The Greatest Profession!

Happy Teachers' Day: Well, we almost forgot that Sept 1 is Happy Teachers' Day in Singapore! It is not the case here (yet to find out when is HTD, if at all it is celebrated here). My wife and I are, nevertheless, pleasantly surprised to receive well wishes from our former students who still remember us despite the thousand of miles separating us! We would like to say:

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Have you ever really had a teacher? One who saw you as a raw but precious thing, a jewel that, with wisdom, could be polished to a proud shine? If you are lucky enough to find your way to such teachers, you will always find your way back." – Tuesday with Morrie

Continuing on the theme on "teachers", I would like to share a testimony I wrote last year paying tribute to a former teacher who greatly impacted my life. I would say that to a large extent, I am what I am today because of her input in my life.

One of the teachers whom I am most indebted to is an intern teacher who spent less than two months in my secondary school in 1978. I was in Sec 2 then attending an average school in Malaysia. I was an average student in the B class. Out of the whole cohort of 200, my position would be around 70. I was average in most subjects except for mathematics which was my strongest subject. As a reward for doing well in a test, the intern teacher took me and few classmates for an excursion to her campus. She showed us the lecture and seminar rooms where she took her lessons and encouraged us to study hard and aim to enter the university.

One day, I received a message that she requested to see me in the staff room. Our conversation was brief, 5-10 minutes at most. She said it was her last day teaching in my school but she could see a lot of potential in me. She made me promise that I would do my best for the year-end exam. Guess what? That year, I topped my B class and even performed better than all the students in the school (except for the top student in the A class). Overall, I was placed 2nd in the whole school. From 70 to 2! Till today, I still remember the promise I made to my intern teacher, "to do my best and fulfill my potential".

Looking back, it was at this point in my academic life that I experienced a quantum leap. All thanks to an intern teacher. Come to think about it, the intern teacher was around the same age as my current students (she was then still in her university). So, I believe that as teachers, our words are very powerful.

Unleashing Minds, Transforming Lives!

This is why my wife and I regard teaching as the greatest profession. For us, teaching is more than a career, it is a calling! So, this posting is dedicated to all teachers (including those who are giving tuition!).

“The future of the world is in my classroom today!

A future with the potential for good or bad. Several future presidents are learning from me today; so are the great writers of next decades, and so are all the so-called ordinary people who will make the decisions in a democracy. I must never forget these young people could be the thieves and murderers of the future. Only a teacher? Thank God I have a calling to the greatest profession of all! I must be vigilant every day, lest I lose one fragile opportunity to improve tomorrow.”

- Ivan Welton Fitxwater.