Penang school urges pupils and parents to use ang pow packets to keep dog ears at bay.
School urges pupils, parents to use red packet-based page protection
GEORGE TOWN: New year, new school books. But how to keep the books fresh with a whole year of constant use?
For years, SJK(C) Phor Thay has been requesting its pupils and parents to reinforce the corners of textbooks and workbooks with cut corners of ang pow packets before wrapping them in plastic.
The Education Ministry loans textbooks to all pupils and this little trick seems to work great for keeping the corners of the book from getting dog ears.
“The thicker the ang pow packet, the better. Even when wrapped in plastic, the book corners tend to bend after being taken in and out of the school bag all year long,” said mother Juheni Kamma, 40, whose daughter Arana, seven, is going to Year Two at Phor Thay.
Juheni said each year, when they receive the loaned textbooks from the school along Jalan Bagan Jermal near Gurney Drive, all the book corners would already have been strengthened by previous users.
“The teachers tell us all to do the same. We take out the old ang pow packet corners and slip in new ones with new plastic wrapping.
“All the loaned textbooks we get are always in good condition,” Juheni said happily.
To top it off, she said cutting old ang pow packets to protect book corners helps her children get an “early Chinese New Year mood”, to be celebrated on Feb 5 and 6 next year.
“All my other children help to wrap the books for Arana and it helps us to get into the CNY mood.
“My kids are going to keep all the thick ang pow packets they get for book wrapping in 2020,” she said.
School starts on Jan 2 in all states except in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, where it will start on Jan 1.
The children will have 214 school days and 73 holidays this term.