Ken Seng Tan

Memorial Service

Below are the transcripts from Ken Seng Tan's Memorial Service at the Univeristy of Waterloo on April 11, 2023.

Jiayue Zhang

Dear friends, colleagues, and family of Ken Seng,

My name is Jiayue Zhang. I am a third-year PhD student at the University of Waterloo. As one of the PhD student of Ken Seng, I stand here today with a heavy heart to pay tribute to a great professor, supervisor, and friend, Dr. Ken Seng Tan. I believe his sudden departure has left a void in our hearts that will never be filled. Today, I am honored to be able to share my thoughts and memories of him, with all of you.

Ken Seng was a visionary who understood the importance of international exchange programs in promoting cultural exchange and academic collaboration. Under his guidance, more than 200 students from CUFE and SWUFE came to the University of Waterloo for exchange in the past ten years. Many of us, including myself, would not have the opportunity to study abroad and meet so many excellent professors and classmates without Ken Seng's support and encouragement. Thanks to him, these students are either showing their academic power in the worldwide universities or holding crucial positions in leading global companies. He brightened our lives with his great contributions.

For me, the fortunate is, Ken Seng could serve as my supervisor throughout my undergraduate, master's, and Ph.D. studies. However, the unfortunate is, I become his last doctoral student.

Both Ken Seng and my parents were born in 1970, so for me, he sometimes acted as a parent, urging me to study and work hard, and sometimes acted as a life mentor, helping me overcome obstacles and find my way in life.

When I first arrived in Canada as an undergraduate, I felt like a fish out of water struggling to understand the English teaching style. My grades suffered as a result, and I felt like giving up. But then, Ken Seng came into my life like a guiding light. He saw the difficulty I was having so he explained every question on my test paper, taking the time to go through it from beginning to end. He even gave me a matching exercise book for the course. This simple act of kindness and encouragement helped me to push through and continue with my studies till now.

Throughout my PhD study, Ken Seng was still my source of inspiration and guidance. Even though he was in Singapore with a 12-hour time difference, he made it a priority to meet with me and Tony every week. I'll never forget those late-night meetings when he looked tired, but his excitement and enthusiasm for our research was always palpable. His valuable advice and unwavering support helped me to make rapid progress in my research.

Ken Seng was not just a teacher but a true friend to our students. His sense of humor, and approachable demeanor (dəˈmēnər) made it easy for students to connect with him, on a personal level. He went above and beyond to ensure his students feel cared and supported, even out of the school. He would personally cook delicious Malaysian-style food for us, inviting us into his home and making us feel like family. During sushi buffets, he would also recommend TV shows, showing a genuine interest in his students' lives beyond just academics. Ken Seng's dedication to students' success, both in our studies and personal lives, was truly invaluable.

Although Ken Seng has left us, his legacy lives on the countless lives he touched, and the academic contributions he made. He was an energetic, caring person who sincerely cared about his students and wanted us to be successful. As his last doctoral student, I will do my best to complete my studies, and inherit his strength of character, in order to carry forward his spirit in the academic world.

In closing, let us remember Ken Seng for the kindness, passion, and generosity. Let us honor his memory by continuing to pursue academic excellence, and leading an energetic life.  We will miss him dearly, but we also know that he is now at peace and happy in the distant sky, continuing to inspire and guide us from above.

You lit up so many lights, fulfilled countless dreams. The fireworks shine bright, just like your life’s show. Thank you, Ken Seng, for everything you have done for me and for all of us.

Rest in peace.

Bruce Fang

I have had the pleasure of knowing Ken Seng since I was in my Master’s program. The immediate impression I had of him upon our first acquaintance was “what a young bright professor”, yet I soon learned that his respected achievements in and contributions to academia and the actuarial society extend much beyond what can be praised by words. His kindness, warmth, dedication, and sense of humor made him a great role model that shall continue to motivate and enlighten his students in their future careers.   

To me, Ken Seng was a great teacher and mentor. He always made us feel warmly welcomed in his office before starting to show off his knowledge, enthusiasm, and obsessive passion for the research work of discussion. At the same time, he continuously pushed me beyond my comfort zones when solving complex problems, prompting me to think critically while striving for excellence in all aspects of our research field. I truly appreciate these experiences as those heavily contributed to bringing me to my “fearless” self today when facing the many challenges in work and life (and work-life balance).

To me, Ken Seng was not only a great teacher and mentor, but also a dear friend. I vividly remember the many chats we had. Not on papers but only on things in life: small or big, simple or complex. When we hit something funny, his laugh could be heard all across the hallway (sometimes this was how I could tell he was in his office before actually checking). One of the long conversations we had was when I consulted him about my future career path during a period when I lost my direction. It started with a casual exploration of the options I had until we went through the pros and cons of each. With utter sincerity, he suggested I ponder over the alternatives and commit to something I was truly passionate about, something I would not regret. As that iconic smile on his face never failed to inspire and encourage the people around him, I took his advice.

To Ken Seng: words cannot describe the soul-ripping sadness I felt about losing you from our lives, as well as how grateful I am for everything you have done for me. I still recall every scene in our most recent gathering on campus with Tony last summer when you came back for a visit. You looked happy and bright just like on the day we first met, and shared a lot of interesting stories and experiences. I waved you goodbye as I couldn’t join you for lunch, without knowing that goodbye would be the last farewell. I hope you rest in peace without the worries of papers and the countless emails from your students asking for reference letters, although you might have enjoyed those.

We will miss you, Ken Seng. We already do.

Please remember us, though you had travelled far.     

