On teaching and education

Recording down what i was saying to a mother cum teacher on the frustration about the education system and the working environment in a FB group:

Dear xxxxx,
I have been teaching till end of last year. Prior to teaching, I was in the electronic industry.
Never think of leaving a profession just because we think we don't like it. I can understand your frustration. Meeting up with positive and energetic friends are important. Stay away from friends who keep on complaining. Sometimes pouring out our grouses among colleagues can be quite damaging to ourselves.
I am available to talk over the phone too....am just another kepo being.

 I think there are basically 2 objectives of education,
 1.to impart knowledge 教书,
 2. to educate a being教人. 

At any time, when obj #1 is unachieveable, then we have to focus on obj #2.

Very often when the school work starts to trigger a teacher, it is also got to do with our internal family issues. How have you been coping with your family life lately? I hope i am not offending your privacy.

Once a great master who taught Heart Sutra told me, dont get fantasied by the idea that there has been 'the good old days'. It has never been.
Looking at the students who opt for expensive private schools, are we really sure that they are getting the best education system? Are we not seeing a lot of spoilt brats spending lavishly on parents money?
The best moment is the present moment. The best education comes from within our own minds. Just my personal opinion.

There are also some 'so-so' teachers whom by the standard of many parents may not to be up to their expectations. These are the lots that really really need your encouragement. Not everyone landed in teaching profession due to their passion in educating.

But putting the same belief system that everyone needs more love and care, we as parents can always do this: 信己无私 信人有爱(To trust that we have selflessness in ourselves , to believe that everyone has love in his or her heart.). I have seen many school teachers whom after attending Tzu Chi teacher training class, turned into more compassionate teachers.

Many years ago, i wrote this letter to my girl class teacher. She may not appear to be a 'loving' teacher, but i really appreciate her great effort in keeping the class in a harmony mode. She may not be that 'hardworking', but in her own ways, she lets students have their own pace of learning. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1874751261081&set=pb.1010163626.-2207520000.1382054125.&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-ash4%2F208568_1874751261081_1593175_n.jpg&size=600%2C405

I stopped teaching in school, but i have continued my education journey in one way or another, in a more social mode.

Dear XXX, always remember that once a teacher, always a teacher.

You will get the joy of seeing students growing. Over the years, i cried many times seeing students achieving their dreams.

One of my ex students wrote this, "is not about how much u did to help me.. but to me is a teacher who didn't give up on me such a problematic student. in fact this changed my life. still telling many of my friends without the 2 teachers u n peter tan, i will not be who i am today. would definitely happy to meet u up soon!". All the hard work do pay.

When I was teaching this boy, I was pregnant with my 1st girl, I had a hard time with the fussy HM, I was teaching the first batch of Form 6 class, etc. But today i think i am blessed that i have someone else who are equally loving to cultivate and love my daughters. It was this thought "「以媽媽的心來愛別人的孩子，以菩薩的智慧愛自己的孩子。」"( Love other ppl children with a mother's heart, love your own children with a Bodhissatva's wisdom) that helped me to go through the process.

May all teachers and parents be cherished with peace and love.

YYY responded by saying "I wish you all; good; caring teachers will be in my boys school."
I replied, "no, i think this works. You will have to send out the loving thoughts and loving actions, then only you get loving teachers. i.e. you have got to cultivate it."

ZZZZ rebutted, "But my concern is not so much on students, but the entire "ecology" education system, the whole teaching quality, the system, and when the old retires..Do u really want me to write here? It's almost all parent's frustration."
My replied is, "I think every generation has it's own set of challenge. During our time, financial stability was an issue. Going for music classes has never been such an in thing, but we seldom heard of old folks not having the thinking ability due to lack of MQ, and some more old mothers who didnt go to school can sing lullaby well enough.
We may view that we have overcome this financial stability issue since everyone own a house(no need to rent like those days), but are we really off the issues of finance? Nope. Coz these days we have kids who often felt dissastifaction over what they had in life, from better/branded mechanical pencils to whether able to go for overseas trip in school holidays or not. And I always have a tester: any kids who dont complain and find joy in my old kancil which has poor air cond ventilation will definitely be a more complete human. So the fundamental issue is still back to : OURSELVES, OUR MINDS."

