Happy Teachers' Day

My school celebrates Teachers' Day in a very minimal way... we had our dinner, as usual @ Holiday Inn Park View, n the concert in school, as usual planned n executed by the PSGs... This year, as with our new principal policy, we didnt receive much gifts... Our principal believes that to show appreciation is when u make sumting out of ur own, may it be a poetry, a card or small tokens... So this yr, i received lots of cards n self-made gifts like frames n penholders, i also received lots of chocolates from my fellow colleagues... And now when i am in my 2nd year of solid teaching, i look behind n remember those teachers that in one way or another hv brought me to where i am today, not only good academically but being a morally upright person.. (woah!)

During my kindergarten years, i dun really remember my teachers' name.. I noe dat i learnt chinese for a while b4 switching to malay as they dun hv a malay teacher available... one of the reasons why i took up the language for teaching as i think most ppl are unwilling to teach their own language... My teachers are very patient, cos i remember i jus shift house to Bt Gombak, a very new estate then, n my kindergarten is near Princess Elizabeth Pri Sch... So i took the sch bus BUT the sch bus either forgot to fetch me, or keep changing its route... So i do skip a lot of school time and some days i came very very late... Even then, i dun remember my teachers scolding me for being late...

When im sent to Dazhong Pri Sch, i was happy.. it was within walking distance, so no more stupid bus mistakes anymore... I remember my first fren in P1/1, Roslinah... sitting bside me n she had no pencil... I look at my mom outside the class peering through the windows wif the many parents out there, n she was smiling n nodding, giving me the go-ahead signal to pass one of my pencils to Roslinah... Studying was a breeze for me then... i dun hv to hv tuition or crack my brains for exams... I guess im blessed wif a sponged brain... And I hv a few teachers that i need to thank...

Ms Choo :
She was an angel, taught me in P2.. She was one of the young n pretty teachers in school... She was sweet n gave us this colourful velvet pencils on Children's Day... I remember when my close fren (a guy) was whispering to me in my ear while she was reading a story to us, and one of our classmates was shouting 'eee... teacher! suhaimi kiss mazlina!' n evryone was goin 'eeeee!' n i was shaking my head saying no, n my guy fren was also trying hard to say no... ms choo actualy calm us down n making us feel dat its ok to b affectionate, n taught us dat kissing is not sinful... i also remember she use to take out her coat n put on her chair (its hot in the classroom), showing her curves wif her sexy strapped tops, but when theres a teacher coming in for sumting, she would hurriedly put her coat back on... hahaha.. n at dat moment i was thinking, dats modesty...

Mdm Hawa :
She taught me malay... I like her handwriting on the blkboard, the way she hold the chalk n write.. its so straight n nice... Evryone knew her as sumone fierce, but i knew otherwise... She is also in charge of Malay Dance Group, which i was a member... Sumtimes when we need to perform during weekends, she would drive us to her place, make us up n after the performance, drove us back... Sumtimes she treats us at this popular place near my sch, 'Hariibu', which serves western food like fish n chips n spring chicken... When we won the SYF competition, i can hear her shouting wif glee in the office from the 2nd floor... Thats when i say to myself, this is wat i can give back to her for all the things she had sacrifice for us... She stil remembers me after my pri sch yrs, cos she frequents my granma's stall n often see me there...

Ms Ong :
She taught me in p5 n p6... she is my form teacher... her famous phrase is 'u think i hv bullock-cart is it'... till now i dun realy understand dat phrase.. she is very petite wif her stockings up to her knee... n she is the one who chose me as the monitress.. she place so much of her trust in me, dat i was the one who brings the register up to class n put it back in the office, i was the one who take the key to art room or music room or computer room whenever we are brought there... she never wear pants, only knee-length skirts, sumtimes wif matching top n her court shoes...

After my PSLE, which i did quite well surprisingly considering i didnt study much, i was posted to Bt View Sec Sch.. i was in the express stream, n my class 1E2, had a mere 10 malay pupils... but when i chose to go Arts Stream for the last 2 yrs, my class was dominated by malays, more than half of them... imagine our hari raya outing was a group of more than 20 of us... even our claa committee members are all malays, up to our class 3E3 form teacher, mdm sapina, who also taught us malay language...

