The World of Tai Tai

This week, from 26th to 29th July, I attended a course on how to teach literature to Secondary School Students. Its activities were fun and enriching. We did jigsaw-reading, poster-drawing, a forum, poem-writing and many others. On the final day of the course, the facilitator showed us how to use miming as a means to familiarize our students with different characters in novels and short stories. Six teachers were randomly picked to take part in this activity. I was caught off guard when the facilitator called out my name. It was not an honor but a disgrace. Being hopelessly weak in acting,parodying and the like, I was the unlikeliest person to take part in the skit. The facilitator gave each of us a card. It contained the name of the character we should mime. I looked at mine and the name on it shocked the daylight out of me. It was Pak Pandir, a funny character who is the Malay version of Mr. Bean. He epitomizes the most absurd and outrageous things in the world. Why? It was not ...

Everyday, some teachers and prefects will come to my class and ask for permission to see someone. Their requests are as follows: Excuse me, may I find John Lee? Good morning, may I look for Mee Chun? Teacher, may I meet Tiffany Wong? Sir, may I have a meeting with Sue Ann? Mr. Lo, I want to find Lee Ling. Mr. Lo, I want to look for Mohd. Khairul now. Sir, may I seek for Mary? However, interrupting a class in order to "seek", "find", "look for" or request a "meeting" with someone does sound very strange indeed. It makes you wonder whether there's a huge game of hide-and-seek going on in the school. "May I" is a polite way of prefixing a request, but in my opinion a mite too stilted and formal for the occasion. A better alternative would be: "Excuse me for interrupting, Mr Lo, but can I see/talk to John/Mary/Tiffany for a moment? I won't take too long." Do you agree with me?

When I was ten years old, a happy-turned-sad incident happened to my family. One afternoon, while my siblings and I were playing Billionaire in the sitting room, a white Mazda pulled up in front of our open gate. The driver, a fashionable young man, came into our house looking for Papa.His dark, purplish sunglasses captured our interest. Papa's face brightened when the visitor mentioned something like two hundred and fifty in his Foochow-accented voice. He shook the young man's hand and said thank you in a gush of gratitude. Then,he saw him off outside the house. In a flurry of excitement, my eldest sister Ah Hui ran to Mama's side with my brother and I in tow. Tugging at Mother's sleeve, she asked: "Mama, is it true that the sunglass-wearing man has ordered two hundred and fifty steamed buns from us?" "Yes, he will come and collect them tomorrow evening," said Mother, smiling. "Will Papa be selling buns in the market tomorrow eveni...

One day, I attended a course on 'How To Teach Grammar to Students'. The facilitators distributed some handouts to all the participants and went through each one with us. A handout showed a tabulated comparison of traditional grammar-teaching and teaching grammar through games.The traditional way of drilling was criticized as a dry and uninspiring approach which impeded learning while the latter was lauded as a learner-friendly approach which promoted knowledge-retention in the mind. We played many language games during the course. The air was animated by the enthusiastic chatters and the happy laughter of almost all the participants.I was passive throughout the workshop. I found it silly playing like little kids. At the end of the course, the chief facilitator said, "Aren't games interesting? Let's start instilling fun in our teaching from now onwards. Be creative and never kill your students' interest with bland activities like those of the past." ...

During the cleaning-up activity in the teachers' staffroom last Saturday, the Principal of my school admonished the teachers for being inefficient: " The staffroom is a place where teachers work. It should not be used as a storeroom. Having many books on your desk is an act of cluttering." I raised my hand and said:" But we have gotten rid of many old books. The ones left on our desks are still needed for our everyday teaching." The diminutive Principal threw me a look of disapproval and said," what you said is very wrong and not professional at all. Your role in school is to contribute your service, not to clutter." A colleague indicated the propped-up books on his desk and asked: " Where should we keep our books then?" In a sententious tone, the Principal said: " You should keep all your books at home. Bring only the ones that you need to school every day." Another teacher asked: "Can you provide us with more cab...