Recently I saw the special report about the good teacher Mr. Quek on the local TV. I found the story was ready interesting and like to share it here.
Mr. Quek has been teaching in the ITE-Institute of technical education for many years. In Singapore, students can study courses in ITE if they are unable to cope in the main stream schools, this is ready good so that they can learn some technical skill. But If their results in ITE are good, they can further study in Polytechnic and university. Mr. Quek goes extra miles to teach those weak students after school. He always phone their parents to monitor their progress, no wonder students call him " dad ". Many ex-students always greeting cards for him. I salute Mr. Quek for being the outstanding teacher.
The other inspiring story touched me also.
An over-age student Lee Xuan Man who was almost unable to complete her secondary school finally becomes "the national model of Singapore Chinese Teachers" with her undaunted spirit and and strong will to learn. She is now 48 years old, was one the graduates of Hwa Ren Secondary School. 23 years ago, when Lee was 25 years old, she joined the class of Form 3 with the recommendation of her sister-in-law Liao, was the principal of the school, despite the fact that she was ten years older than her classmates.
Although Lee only had primary school qualification, with her iron will to learn, Lee successfully completed her high school education and pursued her studies at the National Taiwan Normal University for a Bachelor degree. She graduated from the university at the age of 34 and then contributed her teaching services for two years at Hwa Ren Secondary School. Since 1999, she has pursued a teaching career at Singapore Millennia Institute for the past 11 years.
With her outstanding teaching skills and innovative teaching method, she has become the "National Model of Singapore Chinese Teachers" which led to local media coverage.
Lee's father passed away when she was young. After completing her primary school education, she stepped into the society to work for the following 12 years, during which she worked as a waitress, petrol station attendant, domestic help, factory and so on. she later returned to school to finish her secondary education at the age of 25.
She said during the interview that after completing her primary school education in Port Dickson, she went to Melaka, KL and Singapore to make a living and thought she would not be able to complete her studies ever.
However, her sister-in-law knew of her desire to continue pursuing her studies and had successfully convinced Hwa Ren School to give her a chance to be an overage student in Form 3.
During the first year, her tuition fees and expenses were sponsored by her sister-in-law and she later received a scholarship from the school for three years.
"After my enrolment, I only failed my first maths test once, obtaining only 20 marks. Later my results had improved and I managed to complete my high school education without having to stay back."
Lee has now settled down in Singapore and continues to pursue her postgraduate studies while being engaged in counselling courses. She also doubles up as a counsellor for prison inmates as well as their Chinese teacher.
When studying in Taiwan for her Bachelor Degree in Chinese, she managed to complete her four course with a part-time job. In the morning, she distributed newspapers in the hostel while in the afternoon, she worked at a restaurant and at night, as a telephone operator.
Wow, learing is never ending.
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