葡公英

Before I start with my boring programming (yes, this time in assembly language!), I shall blog heartily because it's friday! And on my way back, the deejays reminded me that tomorrow is Teacher's Day! How long haven't I heard of 'Teacher's Day'! The last one I had heard of was probably 5 years ago. As the crowded MRT I waas travelling in made its way north, I remembered those teachers in my life right from kindergarten.

I remember this kindergarten teacher who had polio and as a result she could not move nimbly. She was very fierce and I was super scared of her. But she was really nice to me maybe because I was a very quiet child unlike the others. haha. But really, I was very quiet. She always told my mum that. She must have suspected I had some sort of autism. And my mum would tell her how naughty I was at home. I bet she did not believe my mum! I was sooo well behaved. And I could remember giving her a Parker pen on my very last day to thank her for her teaching. My mum insisted. And she and my brother chose a pen with an army print on it. I was so against it until today! hahahaha. Army print on Parker pen just doesn't go well and not suitable for teachers! I really could still remember how the pen looked like. *Amazing memory.

I remember the fierce form teacher in primary one/two. Coincidentally, she had polio too. I remember I could not finish this composition and she chided me after marking. I was told to do corrections and I completed my composition in my corrections. To my dismay, she scolded me for making her mark more than she actually needed to. Gosh! And I remember she liked to scold this malay boy because he always did not bring his textbooks and workbooks. This boy would then (almost everyday) dig his bag for the entire period trying in vain and hoping to pull out the much needed textbook. *hard luck! After nearing the end of the period, she would scold him and said,"Dig, Dig, Dig! Never bring how to find the book!?" And when somone else had forgotten to bring his, she too scolded the person. I remember this guy who was like know the situation pretty well and he had decided not to look for it in vain because he was extremely sure the book wasn't in his bag but at home. Hence, he just sat down and ignored her. She went shouting at him to look for his book! *What a dilemma! I remember there was once when I forgot to write my name on my worksheet and handed in, I got myself into deep shit. She marked and returned to everyone and insisted that I hand in my worksheet. I didn't dare tell her I had forgot my name because she was very particular on 'forgot-name' mistake. I didn't want to invite more scoldings so I went home and cried. Hahaha. In the end, I got my mum to buy the whole PETS worksheet booklet when I only needed ONE page of the whole booklet. *SO SILLY! And I didn't even hand in that ONE piece of worksheet in the end!

I remember my primary four form teacher who was super nice to me and my best friend. She would always push me to particpate in almost everything. Everything like sports day track events, badminton and volleyball tournaments etc. I remember she told me on the very last minute like a day before the actual day to participate in this on the spot art competition. I was super turned off as I felt I was unprepared and it was simply too last minute. On the actual day, I anyhow drew the Ginza Plaza and handed in like way before the time was up. 'Ginza Plaza' because the topic was My Favourite Shopping Centre. *So lame. It really wasn't my favourite. I drew that out of convenient sake because it was just in the vicinity and everyone was crowding at the window trying to catch a glimpse of the shopping mall. Obviously, none of those who drew Ginza Plaza won. It was the only year which I didn't manage to get a prize for the annual On The Spot Art Competition. I remember she even let me had a chance to go on the stage for some skit. I had enjoyed that! That year was pretty enriching for me as she gave me many opportunities to try things I wouldn't under the hand of other teachers. The last thing I remember was that she got complaint because she brought half the class out for an outing at her friend's house and she was teaching us *religious related songs. *You know what I mean, right?

I remember this primary 5/6 tai tai teacher. She was very rich. She drove a sports car. She lived in a condominium. She rewarded students dearly should they do well academically. She told everyone she treated this so and so student to Jack's place for lobsters because he did extremely well. Her method of teaching was to reward and to reward like having a carrot in front of every student. She was super biased towards those who did well academically which I did mentioned several entries back. In her eyes, I was only a student who was good in art. She would never relate academic study and me together. Hahaha. It was really stressed in her class because everyone performed very well. And getting 80 plus for maths was considered bottom of the class. I risked having to transfer to the next class because I got 69 marks for english. They require all subjects to be above 70 marks in that class. *How stressful! I remember she brought her emerald embedded ring to show us when she went through the chapter on the Wizard of Oz because she was afraid we didn't know what EMERALD was! I went home to tell my mum and she replied, "HAO LIAN".

