I Was Not Supposed to be Posted to BSS but Now I Thank God That He Sent Me There!

Honest reflections and confessions of an ex-BSS teacher - from disappointment to fulfilment!

Six and a half years ago in June 2001, I had just graduated from my degree in NIE-NTU. I had every confidence that unlike my fellow trainee-teachers, I would not be posted to any school but would instead be continuing one more year of education as my Honours year. After all I was the top student for history for my cohort in Year 2 and had accumulated an unbeaten record of 40% As and 60% Bs in history! Who else in my history cohort would be selected to do history for the Honours Program, if not me? My supervisor and tutor had also promised to recommend me to teach the Gifted Education program in some elite schools if I was selected for the Honours Program.

I was really shocked then when it was made known that NOBODY from my history cohort was selected to do the Honours Program. My tutor tried to fight for us but she did not get a satisfactory answer from the Dean. Instead, I received the news that I was posted to Bendemeer Secondary School! I came from an elite secondary school and most of my peers were graduates like me. In historical and sociological terms, I am a typical middle-class person with bourgeoisie values and so at that time I had certain biased and unfair pre-conceived ideas about (what I saw as) "proletariat class" students from neighbourhood schools (now I feel ashamed of myself for that). I was so disappointed that I decided to boycott my graduation convocation ceremony. I even lamented to God and asked why He did this to me! Little did I know that God works in mysterious ways - He meant to humble me and give me fulfilment by sending me to teach BSS!

Six and a half years later - January 2008, I have quitted from teaching for a month already. Now, looking back, I thank God for posting me to teach history at BSS. I thank Him for giving me the wonderful colleagues whom I make very close friends with some of them. I thank God that He gave me very wonderful memories of the many batches of nice students that I have taught through the years! And that He now gives me these ex-students as my friends whom I still keep in touch with! I now declare that I really enjoyed teaching history to my students, taking charge of my Battlefield Guides and training my cadets as an NCC Officer, while I was in BSS. Daily, I still recall all these fond memories. Had I really been posted to an elite school teaching Gifted Education, I would not have met so many of my ex-colleagues and ex-students who are now my friends! I heard that the so-called "Gifted students" are often very proud, they think they are very great and as a result are difficult to teach. They are known not to respect teachers. By contrast, the students in BSS are generally humble, teachable, respectful and nice. In fact, I feel sad to part with them! I now really have NO regrets coming to teach in BSS!

I have also been humbled by God and I am NO longer the "elitist" Malcolm. Now I believe that some of the best and nicest students are actually from neighbourhood schools! I have gotten rid of my middle class bias. Dear God, I thank you for humbling me and giving me so much satisfaction and fulfilment in BSS! My years in BSS are some of my best memories here on earth and I will always treasure the friendships that I have made with my ex-colleagues and ex-students! You have a purpose in sending me to teach BSS and now I understand your purpose! Teach us to trust that Your will for us is always good, even though we may not understand it at times! Amen!

Congratulations & Well Done Sec 4s (2007)! Thank God for the Good Results!

Yesterday's results for this batch of graduated Sec 4Es are the second best for "O" level Social Studies and the best for "O" level Elective History amongst the 5 batches of Sec 4s I have had in Bendemeer Secondary School!

Combined Humanities 4E1 MSG = 2.87 (36% distinctions) and 4E2 MSG = 3.2 (30% distinctions).

To all those from 4E1 and 4E2 (2007) - Well done and congratulations! My job with you is finally done! Thank God for this wonderful results! It is certainly beyond my expectations! A chapter in your life has closed and another one has opened! Live life to the fullest! Hold on to the values that you have learnt from us! Pursue your passions till the ends of the earth!

I Feel Bad about Leaving the Current Sec 3s Behind!

After half a month, I do miss school and some aspects of what I used to do in school. I actually enjoy teaching, interacting with students and taking charge of NCC and "Battlefield Guides" very much. Moreover, I also have some of my colleagues as very good friends, so why did I quit my job? The main reason is of course, I want to pursue my studies and interest in history. Other than that, I also hate the administrative duties, the long meetings and the various other unpleasant duties (some of which are really meaningless and time-wasting).

