THEORIZING ARCHITECTURE EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY By Christopher David Ng Man King
ABSTRACT
The education journey of Ar. Yew Kuok Chuan started in 1978 when he started from Pre-Primary school in the neighbourhood of Bukit Mertajam, where he used to live as well. His Primary and Secondary Education were pursued in SMJK Jit Sim, an institute famous for its large numbers of successful students scoring straight A’s or near to Straight A’s. It is said that as from the time Ar. Yew Kuok Chuan was admitted to the institution until nowadays, the school has kept its reputation of success. As mentioned from the school’s criteria, they do not tolerate results under straight A’s or near to straight A’s. As from this statement, it can be concluded that the Architect is an individual of massive knowledge and capabilities, but the question is still to be answered, “ How did he success there?” and “how does these advantageous qualities made him into the person he is nowadays?”.
THE DECISIVE MOMENT: ENTERING UNIVERSITY LIFE Ar. Yew Kuok Chuan or let just call him Mr. Yew Kuok Chuan at that time was still not an architect, most probably he would not be. All started the day he made that choice and when he did made it, to many people, his response towards the fact that he wanted to join the brotherhood of Architects was quite blur. All started the day he graduated from SMJK Jit Sim High School for his STPM. Being a gentle and smart looking person, he was at that time under the spell love, somehow many will call it “Teenage Love”. Being very close and attached to his girlfriend, he did not have the thought of leaving her on her own track as well as he did not have any idea of where to go and what to study. The “Juliette” of his, at that time, which mentioning that the event occurred in 1990, was applying at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) where she enrolled for Architecture course, as well as KC Yew. Being enrolled into a totally new world, he had no idea of what was waiting for him. By theorizing this event, it can be deducted that he was dragged in by other’s influence, but none happens without a reason in life. Subconsciously, he made the best decision that would start off his journey. He spent five (5) years in USM where he found himself into moments of despair and joy. Unfortunately, some years later, KC Yew and his girlfriend part aside and no trace of her remained in his life. In fact that can be considered as the boost up of his passion and perseverance for art and knowledge. During the course of his University journey, KC Yew was exposed to the discovery of new skills. Unless the fact, that he was on the way to quit the course numerous times, his perseverance and rage to succeed brought him up. KC Yew being described as persistent, proactive and responsible person unless that fact that he was never oppressed or pressure by his parents, turned out to be a person of great principals and reasons which made him succeed from step to step in his educational journey.
PERSONALITY VS. EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY PERSISTENCY, PROACTIVITY, THINKING AND RESPONSIBILITY are the main special features of KC Yew. The question to the asked in this case is “how did these qualities affect his architectural education?”
Architecture is a great word, which symbolizes fame and wealth, but it also hides in rigorous hours of thinking and persistency to keep going. As stated above, he chose not to give up because of his responsibilities towards his people, which on the other side worked out into his advantage. During his journey in USM, he built up skills to plan project processes and how to recognize various skills in other people, which can be deduced that Mr. KC Yew acquired the skills of Leadership from a very young age or maybe this skill was just hiding within him and was waiting to be unleashed. He was also successful in-group assignment at his university time, which can be related to his abilities of leadership. First of all, the fact that he was passionate about comics and drawings since the very young age brought him flourished skills during his tertiary studies. His creativity and craziness translated into his attitude has grown from his very young age to his student life. His theory about architecture has always been about the art of creating a better trend for people to adapt for the best. Therefore, it can be said that at this time due to his exposure to this kind of art, built up his personality. The second factor talks about his persistency to succeed. Being an architecture student first of all requires determination and sacrifices, which Ar. Yew Kuok Chuan at that time did not mind about it. But at the time when the course of events was starting to get hard as talking of heavy workloads and intense hours of creation and exploration, he did not give up. His persistency at that time grew even bigger as he is a man of honor and pride. He has pride into his self-achievement and failure was never an excuse for him to quit midway of any journey. The third factor of his personality talks about the art of leadership. Ar. KC Yew at that time started learning how to lead his teammates during university projects. Of course, he is a man of various skills but he chose to explore more in particular the skill to monitor and manage projects. As said before, KC Yew has a sharp eye to recognize people’s abilities, perhaps the fact that he has this ability had him successful during his time at USM. Summing up the facts about Ar. KC Yew’s Education Journey, the four main characteristics of his personality mentioning, PERSISTENT, PROACTIVE, and RESPONSIBLE and THINKING can be recognized as being the parts of him, which flowered and made him the person he is today. Persistency and proactivity brought him skills to predict situation which is very important in the world of Architecture as designs are created whereas situations are flexible and can’t be predicted. However his sense of responsibility brought into context the fact that it is the main reason behind his persistency to achieve any kind of success.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Jit Sin High School. (2014, August 18). Retrieved October 6, 2014. Universiti Sains Malaysia. (2014, September 2). Retrieved October 6, 2014.