Teachers

Last Sunday was Teachers’ Day. It is good that one day a year is set aside to recognize teachers’ contributions to society at large and their role in nurturing young minds, some of whom will become future leaders in their country.

A teacher’s influence on his young charges cannot be underestimated. That is a good reason for him to ensure that he is a good role model in and out of school. In fact where young children are concerned, their teacher is someone they think the world of and to them “teacher is always right”.


It is a credit to the Chinese primary schools that their students make special cards to present to their teachers on Teachers' Day. These children are very respectful of their teachers and they usually acknowledge a teacher with a little bow and a greeting.

I recall the yesteryears when I was still in service, first as a teacher and later on as a school principal. There are many sweet memories as well as a few bitter ones.

I never wanted to be a teacher but my mother had insisted, saying there is no nobler profession for a girl than to be a teacher. Being the dutiful daughter I accepted the scholarship to train as a teacher in the UK.

It was during the teaching practices that we had in the schools in different parts of England that I began to like teaching.

Teaching keeps one’s mind alert and one has to be learning new things to impart to the students. I loved teaching English Literature to my students, both the ‘O’ level and ‘A’ level students. I enjoyed Shakespeare’s plays and D H Lawrence’s Sons & Lovers with my form six students. It gave me great pleasure to open the minds of those students who were curious and keen on acquiring knowledge.

The greatest reward of a teacher is to see his students doing well and it is humbling to feel that you have played a small part in his maturing into a useful member of society.

Indeed many of my students have done me proud and these days, I’m learning from them, especially in the area of information technology, where being gadget and computer savvy is king! The roles are reversed now. The teacher has now become a student. Learning is life long. The moment one ceases to learn and to take an active part in procuring knowledge, one can be said to be dead.

To all teachers, be proud that you are teachers for you hold the future in your hands.

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Children Learn What They Live

Hi,

I would like to share this poem which I find to be very relevant to parenting and which will make a difference to how the child will grow up, whether he will grow into an adult with potential or into a wayward person.

I hope you will share this poem with your friends too.

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to
find love in the world


I'm sorry I don't know who the poet is.

I printed this poem out and decorated it with paper tole flowers before framing it up as a gift for my daughter who hangs it on the wall in her clinic.

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Teens Then & Now

Teens of yesteryears, i.e. the current baby boomers, were aeons apart from teens of today.

Personal computers did not exist then, only huge monstrous machines into which you had to feed in papers with holes, something called “Fortran” language, if I remember correctly. We never heard of the word “cyber” nor did cyber cafes exist.

What we had were snack bars which were air-conditioned and they were like ice-cream parlours where you could have ice-cream such as banana split. There were night clubs where you could dance at night, or even places where “tea dances” were held in the afternoons and you could while away an afternoon dancing. Remember the Twist, Rock n Roll, Cha Cha, Samba, etc?

We had healthy pastimes. Seldom did we hear of drugs or syabu. No pregnant students nor abandoned babies. No one who came from a good background ever stayed out late. Most were home before midnight as parents were strict. Dates were chaperoned usually by a younger sibling who was tasked to tag along with elder sister on a date.T

However, these days, teenagers are a very different kettle of fish. Many of them come from affluent homes, have the latest gadgets and hang out till way past their bedtime. Parents have become either very permissive or helpless, unable to control their rebellious teens.

There are the Mat Rempits ( bikers who race at night and disturb the peace ), the groupies that hang out in all night stalls and those who are internet addicts, spending hours and hours online. To these, night has become their day and day has become night where they sleep away the daylight hours.

However did this evolve?

Parents often have their own agenda, leaving their off spring to their own devices. Moral standards and family values have eroded. Somehow people have become more materialistic, chasing after more and more worldly goods and status symbols, often forgetting that the soul has to be nurtured and tended to.

Why is there such an obsessive need to acquire things and wealth? After all, when we leave this world we cannot take anything with us. Is it not better to put time to better use and nurture the family, so that the youngsters will grow up decent, law-abiding and God-fearing?

If the family unit is strong and the young are brought up right, society will have less ills and the world will be a better place. Too many things are wrong these days and if they are not put right, the future will be unbearable.

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The Finger of Blame

It is interesting to note that when you point your forefinger at someone, three other digits point back at you.

This is always pointed out in a blame game when someone starts to criticize over an issue or conduct. Another party will tell him that he ought to note that he has 3 digits pointing back at him. This is to say that no one is blameless.

In the past week much has been published over who is to blame for the death of a fifteen-year old boy who was at the wheel of his sister’s car when a bullet entered his head and he crashed into a tree near his home. This happened in the wee hours of the morning, at around 02:00.

It later transpired that earlier on, he had hit another car, driven off and then ran through a series of red lights with a police patrol car chasing after him. Warnings by the police to stop were ignored and it was alleged that he reversed his car into the police officers at a road block. Shots were then fired at his tires and one shot hit him. His companion escaped in the confusion of the aftermath.

The police have been accused of being trigger-happy without cause for killing a teenager.
The mother of the deceased has stated that her son was a good, loving, obedient boy who did well in school and had dreams of becoming an astronaut. She is angry that her son was labeled a criminal.

The police say they had no way of knowing that the driver was an unlicensed teenager under the circumstances of the incident. It was 2:00 a.m. and the car had run through red lights, ignoring police warnings to stop. Thus the chase ensued. When the car reversed into the policemen manning the roadblock, they shot at the tires to stop the car. However one shot had hit the driver. They discovered only later that the driver was a teenager who did not have a driving license as he was under age.

Many members of the public have said that the police were only carrying out their duty as guardians of the law and a car that refused to heed police warnings to stop and then running through the red lights gives rise to suspicions that something is not right. Hence the chase to apprehend the driver who could be a criminal trying to make a getaway.

Others have come out in a tirade against the boys in uniform.

The top brass have promised a transparent investigation into the matter and assured the public and the bereaved family that there will be no cover-up. The family want a Royal Commission, others want Suhakam ( Human Rights ) to investigate, while the Home Minister himself has been reported to say that an independent panel will be formed to investigate.

Witnesses have been called to give their statements and investigations by the police are on going.

An issue has arisen where the lifestyle of current teens is somewhat a culture shock to the older, more staid generation. Questions have been asked: what are kids of 15 doing out of their beds at 2:00a.m. driving on roads when they should be in bed? Why are parents so permissive that they allow their youngsters to gather at mamak stalls ( stalls that offer snacks and drinks up till the early hours of the morning, if not 24 hours ) until 2 or 3:00 a.m.? Shouldn’t they be in bed as they have school to attend the next day?


The idea of imposing a curfew on teens has been broached and as usual there are those who support and those who are against.

My two cents worth is that parents are ultimately responsible for their off-spring, not the law makers, not the police. They should take the blame if anything goes wrong as it reflects upon the upbringing their children had. Whether it’s a single parent family or a two-parent family is irrelevant as a parent has the responsibility of nurturing the child and bringing him/her up properly, inculcating the right values from young. Above all the parents have to be role models for their children. In that way they will not short-change their children.


Saying that they are too busy making a living for their children is no excuse. Giving the youngsters expensive gifts and cash in lieu of parental time and bonding is a culpable misdemeanour and wrong thinking. These is what is creating problems in the fabric of family and society. It’s time to take a good hard look at ourselves.

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