I have been going back to school once a week to catch up with my ex-colleagues and current ex-students. The more I talk to the current batch of Sec 3s and Sec 5Ns (whom I taught history last year), the more I feel bad about leaving them behind! I know that about 65% of them (Express and Normal combined) chose elective history as first choice last year. That means there should be two history classes for Secondary 3 Express and another two for Normal (Academic) this year. This was an even greater record than the batch two years before them! Yet the school can only open one class of elective history for Sec 3E and none for the Sec 3NA this year because I have quitted from the service and there is a nationwide shortage in history teachers!

I did think of staying back for another two years to teach History and Social Studies to this current batch of Sec 3s and the Sec 5Ns. After all, I certainly enjoyed teaching most of them last year when they were in Sec 2. Some of them were my NCC cadets. However, I had already delayed my study plans for two years because of the graduated Sec 4s! I cannot possibly delay my plans for another two years! I could have stayed on till June this year (before my Masters program starts) to teach them but what is the point? I would still have to leave them behind to some other teachers in the end and not see them through till the "O" levels! I actually struggled with this for a while but the conclusion I got was, enough is enough! What if I ended up feeling the same for another batch of students? When will it ever end? I am no longer getting younger. It is time that I moved on with my life. There is no other choice. This is life, good times are never meant to last forever unfortunately.

So, to the current batch of Sec 3s and Sec 5s who chose to do elective history, I am truly SORRY but there is NO other alternative! It is better for me to quit end of last year than this year, as that would be even more disruptive! I will always remember the good times that I have with you all and I hope that you all have learnt something from my lessons. I also hope that I have changed most people's perspective of History as a boring subject. The same goes to all my previous batches of ex-students. If I have done these two things, then I can answer to God and say that I have done my job on earth while I was given the opportunity to do so in my six and a half years at Bendemeer Secondary!

My First eBay Sales - Its A US Customer!

I have been dabbling with eBay these few weeks to buy and sell items. After many trials, errors and frustrations, I finally managed to put up 30-over items for sale with eBay US. These are mainly model kits and books that I used to read as a teenager, which no longer interest me or I have no space for them. My first eBay sales which I just shipped to the USA is a new replica Vietnamese pith helmet and flag which I bought in Saigon, Vietnam last June. No doubt Americans would have a great interest in Vietnam war replicas and relics due to the traumatic historical experiences of their fathers who fought there in the 1960s and 1970s. This is certainly a good start! Not that I want to do online business but eBay is a good way for me to clear the things that I do not want at home without wastage. Moreover, I get to recover some money from the sales of these items as well. One man's trash is another man's treasure! This is again time which I cannot afford to spend while I was still teaching!

First two days of unemployment - I have become IT saavy!

It feels strange these two days to be absent from school! After six and a half years of teaching, I am now resigned, unemployed and waiting to be a student again. That does not prevent me from waking up early though. My body is conditioned to wake up at 7-7.30 a.m. each day without alarm clock after two and a half decades of being a student and then a teacher.

How have I been filling my time meanwhile? Very meaningful indeed! Already during the December holidays, I found time to catch up with old friends, ex-students and relatives whom I have not met for a long time. This is enhanced by my upgrading my internet to broadband unlimited and installation of MSN (a great IT breakthrough for me!). Another IT breakthrough came when I actually searched for some interesting and humourous You-tubes to watch and share with people. A further IT "revolution" came yesterday when I actually took photos of several items and actually put them up for sale in eBay listings! Previously, I have only gone online to purchase things. Now I have learnt to be a seller! More sale listings to come, as I actually have many books and collectibles that I do not want anymore and are taking up space at home. I am now more "IT saavy" than I have ever been in my whole life! Thanks to being unemployed! Previously, I simply did not have the time. Now I have!

The rest of my time was taken to clear up the mess that had accumulated at home for six and a half years! Yes, awful lots of newspaper cuttings and rubbish to cause a fire hazard! I also did some financial planning to ensure that I survive the next one and a half years as an unemployed person and as a tertiary student. I am already tutoring a student. It will be helpful for me to tutor a few more students but it will not be easy to find them as I can only teach History and Social Studies. I have thought about setting up my own firm to do enrichment programs and field trips but I need time to work that out though. Anyway, life is going to be exciting ahead! Thank God for the opportunity to live life to the fullest!