A photograph stuck out from one of my diaries one evening. Oh! What a bittersweet memory it was back home in Malaysia! In the photograph, 40 students stood behind the doors of the school hall. We faced the camera with toothy smiles on our faces and two fingers raised up into peace signs. In the middle of the front row was a woman with long black hair and fair skin that glowed radiantly on her Chinese countenance. Behind those frameless spectacles was a pair of dark brown eyes that revealed friendliness to anyone. She wore a candy cane
striped shirt that matched her white-coloured maxi skirt, apart from myself and the rest of the class who wore secondary school uniforms.
My mind flashed back to a typical tenth grade school day. Ms. Chu Siew Mei entered through the door with her cherry-glossed lips stretched into a beautiful smile. Unlike any other teachers, she had this bright light of hope and determination. She helped each of us in the class to ace for exams and planted her seed of faith into us to grow fond in English. She did so by encouraging us to put more effort into essay writing. A few muscular boys followed behind her, carrying piles of essay samples for us to read. What surprised me was the energy, time, and heart she put so much into in helping each student to improve writing.
Ms. Chu once gave the class a special assignment which I would never forget. “Here’s what I want you all to do.” she said, “First, take out a blank paper. Then, choose four or five persons you know in this room and write as many good points about him or her as you can. List down the things you like or at least you know about the people you choose. When you are done, fold your paper so that no one can take a peek at it and hand it to me. I’ll leave you all a surprise during our next class.” The next day, she entered in the classroom with her high heels
clicked lightly on the concrete floor. She held a stack of yellow papers which were folded neatly in rectangles, in which she called them “love letters”. The papers were given to each of us respectively. As I unfolded mine, I couldn’t believe my eyes. A list of positive traits was written on it, such as “creative in writing stories”, “a good friend” ,and “trying hard to be more sociable”. The students who wrote those traits remained anonymous, but I believed that they were from friends who were being honest and respected me for who I was. The closing message at the bottom of the paper caught my attention the most. “You are made for great things and God
will help you to achieve it. Keep up the good value in you. Do open up to your close friends once in a while. May God continue to bless you with more talents and fulfill your heart desire.” There was no other teacher in this universe who would give me such emboldening words. In that hot and stuffy classroom, all of us were filled with joy and our hearts were deeply touched by the positive, likeable things written on the papers.
Stepping into the school last summer felt like home. A smile crept on my face once I sawher face in the teachers’ office. She didn't change much. Her smile was still as dazzling as ever. “You come all the way here to see me?” she smiled gratefully as she took the Canada keychain from my hands. I nodded in reply, agreeing to myself that there was no place like home. “Do tell me when your first book is published. I’ll definitely buy a copy.” Ms.Chu said, “You are indeed a talented writer, and I’m rooting for you.” Her last words echoed in my head as my eyes stared back at the “love letter”. Thanks to this treasure, I was reminded that I was not entirely alone. And thanks to Ms.Chu who was by far the greatest teacher on Earth, I had found a deeper passion in writing stories
my own way.
