Fwd: From DGE's Desk (Aug) - A Higher Calling

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Chang CHENG LIANG (SCHOOLS)" <chang_cheng_liang@schools.gov.sg>
Date: 30 August 2023 at 2:40:21 PM SGT
To: Cheng Liang Chang <chang_cheng_liang@moe.edu.sg>, CHANGCHENGLIANG@gmail.com
Subject: FW: From DGE's Desk (Aug) - A Higher Calling



 

 

From: MOE_DGE@moe.gov.sg <MOE_DGE@moe.gov.sg>
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2023 2:08 PM
To: MOE-HQ_All@moe.gov.sg; ALL_CES <ALL_CES@schools.gov.sg>; all_icon@moe.edu.sg; MOE-IS_SIS_SS@moe.gov.sg; MOE-Officers_Secondment@moe.gov.sg; SEAB-All@seab.gov.sg
Subject: From DGE's Desk (Aug) - A Higher Calling

 

Message Classification: Restricted

 

(Sent to all staff in MOE HQ, government and aided schools, SEAB, seconded staff outside MOE, generic email accounts of Independent Schools (IS).

IS - please distribute to all your staff)

 

Dear friends

 

        Happy Teachers' Day to all of you!

 

It is you who raise up our students.

 

Some of you teach students directly. Some of you support our students' holistic development or lead school programmes. And still others are in MOE HQ designing and putting in place infrastructure, resources, systems, curriculum and policies for the whole education system. You deserve a very warm pat on the back. You have been fleet-footed in adapting to the changing pandemic conditions and in restoring the full suite of student programmes. At the same time, you have been implementing the long-term initiatives. The work has been challenging. For some of you – it's been very, very tough. It's been frustrating when well-laid plans have had to change. I want to acknowledge that what had been asked of you was a lot, including supporting the Presidential Elections on 1 Sep. It threw you off your stride at first. Then somehow you still managed to keep calm, and carry on with your professional pride and "uber" sense of responsibility. So – thank you from the bottom of my heart. You humble me with your mission-first attitude, resilience and dedication.

 

 

Quality of Teachers Matter Most

 

Your commitment to our students and craft, bodes well for our nation's future. Our first Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew spoke to teachers at an MOE rally in 1959:

 

"But a more decisive factor in determining the attitude and outlook of the student is the teacher himself. If the teacher is selfish and mercenary, preoccupied with his own personal advancement, wanting only to get as much as he can from society, and to give as little as possible in return, then it is unlikely that he will inspire his pupil to high endeavour in pursuit of ideals beyond the bounds of petty self-interest. To impart the drive born out of the desire to advance the common good, the teacher must himself have these ideals."

 

Mr Lee went on to espouse in 1966 at the opening of the Education and Nation-building seminar, the criticality of the quality of teachers to our nation:

 

"For finally, just as a country is as good as its citizens, so its citizens are, really, only as good as their teachers."

 

No pressure! But it's true – evidence borne out of metastudies show that the quality of teachers/teaching is the main determinant of student learning outcomes. And we are not merely talking about academic learning outcomes. That's only one part of our responsibility.

 

Role of Teachers

 

        As early as the 1970s, Mr Lee recognised the key role teachers play in identifying and affirming the range of gifts that our students have, and how our students can be prepared for the future:

 

"Our young have to be nurtured, encouraged, restrained and taught to prepare them to meet the future. Each child has his or her own gifts. These gifts may not be in academic matters. Parents must carefully judge what their children's limits are. Their teachers can usually help them decide this."

(Speech advising parents at fund-raising variety show, 1973)

 

        Even as early as 1980, Mr Lee urged education institutions to see their role as developing independent learners….

 

"My test of an educated person is a simple one. Has he been schooled to a point where on his own he continues to probe, to learn, to read, and to solve problems for himself? Has he got an inquiry frame of mind? Does he know where to look for knowledge and data? If he does not know where to get the data, or does not understand books he found on the subject, does he know who he can approach to help him understand the subject? In short: Is he continuing to learn, or did his learning stop …?

