Retracing Professor Lockhart's Journey to Singapore
Text: Jovita Chua
Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart is a hopeless romantic. This may be hard to tell from the 53-year-old’s unassuming and gentle demeanour, but make no mistake about it – Lockhart will go to great lengths for his one true love.
After all, he did pick up an entirely new language for her and even uprooted himself to move across the world just to be with her.
So who is this first love that mesmerised Lockhart decades ago?
Vietnam.
The history professor from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has been teaching Southeast Asian history at the National University of Singapore for the past 15 years and it all began with his love for Vietnam.
Lockhart had his first dose of Vietnam when he was just a teen; he grew up in a small town in Philadelphia where there were many Vietnamese refugees who resettled in the area. His Vietnamese neighbours quickly became his friends, and pretty soon he was enamoured with the Vietnamese culture.
“It’s hard to explain how or why I fell in love with Vietnam. It just sort of took hold,” Lockhart said fondly.
Within a couple of years, he had learnt how to speak Vietnamese fluently just by being around his Vietnamese friends, a skill he attributed to his affinity with languages.
“My brain is wired for language. It learns languages better than it remembers anything else,” said the linguistics expert who can speak six different languages – English, French, Mandarin, Thai, Laotian and Vietnamese – fluently.
He even picked up a little bit of Malay, Cantonese and Hokkien in the 15 years he has been living in Singapore.
His passion for languages and love for all things Vietnamese sparked off a deep interest in Southeast Asia, leading him to pursue a double major in Asian studies and Linguistics in his undergraduate study in Cornell University.
In fact, he enjoyed learning about Asia so much that he decided to do his Masters in East Asian studies immediately after graduation.
“I enjoyed studying and I enjoyed doing research. So I just ‘chiong’ (Chinese dialect that means ‘rush’) straight through,” he said.
And ‘chiong’ he did. Right after getting his Masters degree from Yale University, Lockhart applied to do his doctoral degree in history back at Cornell University, focusing on Southeast Asia, which remains his teaching focus and research specialisation today.
By the time he was done with his doctoral degree, Lockhart was 30-years-old and “ready for a breather.” He wanted to “spend some time on the ground” getting to know the countries he had studied for so many years.
His first stop, surprisingly, was not Vietnam but Laos. “At that time, it was very hard for an American to get into Vietnam. So I put Vietnam on hold and went to Laos instead,” he said.
He taught English as a volunteer with a Christian organisation in Laos, where he picked up Laotian and deepened his fondness for Southeast Asia.
But his first love was not forgotten. After three years in Laos, an opportunity opened up in Vietnam for him to teach English and history in a local university. He jumped on it immediately.
Lockhart spent three years in Hanoi teaching and soaking up every bit of its culture before he felt that it was time to move again.
“I was getting closer to 40 and I was thinking about settling down, getting a more stable academic job,” he said.
That was when Singapore came into the picture.
A few of his friends who had been teaching at NUS suggested that he come over to teach. He flew to Singapore for an interview and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
“I remember it was quite confusing to adapt to Singapore when I first came, just because it was so ‘rojak’ (Malay term for mixture) culturally. I had to adjust accordingly to each situation. It was just a very different kind of environment from what I had been used to in Laos and Vietnam,” Lockhart said.
But he settled in soon enough, and a decade and a half later, he calls Singapore his “second-home.”
“I love Singapore and I love teaching NUS students. I think they’re a good mix – they have an Asian respect for their teachers but in a lot of ways, they think like Westerners. It's a very easy combination for me to teach,” he said with a wide smile on his face.
The only thing he would pick on about NUS students if he had to? The classic “not speaking up in class when asked to,” which he calls “the ‘paiseh’ factor”. “Paiseh” is a Hokkien term that means shy or embarrassed.
However, he has since learnt to work around it by adjusting his expectations. “I won’t bother asking questions now because they will come and talk to me privately after class.”
“As long as I create a comfortable learning environment, I believe students will be more open and proactive,” he said.
However, it is not an easy task especially when a course revolves around a sensitive topic such as religion, as in the case of one of his modules, Christianity in World History.
One of his previous students from that module, Grace Chan, said, “Religion has the potential to be controversial but Professor Lockhart’s fair and forthcoming nature makes the class environment one of appreciation rather than mere tolerance.”
The 21-year-old law student added, “I really appreciate his passion for history and commitment to his students, which assures us of his expertise and approachability.”
Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart is a hopeless romantic. This may be hard to tell from the 53-year-old’s unassuming and gentle demeanour, but make no mistake about it – Lockhart will go to great lengths for his one true love.
After all, he did pick up an entirely new language for her and even uprooted himself to move across the world just to be with her.
So who is this first love that mesmerised Lockhart decades ago?
Vietnam.
The history professor from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has been teaching Southeast Asian history at the National University of Singapore for the past 15 years and it all began with his love for Vietnam.
Lockhart had his first dose of Vietnam when he was just a teen; he grew up in a small town in Philadelphia where there were many Vietnamese refugees who resettled in the area. His Vietnamese neighbours quickly became his friends, and pretty soon he was enamoured with the Vietnamese culture.
“It’s hard to explain how or why I fell in love with Vietnam. It just sort of took hold,” Lockhart said fondly.
