Father Gerald Aloysius Tseng Shun Lin, SJ
Birth: 22 October 1929, Singapore
Baptism (Aloysius): Sacred Heart Church, Holy Saturday, 8 April 1944
Enter novitiate: 13 December 1950, Immaculate Heart Novitiate of the China Province in Manila
Juniorate: 1952-54, Manila
Philosophy: 1954-57, Manila
Regency: 1957-60, Teaching at Wah Yan College, Kowloon
Theology: 1960-64, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 31 July 1963, Milltown Park, Dublin
Tertianship: 1963-64, Monasterio de San Jeronimo, Guadalupe, Murcia, Spain
Final vows – Spiritual Coadjutor: 15 August 1966, Ricci Hall, Hong Kong
Death: 23 December 2022
Father Tseng was born in Singapore on 22 October 1929. He studied at St Joseph’s Institution (SJI). The La Salle Brothers who taught at SJI had a profound influence on Father Tseng and he aspired to be a teacher like them, dedicating his life to moulding young boys to be men for the future. Father Tseng also wanted to be a priest as well as a teacher, and therefore he chose to be a Jesuit.
After receiving his Senior Cambridge certificate at SJI at the age of 21, he left Singapore to join the Jesuit novitiate in the Philippines on 13 December 1950.
He spent seven years in the Philippines, and another four years studying theology in Dublin. He was ordained in Dublin on 31 July 1963 with two other Chinese priests from Hong Kong, He spent a year of tertianship in Murcia, Spain; followed by a year stint in the London University of Education at St Mary’s College to obtain a teacher’s certificate.
After his ordination, he spent some years teaching in Wah Yan College Kowloon. He was sent to Petaling Jaya, Malaysia in 1967 and was appointed chaplain to Catholic students at the University of Malaya. He was also given the task of running the Jesuit student hostel known as Xavier Hall which was within the compound of the Church of St Francis Xavier in Petaling Jaya. At the same time, he was also the house minister at the Jesuit community.
Father Tseng came to Singapore in 1975, to apply for a renewal of his work visa in Malaysia which was denied. So, he remained and taught at St Joseph’s Institution (SJI). At the same time, he was also first appointed assistant warden, and later in 1990 became warden and director of the Catholic Junior College (CJC) Hostel. He was also appointed the regional treasurer for the Malaysia-Singapore Jesuits in 1987 which he held until 1989.
“I had a choice of going back to Hong Kong to teach in one of our Jesuit colleges or stay and work in Singapore as the Irish Jesuits had already established themselves in Kingsmead Hall and had built the Church of St Ignatius along King’s Road,” Father Tseng recalled.
As an old boy of SJI, he approached Brother Joseph Kiely, FSC, the principal then on the possibility of teaching in SJI. He was given the task of teaching the lower classes of Secondary One and Two as he felt that he would be able to influence the young students to dedicate their life to serve the Lord as religious priests or brothers.
Father Tseng’’s quiet spirituality touched many throughout his journey as a priest and teacher, and ex-students speak fondly of him as one of the nicest teachers at SJI. “Father Tseng taught me Science and he was very kind. He would tell us to mark topics in order of first importance, second importance and third importance. Basically, if you studied only the first-importance topics, you would be all set,” reminisced Matt Lee, an old boy of SJI who was taught by Father Tseng in the nineteen eighties.
In the Jesuits’ Twin Celebration 1990-1991 booklet, Father Tseng wrote in part: “My personal aspiration in living out my call for the greater glory of God consists of living a holy and exemplary life, not only for my own spiritual happiness and union with God in heaven after death, but also as a good Christian example for others to follow.”
“In living a holy life, I’m answering the Lord’s call to serve Him as a devoted priest in the Society of Jesus which has the Greater Glory of God as its motto. Hence, what is to be done by me as a Jesuit priest must be done for the Greater Glory of God and not for my own personal glory.”
Father Tseng retired from his teaching post at SJI at the required age of 60 but continued at the CJC Hostel. He had a double by-pass heart operation in 1991. Due to failing health, he retired from the directorship and chaplain of the CJC Hostel in 1998. After retiring from running the hostel, he returned to the Jesuit residence at Kingsmead Hall to pray for the Church and the Society of Jesus.
He had a minor stroke in 2000 affecting his recognition of words. He thought initially that it was an eyesight issue. But on being brought to his nephew who was an eye specialist, he was rushed over to the National Neuroscience Institute. He recovered remarkably.
His health continued to fail and with some kind of dementia, Father Tseng was moved to St Joseph’s Home for better care on 24 October 2019 after spending nearly 3 months in Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Ren Ci Community Hospital. During the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2022), visits were restricted to a small number of people.
Father Tseng returned to the Lord at 12.47 am on 23 December 2022. His blood pressure had fallen slowly over the last week, and he was not able to take in any food. He was comfortable though. St Joseph’s Home informed the Jesuit community about his health situation, and community members, family members and his former students had been visiting him regularly during the last week. The nurses, as well as Sister Geraldine, FDCC, were around him at St Joseph’s Home when he passed on.
Reference:
https://vialatropica.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/the-quiet-evangelist-father-gerald-tseng-s-j/
https://catholicnews.sg/2013/10/02/we-salute-our-jubilarians-50-years/
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