Since 2012, Tzu Chi and Maha Bodhi School’s Chinese Department have collaborated on programmes to improve the standard of Chinese among Primary 5 pupils and develop moral character through extra-curricular activities. (Photo by Susan Ong)
Tzu Chi volunteer Zhuo Qing Huan strutted up the stage confidently as the character “Grandfather Sun”, merrily singing “Little Oriole Learns to Sing”. Unbeknownst to the Primary 5 students who were watching intently, “Grandfather Sun” was singing a song from an animated film from their grandparents’ generation.
As “Grandfather Sun” met “Mother Earth, “Mother Earth” talked about the pain she suffered from the greenhouse effect and pointed out that the culprits behind global warming is mankind. Through the play, the volunteers relayed the importance of vegetarianism and environmental protection.
Tzu Chi Singapore and Maha Bodhi School have been collaborating since 2012, hoping to allow Primary 5 students to have a better understanding of Mandarin and better moral development through holistic enrichment classes. During a Mother Tongue camp on 3 June 2015, 60 Tzu Chi volunteers accompanied 196 students in spreading the message of environmental protection through the usage of Mandarin. Affectionately known as Great Love Mothers, these volunteers are from all walks of life. There are retired teachers, grandparents, housewives, and even working women. Regardless of their background, all of them share the same passion for education.
Fulfilling a Childhood Aspiration
Zhuo Qing Huan is a retired preschool teacher with 30 years of experience in teaching. She shared that it was her nature to be a teacher and that she had aspired to the profession since childhood. When she was little, whenever her cousins came for a visit, she would ask all of them to sit down and then tell them stories as well as impart knowledge to them.
She recalled she loved acting and singing since young. “I came from a large family. When we celebrated festivities, my cousins and I would put up a show. I would guide my younger relatives to perform the musical, ‘Little Bear’s Invitation’, assigning roles and directing,” she recalled, grinning from ear to ear.
After having been a preschool teacher for 20 years, Zhuo Qing Huan decided to become a private Chinese tutor. Then, she joined Tzu Chi Foundation, and was given the opportunity to showcase her talent in acting when she became a Great Love Mother.
Tzu Chi Singapore’s Great Love Mothers promote Master Cheng Yen’s Jing Si Aphorisms in Mee Toh School and Maha Bodhi School, with the help of a curriculum and resources from Tzu Chi Taiwan. Zhuo admitted that there are limitations due to different standards of Chinese.
“Some of the plays we put up need to be adapted using language that our local children can understand as they may not be able to understand the level of Mandarin used in Taiwan.”
After the Chinese language camp last year, Zhuo decided to adapt the script of the play and included the eight great martial arts sects, along with an additional ninth sect, the “recycling sect,” in her play. This amused the children greatly. Having been a senior teacher, evaluating and adapting educational materials comes easy to her.
For several years, the Great Love Mothers have taught Jing Si Aphorisms in the two local primary schools on a weekly basis, and Zhuo has noticed a gradual change in the students. “At the start, the students are usually more playful but come year end, a number of them have diligently learned the aphorisms and can even reel them off their tongue.”
Zhuo felt that so long as the children could apply the teaching of just one Jing Si Aphorism when they grow up, she would be satisfied. Though Zhuo is busy with the care of her grandchild, she has made arrangements with her daughter to let her husband take care of the child for half a day every week so that she can continue to teach the class. “This is my interest, I love to act,” said Zhuo cheerily.
Spreading Great Love With Dedication
Chen Li Yu who has just joined the ranks of the Great Love Mothers last year, bustled about as she busied herself with the speaker, stock taking, and carrying tables in turn. She has been tasked with the logistics during this camp.
Chen normally takes part in the Tzu Chi activities during the day and frequently helps out at Mee Toh School and Maha Bodhi School. “Sometimes when there is a lack of manpower, one person will have to take care of everything, including teaching and controlling the sound system. I learnt to multi-task from the other volunteers.” She added that the volunteers worked joyfully, helping each other out when needed, so there was no stress at all.
Like Zhuo, Chen also joined the drama club in her school days. Over the past year, she had been training herself to enunciate the Mandarin words with greater clarity in order to be able to record stories for the sake of her young charges, and has also picked up a lot of computer skills.
Chen truly admires the other Great Love Mothers for their dedication over the years. Describing this as a way of spreading Great Love in the community, she likens how they bring the Jing Si Aphorisms into the schools every week as an act of developing the right spiritual foundations in the hearts of students from an early age.
A Great Love Father, Firmly at the Helms
Within the ranks of the Great Love Mothers, one of the only three “Great Love Fathers” Zeng Sheng Xiong, has been quietly contributing over the last eight years at the helm of the sound system controls. Already retired, Zeng is currently 71 years old; he had worked in the telecommunications line for more than 30 years. Having known of Tzu Chi from his wife’s colleague, Zeng has been a familiar face at Tzu Chi since he retired in 2007.