Paul Marriott

I remember very clearly when I arrived at Waterloo,  almost 20 years ago,  being welcomed by Ken Seng.  His  broad smile,  energy, and warmth made me feel completely at home and that Waterloo was the place I wanted to be. We did already have some points of contact.  My wife,  Anne, is a Malaysian like Ken Seng and we had had an apartment in Kuala Lumpur where Ken Seng’s family lived while I was working in Singapore.  At the time Anne’s mother was living with us and Ken Seng would come round to the house where we would share wonderful Malaysian meals.  Ken Seng bonded with Anne’s mother and they would spend a lot of time chatting in her dialect,  Hokkien, and she would prepare food that he could pack home. That Ken Seng would take time to make a newcomer to Canada feel at home was absolutely typical of his personality and the care that he had for everyone.

As a true Malaysian he loved to eat and to share meals with company. He would find great new restaurants and he delighted in showing them to us. One odd thing was that it always seemed that the restaurant’s  owners already seemed to be a friend of his.  Entering a restaurant in a group with him made us feel like we were also special. Often there was a particular ‘Ken Seng discount’ which, as a friend of Ken Seng, we somehow became eligible for.  One amazing thing was that despite his slim build and always youthful looks he was a champion eater. He would take over ordering  and huge amounts of food would arrive which he always managed to finished.  I feel that he packed so much activity into each day, at work, play and in taking time and effort with his friends and family, that all these calories were put to the best possible use!

He lived a full and remarkable life and we miss him greatly.

Tony Wirjanto

Hello, my name is Tony Wirjanto from the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science.

It is not easy for me to stand before you even just to say a few words in commemorating the extra-ordinary life and the incredible career of the late Ken Seng as we have heard so far from previous speakers. I have known Ken Seng as a friend and a colleague for a very long time. As a friend and a colleague, he was kind and generous, loyal and protective, curious and creative, and, above all, lots of fun to be around.

At this somber occasion, I will pick one experience that I had with him as fellow administrators to share with you.

In 2009, a Faculty of Mathematics’ research institute, known as IQFI and another Faculty of Mathematics’ research institute, known as IIRP, were morphed into a University Research Institute, known as WatRISQ. The Director of WatRISQ at that time, and thereafter, was the late Tom Coleman. At the time of the Institute’s inception, Tom was also the Dean of Math; so he decided to let Ken Seng and me, the two Associate Directors, and Jean Webster, the amazingly capable support staff, to run the Institute for the first two years until he finished his term as the Dean.

The first order of business for Ken Seng and me was to decide who did what for the Institute. Without much fanfare we quickly decided that Ken Seng would be involved in external activities and I would be involved in internal activities. Ken Seng chose to manage the external activities for the Institute because of his love for people; for connection with people; for travelling around the globe; and for making things happen in the most unexpected ways and in the most unexpected places.

Once this was out of the way, the next order of business was to secure external donation to support the Institute’s activities. At a meeting among the four of us, Ken Seng espoused his view rather forcefully that a large number of small companies as donors was better than a small number of large companies. I jokingly have referred to it as KST’s Law of Large of Small Numbers. Seriously through his tireless effort at this, we did manage to secure donation from a relatively large number of small companies in financial and insurance sectors.

The point that I am trying to get across is that Ken Seng was embracing and practicing the concepts of equality, diversity and inclusivity at a time when these terms were still largely foreign to most of us and long before they became popular buzzwords in public domain. Indeed he was embracing and practicing these three concepts throughout his life and his career because these were genuine reflections of his innate personality traits that had come to define him as a friend and as a colleague to many of us. These words, I think, are worth uttering today and hereafter, whenever we speak of the late Ken Seng. Thank you for this opportunity.

Changbao Wu

I joined the department in 1999, with my first office on the 6^th floor of the MC building. I immediately noticed a baby-faced young man who looked like a graduate student and whose smiles and laughter were penetrating in the hallways. It turned out that he was Ken Seng Tan, a young faculty member who joined the department the year before. Over the next few years, Ken Seng was like a treasure box full of surprises.

Ken Seng had a skinny body frame, but surprisingly, he was very athletic and was competitive in playing many sports, including but not limited to basketball, badminton, tennis, squash, and pingpong. Even more surprising from Ken Seng’s skinny body frame was the reveal that he was a gigantic buffet eater. It was the year 2002 or 2003 we had a group of friends and families having a holiday dinner at King’s Buffet near the Fairview Mall in Kitchener. Many people stopped eating after two trips to the food table. Ken Seng went for four times plus two additional trips for dessert.

Ken Seng was born and raised in Malaysia. Surprisingly, his knowledge in Chinese literature and his ability in Chinese language were simply stunning. He knew many old Chinese stories and the ancient poems from the Tang and Song dynasties. He spoke fluently in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hakka, the language mostly spoken in Fujian and Taiwan. I was in complete shock when Ken Seng wrote down his name in Chinese: it was “Chen Jian Cheng”. My wife’s name is “Chen Jian Chuan”, the same family name, the same second character. This typically happens among brothers and sisters from the same family. And indeed, Ken Seng’s ancestors and my father-in-law were from the same Fujian province. One’s mother’s brother is called “Jiu Jiu” in Chinese. There were couple times at the parties when both my daughter Miranda and Ken Seng were there, I would say “Come over Miranda, this is your Jiu Jiu Ken Seng”.

When the department first moved to M3 in 2011, I remember one day I was trying to find Ken Seng in his office. He was not there but left a sticker note on his door: “Not in today, back tomorrow”. So, I came the next day, the same sticker remained on the door. As a matter of fact, the same sticker stayed there for the entire week, “Not in today, back tomorrow”. Ken Seng, you are not here today with us, but someday, somewhere, we will meet again in another world. Rest in peace, Ken Seng, no more worries about writing papers, getting grants, managing projects, supervising students; rest in peace, Ken Seng, my friend; rest in peace, Ken Seng, my “brother-in-law”.