Letter | How one teacher found job satisfaction and happiness again
Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification.I was struck by a recent survey by the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, which showed the happiness index for teachers falling to 4.33 out of 10, the lowest level in a decade.
As a pre-service teacher, I wondered if I should enter this field, given the immense pressure from new education policies and school administrative work, to name but a few factors.Around the time when the report came out, I finished my placement in a local primary school. There was a month when work was just overwhelming, and I seemed to lose all passion for teaching. The truth is that while I looked well put together from the outside, I was asking myself every day, “What am I doing? Why am I here? Will I be a capable teacher in future? Why does everyone else look so fine?”
That was when I realised that the trouble was not the sheer number of things to do, but rather the struggle to project a healthy image in front of students when you might be cracking up mentally back in your own seat. But so what? Life went on.
I made more effort to fulfil my responsibilities and find my way forward. I finally felt a sense of relief, not because my placement was ending, but because my students were getting more familiar with me and starting to show they loved me and genuinely wanted to attend my classes. Their sparkling little eyes, direct expressions of appreciation and the effort I could see had gone into their homework slowly reignited my passion.
Was the workload still heavy? Yes. But being in school made me feel satisfied once again.
The point is to find the source of happiness and stick very close to it. The greater the pressure, the greater the joy, comfort and relief too.
I always chat with my pupils about all kinds of stuff, and their company lifts my heart, so I am able to maintain good mental health in the face of heavy pressure. I encourage all teachers to find their unique way of reviving themselves through the small things – which actually aren’t that small.
Looking ahead, I expect a 200 to 300 per cent heavier workload as a full-time teacher, but also 200 to 300 per cent more joy. As a pre-service teacher, I would say my own overall happiness level is 8 out of 10.
Dodeca Chan, Kwai Chung
Could Hong Kong try worshipping bad vibes away?
Perhaps the following might just be the most relevant, positive and newsworthy idea as the first step to getting Hong Kong truly back on its feet: a citywide bai san ceremony to be streamed across the world.
In a very superstitious city, perhaps deity worship is needed to rid us of the bad vibes hanging over Hong Kong – like concerns about Cathay Pacific not having sufficient pilots, the economy being on a seeming downward spiral, and a post-pandemic malaise in many aspects of life. And despite all the bureaucratic cheerleading, Hong Kong still continues to limp along and lose out on tourism to other nearby destinations like Thailand, Vietnam and Macau.Hans Ebert, Wan Chai
Let’s not lag too far behind Singapore in English
Commuters may have seen a government advertisement at MTR stations which reads “Municipal Solid Waste Charging will launch on 1 April 2024” and lamented the English proficiency of its creator. Surely for any policy or measure to get off the ground, there has to be an instigator (in this case, presumably the Environmental Protection Department).
According to the EF (Education First) English Proficiency Index for 2023, Singapore ranks second in the world and first in Asia in English proficiency. It is time Hong Kong took writing and learning correct English seriously, if the city is not to lag too far behind.
Clemence Yeung, Admiralty
Reading between the lines of China and Russia’s plans
I refer to the article, “China, Russia vow to press on with plans for widebodied passenger jet, Arctic shipping route” (December 22).Politicians all over the world are known to talk about the trees and to be silent about the forest. For Russia and China to be talking about jointly developing aircraft, it could mean that Moscow and Beijing are being silent about planning a global aviation network immune to Western sanctions.
Unlike politicians, ordinary people wisely focus on the forest. The West moving its troops and military ships near Russia and China respectively means that the two nations now feel they have a common adversary, and that leaves the Global South in two minds.
Sanctions are a kind of apartheid. Nelson Mandela once said: “A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness.” As a Russian, I am proud that my country is not known for imposing sanctions. Must be the same for you.
Mergen Mongush, Moscow
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