The English-educated Zeng derives much pleasure from collating short snippets of Mandarin news and translating them into English. “I’m grateful for this learning platform, which allows me to discover new functions within the computer applications; my English and Mandarin have also improved. If I’ve committed any typos, the students and teacher will correct them,” said Zeng with a smile.
Zeng would get the news snippets during the week and spend his weekends translating them. He would then let the rest of his team have a look at his work before the class on Monday. He shared that he has learnt how to be a better, calmer and wiser person through his work. Apart from being tolerant and understanding, one’s heart must quieten down too, as anxiety hinders accomplishment of tasks. This is more so for those who are getting on in years. Zeng admitted that when he was younger, he lacked patience but now, he is much more patient with his family members.
Sometimes, Zeng would even take on a role in a play or skit if a male actor was required. He said, “I will help out for as long as I am needed.”
Facing Multiple Challenges With the Right Attitude
Zheng Shu Yi has had four years of experience in running the Mandarin camp. Recalling the first camp she was involved in which lasted for two days and a night, she described it as grueling for a rookie like herself. However, even though the programme this year was similar to last year’s, Zheng, who has been the overall in-charge for two years, revealed that that it was not exactly easy. “Unexpectedly, there were manpower changes that cropped up the day before, and the school’s arrangements also changed.”
In the face of the challenges, Zheng became anxious and decided to stay up till 3am to cope with the arrangements. However, another experienced coordinator Mo Ze Yan reassured her and told her that things would turn out fine. Zheng realized she had to face the problems with a new mindset, and decided to turn in early in order to “recharge” so as to be able to manage the camp’s programme well.
During the lunch break, it was discovered that half of the camp attendees had forgotten to bring their own chopsticks. Zheng hurried to the school canteen and managed to borrow chopsticks from the stallholders. However, soon, Zheng was faced with another problem. Many of the camp attendees seemed to have hearty appetites and raised their hands for a second helping of food. Zheng recalled that as the number of those who turned up was 50 persons less than the registered number of attendees, she had instructed the stall holders to cut the amount of food so as not to incur wastage. In this instance, the working team decided to give up their share of food and the problem was resolved.
Zheng shared that she learnt that one should not be hasty both in handling matters as well as in dealing with others. From Mo, she saw the quality of maintaining calmness in the face of crises. From the past few years of serving as an education volunteer, Zheng had met many kinds of people from different backgrounds and had gradually learnt the value of meeting challenges with greater equanimity.
“Efficiency is not the sole gauge of capability; (one must) have empathy.” Before she became a Great Love Mother, Zheng would only work with people who were of the same mind as her and often did not consider the viewpoints of others. “The other party’s background may not have allowed for him to reach the same conclusions as I; this is what I needed to learn,” said Zheng.
Paying it Forward, Benefitting Society with Education
Zheng’s daughter is in Primary 5 this year and studies at the Maha Bodhi School. Upon seeing many of her daughter’s old classmates, she is glad to make such a meaningful learning opportunity available to them.
Coming from a family that did not have the opportunity for much education, Zheng recollected how importantly her parents, who held jobs as a cleaner and seamstress, viewed education. This made her feel that she had to study hard for a better life. Grateful that she was able to graduate from university with the help of scholarship and bursary funds, she actively sought to contribute back to society by engaging in Tzu Chi’s educational mission.
“It takes ten years to nurture a tree and a hundred years to develop a person” -- this Chinese saying underscores the amount of time that must be invested in a good educational programme. In fact, the classes run by the Great Love Mothers not only facilitate the sowing of seeds of good into young hearts, they provide, too, a fertile ground of limitless learning and source of inspiration for Tzu Chi volunteers.
During the Mandarin camp in June 2015, 60 volunteers, the majority of whom were Tzu Chi Great Love Mothers, shared environmentally-friendly knowledge with 196 Primary 5 pupils. (Photo by Susan Ong)
Zhuo Qing Huan (left) has loved teaching since she was young and has been a Tzu Chi Great Love Mother for many years. Teaching via skits and songs is child’s play to her. (Photo by Susan Ong)
Chen Li Yu works with joyful responsibility in her first-time role of being the overall in-charge of logistics. (Photo by Susan Ong)
During the station games segment, students revised the Jing Si Aphorisms they learnt by rearranging sentences into the right structure. (Photo by Susan Ong)
Since his retirement, Zeng Sheng Xiong (left) has been helping to manage the sound system during the Mandarin classes. (Photo by Susan Ong)
Zeng and his counterpart Wu Zhen Zhou (right) are the few “Great Love Fathers” that have joined the Great Love Mothers team. (Photo by Bernard Ng)
Great Love Mother Zheng Shu Yi (right) captured in a happy meeting with Wang Li Si (left), a teacher from Maha Bodhi School. (Photo by Bernard Ng)
Zheng Shu Yi has persisted in contributing towards the education of the young as she has reaped the benefits of education herself. (Photo by Wu Zhen Zhou)
Head of Tzu Chi Singapore’s Education Mission Chen Zhao Yun thanks everyone at the close of the Mandarin camp. (Photo by Bernard Ng)
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