{"id":9278,"date":"2025-08-21T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/?p=9278"},"modified":"2025-08-25T10:07:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T02:07:42","slug":"from-a-piano-in-singapore-to-a-friendship-across-continents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2025\/08\/21\/from-a-piano-in-singapore-to-a-friendship-across-continents\/","title":{"rendered":"From a Piano in Singapore to a Friendship Across Continents"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Mr Raymond Chan\u00a0(Music \u201913) was just 17 when he arrived in Singapore on a high school orchestra tour from New Zealand. His group was visiting the NUS Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM), and it was the school\u2019s Deputy Director of Student Life, Mr Tan Wei Boon (Engineering \u201999, MEng \u201903), who gave them the tour. \u201cThere was this one moment where we were gathered in front of a grand piano, and Wei Boon asked if anyone played. I put my hand up and played something. I think that\u2019s why he remembered me, and I remembered him [when I later applied],\u201d Mr Chan recalled.<\/p>

That small moment would become the first step in a formative journey. Months later, Mr Chan was accepted to NUS. It was Mr Tan himself who flew to New Zealand with a professor to audition him. \u201cI was very blown away that a university would fly staff all the way just to audition me,\u201d Mr Chan said. \u201cIt made a big impression, and the fact that we had dinner before the audition made it feel very personal. That set the tone for the next four years.\u201d<\/p>

As a first-year international student far from home, Mr Chan faced the usual mix of excitement and disorientation.<\/p>

\u201cHomesickness is real,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re far from your family, and on top of that, there were a lot of struggles with understanding the culture and dealing with the new workload at university.\u201d <\/p>

This was where Mr Tan stepped in again \u2014 not merely as an administrator, but as a mentor and friend.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mr Chan (second from left) stands with Mr Tan (third from left) during freshman orientation at NUS. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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THE SMALL GESTURES THAT MATTERED<\/strong><\/p>

It is with great fondness that Mr Chan recalled how Mr Tan helped him settle in, both emotionally and practically. \u201cHe would let me sit in his office and vent. He listened, even though he was busy,\u201d he said. Mr Tan also helped Mr Chan with practical matters, from setting up his room to buying furniture, even going as far as assisting with sticking mirror tiles on the wall using generous amounts of Blu Tack. Such experiences, Mr Chan added, influenced how he would treat others in the future.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"Following
Following a career as a conductor, Mr Chan now works in the real estate industry. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Following a career as a conductor, Mr Chan now works in the real estate industry. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Years later, after a career in conducting and now based in New Zealand working in the real estate industry, Mr Chan found himself mentoring a university student. \u201cHe\u2019s the same age gap with me as I was with Wei Boon. And I found myself reflecting on the same things that Wei Boon did for me,\u201d he noted. \u201cI would take him shopping, share life learnings and even invited him to intern at my office. I don\u2019t think I would have done that if not for the positive impact Wei Boon had on me.\u201d<\/p>

For Mr Tan, this kind of support was instinctive. \u201cI don\u2019t go around looking to do special things for people,\u201d he shared. \u201cBut I\u2019ve always had an open-door policy. Anyone can come into my office.\u201d<\/p>

His approach was shaped by his university experience, where he realised the importance of accessible support. He therefore made it a point to be more available, especially to international students who often arrive alone, without family or support. Recognising how overwhelming university life can be, he believed it was important not to add to that stress.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mr Tan (second from left) and Mr Chan (third from left) during the latter\u2019s graduation dinner. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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A BOND THAT TRANSCENDS TIME AND SPACE<\/strong><\/p>

Though Mr Chan left Singapore after graduation, he continued to stay in touch with Mr Tan. \u201cWe don\u2019t speak often, but when we do, we pick up right where we left off,\u201d he said. They saw each other again recently, more than a decade after their first meeting.<\/p>

Looking back, he believes that Mr Tan\u2019s influence went far beyond that of an educational mentor. \u201cWei Boon is one of the three most influential people I had before I turned 30.\u201d He added: \u201cIt\u2019s not about quantity, it\u2019s the quality of the friendship. What I remember from NUS isn\u2019t so much the theory or even the performances. It\u2019s the late-night suppers, the tea and coffee life musings, the chats in Wei Boon\u2019s office. That\u2019s what I took away with me.\u201d<\/p>

Meanwhile, Mr Tan continues to invest in his students by being present for them. \u201cIt is often the conversations that you have with the students that are very precious, because that stays with you for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Mr Tan Wei Boon welcomed a teenage musician from New Zealand to NUS, neither expected a bond that would endure for over a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":9976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9278"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9289,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9278\/revisions\/9289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}