James Kee-Jim Yeo

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      I was born in Penang, Malaysia, in 1935. The country was a colony of the British Empire, on which the sun at that time reputedly could never set. Penang was a little island in the Straits of Malacca, sandwiched between the mainland and Sumatra, Indonesia. It was part of the centuries-old international trade sea-lane connecting the eastern and western hemispheres, and functioned as an essential entrepot, collecting produce and other natural resources (primarily tin and rubber) from the mainland and exporting them all over the world.

   My father was a book-keeper from Taiwan; and my mother was a government hospital-trained midwife who was born in China but grew up in Bangkok, Thailand. They had met while studying in the Malayan Seminary in Singapore (then one of the eleven states of Malaya) run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This institution would later grow into the better-known Southeast Asia Union College during the 1950s.

   The family connection to the SDA Church started with my maternal grandfather who emigrated from Swatow on the south coast of China to Bangkok around the turn of the 20^th century in search of work. He joined the church through the ministry of pastors Ezra L. Longway and F.A. Pratt (classmates at Lancaster Junior College, Massachusetts, who began our church work in Bangkok in 1919).

   Shortly after finishing school in Singapore, my parents married and moved to Penang.

   The firestorm of World War II descended on Malaya with the bombing of Penang in December of 1941. I remember my parents hovering over us, herding us into bomb shelters and hiding under heavy teak tables. Other sketchy memories included frequent blackouts and soldiers marching through the streets. During the lulls, funeral pyres burned in the Buddhist temple behind the quarters where we lived.

   The most catastrophic event in my early life was when my mother unexpectedly died at the end of the war. My brother was 6, my sister was 4, and my father was far from his home in Taiwan. There were no relatives close by and so as my father focused on keeping us together as best he could, I would be his substitute and be in charge whenever he was at work.

     When I was seventeen and had finished high school, he allowed me to travel half a world away (five weeks on the open sea in a Dutch freighter) to California and Pacific Union College to get an education. It was a work-study arrangement, but the opportunity of a lifetime. All of my friends worked hard hours on or off-campus anyway.

   In 1956 I was accepted to CME to study medicine. Money was always short, but fortunately after the second year, I received my certification in medical technology. I remember working many nights with John Wong (“Short John”) in this capacity and attending classes all the next day. Other funds were lent to me by generous friends, without security and interest-free. These were sums that I would systematically pay back over my working years. At graduation time in 1960, roommate John Wang (“Long John”) learned that I was three hundred dollars short for school fees. He then asked his father to lend me the money so that I could pick up my diploma.

   In 1967, when I had finished my surgery training, classmate John Wong invited me to set up practice in West Covina (where he was) so that we could cover each other when one of us was out of town. This has been my location ever since.

   I married Philomine Hsu (who was born in Beijing and is a graduate in dietetics from La Sierra University) in 1963 and we have two children: Karen E. Yeo ’95, and Geoffrey A. Yeo. The former loved playing with and caring for children while the latter enjoyed physics and mathematics and couldn’t stand needles or the sight of blood.

   My recreation time is spent in practicing the piano (I started in grade school), studying music, and being the handyman around the house. There are also three grandchildren to keep amused.

   I have thought often and long about the opportunities I gained from our family’s extended association with the SDA Church and its educational system. Even though the costs were daunting and literally took years to repay, my life has been immeasurably fulfilled because of the church’s reaching out. There is also no putting a price on all the good people in whose lives I may have been privileged to make a difference; and the sterling friends I have made in my career.

   On looking back, I do see the Good Lord’s blessings all along the way. There were setbacks, but good outcomes far outnumbered the disasters. For all these I will be forever grateful.