EAST 27th Commencement
This year, EAST held our 27th Commencement at EAST Mission Hub and livestreamed it to over 100 viewers on Youtube and Zoom. It was a celebration of the graduation of both 2020 and 2021’s cohorts of graduates from EAST’s resident school in Singapore and a cohort of East Extension Centre’s (EEC) graduates from East Asia. We had 23 graduates from 2020, 11 graduates from 2021 and 18 graduates from EEC, in total 52 graduates at the commencement. 4 graduated from Partners-in-Ministry Certificate, 3 from Graduate Diploma, 22 from Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry, 11 from Master of Arts, and 12 from Master of Divinity. The graduates come from East Asia, Central Asia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mongolia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
Want to catch a glimpse of 27th Commencement Service? See below for the video and click here to view the Commencement 2021 magazine.
Locked down for good
Thomas Kwok Chuek Hang (Hong Kong), MDiv Teaching & Exposition
When Singapore went into ‘Circuit Breaker’ on 7th April 2020 to curb the spread of COVID-19, Thomas Kwok’s world was turned upside down and inside out.
“All schools, offices, and eating places were closed,” says the Information Engineering graduate from Chinese University of Hong Kong. “We couldn’t go out except to do basic essentials like getting groceries and doing exercises.”
So, to escape from being cooped up in the dorm, Thomas took to exercising outdoors every day. This developed into a routine that made all the difference to his final days at EAST.
Partners in Ministry eOpen House
EAST Partners-in-Ministry (PIM) Program headed by Mrs Margaret Chan and supported by PIM Faculty like Mrs Agnes Liong, Mrs Yao Eng Meng and Mrs Josephine Li held its inaugural eOpen House on 10 May. A total of 29 participants with past PIM Alumni and potential students were in attendance. The alumni who attended shared how the PIM Program had benefitted them in their lives and ministries. The potential students were able to ask questions in a more intimate setting through 5 breakout sessions in smaller groups over Zoom and find out more details of the PIM Program.
Malaysian Alumni: Breakthroughs During Pandemic
(L-R) Dr Tan Sin Guan, Seraphines (18), Dr Voon Yee Bin, Zechariah (20), Matthias (23)
Recently, EAST News got in touch with Dr Tan Sin Guan and Dr Voon Yee Bin who graduated from EAST in 1999 with an MDiv and an MA respectively. They have many sweet memories of EAST. Their eldest son Matthias was even born while they were both here. Matthias learned to walk in the school library at Dorset Road when he accompanied his young parents to EAST. Fast forward to today, Matthias has graduated from Messiah University in the USA and is preparing to enter the workforce. He has a younger brother Zechariah, 20, and sister Seraphines, 18.
Updates from The Stroks
Imro and Cynthia Stroks are EAST Alumni who graduated in 2017. With their Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry, the couple served in Timor Leste for six months. They had been sent there by their home church under the care of a mission agency. Originally, the plan was to spend a year in the capital of Timor Leste, Dili, to learn the local language. The COVID pandemic forced them to return home in March 2020.
EAST Library Catalogue
EAST Populi
National Library Board eResources
The Digital Theological Library
