What made you decide to be a nun?
My family were Buddhist from China. In Singapore, I studied at St Anthony’s Convent School and during a school mission preached by a Redemptorist missionary priest, the late Fr. Thomas Creede, I was touched by Jesus’ words: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” I was looking for the way to go, searching for truth and for a meaningful way to live my life.
Suddenly it dawned on me that Jesus was the answer! “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life for you. Come follow me!” So I took up instructions at the Novena Church and was baptized a year later, together with my mother and elder sister who also felt the call to become Catholics.
After my Baptism at the age of 15, I heard God’s call at the age of 17, I felt a strong attraction to Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist. I was deeply touched by the constant and faithful love of Jesus for me. How could I best respond to Jesus’ love for me? Deep in my heart I “knew” that it would have to be through the total gift of myself and my life to him.
I was also struck by the life of the Sisters, especially the Italian missionary Sisters teaching us. What made them leave their families and their country, Italy, to come to teach us with so much love and dedication? What was their secret?
However, I tried to push the thought away (how could I leave my family, give up a bright future and shut my self in the Convent?) until one day while I was in Secondary 4, Sr. Wilhelmina, who was then the Principal asked me point blank: “Janet, is Jesus calling you?” I just couldn’t deny it anymore. Tears came to my eyes and I said: ”Yes!”
