Appreciating teachers
MY mother is my teacher and my teacher is my mother.
At least, that was the case for 17-year-old Martina Iju Jamba who created a 14-second video on Instagram showcasing her love for her mother, who is also an English teacher at SK Sungai Sian, Sarawak.
The video, that starts with Martina Iju writing “Iju loves you” followed by pictures of her mother during Christmas, had won the consolation prize for the video category in the recent Teachers Day 2015 Campaign.
She says she took part in the competition as a way to thank her mother for all she has done for her.
It was also coincidental that Mothers Day and Teachers Day were celebrated close to each other this year.
“My mother was my first teacher. She taught me the alphabets and numbers,” Martina Iju says of her mother Elimina Kikik Lee.
“You taught me about life, took good care of me, loved me more than anything else in this world because I am always precious in your eyes,” she posted alongside her video.
She adds that her mother has always been, and will always be, her “favourite teacher”.
The grand prize winner for the same category, Wan Muhammad Zaidi Wan Muhammat Ismail, 16, says his teacher is like his mother.
“She understands me and it is so easy to talk to her about anything,” he says about his Mathematics teacher Wan Azlina Wan Ahmad from SMK Belimbing, Kelantan.
Wan Muhammad Zaidi had surprised his teacher with a pink rose outside the staff room on Teachers Day and had a friend film the sequence.
Although the video is short, he hopes that winning the competition and travelling to Putrajaya to receive the prizes from Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will live on in his teacher’s memories forever.
Both of them walked away with an iPad Mini and RM500 worth of shopping vouchers each.
Student category winner Ruben R. Ravi, 12, says he felt proud to have won for a picture he took with his English teacher Low Bian.
He says Low is also his class teacher and his favourite by far.
His entry was a simple picture of him handing a wrapped gift to his teacher but his message was what won him the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.0.
“A token of appreciation for my beloved teacher. For all your guidance, never once tiring, full of patience and dedication while teaching me... what you have done, no amount of money can repay.” he captioned his picture.
The competition campaign was carried out throughout May for school students nationwide to show their appreciation for their teachers.
Participants had to get their creative juices flowing and post pictures or videos of their teachers using the #sayasayangcikgusaya and #guruinspirasiku hashtags on Facebook and Instagram.
Winners were determined by how creative their entries were and the number of “likes” garnered.
The Education Ministry received more than 6,600 entries for the campaign which made use of social media as its competition platform.