Some of you may have read "WHY BEING A TEACHER IN SINGAPORE IS THE MOST TERRIBLE MISTAKE I HAVE MADE". Honestly, I haven't given much thought about the content, I didn't even bother with a more fanciful title name.I only knew I had 30mins to spare and that was it. I was running errands the whole day and returned home being thoroughly busy the whole evening dealing with my Canadian PR application which has been lying somewhere in the living room all this time whilst I was attending to other matters.
I only checked my phone at 10.50pm, and have clearly clean forgotten about the entry that I have submitted earlier in the morning.
Technology is a double- edged sword, we may have heard of this one too many times, but to experience the impacts of it right on my face was different. I received messages (wadsapp, facebook, SMS) and an email with regards to my post yesterday on how the article have impacted them. Some of these ex colleagues and/ or friends recognized I was behind the writing and wishes to speak to me, not in a daunting manner but rather, hoping to find out more on how I was getting along lately.
One particular Facebook message, however, stood out like a sore thumb and struck me otherwise.
It was from a HOD from the school where the principal shouted at me like a lunatic. It read,"What do you wish to gain from this?" As it was the first message that I saw, I didn't give too much thought and replied, "Huh, sorry?"
It suddenly dawned on me that I have submitted an article earlier after I scanned through other messages.
What do I wish to gain from this? I was perpetually disgusted and annoyed by his accusation. What do I have to gain from this? Why do I need to gain anything from this? He has thought of me as a selfish, materialistic and snobbish individual who wishes to gain something out of nothing. As i have shared and as he have obviously not read thoroughly enough, my aim was to provide a realistic picture of the hard truths going on in the teaching field that many new teachers may not come to terms with. I am leveling the playing field for fresh graduates so they could choose their careers wisely and not end up filled with regrets like me. I am painting a realistic picture of what may happen if you do not come in prepared for the consequences. I am trying to seek an audience who would listen to me because I am too chicken to write to MOE after I resigned. Isn't TRS a place for voices from average Singaporeans? Am i not an average Singapore whose voice deserved to be heard? Or do you want to shut me off like how Mr Yaacob Ibrahim pretended adopted families, blended families, gay men and lesbian women do not exist?
What do other writers gain from writing to TRS? We got our voices heard, not through the conventional channels, but PEOPLE HEAR US OUT AND LISTEN TO WHAT WE GOT TO SAY.
I do not wish to gain anything from this, but I wish to shed some lights on what exactly happened in the 'Future School'.
I was having some disagreements with the vice- principal and I emailed her to request that I hope she can be more sensitive and careful with her use of words because she was literally pissed off with all the email exchanges with several teachers. I came to realize only later that the VP is a blunt and insensitive person, that's how she is, not that it was wrong, but she wasn't too receptive. At the same time, the principal had called me in for a brief chat as I was a newly posted teacher along with 7 others (many requested to post out the previous year). During the 1 to 1 session, I highlighted how the community programmes could be better managed in school and shared some of my personal experience. I also told her the laptops in all the classroom were in pretty bad condition and it poses a problem because the computers were 6 or 7 years old and many laptops couldn't start up. There were lessons which required the use of laptops (It's a Future School) and often, by the time the laptops were ready, the period had ended. Many of these laptops take a good 30mins to 45mins to start up due to poor maintenance. She was all smiley and asked what I could do to improve the current situation. For instance, what I should be doing when the laptops weren't working and how I should have a contingency plan for the unknown. I thought she just wasn't receptive so I stopped and just shared with her what she wanted to know about what I did before. I shared with her quite eagerly, and informed her my future plans of pursuing a Masters in NIE.
