Dream With Boldness by DJ Ong

DJ Ong sharing about Boldness to chase after your dream during R.E.A.L Toastmasters March 2015 gathering.

A dream is born out of an idea. When you have a dream, just go for it.  Run with your dream with boldness. 5 years ago, I stumbled upon a course in my university years entitled Psychology of The Gifted.  Knowing and learning about how gifted children work had since then sparked an idea in my mind. I wanted to find out how preschool principals work with the gifted and talented preschoolers.  With boldness, I wrote in to the educational institutions and sought their permission to find out how this was done.  I took a flight to Victoria, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand, spent 5 weeks there, interviewed the school principals, programme coordinators, children and carried out classroom observations.  That was my Masters research project, which I later commercialized into programmes for my own literacy centre. With boldness, I started Amazing Kids Literacy Centre in 2009 where I adapted the best practices which I discovered and worked with the Malaysian preschoolers.  The four year journey had its ups and downs, joy and challenges, as well as fun and pain.  Nonetheless, I persevered and labored with boldness to pursue my dream.  Today, I am in a new season and a new journey.  The 4 year journey has been worthwhile and here I am sharing my story with you today.  When you have a dream, run with it with boldness! 

Written by DJ Ong

Be Truthful, Give Your Best, Don't Cheat, It Will Make A Difference - Teacher Lashmi from R.E.A.L Kids Bukit Jelutong

Teacher Lashmi gave us her valuable time during our visit to R.E.A.L Kids Bukit Jelutong on 23rd March 2015. It was her birthday. We hope her message to fellow Early Years Teachers would make a difference and create a positive impact.

Not everybody is dealt the same deck of cards in life. When given something less ideal, would you still give your best or cheat to stay comfortable? Teacher Lashmi does not believe in taking the easy way out. She recalled her initial 3 ambitions when she was young. It was either a doctor, a nurse or a teacher. Due to her family background, she couldn't go further and she settled with being a preschool teacher.

However Teacher Lashmi did not stop short at just SPM. She started her career in preschool in 1981, finished KEMAS training, a 9-week intensive kindergarten course sponsored by the government, and went through further KSPK government trainings to equip herself with the necessary knowledge in the industry.

She took up a job as a Bookshop Assistant immediately after SPM but she was very clear she wanted to be a teacher. It was innate in her since young because her neighbor's children always came to her. However they cried, she would carry them and took good care of them. She told everybody she knew to inform her if they come across any kindergarten teacher vacancies. That's how she got herself into her first preschool teaching job, a center with 100% chinese kids. She carried her lessons bilingually in BM and English but none of the kids could understand her. It was frustrating for her early passion, parents were complaining that she was not a good teacher because she could not understand what the children need. She was lucky under the guidance and support of her then principal, she gained confidence slowly and was eventually promoted to be Class Teacher. 

From 1985 to 2000, she partnered with friends to run her own school but it did not work out well. She saw an ad on the newspaper and that's how she came across CEC (R.E.A.L Kids). Esther Yong was the first person who greeted her in CEC. Then on Teacher Lashmi was flexible enough to be transferred to different R.E.A.L Kids centers when the needs arise. From USJ 2 for a year, to Gasing Indah with Principal Ms Mala from 2003 to 2004, to Bukit Jelutong from 2006 onwards. "I did not choose to love children. I was slowly doing my best. Being single, I trust that god gave me this talent to bring up some young and better ones."

"Some time in between my job as a preschool teacher, I was frustrated with my stagnant salary because my former boss made us work for an NGO kindergarten for extra hours but did not pay us. I left to work in office line but did not last for more than one day. I felt lonely there because I was used to all the children's noise. I knew I did not belong there."

"It's different from working with principal Ms Mala because she gave us all the support and encouragement we needed. Without her, I'm still an unknown person. I like the way she motivates all the teachers. She's always with new vision, something new and renewed motivation for us. It is the way she say it that made us feel worthwhile. She's not stern, not authoritative and she always speaks in a friendly manner."