High respected Mdm Teoh Poh Yew too responded, "we are facing crisis in our education system now. Now tell ourselves that we are going to take this opportunity to demonstrate to our children how we overcome this crisis wisely."

Liquor free tiramisu cake

For the Syrup: 
1 large coffee mug hot water (not boiling!)
1 tb sp milk 1 tb sp Nescafe
1 pack of Kopi O
1 tb sp sugar ( I omited this since the instant coffee has already contained sugar).

 For the Creme Filling: 
3 tb sp plain flour
1/2 lt milk
2 egg yolks (get rid of the whites!)
1/2 cup sugar
1 pk mascarpone cheese (250 gr)

 For the Base: 1 pk shortbread sponge finger type biscuits (i choose to use the traditional type of biscuits for eating with coffee coz it's cheaper and can be eaten alone if i have any leftover). It looks something like this.

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Get ready the deep dish tray to prepare your tiramisu. Get one extra plate to prepare 2nd layer biscuit. Lay the biscuits flat. Place the base layer in the tray, and the top/second layer on the extra plate. Mix the syrup ingredients in the mug.
1. With a spoon, pour the mixed syrup over the biscuits. Make sure they are moistened well, but you need to be careful not to over do it. :) Remember that you need to pick up each piece and lay it over the base later, so moist enough that the syrup has seeped through the entire biscuit, but not so moist that it melts away. :)) You will know what I mean when you are doing it. It's a very easy recipe! So all biscuits on both plates need to be moistened


2. Now, get a pot and chuck in all the ingredients for the creme filling EXCEPT for the Mascarpone cheese I prefer to mix it with a whisk all throughout the process so there are no clumps in the end. I find that if I use the blender, it becomes too... hmmm, what's the word for it?.. bahhhh I can't remember the exact word, but it doesn't get as thick as it should. So try and avoid the blender if you can. I also put my stove to medium-medium high rather than high.

3. Once it's almost done, this is what it should look like. Nice, thick, and creamy with bubbles plop plop plopping. :) Now, at this stage, I advise you remove the pot from the stove to prevent the creme from sticking to the bottom of the pot, and start emptying the Mascarpone cheese into the pot.

4. Once you have added the Mascarpone cheese, place the pot back onto the stove and probably have your stove down to low at this point, and continue to mix with the whisk for a couple minutes until you see that the cheese has completely blended in to form an even thicker creme. When that is done, remove the pot from the stove and probably leave it to cool a little bit for approximately 5 minutes. It doesn't need to be cold.

5. Start pouring the creme onto your base. Make sure all the biscuits are covered in the filling.

6. Once you have covered the base with creme, start transferring the biscuits that were moistened on the other plate onto your base. I would recommend that you transfer them with your hands rather than using other utensils, because at this stage they are very prone to breaking. It's ok if they break into two or something, just lay them accordingly. As you can see in the above photo, my middle bikkie broke in half. :)

7. Once you have completed laying the second layer of biscuits, repeat the same process. Cover the entire layer with the remaining creme.

8. so it should look similar to this... depending on the type of plate/tray you use. I prefer to use a deep dish which prevents all the creme from spilling out. You cover your dish with a cover, or wrap with cling wrap. Place in refrigerator for it to set for approximately 2-3 hours. The more it waits, the better it sets and tastes. So I usually make my Tiramisu late at night, and it is ready to serve any time during the day. If you are going to make it for evening guests, make it in the morning, and it will be ready in the afternoon/evening.

9. When it is ready to serve, sprinkle with cocoa powder and some chocolate flakes with your own preference.





modified recipes of : http://hijabtradefashion.blogspot.com/2012/02/step-by-step-alcohol-free-tiramisu.html

Lunch inspiration

As I was having a simple lunch with a well known neurosurgeon, i heard him saying his challenge with the department which involved dealing with the Bumi issues. But as we were about to finish, i realized that he has left his food unfinished, with some rice, egg yolk and some veges. 原来答案就在这里，但我们的生活环境越好时，我们越忘了要惜福，所以自然的一个人就会面对类似这样的事情来考验他。 能够惜福，自然就有很多贵人围绕在我们身边，助我们一臂之力