A Paw of Comfort

Happy Teacher’s Day! May 16, 2009

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This little booklet contains inspiring thoughts and quotations for teachers, and was given to me in 2005. Thank you, Seth.

In the booklet, Kahlil Gibran has this to say:

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom, but rather of his faith and his lovingness. If he is indeed wise, he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

In one way or another, each of us is a teacher. A few people, however, devote their lives to this noble profession.

Happy Teacher’s Day!

“Tak ada hotak!” May 15, 2009

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A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron – Horace Mann

What Horace Mann said reminds me of my Science teacher when I was in Form 2. In today’s post, I’m going to tell you about her. Let’s just call her Puan El (not her real name).

Puan El is a petite lady. She does look sweet… pretty harmless actually but for her words that sting. In those days, she often made us cower behind the long tables in the Science lab. We weren’t bad students. In fact, we were in the good class, so how bad could we be?

Her voice was so shrill then, and she liked to utter 3 words which pierced right through our hearts. We were the brunt of what I’d call her anger and frustration – the flames could have ignited elsewhere, and our cute innocent ‘lo lo’ faces could have annoyed her to no end.

“Tak ada hotak!” There… The 3 words. She meant ‘otak’ which means ‘brain’ actually, but what came out from her mouth was ‘hotak’. “No brain!”

Often, we entered the lab with clouds of trepidation hanging over us. Never a lesson went by without our hearing the 3 words. The phrase became her trademark.

I wanted (still want) to think that Puan El meant well. It was difficult (still is actually) to understand why she had to utter those 3 words.

I’m glad my classmates and I turned out to be all right after all. Her ‘Tak ada hotak’ though biting didn’t have much effect on us. I think it spurred us to prove to her that we had brain cells that surpassed hers.

I believe that as teachers, we should look at our students as this seed called ‘potential’; we should try to fertilise it with encouragement, water it with opportunity and nurture it with love and care. And I believe they will blossom. It’s easier said than done, I know, what with the kind of younger generation that we have today. Try saying ‘Tak ada hotak!’ today, and see what you’ll get in return.

I’ll end my post with this : Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being. This from Johann Von Goethe.

Happy Teacher’s Day, Puan El!

In Memoriam May 14, 2009

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Puan Hajjah Dayang Saptuyah, or better known as Mrs Awang taught me BM in Form 1. I think we were kindred spirits. I honed my creative writing skills under her tutelage. She enjoyed reading each and every of my masterpieces, and she always had kind and encouraging remarks to write at the end of every piece. She was also the one who constantly pushed me to take part in debates and poetry recitals.

I always looked forward to her BM lessons. She was a no-nonsense teacher who always stressed the importance of being a polite student and a good girl. I went to an all-girl school, and some of the girls were pretty vain, I must say. Since I was plain Jane, I never got into trouble. “Ini sekolah. Kalau berjalan tu, jalan betul-betul. Ini bukan tempat untuk buat catwalk.” Her words still ring in my ears to this day. There was really no love lost between some of the girls and Mrs Awang. One thing you must know though, Mrs Awang was never unkind. And she was the most soft-spoken disciplinary teacher I’ve ever met. She carried a rotan with her wherever she went, and her looks could be rather intimidating. She was huge, and she seemed to have a bad hair day every day (she needed a scarf to help tame her hair, mind you). Later on, she started wearing tudung.

Mrs Awang has passed on. I lost contact with her a few years after I left school. I still remember the many phone conversations that we had whenever I was back home for holidays. Then somehow, we just lost touch. I learnt about her passing at a very unlikely place and from a very unlikely person. I applied to do KPLI (Kursus Perguruan Lepasan Ijazah) in 2005, and was called to attend an interview at BPG (Bahagian Pendidikan Guru) at Jalan Batu Lintang. One of the interviewers asked me why I chose to become a teacher. And somehow, the name “Mrs Awang” cropped up. The interview took a more friendly and relaxed turn. He told me that Mrs Awang was his good friend. More stories followed, and that was when I learnt of Mrs Awang’s demise.

 Mrs Awang, jasamu akan kukenang sehingga hancur badan dikandung tanah.

 Semoga Tuhan mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh Mrs Awang.

Tribute to Teachers May 13, 2009

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Teacher’s Day is coming, and for the next few days, I’m going to share with you my experiences with some of my teachers as a tribute to them and the teaching profession.

Today, I’m going to tell you about Mr Anselm Chin. This incident happened when I was in Primary 4.

Before I proceed, you must know that when I was a little girl, I loved to talk. Remember Anne Shirley of Green Gables? I was just like her. Every teacher must have known or been told of that fact.

Mr Chin entered my class one fine morning to relieve a teacher. Silence descended as he had with him a rotan. I must tell you though that Mr Chin is the gentlest of souls. He is the fatherly kind, but he has a voice that thunders and makes you tremble.

I, being short, was given the privilege to sit right in front. I can still remember it vividly. First row, second column, there I was. Mr Chin told us to do our own work, and not to make any noise. Okay, I could live with that. Not for long though. *smiling sheepishly* Boredom must have set in. I stood, turned around and faced my friends. I didn’t utter a word. Well at least not yet then. Hence, no noise was produced, right?

*smack*

Ouch… Mr Chin beat me with his rotan. Hmmm… it didn’t cause any bodily injury, but it definitely injured my pride. Haha. Kidding. Mr Chin did beat me all right, but the force at which he applied was so weak that I felt nothing at all. I could even manage a grin. And guess what? He grinned back!

That was so long ago. I don’t know where Mr Chin is now, and I don’t know where to find him. The last time I met him was in Hong Kong Bank, the one opposite the old courthouse (the bank has moved to its present location, i.e. Jalan Ang Cheng Ho), and he asked me, “Still talkative?”

Mr Chin, if you happen to read this, I’d like to tell you that I’ve mellowed since the last time we met. And Mr Chin, Happy Teacher’s Day. May God shower you with abundant blessings wherever you are.

 

I want to be… May 10, 2009

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Tribute to Mama May 9, 2009

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Note : ‘Borneo Orchid’ is courtesy of Higgins. Whenever I look at the picture, I see a smiling tiger. Her arms are wide open, and happiness seems to be written all over her face as she welcomes her cubs home. The picture reminds me of my Mama. My Mama is the toughest soul I’ve ever known, and she has the warmest of smiles. Right now, I yearn to be in her embrace. It never fails to make me feel like a child once more.