"I rarely feel exhausted teaching eventhough it's day to night. I had to take extra tuition at night to make ends meet. When I'm tired, I'll listen to some music. There are times I had problems with the parents. I gave my best but they still complaint. Felt that they don't need me and wanted to quit. But after speaking to my principal and colleagues, it was comforting to know we are in this together. It's not just a job."

"Outside people took preschool teacher job very lightly. They assumed we just teach the children to play. They are not aware that there are many areas we had to concentrate the child on. Some teachers thought it is too easy to teach young preschoolers, some thought it is too tedious and they couldn't take the crying etc. Teenagers usually don't like all these. When they were young they relied on pampers; but when they grow up, they don't want to work on raising children. Awareness programs should be done to encourage more new ones to come up to this career. It needs dedication, a lot of patience. You have to be truthful to yourself, don't cheat because every little work counts when it comes to raising children. We are not here to just play. Be truthful, whether I did my job, we can see it when the children manage to follow up. Some children need 100% support from us because their parents do not support the learning at home, that's when your job comes in more important. You know your reading lessons worked when the children start picking up books from the shelf and read."

"It's vital we work as a team in Bukit Jelutong, both the stronger and weaker teacher, in order to bring better results to our children. We might be focusing on different areas but we take pride in making this center a very good center. The word of mouth is there and it felt great when we have parents who come all the way from further parts of Shah Alam just to enroll their kids in Bukit Jelutong."

Contentment by Tong Kitt Chan

Kitt Chan sharing with us what Contentment and Happiness means through Character First April 2015 Gathering.

"Today, I would like to share a story. Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in a village. The little girl’s ambition was to be a kindergarten teacher. To her, it was not a difficult ambition compared to becoming a doctor or a lawyer. The majority of her classmates had applied for business or economics courses in university, but she applied for an early childhood course. True, it was not difficult to become a kindergarten teacher and after four years she graduated and soon she was working as a kindergarten teacher. She was very happy and contented doing what she had dreamed about for so long. However, the happiness did not last long. After a year of teaching, she found her university friends who had studied business and economics were able to buy cars or a house, but she was earning only a thousand plus and riding a motorbike. Her income was far less than her friends.

Then she started to think of ways to increase her income. What could she do? Finally, she got an answer- part time job.  The girl started to work part time. She earned hundreds by tutoring primary school student. She continued at her full time job teaching in a kindergarten from 8am to 4pm. After that, she traveled to another centre to teach primary school children. Before she went home, she went to two houses to give students home tuition. At night she had to prepare work for the next day’s lessons for her full time job.  She even taught children art on Saturday.  Definitely, her income increased. She was very happy and proud of herself.

Do you think the girl will be happy ever after? Why?

The answer is no. She felt unhappy again.

Hi, I am the girl. During that time, I worked 12 to 13 hours every day. I was happy to teach young children in the morning. But, I was stressed when teaching home tuition at night. I seldom met my student’s parents, but they were watching me teaching tuition through CCTV. The parents want academic excellence. Nobody cares about the curriculum and the age appropriateness of it. Nobody bothered about character building.  I sacrificed my time with family and friends, health and my passion because of money.  I was really struggling at that time. Should I let go my part time job? But how can I survive with the little pay? Why had I spend 4 years of my time and effort studying something that couldn’t even support my life? It was the first time I truly felt that it was not easy to be a kindergarten teacher. I wasn’t contented when I learned that my friends are earning more, I wasn’t contented even when I earned more with my tutoring.

In March 2012, my grandmother fell sick. I resigned and I stopped all my part time jobs. I spent few months with my grandmother in hospital before she passed away. It was priceless being with her. I learned a lot during those few months. Money can buy you medicine, but not health; money can buy you clock, but not time; money can buy you house; but not a home. Dear friends, are you contented with what you have? Are you contented with your life? I am happy for you if your answer is YES! If NO, we can learn together.

