Today is Teacher's Day !!!. To those special soul out there that has shaped my life and had painted me when I was just a piece of white cloth, a very big thank you from me from the bottom of my heart.
Teacher's Day in Singapore has always been celebrated with a concert put together and performed by the students followed by the showering of flowers and chocolates. Since then and now, the festivity of the day has changed nothing much when I was still in school back in the 80s except for the price of the gifts, the cost of the flowers and maybe the elaborateness of the show however the intent and the purpose remains unchanged.
What is so significant about Teacher's Day that we showered them with gifts and flowers? I doubt so that anyone of them actually had the least amount of expectation to receive any thing from their students. I doubt so that there is any manual or Standard Operating Procedure on what to do and expect during Teacher's Day when they were undergoing training. But still we g o all out during Teacher's Day to show our appreciation to them by giving out cards and flowers. I supposed it is the realisation of how special they are in our life.
There has been several teachers in my life that had really touched my life and shaped me to be what I am now. I remembered when I was in Secondary school, my form teacher was Mr Tan, a quiet bespectacled Chinese man who I have never seen loosed his temper before a feat I supposed considering how notorious we were back then. I was in Siglap Secondary School, a neighbourhood school tucked away in a quiet corner of Cheviot Hill before it moves to the current spanking new complex. Back then the school is sprawled over a large compound with the school block being a two storey building with some 20 classes on each floor.
I remembered that it was Maths lessons and how my friend and I hated the lessons. Our Maths teacher was late for class and we had taken the opportunity to make a gracious exit out of the school as per normal. Not wanting to walk out from the front door so as not to compromise our truancy attempt and school break, my friend and I, about 6 of us decided to make our exit from the rear window of the classroom. Though our classroom is on the second floor of the block, it was however facing the slope. We all decided to jump off from the window over to the slope and under the man made hole in the fencing that had been our usual escape route. As we walked away from the school, feeling jubilant over our victorious escape, our ecstasy was short lived when just a few meters away, stood Mr Tan standing quietly under a tree looking and waiting for us. When we all saw him, half of us wanted to run away whilst the other half of us stood rooted to the ground in pure shock. Mr Tan approached us and without saying much asked all of us to follow him back to school Through out the whole journey back to school, "Detention" "Punishment" "Scolding" kept floating across our mind. However to our surprise he brought us back to classroom, apologised to the Math teacher and told her that he had delayed us in an assignment and walked away. It really surprises me. Not a scolding from him, but instead he apologise for us for our mischievous act.
I must admit that I am no angel when I was in school. If I could remember correctly, I would think that I spent more time trying to play truant rather than studying. I remembered how we used to play hide and seek with Mr Azman my Discipline Master and our Chemistry teacher, a burly big man with hairy hands. I remembered how intimidated we all were whenever he walks around the school in his school beat with a cane on his right hand and a black detention book on the other. There were once where my friend and I had tried to 'hijack' the detention book from him but end up serving detention for a week when our act was caught.
Teachers play an important role in educating our next generation. Some even go beyond the call of duty and do more for their students. I salute them for their dedication. As the world becomes our classroom today, teachers have a more challenging task. Students today are far more exposed to the world, whether through cyberspace or travels. They are more questioning; so are their parents. However, the teacher’s role as a moral compass in guiding their students and imparting in them strong values should not be under-estimated. It is not just what the teachers teach in subject contents, but what they teach about life, and how they live it out by personal examples which will make the strongest impact on the impressionistic young minds. I learn a lot more from such teachers. I also know that teaching is not a bed of roses. But at the end of the day, I know that the only satisfaction that the teacher's derived is the knowledge that they have done their job well when we leave school and become graduates When your former students meet you years later and come up to pay their respects to you, you feel gratified.
To all my teachers, mentors and guidance of life, once again a very big thank you from me, without your patience and perseverance I doubt that I will be who I am now. Happy Teacher's Day to all of you.
Be thankful for all those in your life who have taken the time to share their gifts and knowledge.
I once had a teacher who taught me to read
and how to spell words that I someday would need.
How could she have known where that someday would lead
when she shared her gift with me?
I once had a teacher who taught me to sing.
A song in your heart is a wonderful thing.
I wonder if she knew how much joy that would bring
when she shared her gift with me?
I once had a teacher who taught me to draw.
She opened my eyes to the beauty I saw.
She taught me to see there is beauty in us all
when she shared her gift with me.
I once had a teacher who taught me to play
as part of a team - not always my way.
He taught me a lesson on sharing that day
when he shared his gift with me.
All of these teachers shared gifts that were free.
What I do with these lessons is all up to me.
If I share them with others how thankful they will be
that they shared their gifts with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment