Why I Give: Adrian and Carol Yeap

For over 20 years, Yeap Transport has managed the school buses that bring our students from their homes to Singapore American School and back. Since founder Mr. William Yeap purchased his first bus to drive for Tanglin Trust School in 1973, Yeap Transport has built its business on good safety records and good customer service.

At the time, the head of the Tanglin Trust School's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) managed their school's buses. When their school decided it had outgrown this model and needed to hire a bus manager, the Head of School approached Mr. William Yeap with a contract and later told Adrian, "I chose your father to be the key contractor because he was always the last one to leave the school when the other drivers had left, and he was always willing to take a child who had missed the bus home."

So, in 1979, Mr. William Yeap brought the contract home and asked his son Adrian, only 11 at the time, to explain it to him, since Mr. William Yeap was not fully fluent in English. Adrian tried to help, but Mr. William Yeap's friend who worked in a law office read the contract and advised them not to sign it. But Mr. William Yeap was hungry and ambitious, so he signed it anyway.

Fast forward to 1993. Singapore American School was now operating out of three campuses (Ulu Pandan, King's Road, and a short-term satellite campus at Baytree condominiums) and facing a move to the Woodlands campus. SAS needed a reliable partner to provide safe transport for over 3,000 students who would be traveling mostly from downtown Singapore each day. Enter Adrian Yeap.

In 1993, after Adrian Yeap had served his National Service duties, SAS contacted the Yeaps to ask if they could operate SAS's bus service. Adrian had been a vehicle mechanic in National Service as an army vocation, and for two years, he had been trained to look after the Singapore army's large fleet of vehicles. He looked at his father and said, "I think I am going to do this for the rest of my life."

In 1995, former SAS superintendent Dr. Don Bergman came back from his summer vacation and invited Adrian into his office. He gave Adrian a school bus magazine and told him about the National School Transportation Association (NSTA). Mr. Bergman sent Adrian to the United States for a NSTA conference, where Adrian learned the business from fellow bus operators who were happy to share all their knowledge with him when they realized that because he was a bus operator in Singapore, his company was not a competitor.

Adrian and Carol Yeap are very grateful to Singapore American School for its support and encouragement; gaining the additional knowledge to run their business safely and efficiently has helped their business grow and change as the landscape of Singapore has evolved. The Yeaps face many challenges today in the current market. The biggest challenges are the high cost of vehicle certificates of entitlement, their bus drivers nearing retirement age, the recruitment of new drivers, as well as the development of the MRT rail network in Singapore. With MRT growth, there is less need for buses during daytime business hours, so contracted buses are finding it difficult to remain in business.

Adrian and Carol Yeap have supported the SAS Foundation over the past two years. They made special gifts to both the makerspace and the rainforest annual giving campaigns. When Adrian first came to Carol with the idea that they support the school in this way, she felt it was very much in line with what they wished to do as a family and as a company. They feel that Yeap Transport is around today because of the generous parents and staff of the schools they serve. Adrian and Carol say, "We want to give back as we can. The family owes a debt that we cannot repay."

Fun Facts about the Yeaps

• Adrian Yeap started working for his father as a bus monitor when he was just 12 years old, watching kids who were older than him. He would ride the bus in the mornings before his school started at Anglo Chinese School (Barker Road). In later years, the bus rules changed and today, only women can hold this position.
• Coincidentally, Adrian was stationed in the army near Portsdown Road, just across from Tanglin Trust School where his father Mr. William Yeap worked. Adrian would wave to his father from across the street.
• The Yeaps have three children: a daughter, Charis, in Secondary One (grade seven), a son, Caleb, in Primary Five (grade five), and a daughter, Caitlin, in Primary Four (grade four). Charis, Caleb, and Caitlin Yeap like to visit SAS on our last day of school to see all the buses honking and celebrating.
• Mr. Adrian Yeap met Carol in 1997. Carol managed finance for Yeap Transport. Today, she serves as Chief Financial Officer of the company.
• Mr. Adrian Yeap often dresses up in a mascot costume for the last day of school. Last year, students asked him to dress as a Minion, but the costume didn't fit!
• Many families think Yeap Transport owns the buses, but they are actually a bus management company that owns only 15% of their bus fleet. Their drivers and bus owners are independent contractors.
• Singapore American School has the cleanest fleet of buses in Singapore, and the Yeaps are very proud of this because it keeps our students and their drivers from the harmful effects of additional pollution.
• The Yeaps have been asked to consult throughout Asia with other international schools. This is another way that they give back: by sharing their knowledge with other schools. They have consulted with Beijing International School, Shanghai American School, and the International School of Kuala Lumpur.

from Singapore American School http://ift.tt/2pumnDk