(Singapore Conference Hall, 1980)

……with curious minds and a life-long habit of learning….

 

"The idea of a cultivated mind, of a person creatively working his own intellect, is something which we have lost… At the end of that (education) process, you must leave the boy and the girl with something to start a life-long cultivation of mental and cultural habits. The person who can pick from where he left off in school and who can continue his interests in life, is the person you must educate."

(Education and Nation-building seminar, 1966)

 

Teaching is a Calling, a Giving Profession

 

        Teaching is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Only the lion-hearted can thrive in this profession, because teaching is continuously giving. To Mr Lee Kuan Yew, teaching is:

 

"…a proud and dedicated profession. Teaching is not a job. It is not a vocation. The capacity to transmit knowledge and skills demands dedication of a very high order, for nowhere else is the giving so great in return for what you get for what you give."

(Education and Nation-building seminar, 1966)

 

Mr Lee himself, acknowledged that teachers had a great impact on him.

 

"…people that I remember most in my life were the people who made the greatest impact on me as a student. Not that they were the best-equipped, qualified teachers in their line, but because they really gave of themselves and took a personal and particular interest in all their pupils and in me personally, which was the part, which I remembered."

 

(Opening of the 3^rd Asian Teachers' Seminar, 1966)

 

 

Charge for Educators: One People, One Nation, One Singapore

 

And finally, the charge is laid out for all of us in education, to forge a united multi-cultural nation - a people that puts the community before themselves and their families - and to feel together. This is the clarion call to us from our founding Prime Minister. Let's take heed:

 

"Therefore, there is the necessity for preserving for each child that cultural ballast and appreciation of his origin and his background in order to give him that confidence to face the problems of his society. He must know from whence he came and how it is that he is where he is before he is able to meet the problems and make the decisions which he must make to adjust himself and his family in the society in which he has decided to make a home."

(Education and Nation-building Seminar, 1966)

 

"But whatever it is, ultimately the result that we want – and I am sure you must want this – is to produce a community that feels together… You know, on certain things it responds together: this is my country, this is my flag; this is my President; this is my future. I am going to protect it."

(Meeting with Principals of Schools, 1966)

 

"In our youth of today are the leaders and citizens of tomorrow. It is for you to teach them and make them the homogenous and united people of tomorrow. As the Government, it is our duty to create the conditions and give you the means to fulfil your tasks. That we shall do. But the achievement of these noble ideals of unity of a people depends upon you."

(MOE rally for teachers, 1959)

 

        This Teachers' Day, may Mr Lee's weighty evergreen words from decades ago, renew our convictions about what we do as educators. May they give us fresh wind for our sails, renewed energy for our craft, unerring focus on what matters in our worthwhile work.

 

       

Serving with you,

Wei Li 

 

 

Ms Liew Wei Li

Director-General of Education • Tel: +65 6879 6011

Ministry of Education • 1 North Buona Vista Drive, Singapore 138675 • http://www.moe.gov.sg

Integrity the Foundation • People our Focus • Learning our Passion • Excellence our Pursuit

CONFIDENTIALITY: If this email has been sent to you by mistake, please notify the sender and delete it immediately. As it may contain confidential information, the retention or dissemination of its contents may be an offence under the Official Secrets Act.

 

 

 

 

To former PCS students

For you to 饮水思源...

https://www.poiching.moe.edu.sg/our-family/Staff-Directory/primary-1/

https://www.poiching.moe.edu.sg/our-family/Staff-Directory/primary-2/

https://www.poiching.moe.edu.sg/our-family/Staff-Directory/primary-3/

https://www.poiching.moe.edu.sg/our-family/Staff-Directory/primary-4/

https://www.poiching.moe.edu.sg/our-family/Staff-Directory/primary-5/

https://www.poiching.moe.edu.sg/our-family/Staff-Directory/primary-6/

https://www.poiching.moe.edu.sg/our-family/Staff-Directory/non-form-teachers/


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VERY GOOD ABNORMAL KNOWLEDGE...

VERY GOOD ABNORMAL KNOWLEDGE...

