complicated simplicity

Today’s my first Teacher’s Day as a member of staff in Anderson. Even though I’m not officially teaching anymore classes, I decided to put in some work today before I die clearing work on Friday. The first thing in the morning after assembly, Mrs Tan (my P) was giving out scented candles to all her teachers on behalf of the management team. Quite a nice gesture to thank all the teachers for their hardwork over the past year. I was surprised to be getting one as well since I’m only a temp staff. After that, there was the concert. I was watching from upstairs as I wanted to clear work. The first band was GOOD, whoever it was, had solid vocals. Anyway, I didn’t pay too much attention to the concert as was busy with “The Tipping Point”. Long story. After a while, a student came looking for me in the lounge. Ziqin gave me a nice little card and one of those handicraft roses. Pretty surprised, cos I really wasn’t expecting much. As the time passed, trinkles of students came and went. Got gifts from my science and biology classes that I taught, guess maybe science students are more sentimental! No, I’m not complaining I got nothing from my Geog classes. Heh. Anyway, after school, all members of staff went for a hi-tea cruise. Not the StarCruise cruise, but for those who remember your BMT days, the fastcraft type of cruise. The lunch/hi-tea was good, and so was the entertainment. Lucky draws were plenty (I DIDN’T WIN!! zzz) and many other activities. I was supposedly one of the “5 best dressed male teachers” and sorta got thrown into a fashion show. But it was fun, with Tenghong, Mr Tan FK, Mr Ng CS, Major. Had to catwalk. Mr Ng won! It was so funny. For the ladies, Mrs Kamal got it tops! We had a montage of tributes by the various classes for us show between the various programmes, and many touching moments. It’s always heartwarming to see your students thank you (really truthfully, no crossed fingers) and promise they would never XXX, YYY or ZZZ again (fill in the blanks with whatever you did to your teachers in school). Some teachers teared. Many just smiled. This is what keeps us going, as teachers. You just know you made a difference. However, we always turn and tell each other after that: Now you see/hear them say they promise not to XXX, YYY or ZZZ again ah, but after 1 month see what happens! Well, at least they….tried. 2 teachers always got heaps of praises from all the classes: Mr TTP and Mrs T Lim. I remember 3/7 even had a TTP Fan club! At the end, we had a Karaoke session, as well as a dance session. We were dancing Cha-Cha! Well, finally my time of practice in JC was useful! (Ok, ALMOST. I forgot most of my Cha-Cha steps.) But it was hilarious and entertaining to see alot of the teachers (for example Ms Thoo, Mrs Lowe, Mrs T Lim, Mrs Tan, Mrs Ashari) dancing Cha-Cha. WOW. And I have to mention here, Major Chong’s a GREAT dancer. What a great experience it was for me today. Especially that the four of us: Royce, Gullnaz, Michelle and me, were specially invited by Mrs Tan to join the celebrations. I feel so honored! Once my teacher, always my teacher. I hereby pay tribute to all my teachers, especially: My Anderson teachers- Mama Chong for being such a great Math teacher, and teaching me the ropes. Mrs Theresa Lim for giving me a chance. Mr Ang for your jokes in class and having faith in me during the council times. (Mdm) Heryanti for giving a chance in leadership when I was in Anderson. My NJC tutors- Mr Stephen Tsang for your accented jokes and trust. Miss Tan MM for your inspiration and encouragement. Mrs Marianne Tan for being there for me and having faith in me, always.

Tags: Personal

Similar posts:

1. "A tribute to my teachers" on September 1, 2006
2. "Teacher’s Day?" on August 30, 2005
3. "The tenets of cheating your teachers." on August 2, 2005
4. "The Singapore Paper Chase" on July 26, 2005
5. "This is why I teach." on September 14, 2006