I remember having this famous professor's wife for my P6 higher chinese teacher. She wore heavy make-up and her hairstyle was super unique which resembled a cabbage. When I saw her on newspaper/tv sometimes, she didn't change much! It was still her with heavy make-up and cabbage hairstyle. We had loads to complain to our normal chinese teacher because we disliked her. We called her cucumber in front of this chinese teacher. Her lesson was really boring and we were always dying to get out of the class when the bell rang but she would just go on and on ignoring the bell. We would start to make noise by throwing stationery into the pencil case just to alert her that the time was up! Eventually, one of the academically smart student wrote a letter to complain her. *When a student is too smart academically, teachers, you better watch out! She was so mad to face us that she wanted the other chinese teacher to teach us 4 characters - "尊师重道". The form teacher wanted the culprit to admit himself during recess time but he never did. Very well! So much so for biasing towards students who did well in their studies but lack the courage to admit what they had done! Till this day, I guess only the few of us know who the culprit was and the form teacher would never dream that it was the work of her favourite pet.

I remember this literature teacher who had a horrible temper. She threw books out of the window and into the dustbin if she caught you not paying attention in class. Her shouting beat all the teachers I had come across. Her high pitch rocked the class and sent shivers down your back. We were all afraid of her! However, she liked us so much the second year and that year she had to leave the school. Amazingly, we did not hate her and even took photos with her on her last day. She was all smiley that day. That was the most radiant smile I could remember from her.

I remember this chemistry teacher who was super funny. She joked a lot with the jokers in my class but whoever crossed the line got into trouble. I remember she caught my friends playing waterbottles and so she became pretty mad and went to punish them. She poured a cap full of water on the head of my classmate. He was very angry with her and so he retorted that she was biased and always picked on him. She was so angry that she teared. I remember she once tripped over the microphone wire and she joked and asked why didn't I save her. (I was sitting in front of her because I was sitting on the very first row in class and because I was pretty short then) In which, my friend replied that she would crush me to death! (She had a bigger size than me)

I remember this traditional chinese JC teacher who did nothing else but scold us every time she had the chance to. She scolded the class for not handing in work. She scolded people for being late for school. She scolded anyone who did not tug in their top. She scolded us when we 'pon' school with no MCs and letters. Some classmates daringly questioned her that why was she so particular and why students from other classes could do what we couldn't. Her rationale - because her surname was '严'. Of course, those who had questioned invited more scolding. *What a good reason! I remember she told everyone in the class that my chinese was the weakest. That made me upset and mad with her for the entire day. The A level chinese result came as a good defence for me. I asked her snobbishly that did she tell me my chinese was weak the previous day? She rolled her eyes and you know what. She gave us a big lecture during the civic lesson. She said how some of us were 侥幸to get aces. Many died under her scolding and the number who had cried increased throughout the 2 years. Despite not favouring her teaching methods, I bear no grudges. I could even remember some phrases she used before. For instance, she told us at the beginning of the class that some maybe disappointed for not able to go to their dream JCs - 既来之则安置. I do not know why she used this phrase on me. I think she had the impression that my result was constantly good all along, which wasn't the case, really - 阴沟里翻船 And she said for us to know chinese - 男不读三国，女不读红楼，就不算学过华语 Oh yes, when she scolded us she used harsh words like 我看到你们，我觉得想吐 Yah, she was that harsh in scolding people, and it was no wonder that many girls could not take it and as well as some guys lah, and especially the one who had argued with her about the education system in singapore. hahaha. And even if I message her happy teacher's day tomorrow. i think she might know it is from me because I will always acknowldge myself as her 最乖的学生, to which she has to agree. Haha.

The last one that I remember was my ang moh class teacher in my year 1. She had high EQ and it was the only lesson I looked forward to attending for the entire semester. the module was non graded but I felt I had learnt a lot from her. She was very chirpy and the class was so lively which was a big contrast in any tutorial class in engine. I was glad I did badly for my GP if not I wouldn't be in her class and learnt things which I took for granted. haha. I remember her calling me one morning to ask me why I was looking so glum the previous day. I jumped off my chair when I knew the call was from her. She cared so much that she actually called me. I was seriously moved (to tears) when I hung up. She gave me encouragement in my darkest days. She would be the only teacher I remember in university so far.

It's amazing how good my memory is. How good is yours? Despite all that I have said, I still want to thank all the teachers who have come across my life and changed it for the better. Perhaps without any of them, guobin would not be the guobin today.