She was very smiley and eager to know, she seemed really okay. And I really thought our chat went well. Fast forward 24 hours later, after she learn about my encounter with the VP, she called me in the office and started SHOUTING at me. She said I was very bitter and still within my comfort zone. She reiterated that I am in a Future School and I should not be sharing what I did previously (Hello, she was the one who asked?). She called me an ill- bred, said I was uncouth and rude, and told me that my parents must be very disappointed with me (Seriously!?). She went on with other personal accusations and insisted I need to do some soul -searching. All the time, her voice thundered through the office and I was thoroughly dumb- founded by her condescending attitude. For a moment, I really thought she needed to go through anger management therapies as she was so angry, her face was red and her veins were erupting from her wrinkled, old skin. I didn't speak a single word, and I felt unjust as I was never given a chance to explain myself. She went on and on to list my misdoings (based on hearsay from a particular teacher) and did not provide me any opportunities to clarify what she was shouting at.
When I first came to this school, many have cautioned me against a particular colleague within the same department who wears the same clothes and carried the same hairstyle and spectacles as the principal. They told me she is sick and twisted, that she shares tales with the principal every single day in the canteen. I was not too affected as I assumed she was just one of those who does these things and the school leader should be wise enough to tell what kind of person she is.
Boy, I was wrong!
She fabricated tales about all the other teachers and shares them so readily with the principal who is ever so willing to hear. And the principal later included all these far- fetched tales 'someone' told her in her attempt to blow my head off with her thunderous roar. Long story short, I was being shouted at like a child and being told that I was a mere teacher and she is the Principal and that is OUR difference. Her job is to make sure that I do my job well because I am a nobody. Last but not least, I am to be 'watched' by her and she will not hesitate to take actions against me if I make any wrong move.
I was supposed to be called into the office regarding my encounters with the VP and I ended up shouldering a burden of faults, of which I do not even know happened. The principal was notorious for collecting information everywhere else, never mind if they were the truth or not. She just enjoys building up a resume of gossips in her office.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Long story short, I tried to call Teacher's Network for support as I believe this is a case of workplace abuse. I was told that I did not pay the membership fees and they do not protect teachers beyond that circle. I heed advice from a teacher friend who happened to have a friend with similar encounter with the same Principal. An email was sent to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Heng and the superintendent of the zone. After what seemed like eternity, a meeting was conducted but the problems was never resolved.
Why? Because the principal called me in for a good shouting every time she feels like it, it happened not once, not twice but thrice. She didn't shout subsequently, but she just enjoys giving you that cold shoulders and going off on you whenever she feels like it. She enjoys seeing you suffer the wrath for others to see what could have happened if you chose the other side of the field. Even after we met up with the superintendent, she just continue to be trapped in the box of anguish whenever she sees me, making it even more difficult to work with her.
Employees who are abused turn to MOM and the social media, but when teachers who are abused and still within the service, where can they turn to? Teachers are only humans, teachers have feelings, teachers are only body and soul. Another teacher went through the same thing the year before I entered. She happened to be a friend's friend of mine (yes, the world is small). She went through depression and is still under medication now. How can the principal get away with this? I never stop asking myself.
Parents never stop providing the best in any way possible to their kids. Is enrolling our children to the 'top' schools in Singapore necessarily the best for them? Have anyone ever considered what the culture of the school is like? Are the teachers happy? Are the teachers normal? Is the principal a wise and just person? Factors like these determines the school's culture and shapes academic success more than anything else.
Does being in a a popular school necessarily means the best for our kids? How are our kids ever going to do well if office politics is so rampant in local primary schools?
Once again, I do not speak for the majority. the opinions above are solely based on my personal experience.
I am writing this because I do not wish for someone who has done something so wrong could get away with it just because she has the power to alter her own fate. Principals are chosen because they are exemplary in their duties and are specifically hand- picked because the ministry entrusts them responsibilities and they are accountable for their actions. What happens if there is a misfit? What happens if they are just people who are blinded by their own vision and continues to affect others in the things they do?
I do hope justice can befall for many others who have walked this path, whether you are inside or out of the system. Till today, I never came to terms with the fact that someone so rotten could climb so far. Saying that being a teacher in Singapore is the most terrible mistake I have made is underrated, because 'terrible' just wasn't enough to describe the agony I went through. I hope MOE reads this and knows that many teachers may have left service, but they will always remember what you put them through.
Gobbledegook
TRS Contributor