Look2U

起初会觉得有点莫名其妙。但是，越想就越觉得有意思。

前几天，我在 YouTube 看到了一个关于朝鲜难民的短片。虽然不知道居住在朝鲜的贫民百姓是过着什么样的生活，但是能感觉到难民们的无奈和痛苦。

不知不觉就想到如果我生长在朝鲜我会过着什么样的生活。也许我不会有一个完整的家庭，没有可信的朋友，没有娱乐，没有很好的教育，没有主。想到这些，我很感谢上帝的恩惠。真奇怪！以前我是不会有这样的感触。也许是因为上帝或也许是因为参加过耀珊拼字大赛使我对人生有不同的看法。

突然间我总觉得上帝会再次的挑战我的极限…

I was thinking through about the most recent Spelling Bee experience in Nanjing and it made me appreciate what I currently have. Interestingly, I feel a sense of remorse towards how I previously viewed the luxuries that I enjoy as a Singaporean. But that being said, it made me feel sorrowful and I was on the verge of being thrown into a mild depression. Now I must clarify that I didn’t feel this way after returning from the Wulong Spelling Bee held last year.

Anyway, I went through a list of my so-called milestones and it is like what Solomon said in the Bible – VANITIES! Seriously, grades, wealth, knowledge, etc. they are all vanities and I did question like why on earth did I work so hard for? I wanted to be a teacher, earn a good monthly income so that I can support my parents, marry a good wife, have kids, and so on. But then, after becoming a Christian, I realised that there’s much more to this short stint on earth in preparation for Heaven. The thing about being a Christian is that I no longer live for myself. Rather, I live for God and to fulfil what God has ordained me to do in this lifetime.

I actually, for the very first time, feel for the kids in China. I remembered in Emerge 07, Pastor Kong made an altar call for those who had a conviction to go to China and it wasn’t just limited to preaching the Gospel. Ironically, I responded to the altar call even though I was pretty much against anything that was “Chinese” in nature. I think I understand why I answered that altar call right now. Perhaps I’m not (yet) called to preach the Gospel in the field of missions in China. Rather, like what my superhero friend said, I’m pretty much living out the Gospel.

And I know, when I choose to obey God, He will, in turn, bless me. In my own heart, I still want good grades, wealth and all the other luxuries in life. But now, I can say that I’m more focused on the process of my personal growth and these luxuries are by-products. Naturally, I would want the results and successes in life if I invest a lot on the process. Interestingly, it was 杨校长 who proposed this motion. This man makes a lot of sense.

Now, I really want to do more for China. Spelling Bee is just but a stepping stone to other greater things that God wants me to do. But what? I wonder…and I know it will be revealed to me in due course…But next time, depression, get thee behind me!

It is a norm for all trainee and beginning teachers to be full of passion, ideals and what they want to fulfil in their course of teaching. Unfortunately, reality bites and it is often confirmed by experienced teachers, who have concluded that very often, such ideals cannot be realised.

The trip to Nanjing was in fact, very encouraging for myself and some of the other teachers who have been in the teaching profession for some time. We get to see things like TLLM, PAL and STELLAR in practice and teachers full of passion. The teachers and the Principal do not see their job as a job. Rather, they view it as a vocation, something that Pastor Kong has been preaching about in his recent Cultural Mandate series.

Really, admist all our disappointments and discouragement that we get from our “job”, God just gave us this encouragement from nowhere. Just when we thought that Singapore’s education system was top-notch and the teachers over in the rural school need help, God just decided to “lecture” us and indeed, we were humbled.

I don’t know how long my passion for teaching will last but every time I suffer a burnout, I think that this Spelling Bee trip would provide the necessary nutrients during the season of “famine and drought”. Thank You LORD for this…

I do hope that Spelling Bee would continue = )

今天，杨校长说了几翻与教育有关的道理。以下是我觉得在我心里留下最深刻的影像：

1. 百花开，花早开，花晚开，都要（会）开 － 培养迟开的花苞
2. 看到希望，发现意义，找到价值－升官？发财？出名？成材？
3. 学做“真”人－不做人上人，不做人下人，不做人外人，只做人中人
4. 立大志 做小事，立大志 做实事，立大志 做新事
5. 并肩走在行知路上创造精彩人生
6. 成绩，成功，成长－成绩，成功是快乐成长的副产品
7. 走在快乐成长的教育之路

虽然只是短短的一个星期，我在杨校长和行知小学的教师和学生们学到了许多对与教育有关的理念。新加坡和中国的确有许多不同之处。可是，在这一次的耀珊拼字大赛里，我得到了许多宝贵的经验和对于教育的热诚。希望在我任职之后我会好好的做一位人中人的教师。

”不做一位名师而做一位良师“

Such a divine appointment…Andrew has just been confirmed as the valedictorian of the current PGDE graduating batch. Being me, I just have to poke fun at him so I’m just going to imagine what he’s going to say in his speech and his appearance on that day. Friend, just for fun, joy and laughter heh!

1. Wearing the academic gown (duh!!) with his (in)famous glasses
2. Starts his speech with his one-of-a-kind tone telling everyone that he was from RI, RJC and obtained his Bachelors and Masters from Leeds, UK
3. His reasons for joining the teaching profession
4. Thanking God (the possible inclusion of some Bible verses), the academic staff (especially Dr. Tay-Koay), his family members, his close friends and a minion who he makes use of to deliver things to his maid and tutor (lol)
5. Telling every beginning teacher to realise the potential in all students (and not to discriminate scholars = D)
6. Advertise his inspirational blog should the BTs run out of “fuel”
7. Advice BTs to make use of ICT (wikis, twitter, facebook)

That’s about all that I can think of for now and I think I should stop here. And I’m sure Andrew is going to ensure that most of what I’ve mentioned about will not come to pass in his own name and that of Jesus. Haha!

But really, Andrew’s not that bad and not very bad…He’s a gentle and kind person. It’s me who enjoys being mean = P