What do you do? What is it like? How do you see the world through that area of passion? Little U features guest speakers who are highly experienced in their fields to answer questions from open learners!
This is the second year of Little U‘s Guest Speakers. The idea is to develop your appetite for lifelong learning from experts in their fields. How do you get good answers to questions? From people who are really good in what they do.
Little U’s Guest Speakers Series wants your family – tweens to parents (aged 9 – adults) – to be exposed to diverse careers and interesting people in Singapore. It doesn’t matter if you do not pursue these fields as jobs; be willing to open your perspectives on life. Don’t think little of your tweens. In Year 1, we found that they had great questions for the speakers! Yes, they fidget but they do have good listening skills. One teen who attended a talk went on to intern in a guest speaker’s company. Abigail Teo, our teen coordinator for the Guest Speaker series said the programme opened her mind to different careers.
Remember. It is people who write books, curriculum, who make inspiring art. Go to the source of these great books and ideas. Get up close and personal. Learn from life’s educators.”
Dawn Fung
Little U Founder
Guest Speaker Series Team for Little U Year 2, 2019-2020
These two homeschool teen interns have the enviable task of inviting our guest speakers, organising the logistics and hosting each event. Abigail started with the Guest Speaker Series Team since Year 1. You may email Abigail and Jordan for more queries.
Guest Speakers for Little U Year 2, 2019-2020
June 25, 1030am. Jason Wong. He spent over 23 years in the civil service, having held positions such as the Deputy Director cum Chief of Staff of the Prisons Service, CEO of SCORE (Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises), and Senior Director working with at-risk children and youth at the Ministry of Social and Family Development. He initiated the Yellow Ribbon Project in 2004, and the Dads for Life movement in 2009. Jason currently volunteers his time to help build strong families. He is married with 2 children, a 23 year-old daughter and an 18 year-old son. Read an interview here
July 1, 1030am (Central). Loh Lik Peng.
He is a hotelier and restaurateur of boutique hotels and restaurants in five major cities. Unlisted Collection is the umbrella brand that binds all of his design-driven boutique hotels and restaurants in Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney and London together. Read an interview here
August 12, 1030am (East). Dr Tan Siong San and Dr Rebecca Yap. Meet this couple of doctors!
He is a Surgeon who specialises in cutting up Liver, Gallbladder and Pancreas. (HPB for short, Hepatopancreatobiliary for long). When not in OT (operating theatre), he enjoys listening to music with a glass of whisky in hand at home. His kids are no longer accepting the noble answer of “saving lives” as the reason why he is home late. What does it take to be a surgeon who is always on call to save lives? Come and find out.
She is a GP who was trained in Paediatrics. At 12 years of age, she announced to her mum that she wanted to go to the University of Melbourne to study Medicine. Currently homeschooling 2 kids, with the occasional locum work at a GP clinic, she remains passionate about Medicine, a dream that came true. Meet two very different individuals with very different family backgrounds and very different journeys into Medicine.
September 2, Mon. 1030am (Tampines). Luo Ling Ling. She enjoys working on complex criminal matters, with a focus on white collar crimes and capital offences. Notably, she was appointed Amicus Curiae by the High Court in the case of PP v Gunasilan (2017), to conduct cross-examination of the Prosecution’s witness in a capital offence. In PP v Alfian bin Abdul Rahim and another (2018), Ling Ling saved a man from the gallows after a full trial in a drug trafficking charge, while the other accused person in the same trial was sentenced to death. Ling Ling is an accredited mediator and is also appointed to the Family Panel, an Expert Panel in the Singapore Mediation Centre and recently appointed Lead Counsel Register for Legal Aid Scheme for Capital Offences. Article about her here
October 3, Thu. 1030am (Bedok). Tong Yee. He is a social entrepreneur and civil society leader in Singapore. Having initially co-founded the School of Thought to promote innovation in character education and civic learning, he now leads The Thought Collective — one of the largest groups of social enterprises in Singapore. Largely reputed for their work in social capital and social infrastructure development, Tong Yee often finds himself sought after as an inspiring and innovative thought leader that leads in all manner of community and organizational development. He currently sits on a number of national committees, serving as a Member of the National Youth Council, the ACCORD Council (defense), the Families for Life council, the Media Literacy Council, and is on the Advisory Committee for Youth Corps Singapore. Read an interview here
November 4, Mon. 11am (Tampines). Subaraj Rajathurai. “Many of Singapore’s nature reserves exist due to the efforts of a few individuals like Subaraj Rajathurai: Self-taught naturalist and veteran wildlife consultant. Over the last 35 years, he campaigned peacefully behind the scenes to preserve some of Singapore’s well-loved ecosystems. In 1988, he and three others drafted a proposal to save Sungei Buloh, a mangrove forest in northwest Singapore which was slated for redevelopment by the government. Thanks to their perseverance, the wetland was declared a nature park six years later. In 1992, Subaraj was also part of the research team responsible for saving the 123.8 hectares of forest at Lower Peirce Reservoir.”Source
Read his interview here
December 7, 11am (Potong Pasir). Lee Laoshi. Lee Laoshi, hailed by some in the homeschooling community as the sweetest Chinese teacher who teaches the child, not the curriculum.
台湾暨南大学辅导与咨商硕士、南洋艺术学院纯美术系，资深学前教育导师，拥有20年学前教学经验，对儿童成长、心理和教养有丰富的经验和认识。专长为学前教育课程设计、教材编制计划、特殊儿童教育经验、提供教师培训、教师督导与评估，曾参与编写小学低年级课程、曾为联合早报、小学读物画插画。创办画话屋，从事艺术工作17年，利用表达性艺术媒材接触成人、儿童内心最深之处。
My current expertise is in the area of enrichment education for children with different abilities & special needs and I hope to implement effective programmes to benefit all children and families in the long run. Having 25 years of experience in Early Childhood Education curriculum teaching and art development as well as teacher training and mentoring, I have developed a strong suit towards learning approaches that cater to children with a spectrum of abilities and strengths. Furthermore, with my Master’s Degree in Education majoring in Counselling, I believe I can design learning approaches that can help children with their social and emotional learning such as self-reflection, self-management, social awareness, relationships skills, and responsible decision-making. As such, I’m using these strengths to enhance children’s interest and cohesion with art and language.
January 14, Mon, 1030am
(Toa Payoh) Bryan Tan. He is the CEO of Dads for Life and the Centre for Fathering. Formerly a senior officer with the Singapore Armed Forces, he made a mid-career switch to the social service sector to serve fathers and the “fatherless” in our nation. He is happily married to Adriana, an entrepreneur, and they have three wonderful children, Michael, 10; Joshua, 6; and Deborah, 3. Read his interview here
February 3, Mon, 1030am (North). Andie Ang. She is president of the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), on her upcoming projects in primate conservation. She holds a Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder). Her research interest lies in the ecology, behaviour, and population genetics of Asian colobines (langurs and odd-nosed monkeys). Specifically she studies the Raffles’ banded langurs in Singapore and Malaysia, Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys, Indochinese silvered langurs and black-shanked doucs in Vietnam, and have previously studied the white-handed gibbons in Thailand. Read an interview here
- The Little U Guest Speakers Pass (2019-2020) is free for Little U Faculty and Year 1’s Guest Speakers (pls put in your code). Passes are not transferable.
- We start and end on time. Latecomers may not be admitted until a suitable interval.
- Each talk is 40 minutes, including Q&A time, no breaks. If you want to bring your little ones, pls bring a busybag for them to do.
The registration for Guest Speakers Series is CLOSED. Join us in Year 3 when it re-opens!