Mdm Sapina :
She was small in size.. i remember she call me mazlin, without the 'a' bhind.. even when she write her remarks in my report book, she left out the 'a'... She speaks wif a 'jawa' accent especially when she taught us malay... she was an easy to please teacher... i remember during one of those routine checks, n as a form teacher, she checks out attire, our hair n stuff... when she saw my long nails, she was goin 'hhhmmm..' n say 'go cut ok' n jus walks off... as long as we remain good-behaved pupils, she would jus leave us alone...

Mr Peter Herd :
He taught me Literature in sec 2... it took me quite a while to actually know what he's talking as he talks in a very strong ang-moh accent... i remember dat although i sux in literature (i dunno how to write long essay answers, im a direct person, see), i always enjoyed the way he tells the story... i still remember the book 'I Am David' n i still hv it wif me now... N when he tells his jokes (which most of us dun realy get it), he would laff like a woodpecker... i remember once he ask my fren to do the moonwalk, n he try it himself but he looked so funny dat we all laff hysterically...

Mr Pritam Singh :
He taught me Science in sec 1... he was very active wif pupils... he likes to do things hands-on.. n he was crazy abt nature.. i remember he organised this hike thingy wif a small grp of pupils during a saturday n i join in... we climb the hill near bt batok mrt n discovered theres a cemented tunnel on top.. we also climb the hill bhind bt gombak stadium, where we tumbled upon a big hive of bees n end up going downhill in Hillview... He's also very vibrant and likes to give us lots of info, always staring wif 'do you know dat....' n he is also animated wif his hands n body while trying to xplain to us abt certain topics...

When i passed my O levels, i went to NYP taking up computer engineering... life has become difficult then, n this is where i start to feel i need to study hard, real hard... no more am i blessed wif a sponged brain... when i was in poly, theres only one lecturer who really inspire me... if i can remember, his name is Mr Phua or sumtin like dat, i always call him sir... he taught me computing maths, n makes me from a maths-hater to a maths-lover... his way of teaching n talking is sooooo... i dunno how to describe it... serene? or patient? but i noe it helps cool down my nerves whenever im faced wif numbers...

I work for Microsoft Techsupport for awhile, trying out IT line, before deciding to try my next passion, teaching....

When i went to NIE, i kinda like grow mature a bit... a bit only, hehehe, i guess theres always a kid in me... It came as a culture shock to me, maybe i was so accustomed of having mixed frens in a class, now its all occupied wif malays... i hv a bit of difficulty in taking notes in malay... i rememer i ask sumone bside me 'whats kuliah?' n when dat sumone say 'it means lecture', i was like 'oohh..'... n in the beginning i used to write notes in english, although the lectures are in malay...

Mdm Noraida :
She taught me linguistics, hit me as sumone arrogant-looking in the first place.. sumone whos serious n never laffs... but as time goes by, i can see she had her soft side... i like her way of teaching, so systematic n always hv detailed notes which i noe she had planned ahead...

Mr Tajul :
He is very funny, wif his corny lame jokes n sumtimes sarcastic remarks... Sumtimes i laff so hard dat i dun realy remember wat he is teaching on dat day... i dun realy remember the module name of the subject he's teaching, but i noe we were suppose to write lesson plans n execute them during tutorials... i also remember his checkered shirts, n sumtimes we will be wondering, 'did he chg his shirt?' cos almost all of them look alike...

Mdm Saeda :
She struck me as sumone gentle n very motherly... the way she speaks n addressed us... u hv to realy b quiet to hear her... n she will go all apologetic when she are unable to make up for sumting or unable to grant our ever-so-demanding wishes or sumtin like dat...

Mr Abbas :
He is sumone who i look at like some 'penghulu'... Someone who is good at advising n counselling... i remember he taught us one module about malay cultures n customs... n dats really interesting.. i also remember we had a one-on-one oral test wif him, abt the order of islam months n abt slaughtering the goats during hari raya haji or sumtin like dat... he wrote this book abt customs of malays which i still hv now.. its abt malay customs on wedding up to malay beliefs in ghosts...

overall, my education years are very fulfillin.. i enjoyed goin to school, another reason why i chose teaching... n i wouldnt mind studying for the rest of my life.. haha, i wish!