Auld Lang Syne

Dearest 1E2'06/2E2'07


Thank you for being the funny bunch that you are for the past 2 fabulous years! To me, I think that you have been a pleasant and wonderful class to teach - the girls were mostly tamed, some boys were quite sedated and a funny rowdy group of boys to liven up the class. Well, I am STILL in denial that the boys are angels and do not watch naughty videos. =S

I know for certain that I'll miss all of you pretty much when all of you go onto your separate ways next year. It is a step taken in the moulding of your own future, as the subjects you take would affect the career paths years ahead. So do be serious in your studies, as you have been for the past two years with me. Whatever you do, don't regret when you get older - this means that you should think carefully before you decide to take the first drag on that cigarette or skip school just to enjoy a cheap thrill. Eveything has a cause-and-effect, so think of the consequences before you leap (one of the important lessons Totto-chan learnt - 'Look before you leap' > Sec 1 Common Test 2; remember how she was plastered in the cement?!).

It has been my priviledge to have met all of you and being able to take on the important role of your English teacher. I believe that I have influenced many of your lives with my tyranny through the subject of English (and Literature, as Lit is part of English). The English Language is one of the top three languages spoken in the world. Not only do we have to master the skills of writing, reading, speaking and listening to it, we must embrace the understanding that it is an art of communication. And we homosapiens communicate to exchange information on topics, knowledge and feelings to each other, in hope to foster a better Self, a better Life, a better Human Race. Thus, mastering a language for the vital purpose of communication is indeed extremely important.

Through this subject, I've tried my very best to entertain, educate, advocate morals and values, and open up a world of questions, liberty and possibilities. I hope that you will have those important values (conviction to stand up for what you believe in, principles worth sacrificing for, our SPICE values....) imprinted in your minds and hearts as you continue on in your lives. Remember that things/systems/people/words are not as they are unless you accept they are. Too deep? Well, I simply mean that you sometimes cannot take things just as they are because they are 'meant' to be that way; rather, it is good to question why things are the way they are presented to you. Still too deep? Just don't be a sponge and absorb everything fed to you! Ask more questions, seek your own answers!

Life is challenging and if one is not strongly grounded in one's foundations of truth and principles, one will be easily swayed like a kite in the wind. At times, the string of the kite will snap when the wind is too strong.

Hence, apart from

• my all-time favourite terrifying phrase - "I am getting annoyed, ah."
• my usual habit of tying untucked tail ends of shirts with rubber bands
• repeating my class greetings to get a different intonation
• cupping my ears to make you speak louder
• calling you 'children'
• funny examples to explain idiomatic phrases
• recalling the 5 steps of summary writing
• making sure that you run for my lessons when you're late
• randomly picking people to recite 'THree THousand THree hundred and THirty-THree trees'
• making sure that you know how to spell 'o-n-o-m-a-t-o-p-o-e-i-a'
• counting down to make all of you hand in your stuff quickly 'give it to me in ten... nine.. eight.....seven....if you don't hand in, I'll not mark or record for CA ah!'
• making couple jokes - 'If Mr T goes to Nicola's house...'
• treating lollies and calorie-filled snacks from time-to-time
• giving all of you tons of Vocab spelling, idiomatic tests, comprehensions, paraphrasing activities and peer marking
• rewarding a well-deserved pizza treat
• and, lastly, stressing all of you with the targets set by me .....

I hope that all of you will remember Ms Sylvia Ang's teachings about morals, courage and principles. Be a better individual than what I can become or hope for. It is my wish that you will all surpass me - in my life, my courageous undertakings, my dreams, my achieved goals, my radical attitudes and methods, my spontaniety at taking you out of the classrooms to the foyer or parade square for a sudden speech (poor Brandon!) in your thoughts or physical bodies, my twisting of conventions ... - and most of all, to be a former student of mine in the years to come, one of whom I can be truly proud of.

*hugs*