Teachers' Day

Teachers' Day in Singapore has come and gone. Over here in KL, Teachers' Day is not celebrated on September 1st, so the date slipped my mind.

Until I started receiving sms-es from Singapore.

Some of my ex-students have not forgotten me. I was touched.

There are some students whom you teach, and you teach them well, and they go on to score A's, enter good JCs/polytechnics and university. And as their teacher, you feel happy for them.

And then there are some students whom you know you have made a difference to their lives. These are normally the troubled students - social misfits, delinquents or academically-stressed. A teacher cannot "save" all of them. But when a connection is made, and the teacher is able to do something for them, the impact on their lives is forever.

That's why I find teaching so rewarding.

Two of the sms-es came from two students whom I know we had that special connection. They used to have difficulty adjusting to the social environment and had no friends. One of them was a "flame" victim who was scalded real bad. Her only fault was that her appearance was not pleasing to her tormentors. The other was a quiet girl from mainland China who was too hardworking for her own good. Now, although I was not very effective in counselling those really naughty students, I could relate very well to those students who are deemed outcasts. By giving them back their confidence to face the world, a significant difference can be made.

And hearing from these two students on what they are doing with their lives now, I feel truly gratified.

I may not have saved all the starfish, but I did manage to save some.