Madam Lim has returned to the Lord on 22nd of December 2007. Who is Madam Lim? Madam Lim is my math tuition teacher when I was in Primary School and she is also a distant relative on my mum’s side. She is one tuition teacher I will not forget because she has always been a larger than life figure to me.
Not because she is large in nature. Although she is a small built woman but she certainly has a large spirit going on in her. Madam Lim was a very patient teacher. Well, she certainly is the most patient tuition teacher dealing with a 11 year old kid like me at that time because most of the teachers could not handle my rebellious and mischievous nature.
I remember she was already in her 70s so it was a rather peculiar experience for me because I hardly get old teachers who are willing to tutor me personally and she did not even want to accept my tuition fees. I can’t really explain why I was exceptionally obedient but I guess it was her warmth and sincerity that soothed my rebellious side.
Not to say other tuition teachers are insincere in their approach but most of their method are cliche and they don’t even care if there are students who were left behind or slower in picking up new formulas. It probably fueled my hatred towards this subject because the math teachers I had before Madam Lim obviously favored the smarter students and neglected the weaker ones.
What is the point of attending tuition classes if they are not meant to help students who are generally weaker than the rest? Madam Lim is totally different from all that because she is never discriminative against weaker students. I loathed math because math has never been my favorite subject and my mum was worried because I keep failing as I always managed to score a distinction.
It’s distinction if you kira from the reverse sequence lah. Yeap, I never failed to obtain scores of E(s) in my math since Primary 4. That is one hell of a record I must say. Thanks to Madam Lim, her method of teachings helped me tremendously. From a regular E scorer, I managed to score a B for my math in the UPSR examination.
A ‘B’ in math might still be considered a failure for bright students but it meant the world to me because I had never thought of passing this subject, let alone getting a ‘B’ for it. All thanks to Madam Lim’s help, I could never thank her enough for the unconditional faith she placed in a hopeless student like me. Dear Madam Lim, I may be one of your many students but you are certainly my only math teacher I truly respect. Rest in peace, my dearest teacher/tutor.
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