Happy Teachers' Day

Happy Teachers' Day to all teachers (past and present)!

Teachers play a very pivotal role in many of our lives, especially to many Generation Yers, Xers and Baby Boomers when our parents often leave the teaching and often the discipline to the 'professionals', ie teachers in schools. Teachers are often our first mentors to our studies, our values and our protocols. In fact, many of us are so inspired by our teachers that one of our childhood dreams is to become a teacher.

I always count myself very lucky to meet and to have Mrs Lim-Tan as my form teacher when I first entered primary school. She was the one who eradicated my fears and built my liking for school life. She was always patient even to the most mischievous student. Coming from a Chinese-speaking family, it was almost frightening to go into primary school where all teachers and students (except during Chinese lessons) had to converse in English all the time. To be frank, I only knew words but not sentences. Yet, Mrs Lim-Tan would explain words slowly to me and gradually built my confidence for English. She also encouraged my love for arts and drawing by displaying some of my completed pieces on the class' noticeboard. I believed no one could surpass her as the epitome of a perfect role model, not even my mum (but please do not let slip this to her).

When I was in secondary school, my poor command of English continued to take 'centre stage' on the 'billboard' of problems. Again, I had to thank my lucky stars for being in the English class of Miss Thng. Not only did she stay back after 'official' classes to run through grammar practices with me, she also patiently listened to my grumbles of life when it was one of my most diffident phases.

Study stress peaked when I entered into JC where complexities of the concepts increased tremendously. Being a studious but not very intelligent student, I started to lag behind. Trust me, I was not being humble when I defined myself as not being intelligent. Adjectives are often used in relativity. Standing beside classmates who topped O Levels with their more than 9 A1s and who made it to the Chemistry Olympics or the then-prestigious TERP programs (in conjunction with NUS), my mediocre results paled in comparison. In fact, at one stage, I was always at the bottom of test list with my 'O' and 'F' grades.

Science has always never been one of my strongest subjects. Yet, I was doing both Physics and Chemistry. When I started to flunk or borderline pass Physics, I was granted a separate session with my CT tutor - Mrs Tan. Again, such sessions were conducted after official school lessons and yet she had patiently ran through different 10-year series questions with me. In fact, Mrs Tan was very well-liked by the entire class.

There are many other teachers who had helped me both academically or in character-building throughout my school days. The three named above are just three who have leaved a more lasting impression. They have all contributed to who I am and where I am today. I am not perfect. Nor am I extremely successful. Yet, I will continue to strive on both in my work performance or my values and character-building with their teachings as guidance.

I am sure you too hold fond memories of your teachers. Happy Teachers' Day.