“IF you insist to be transferred to the elite class, I am sure you are going to rank last among your classmates.”  

I vividly recall this remark from my class teacher 20 years ago when I was in Primary Four. It was obviously a cold blanket to a conscientious student who worked hard just to strive for metamorphosis – for higher competitiveness in a new learning environment.

I bring along this experience along my adulthood and associate it with my determination of becoming an educator who constantly be reminded to equip myself with love and compassion.

In fact, a school should be an institution for pragmatic social network for our children and educators are the capital and source of influence acting on the build-up of their experience. 

Influence and inspiration are all a teacher could deliver. I was inspired to become an educator because of the unpleasant experience I have had with my teacher in primary school, simply because she enabled me to realise how pivotal role a teacher could play in one’s cognitive and mental development, forming a long-term memory and adverse impact.

A strong education system should internalise the culture of happiness, love and mutual respect as keys to encompass a more humanistic and value-drive education, as emphasised by the former education minister Dr Maszlee Malik. 

In fact, the recent #MakeSchoolASaferPlace movement is an epitome of the ambivalent rhetoric to look at the significance of a school as an institution, and also the spirit upholds by the teacher as a noble and sacred profession.

To some degree, school seems to be no longer a safe space for the young minds. Worrisome and scepticism penetrated the societies instead, questioning the influence of schools and teachers onto the school children who ought to imbibe knowledge of value, moral, social and emotion via the institutionalised education system.

This resulted in unfairness towards those educators who work through their entire life attributing to cultivate generations and generations of success individuals.

Aristotle once said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act but a habit.”

While the education system is overemphasising on reputation, exam orientation and syllabus-driven, isn’t it worthwhile to examine the habits, rituals and messages that the system could deploy to the students? Are the students facilitated with emotional connections, a sense of solidarity and education passion excellence?

By effectively building genuine and authentic rituals and values in the education system, students will define ubiquitous aspects of the culture and reinforce learning experience, particularly when the rituals are supported by enriched experiential learning and a congruent teaching strategy. 

Having said that, I am thankful that my teacher has triggered me to be more versatile and strong-minded in achieving every life milestone. If I were to be given an opportunity to speak to her, I am going to tell her: Lim lao shi, thank you. Your remark has shaped who I am today. Education is a journey of enlightenment and awakening to all beginnings of unknown and doubts. 
Happy Teachers’ Day to all educators, and parents – the first teachers for all children. – May 16, 2021.

* Iris Ng reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.