How to cultivate contentment? Do you know how to be happy? Or you are waiting for happiness to find you? Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Till today, I am still learning to be contented. I am learning to live in the present moment because the people who are the happiest with their lives are able to enjoy and embrace the present moment instead of being stuck on the past or obsessing over how the future will look like. I am learning to be grateful for what I have instead of focusing on the things that do not belong to me. I am learning to stop comparing myself to others. Stop thinking about how big my neighbour’s house is, how great my friend’s job is and how perfect my best friend’s boyfriend is. At the end of the day, I can’t change what other people are doing, and I will never get anywhere if I keep comparing myself to others. I am learning to appreciate all the little things. Be thankful for the air we breathe, the food on the table, the quiet home we live in, the sunshine that brightens up our day. Every little detail in our life counts.

Today, I am thankful and contented that I am still working in the early childhood work environment. It is okay although I am earning less than my business or economic friends. I feel grateful that my current salary is enough for me to pay my bills and eat whatever I want to eat. 

Dear friend, let’s treasure happiness together. Find a purpose in our life, simplify our life, take the time to connect with people, hang out with those who are contented with their lives, and most importantly love ourselves. Remember, true happiness does not depend on material conditions. Smile, it is free! Contentment is the key to happiness. Thank you."

Written by Tong Kitt Chan.

I Will See To It That They Can Do It - Teacher Catharine from R.E.A.L Kids Shah Alam

A lifetime in preschool education industry would roughly sum up Teacher Catharine's experience and accomplishment in this industry. She is a proud teacher of many grown up professionals. Among whom includes a priest in his 30's who is now serving the church she attends every weekend.

Since she got married in 1996, Teacher Catharine joined CEC after she relocated to Shah Alam. She was working in Klang for 20 years prior to that. "In CEC I learned a lot from the school. Whereas before this, I learned a lot from the children. When I first started teaching in preschool, I had to come up with a lot of teaching materials from scratch. I would do some matching exercises with the kids and that's how I learned from them what is the best way for them to pick up new words. I take pleasure in simplifying lessons so kids could learn. It feels really good when they got confident with the letters and words I taught."

Some lifetime awards Teacher Catharine came were not in monetary rewards but the words of appreciation from the parents whose children she taught and guided. "I remember a Punjabi girl who was very close to me. I was very firm with the kids. To my surprise, she told her mom when she grows up, she is going to be a teacher like Teacher Catharine because teacher Catharine is a very good teacher. Another case was a lawyer's son. I attended an event where I met the parents. Both the husband and wife were very glad I taught their son. They said, 'it's only after coming into your class that my son knew what a school is.' Their son never wanted to attend school prior to attending my classes."

"What makes me different from other teachers is that I'm always into teaching and I will see to it that my children can do it. I work hard and go all out to make sure my children had good foundation in English to start formal schooling. There was a child who could not read a word at all and the parents were frustrated. They trusted me and I had to go one-to-one with the child by extending the class to 1.30pm just to help him catch up with the class. I am happy that most of our children are doing very well in schools now. Most of them are top 10 in their classes."

"Another interesting  thing about R.E.A.L Kids is that we did field trips and concerts that are educational for the children. Sports days are very important for the kids too. Occasionally we even have educational talks from the firefighters and dentist too. It makes their learning so much more fun." 

Company Owned, Not Franchised, Standardized Quality - Teacher Irene from R.E.A.L Kids

"It is definitely a challenging career. You got to love it. The passion for kids and to love them. Otherwise it will be too overwhelming for you to take the kids' cries, vomiting and poo-poo. It comes together with the teaching job. We had a kid who cried since day one this year, and she just stopped crying two weeks ago. She was not struggling with us, she just couldn't stop crying. Separation anxiety. She would walk nicely next to you holding your hand but she wouldn't stop crying. As a dedicated preschool teacher, you find out why they are crying and find joy in trying to help them ease their separation anxiety."