The world of Tzu Chi Nov-Dec 2022 (Vol.144)

TZU CHI 144 09 Teacher Chor’s mother, who has been running a tuition centre for 15 years, is gratified to see her son’s mindfulness and dedication in teaching. Chor, I wish you can achieve whatever you want in life, and that your life will get better and better,” he wrote on a small sticky note. Although the gift did not reach Teacher Chor before their last lesson on September 26, Rakin will always remember a video that the teacher played, with scenes that evoked memories they shared in the past nine months. Listening to Teacher Chor’s messages to each of them, he could not hold back his tears. The socially-awkward boy Eleven-year-old Rakin is a Primary 5 student. His father, Kin Abas, is from South Africa, while his mother, Rosalinda, is a Filipino. He is their only child. The couple had chosen to enrol their son in a Chinese primary school, as they believed that the opportunity to learn three languages (i.e., Mandarin, Malay, and English) is an added advantage, for the boy to gain a foothold in society in the future. In school, Rakin did well in English, average in Mandarin, and below average in Malay. But his mother was more concerned about him being a loner, often isolating himself in a corner and not mingling with other classmates. He would grumble to his mother when he got home, “Mum, I do not have any friends at school.” Rosalinda felt his loneliness, but was unable to make things better. Rosalinda came to Malaysia more than 20 years ago to make a living. She had no family in this country until she met her husband, who was a college lecturer, and started a family with him. Life was originally comfortable, but things changed in 2015, when she was diagnosed with kidney problems. Her medical care and dialysis treatments drained all their savings. In 2017, she had to discontinue receiving dialysis due to financial difficulties. Fortunately, Tzu Chi accepted her application for assistance and began to subsidize her dialysis cost. Early this year, when volunteer Ten Chee Hean introduced the “i ∙ didik” programme to Rosalinda and her husband, theywere overjoyed and immediately signed up for their son. Empowered to change “I really enjoyed attending Teacher Chor’s class. It was very interesting!” A bright smile appeared on Rakin’s little face when he mentioned Teacher Chor, who is not only a Bahasa Melayu teacher, but also a person who transformed his life. Rakin recalled that at first, he was unaccustomed to the online tuition and felt it was dull. However, after a few lessons, Teacher Chor began to engage the students with games and fascinating stories before and after the lessons. He gave his concern to each student and constantly encouraged them. The boy was happy to hear Teacher Chor heaping praises on him for his positive “i ∙ didik” Programme