To motivate, Bring out their best, not their weakness

During our monthly prayer meeting, one sister asked me to sing solo when I would lead the next prayer meeting. I turned her down and saying that I hated being asked to do something in public what I am weak in. She disagreed with me that saying that it is all right.

Flashback, year 1974, I was just starting Secondary 3. My Form teacher, Mr Ling Ding Ing who taught us English was concerned of our English & Grammar. I was perhaps one of the weakest in class. As long as I can remember, on most occasions, during our English class comprehension, he would call me to answer questions in the passages. Most of the time, I got the wrong answer and was very embarrassed in class. Needless to say, I hate English and it was the only subject that I failed for my O Level.

In that same year, we started learning Additional Math. After the first 4 weeks and completing on the topic Indices & Logarithms, my Math teacher, Mr CC Chen, asked each student to solved questions on the board. I remember there was one very hard question that almost no students could get it right. Maybe Mr CCC saw my eager face and finally called me to the board. When I produced the right solution, almost the whole class breathed out a sigh, “Wah!” I instantly grew one foot taller at the moment. After that incident, others class students also heard about me and some even asked me for help along the school corridor. Since then, I grew to love Maths and hate English. For Secondary 3 & 4 I was topped in A Math, and Secondary 4 in E Math. Till this day, I can still clearly remember the names and the faces of these 2 teachers, they changed my life.

Mark Lim Teng Lye
16 Sept 2008