Xiaoran had just finished her Final Year Exams. Ms Loh had told her that her report book would be given to her only if her father come personally to the school to collect it. Ms Loh would not let go, she must have her way. She abused the child verbally, she threatened, she humiliated her, she didn't care if the poor child was already stressed, worried, terrified and now on the brink of a nervous breakdown.
Seeing Xiaoran in this state, I regretted not taking action earlier. I was waiting for the teacher to change her mind, obviously she's not and NEVER! The father doesn't want to make matters worse. His daughter arrived in Singapore a cheerful, confident child, hoping to gain from our World-class education, but now she is reduced to a depressed, stressed and terrified girl who is afraid to go to school and whose morale is at an all time low.
I would like MOE to send a Senior Officer to meet my ward, myself, the Principal and Ms Loh. I want to resolve this matter and would like MOE to clarify its stand on this.
Sir, there are many issues regarding MOE that I would like to bring up but I would like you to help me with my ward's problem first. This is most urgent as my ward's most dreadful day is coming soon - she is getting her report book on 3rd November.
***************************ooOoo*****************************
This letter was sent to then Education Minister, Rear-Adm Teo Chee Hean on 28th October 2000. Guess what happened.
......... /Page 4
Basketball?
ReplyDeletedk,
ReplyDeletehaiz......
What happened..?? they ignored you ..?? guess as much..!!
ReplyDeleteI feel for the girl...I pray that this cruel experience will not affect her in future...
ReplyDeletemamabok,
ReplyDeleteWorse than that......
eve,
ReplyDeleteI pray too. She's doing her studies in New Zealand now.
It did leave scars on her mentally. She doesn't want to talk about it and swears never to return to Singapore. :(
have you ever thought of going to the China Embassy? this is not going to be nice but at least the interest of the child is protected. i live in Shanghai and have not heard of ill treatment of Singaporean kids by local staffs. *sigh*...
ReplyDeleteif she does become someone of importance in China when she grows up, she will have bad impression with singapore just like zhu rongji has with singapore.
ReplyDeleteHi ethan,
ReplyDeleteHuh? This will be super embarassing to the Singapore Government and its people.
I tried to appease the father's anger. He could have called the China newspapers to highlight his daughter's case. It would be a shameful episode for Singapore.
Well, this is MOE's problem then if the Chinese had gone to their Embassy to complain.
Yes Jason,
ReplyDeleteI bet she would.
Her father was serving in the military. Then he started his chain of restaurants. She comes from a well-to-do family. They have bowling alleys built in their house!
There goes a potential wealthy investor lor.
I met 1-2 teachers of this sort (like to humiliate pple wan lor) in my schooling years. Hated them :(
ReplyDeletetigerfish,
ReplyDeleteWah! tiger, they dare to humiliate you ar!? Oh I forgot, you're just a fish disguised as a tiger. muahahaha....
kenot guess, the tale too exciting oredi... faster tell part 5!
ReplyDeleteMay,
ReplyDeleteVery predictable result lor. Almost every case I put in is liddat.
I wonder we pay these people for what? Some more this is Ministry of Education.
This school is a bad ambassador for Singapore, can the Singapore govt not see that?
ReplyDeleteIt is a sad thing that Xiaoran has to go through unnecessarily and I suppose anyone reading your post will feel frustrated and angry for the way Xiaoran has been treated.
I suppose there is no good memory for her to want to come back to Singapore except to visit you and your family.
There must be more than meets the eye to this Ms Loh. She couldn't be doing that to all the kids, right? So, she's just picking on Xiaoran because she's slightly different? Hmm, hmm..
ReplyDeletedr ve thru,
ReplyDeleteIf readers find it frustrating and angry, imagine how my hubby and I felt during that whole year..... right until NOW. Some more the Principal can talk as if no big deal. It's a young life we are talking about.
Xiaoran and her parents were angry with me. I don't blame them. I didn't do enough to protect her. I let them down.
MOE is an embarrassment. It couldn't protect its students. And see what type of people they are recruiting......
lb,
ReplyDeleteYes, she's was picking on Xiaoran. She became worse because my hubby and I kept complaining to the Principal and then to MOE. But you can see, no one from MOE wanted to lift a finger to help.
Hmm... on a hunch, this Ms Loh must be either single or have an unsatisfactory sex life. (note: no offense intended for all readers who are single here.)
ReplyDeleteStrange things can happen to people's mind when they didn't get enough sex. Some people just suppress the weirdness and live a normal life, while others behave like Ms Loh...
And if she is neither of those, then it's highly probable that she is just a domineering bitch with a sadistic instinct.
Just the perfect candidate that our million dollars ministers will hire. Note the similarities in how they torture us on a daily basis.
Very unprofessional indeed, unfortunately it happens a lot (anywhere I mean).
ReplyDeleteI remember I had an art teacher who was mad and looked down on people who couldn't draw. I was one of them and she was very rude to me. So I asked someone to do some drawing for me for two months before I left the class for good. I was upset...
Anyway, how's the girl doing then? Is she still in Singapore or back to China for good?
yo Chew,
ReplyDeleteMany people, even teachers, whom I relate this story to, find her sadistic.
Up to now, I don't understand what fun or satisfaction she had from doing this to a young girl?
I believed there are quite a number of civil servants who enjoy 'torturing' the ordinary folks. Like to make us wait for hours, give silly excuses, make us go on wild goose chases....etc. Sickos!
Windy,
ReplyDeleteYes, there are teachers who 'bully' their students. It happens everywhere.
Xiaoran is in New Zealand, in the University now. :)
wow, poor Xiaoran! I hope that this experience doesn't scar her for life. I was also once a foreign student in SG but thankfully I didn't have such an experience. Dunno if I could have taken it.
ReplyDeleteTeachers like these simply give the profession a really bad name.
ReplyDeleteOh blur_mummy,
ReplyDeleteYou studied in SG!? Hope you have a good impression of SG. Many Singaporeans are warm, nice people.
Xiaoran is a timid girl. Fortunately she was staying with us. For those foreign students with no guardians, who stay alone, I don't know how they would take it.
There would be 2 extreme scenerios :
1) The student tolerated the teacher's nonsense
2) The student do something drastic. Either she hurts herself or she hurts the teacher. I would prefer the latter. The teacher deserves it.
arzhou,
ReplyDeleteIn every profession, there will be some black sheep.
How is XiaoRan now? Is she faring well? I wonder how she turned out.
ReplyDeleteOH.. she's in NZ? Poor girl.
ReplyDelete