Cikgu Lian Fee Choo: Winner of Anugerah Guru Inspirasi McDonald's 2021

-

The story that inspired me the most: Cikgu Lian Fee Choo
 

Needing a little bit of motivation after my struggles as a PDPR teacher, I looked at a few of the stories from this year’s recently announced Anugerah Guru Inspirasi McDonald’s winners. While reading the story of Mr Kalai at SK Nanga Tau, Bintulu, I smiled at the thought that there are great teachers like him in the heartlands of my ibu pertiwiku.

Additionally, I was thoroughly impressed with Ms Ling Fong of SMK Datuk Peter Mojuntin, Penampang, who brilliantly set up a shadow theater so that her deaf students could communicate with a panel of hearing judges. Following that competition, her students were recognized for their talents & invited to perform at events!

However, the story that inspired me the most was one of a principal at SMK Kemabong in Tenom, Sabah. How refreshing to read about a leader in the civil service who walks the talk & does not lead from an armchair. Therefore, it is no wonder that she played a significant role in uplifting the school from one of the worst 20 schools in Sabah into the top 100 during her decade-long tenure.

Besides personally mentoring high-potential students, she is also one of the few principals I know who still teaches, and Form 5 SPM classes at that. Principals usually pass the responsibility of teaching classes onto a teacher. Talk about leading the charge! No wonder their exam results shot through the roof resulting an overall improvement as well as several straight A students, an mind-blowing achievement for a rural school.

In the words of the teacher who nominated her, “orangnya bertubuh langsing, tinggi, berjalan dengan langkah yang cukup yakin dan aura positif yang sentiasa terserlah.” Notice the mention of “aura positif.” How many school leaders have that? A presence that invigorates colleagues in a positive way rather than strikes fear in their hearts. Imagine students learning & teachers innovating under this aura, rather than needing to watch our backs in a toxic culture of “cari kesalahan.” Honestly, the results speak for themselves.

I really hope to meet her one day so I can be a conduit for this positive aura. After all, monkey see, monkey do. It is really hard for teachers to project something that they have not experienced before. I for one want to walk in her footsteps. What she poetically said is very true, “do good and leave behind a virtue that the storm of time can never destroy.”

Thank you for your service, Mdm Lian Fee Choo. Although I have never served under you, I respect you for being the leader that we need to transform education in Malaysia. Your award is well deserved.
Do read Mdm Lian’s full story as well as those of the other equally deserving award winners here: https://www.mcdonalds.com.my/en/anugerahguruinspirasi/winners/2021

Popular posts from this blog

What To Do When Your Unifi Service Suddenly Drops

-
Image
After finally putting my kid to sleep, I was about to settle into the couch with my wife & stream a movie, when my Unifi fiber optic internet connection suddenly dropped. When it didn't come back after 1 hour, I realized that I had to do something. Considering that I pay my bills promptly every month, it must be a technical issue. Here's what I did to fix the problem. It look me less than 20 minutes. 1. First, I checked my modem (the white machine). I checked the lights on the modem. When the modem is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, PON, LAN1 & TEL1. If the red light for LOS lights up, call 100 to resolve the issue. Also, I made sure that all the wire connections were tight. 2. Next, I checked my router (the black machine). Again, I checked the lights. When the router is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, GLOBE, WIFI, LAN1. My POWER light was blinking, so that means that there was no internet connection. Again, I made sure th
Open Full Post »

Understanding The New SPM (2021) English 1119 Paper Format

-
Image
This outline & those of other SPM language papers were made publicly available on the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (LPM) website . I'm sure you've seen the above being circulated on the internet. But, what does it mean? How does this paper compare to the current SPM paper for English? Do we have to change our testing practices in Form 4? At this moment, information is sparse despite great public interest. As the head of the English panel at my school, my Form 4 colleagues will come to me for what to do & parents will ask me what this is about. Until we have very specific instructions from the ministry, this is what I will be telling my colleagues & parents based on the limited amount of information available to me from my intimate experience with the current SPM paper & second-hand information about the PT3 English paper. Let me know if I got anything wrong or if you have more detailed information.
Open Full Post »

The Millennial Trains Project: A Transcontinental Conference On Tracks

-
Image
from millennialtrain.co Whoever designed this cabin is a genius!       I am very honored to announce that I will be one of the 50 millennials accepted into the very selective  Millennial Trains Project  (MTP). This year, there are 2 journeys with 25 participants each: Change & Unity . Basically, the MTP is a whole new way to conference. Participants take part in talks & workshops from distinguished mentors inside a metallic retro train slowly moving across the US. We'll be able to pick the best minds in the US. Furthermore, the train will also make several stops along the way where participants will get the chance to learn from local leaders/organisations as well as run a personal project during those stopovers. My project involves going to  Pittsburgh ,  Chicago ,  Albuquerque ,  Kansas City , &  Los Angeles : 1) Learn about efforts to bridge disparities in education with at-risk communities (low income, minority, refugee, immigrant, etc). I will visit ind
Open Full Post »

How To Fix Logitech Options Not Loading

-
Image
I use a Logitech K380 bluetooth keyboard at home & love it to bits. Very quiet & the tactile response is just perfect. Also, it's super small so easy to put away when I need to pile exam papers on my desk. Still, there's one small problem though... It is a compact keyboard so the multimedia buttons double as function keys. I use the function keys A LOT & it's really cumbersome for me to have to hold the "fn" button every time I want to use them. I.e., try pressing alt+fn+f4 with one hand. Thankfully, with the Logitech Options software, I can default to the function keys. A few months ago, I was chagrined to learn that my keyboard had spontaneously returned to factory settings. "No problem", I thought. "I'll just change the settings in Logitech Options." Only to find that the app wouldn't load on my Windows 10 machine, resulting in the blank window you see screen-captured above. "Let me try reinstalling." Uni
Open Full Post »

Salam Aidilfitri

-
Image
taken from nizam83.wordpress.com Eid ul-Fitr is Arabic for 'festivity for the breaking of fasting'. Those of you who have no idea should really click to read about it from Wikipedia . Any Malaysians who have no idea what I'm talking about should really go & jump from the tallest building you can find. Seriously. Shoutout to my IPBA-rian dudes & dudettes! Shoutout to my Kuching futsal kakis & buddies & buddettes! Shoutout to my fellow bloggers! Shoutout to all you Malayisans studying overseas! Finally, a shoutout to the Muslims in Malaysia! You guys, enjoy the festivities! Being the inspirational & influential & responsible & great teacher I am, I'll be here in the middle of nowhere watching over my wide-eyed & innocent students as they study for SPM & PMR. Sorry for not sending any SMSes, ya? No line mah! Can save money oso! hehehe~~ I'll be back at home on Monday evening & will be visiting my Muslim fr
Open Full Post »