as well, her close and supportive friends in church also for various reasons, got called to different parts of the world.

Having nowhere to turn to for support, Shee Yen began to contemplate in returning home to Malaysia. And while she pondered, she began to feel peace in her heart.

She knew exactly what she would do back home in Malaysia. And that is to teach children who were like her, those who could not fit into the mainstream education but had a passion to learn about science and mathematics.

Starting her home school for more than a year now in Damansara Uptown having returned from UK, the Lord has sent her students from various backgrounds, where a few of them were depressed, ostracized, and bullied in school before they were sent to her.

But because Shee Yen had experienced depression and emotional bullying before, she knew how her students felt and why they were quiet or withdrawn. And because she walked in their shoes, she also knew how to comfort her students with the same comfort she received from the Lord during her days in UK (2 Cor 1:4).

She understood how an encouragement, a gentle word, a listening ear, and a patient countenance built up a hurting person. Whatever her students’ academic achievements are, she wanted them to know that they are valuable in the eyes’ of God.

Besides wanting to redeem her students’ self-worth, Shee Yen held home schooling close to her heart because it allowed her to have smaller classes and design classes based on the specific needs of her students.

For example, when she teaches her Christian students, she would throw in fun nuggets about the Bible relating to physics, mathematics, and chemistry.

She shared that long before science began, Job already knew that the earth hangs in the atmosphere. And long before Louis Pasteur discovered bacteria, God already ordered the Israelites to wash their hands before meals to relinquish most of the bacteria, thus preserving their numbers.

This freedom of designing the syllabus according to needs allow her to incorporate more hands-on activities as well including discussion, videos, and experiments.

“I realized that it’s not one-teaching-method-fit-all…Different people have different learning (styles) in science, different ways. And I want to make it more hands-on by actually exploring,” said Shee Yen.

In starting this home school, the Lord has also sent her two skillful, talented, and passionate partner and advisor, who held strongly to the same ethical stand.

David Wee, director of the home school and also full-time engineer, is an expert in building robots. He teaches students how to build the robot hardware through tactile and kinesthetic learning.

Milor Kong, on the other hand, holds a PhD in programming and teaches students on software coding for robots. Hence, by learning about science and mathematics in books, the students get to apply these theories in building the robots.

Nonetheless, although home schooling held many benefits, Shee Yen saw the value and a place for both mainstream education and home schooling for all students.

While home school may be a good platform to teach students with different learning needs, students going to the mainstream education gain a wider exposure of people from different backgrounds and races.

Also, while mainstream education may be more goal-oriented or grade-focused, home schooling could emphasize more on character building and personal training of each student due to the higher attention the teacher can afford.

The question is then; Shee Yen shared, which education system is more suitable for the child?

Looking back, Shee Yen is thankful to God for all the teachers He brought into her life, who modeled patience, dedication, excellence, and thoroughness. Because of them, she succeeded in her academics, eventually embarking into becoming a researcher and apologetist. This is a unique position because it allowed her to continue loving science without losing her faith.

And truly, today, we need more teachers like Shee Yen who can explain how science is a tool to help us understand more the world that God created. Children do not need to grow up being forced to choose between their science and faith. But instead, they can be educated on how science is a integral part of their Christian worldview.

Also, all her life experiences, Shee Fen discovered, seemed to prepare her to become a teacher as well. Likewise, the Lord is also always preparing us—whatever our circumstances, situations or job currently is—for the next bigger role in life.

What we need to do is to walk step-by-step with him daily in our lives, work diligently, and follow our passion. And when skills, talents, and passion collide in one place called the sweet spot, going to work becomes a place to glorify God!

Have you found your sweet spot yet? Shee Yen has! Her skill, talents, and passion all converge into her becoming a teacher now.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/sciencebytesteaching for more information about the home school Shee Yen started in Damansara Uptown, called Science Bytes.