DO YOU KNOW ?

1. *Hot water will turn into ice faster than cold water.*

2. *The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.*

3. *The sentence, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English language.*

4. *The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.*

5. *Ants never sleep!*

6. *"I Am" is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.*

7. *Coca-Cola was originally green.*

8. *The most common name in the world is Mohammed.*

9. *When the moon is directly overhead, you will weigh slightly less.*

10. *Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from the blowing desert sand.*

11. *There are only two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."*

12. *The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.*

13. *There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.*

14. *TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.*

15. *Minus 40 degrees Celsius is exactly the same as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.*

16. *Chocolate can kill dogs, as it contains theobromine, which affects their heart and nervous system.*

17. *Women blink nearly twice as much as men!*

18. *You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.*

20. *The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.*

21. *People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.*

22. *It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky*

23. *The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.*

24. *"Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel.*

25. *If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.*

26. *Each king in a deck of playing cards represents great king from history.*

*Spades* - *King David*
*Clubs - Alexander the Great,*
*Hearts - Charlemagne*
*Diamonds - Julius Caesar.*

27. *It is impossible to lick your elbow.*

28. *111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321*

29. *If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.*
*If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle.*
*If the horse has a all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.*

30. *What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common?*

Ans. - *All invented by women.*

31.Question - *This is the only food that doesn't spoil. What is this?*

Ans. - *Honey.*

32. *A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.*

33. *A snail can sleep for three years.*

34. *All polar bears are left handed.*

35. *American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.*

36. *Butterflies taste with their feet.*

37. *Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.*

38. *In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.*

39. *On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.*

40. *Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.*

41. *The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.*

42. *The electric chair was invented by a dentist.*

43. *The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.*

44. *Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.*

45. *Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times*

46. *The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.*

48. *Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.*

Don't Enjoy all Alone, Share with your Loved ones!


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sarcopenia

*What is the biological phenomenon (sarcopenia) that appears in humans when they are old?**

Sarcopenia is the loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength as a result of aging.
It's a terrible situation.
Let's explore sarcopenia!

1. To develop the habit of being able to stand...just don't sit! ...and don't lie down if you can sit!

2. If an elderly person falls ill and is admitted to the hospital, do not ask him for more rest, or to lie down and relax and not get out of bed!
Lying down for a week loses at least 5% of muscle mass!
And the old man can't recover his muscles!

Usually, many seniors who hire assistants lose muscle faster!

3. Sarcopenia is more terrifying than osteoporosis!
With osteoporosis, you just need to be careful not to fall, while sarcopenia not only affects the quality of life but also causes high blood sugar due to insufficient muscle mass!

4. The fastest loss of muscle atrophy is in the muscles of the legs!
Because when a person is sitting or lying down, the legs do not move and the strength of the muscles of the legs is affected ... This is especially important!

You should watch out for sarcopenia!

Going up and down stairs...running and cycling are all great exercises and can increase muscle mass!

For a better quality of life for all in old age...

Move...don't waste your muscles!!

Aging starts from the feet up!

Keep your legs active and strong!!

▪️ As we grow older and older on a daily basis, our feet should always stay active and strong.

▪️ If you don't move your legs for just 2 weeks, your real leg strength will decrease by 10 years.
Therefore, *regular exercise such as walking, is very important*.

The feet are a kind of columns that bear the entire weight of the human body.
Walk every day.

Interestingly, 50% of a person's bones and 50% of muscles are in the legs.
*are you walking*

The largest and strongest joints and bones of the human body are also found in the legs.

70% of human activity and energy burning in human life is done by bipeds.

* The foot is the center of body movement *.
▪️ Both legs together contain 50% of the human body's nerves, 50% of the blood vessels and 50% of the blood flowing through them.
Aging starts from the feet up
▪️ * Legs exercise is never too late even after the age of seventy and eighty *
▪️ Walk at least 30-40 minutes a day to make sure your legs receive enough exercise and to ensure your leg muscles stay healthy.

Share this important information with all your friends and family members over the age of 40, as everyone gets older every day.🙏🙏🙏


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