MH17: Ng a good educator who imparted beyond textbook knowledge

The late Ng Shi Ing, a Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) lecturer who died in the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 crash, will always be remembered by many of her students as a good educator who imparted knowledge beyond the textbooks.

"We had fun in her class, (it was) less tense and she taught many of us that books could not teach us," Madiey Fazudin, a UMS student told Bernama.

He said Ng would always greet students warmly with a wide smile on her face every time she entered class. She also had a good sense of humour.

Ng, 33, better known as 'Miss JC' among her students, was a lecturer in the Teaching of English as a Second Language (TESL) at the UMS Faculty of Psychology and Education.

Another student, Glenn A. Hilarion said "a good educator and an entertainer" was a suitable description for Ng who was caring, loving and a fun person.

"Last semester she picked me to be the emcee for an event in UMS and as a person who never had any experience, I was certainly scared but then she motivated me and said 'there is always a first time for something'," he said.

Nur Amalina Samsuri, the fourth year senior in the TESL programme, said Ng was a very cheerful and a lovely lecturer.

"I am the only student in my batch who has repeat the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) paper. I felt so awkward when I had to repeat the paper with my junior but she always made me feel involved with all her activities and without her help I would not be graduating this year," she said.

Another student, Stennia Miga said that Ng had a very unforgettable character as she knew how to make her students laugh in order to enlighten them as well as get their attention in class.

"After she gave birth to Benjamin (her son) she was even more cheerful. She would tell us about him and show us Benjamin's photo and said 'I cannot go out late, Ben needs to sleep by 9 pm,' was how much she cared for her son," he said.

Elucia Yong said that she was fortunate enough to spend four semesters with Ng whom she described as not just a lecturer but also a role model to them.

"She was someone who never let emotions cloud her judgement, she was rational, she was there to educate, to challenge, to listen, to encourage and to guide," she said.

The MAS flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. The Boeing 777-200 aircraft is believed to have been shot down.

Ng was returning to Malaysia after presenting a working paper at a conference at the University of Antwerp in Belgium and was a passenger on board MAS flight MH17 when the tragedy struck.

Ng was accompanied on the trip by her younger sister, Ng Lye Ti, 30, and her one year-old son, Benjamin Lee Jian Han who were all killed in the MH17 tragedy.