Within a couple of years, he had learnt how to speak Vietnamese fluently just by being around his Vietnamese friends, a skill he attributed to his affinity with languages.
“My brain is wired for language. It learns languages better than it remembers anything else,” said the linguistics expert who can speak six different languages – English, French, Mandarin, Thai, Laotian and Vietnamese – fluently.
He even picked up a little bit of Malay, Cantonese and Hokkien in the 15 years he has been living in Singapore.
His passion for languages and love for all things Vietnamese sparked off a deep interest in Southeast Asia, leading him to pursue a double major in Asian studies and Linguistics in his undergraduate study in Cornell University.
In fact, he enjoyed learning about Asia so much that he decided to do his Masters in East Asian studies immediately after graduation.
“I enjoyed studying and I enjoyed doing research. So I just ‘chiong’ (Chinese dialect that means ‘rush’) straight through,” he said.
And ‘chiong’ he did. Right after getting his Masters degree from Yale University, Lockhart applied to do his doctoral degree in history back at Cornell University, focusing on Southeast Asia, which remains his teaching focus and research specialisation today.
By the time he was done with his doctoral degree, Lockhart was 30-years-old and “ready for a breather.” He wanted to “spend some time on the ground” getting to know the countries he had studied for so many years.
His first stop, surprisingly, was not Vietnam but Laos. “At that time, it was very hard for an American to get into Vietnam. So I put Vietnam on hold and went to Laos instead,” he said.
He taught English as a volunteer with a Christian organisation in Laos, where he picked up Laotian and deepened his fondness for Southeast Asia.
But his first love was not forgotten. After three years in Laos, an opportunity opened up in Vietnam for him to teach English and history in a local university. He jumped on it immediately.
Lockhart spent three years in Hanoi teaching and soaking up every bit of its culture before he felt that it was time to move again.
“I was getting closer to 40 and I was thinking about settling down, getting a more stable academic job,” he said.
That was when Singapore came into the picture.
A few of his friends who had been teaching at NUS suggested that he come over to teach. He flew to Singapore for an interview and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
“I remember it was quite confusing to adapt to Singapore when I first came, just because it was so ‘rojak’ (Malay term for mixture) culturally. I had to adjust accordingly to each situation. It was just a very different kind of environment from what I had been used to in Laos and Vietnam,” Lockhart said.
But he settled in soon enough, and a decade and a half later, he calls Singapore his “second-home.”
“I love Singapore and I love teaching NUS students. I think they’re a good mix – they have an Asian respect for their teachers but in a lot of ways, they think like Westerners. It's a very easy combination for me to teach,” he said with a wide smile on his face.
The only thing he would pick on about NUS students if he had to? The classic “not speaking up in class when asked to,” which he calls “the ‘paiseh’ factor”. “Paiseh” is a Hokkien term that means shy or embarrassed.
However, he has since learnt to work around it by adjusting his expectations. “I won’t bother asking questions now because they will come and talk to me privately after class.”
“As long as I create a comfortable learning environment, I believe students will be more open and proactive,” he said.
However, it is not an easy task especially when a course revolves around a sensitive topic such as religion, as in the case of one of his modules, Christianity in World History.
One of his previous students from that module, Grace Chan, said, “Religion has the potential to be controversial but Professor Lockhart’s fair and forthcoming nature makes the class environment one of appreciation rather than mere tolerance.”
The 21-year-old law student added, “I really appreciate his passion for history and commitment to his students, which assures us of his expertise and approachability.”
Getting acquainted with students outside of class time is something Lockhart enjoys greatly as well. As most history majors do go on to become history teachers, he appreciates being able to mould and train future educators.
“The number one blessing for me in teaching is being able to do pastoral care and to be involved above and beyond in my students’ personal lives,” he said.
However, his students deem him to be the blessing instead. Koh Tiang Peng, a final-year history undergraduate, said, “I really appreciate how his door is always open – literally – for students to drop by.”
“He intentionally makes time for us, most probably at the expense of his own research writing,” said the 24-year-old who is more than pleased to have Lockhart as his honours thesis supervisor.
The university has also given Lockhart a nod of approval for his contributions as an educator in the form of numerous awards, such as the Teaching Excellence Award and Lockhart’s personal favourite, the University Outstanding Educator Award, which he received two years ago.
True to his nurturing nature as an experienced educator, Lockhart has this piece of advice for all NUS students, “Try to avoid taking a major you’re not interested in, especially if it’s just because you think it’s practical. Study what you’re interested in.”
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“The number one blessing for me in teaching is being able to do pastoral care and to be involved above and beyond in my students’ personal lives,” he said.
However, his students deem him to be the blessing instead. Koh Tiang Peng, a final-year history undergraduate, said, “I really appreciate how his door is always open – literally – for students to drop by.”
“He intentionally makes time for us, most probably at the expense of his own research writing,” said the 24-year-old who is more than pleased to have Lockhart as his honours thesis supervisor.
The university has also given Lockhart a nod of approval for his contributions as an educator in the form of numerous awards, such as the Teaching Excellence Award and Lockhart’s personal favourite, the University Outstanding Educator Award, which he received two years ago.
True to his nurturing nature as an experienced educator, Lockhart has this piece of advice for all NUS students, “Try to avoid taking a major you’re not interested in, especially if it’s just because you think it’s practical. Study what you’re interested in.”
Tags: profile