Title: The Land of My Ancestors’ Sepulchers: And the World of a Teacher-Researcher
Author: Miranda P. Yeoh
Publisher: PartridgePublishing
ISBN: 978-1-5437-6529-8
Pages: 340
Genre: Memoir
Reviewed by: Jason Lulos
Pacific Book Review
In the final act of Shakespeare’s, The Tempest, Miranda is quoted as saying, “Oh wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in’t.” Author Miranda P. Yeoh named for this very character expresses this same indefatigable optimism in her inspiring memoir The Land of My Ancestors’ Sepulchers: And the World of a Teacher-Researcher. In a life not without hardship, Miranda shares her story: one of resiliency and unwavering dedication to God, science, learning, teaching, and honoring her family and ancestry. This is a must-read as a memoir but also as a paradigm for teachers and a guide for how to succeed in life.
As a child in Penang (Malaysia), Miranda lived in an extended family, including her father, mother, aunt, uncle, cousins, and her grandmother. Family tensions and a relatively absent mother became the norm for her. In a short time, it becomes clear that her father, Aunt CL, her grandmother, and her cousins will be the most important and influential family members throughout her life. Her wise and dutiful father reminiscent of Atticus Finch in admirability encourages her learning early on and this all starts with her love of his library of Classics Illustrated. Growing up in this area, a multi-cultural melting pot, Miranda had a keen sense of her ancestry and the diversity of that history. As she grows older, she fondly holds on to her local family ancestry but also develops a global perspective and the responsibility of being a citizen of the world.
Miranda is obsessed with learning from an early age and eventually thrives in science, music, and teaching. Although her family practices a Chinese religion a combination of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, Miranda converts to Christianity. Lessons learned from her family and her new faith keep her grounded, hopeful, and generous throughout her life.
She excels as a teacher because of her dedication to never stop learning. She develops extraordinarily innovative pedagogical techniques including musical mnemonic strategies for learning science processes and formulae like RNA transcription. Her motivations are learning and her students. She strives to teach them problem solving for students to utilize in their own lives and so they have the tools to face global issues such as climate change and future pandemics.
Throughout this memoir, Miranda’s loyalty to her family and her faith in God are her guiding lights in life. These two anchors inform her philosophy of being dedicated to others. Open-minded, multi-disciplinary, and progressive, Miranda’s innovations in teaching and multiple publications in pedagogy are remarkable. Her adherence to the 4C’s critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration inform her career as well as her general approach to life. This was a really fascinating read about one who is scientific and spiritual, traditional and modern, family centered and globally aware.
Everyone has a story. Miranda’s story is as engaging and encouraging as is her outlook on life. I definitely recommend this one as being a great memoir written by a devoted teacher.
