A Day to Celebrate Educators

it is kind of disappointing that in KL the teachers had to undergo a whole day of training (as required by the JPA that all govt officers should fulfill the requirement of 7 days of training a year) on the day that teachers are supposed to be appreciated.

and it is unfortunate that our society forgets the noble deed that we have done for their children, so some are not bothered at all to celebrate the ones who shaped their lives and also their children's future.

the primary school teachers are appreciated by their pupils. but then, we're talking about pre-puberty kids here, who easily like their teachers.

it's not so in the secondary school level.

teachers are not only expected to teach and make sure the students perform in the exams, they are also the ones who have to mould the students' characters - which is difficult, imagine trying to mould more than 100 students.

i feel the sacrifice the teachers have to make so keenly this year because i find it hard to educate my students. it's a big challenge. it's even a big challenge to ask them to bring their exercise books to school, or for them to answer exercises on handouts given. the biggest challenge is to jolt them up from their fantasyland or stop them before they ruin themselves (through drugtaking, playing truant or mixing with the wrong crowd) because you pity them and wonder what's to become of them in 5 years time.

that is something the society doesn't know- that teachers worry about their students as if the students are their own children.

however, having said that, there are some students who sincerely appreciate their teachers - their role models.

these are the ones who wished their teachers today.

and these are the ones who we have succeeded in moulding - not to shower us with gifts, but to appreciate us in just mere words by thanking us for what we have done for them. yes, and i also would like to thank all my former teachers and lecturers -
Miss Norsham, my favourite English teacher who could put up with the arrogance of the Set A girls,
Cikgu Fauziah Ali - all Seri Puterians' favourite bubbly teacher and warden,
Miss Jamaliah Hamid - who told us to do more than 100 squats under the hot sun for not speaking in English on English Day (now teaching in UPM),
Dr Habibah - my first ever Literature lecturer who increased my passion in Literature with her enthusiasm and love for life,
Mr Hazidi Abdul Hamid - for guiding me throughout my TESL degree dissertation and for teaching me about life, writing and reading serious literature,
my M.A. lecturers -
Dr Carol Leon, whose gentleness made my 3 hellish and migrainish years of dissertation bearable,
Prof Lim Chee Seng - for inspiring me whenever he opens his mouth to quote Shakespeare or Donne or Milton (and for passing my M.A. dissertation so i could graduate).

i salute all of you.

while the rest of Malaysia spend their Saturday, oblivious to the significance of 16th May.