NAJIB GIVES DR YEE THE THUMBS UP

By : NURHAFIZAH YUSOF AND SHALINA ROSENI

IT’S A SIMPLE idea that comes with a sincere desire to honour teachers. Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Dr Yee Moh Chai’s teacher’s day card has now resonated with Najib Razak, the prime minister, who says it has given teachers their due recognition and a satisfaction of a job well done. And this will inspire them even more to mould their pupils into educated people of great character.

“What we want is an educated person, not an academic one,” he told teachers and parents at a prize-giving ceremony of the state’s teacher’s day card contest in Kota Kinabalu on June 17. Najib was on his last leg of a two-day visit which took him to Keningau in the interior of Sabah to celebrate the Kaamatan harvest festival with the indigenous Kadazandusuns and Muruts.

He is happy that the teacher’s day card has stood the test of time. About 200,000 greeting cards designed by pupils are sent to teachers by their pupils to honour them on Teacher’s Day. Endearing words from their own pupils will give teachers, whom Najib describes as unsung heroes, lots of satisfaction. “This is something money cannot buy,” he said.

Eight years ago Dr Yee, who is minister of resource development and information technology, got pupils to design a greeting card for teachers after he couldn’t find one in stores. His clever idea brings out artistic talents of young children and makes them competitive and IT savvy as they learn to draw and design their cards on computers.

Pupils are getting more creative and their cards can match those designed by professionals. Lee Xin Ni, 9, Vanessa Yu Rui Ling, 10, and Lai Pin Jia, 13, are among the 44 winners of this year’s contest.

Xin Ni of Shan Tao Chinese primary school said the contest had drawn her closer to her teachers who helped her along the way. For Vanessa and Pin Jia, both of Tshung Tsin secondary school, the contest has put fun into their learning and sharpened their thinking.

Education is close to the heart of Dr Yee who is a medical doctor and a lawyer. And he has influenced the Sabah government to give more money to Chinese independent schools, religious and cultural organisations.

The Sabah government gave them a record 28m ringgit (almost $9m) last year and it is expected to increase this to 42m ringgit this year. This compares with 3m ringgit before Musa Aman, the chief minister, took office in 2003.

When it comes to early childhood education, Dr Yee is head over heels in love with Permata (jewel). It is the brainchild of Rosmah Mansor, the Prime Minister’s wife.

“This programme makes every child a diamond and the nation’s future glory will sparkle in them,” he said. Najib thanked that Dr Yee for mentioning Rosmah’s untiring work in Permata, saying that the programme gives children the right head start.

“The ages between two and five are the most critical and if we do it right, we will have the right human capital and all of us must play our play,” he said. “We have to start early as the saying goes: education starts from the cradle to the grave.”

Dr Yee’s teacher’s day card has already gone to the peninsula and kindergartens are now ready to join the contest. (Insight Sabah)