Friday
25 July 2014
10.30pm

Sometimes little fleeting moments in life leave great impressions. Today I went to help out at AMI's Before After School Care centre and encountered multiple such moments...

12.55pm
I arrived early to the Jurong West AMI centre to relief another teacher's duty. Nothing special; I've been relieving a couple of times this week so I wasn't expecting anything to be different. Just as I least expected it, the cleaning auntie talked to me:
"老师,嗯,你是不是以前在 Clementi 教过啊,我看你的样子很像很熟悉叻。"
"是啊,我在这里教蛮久了,只是最近去荷兰留学半年。"
"哦...我就在想,以前早上我在 Clementi 拖地,有时候你早来我会看到你。"

It's very comforting to know that people who you've never really talked to actually notice you and remember you. At the same time, I felt guilty for not remembering those mornings when I should have met her. How is it that she sees me and I don't? How am I experiencing my environment such that I miss out details this glaring? TERRIBLE YOU. New resolution on the list there!

1.15pm
Kids start streaming in as school ends. Benjamin, a boy who I've never thought peeped into the staff room and  if he could call with the phone in the cutest plea I've ever heard from him. Now this is rare because any teacher who steps in here will know he's one of those troublesome naughty boys EVEN IF they've not taught him. Yes, he is able to make his voice heard through the partitions and his name known through word-of-mouth.

1.30pm
The start their session at AMI with lunch prepared by the resident aunties. The mischievous Benjamin was reciting lame poem verses while eating: 床前明月光，食物吃光光... making the other boys laugh. The conversation that followed was simple but struck a chord in me -
Auntie: 快点吃，不要讲话。吃完再讲，不然我叫 Mr Poh (my boss) 收起你的饭。
Kids: OK, then 快点吃! 吃完就可以讲了.
This was followed by an instant shush.

At that instance I thought about how easily the auntie had managed to keep them quiet, without having to get angry or raise her voice at them. The kids' response were the best proof of her effectiveness. As she was leaving the centre, she stood by the door for a little longer than usual and watched the kids quietly. 从她眼神中看得到许多不舍... In the hours that followed, Mei Jun also told me how she was going to miss the centre and that it was her favourite. You can tell they really love the place and the aunties who watched them grow up.

其实坏孩子也有可爱的一面，也有多愁善感的时候...

squeaked.
10:37 PM
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