You Do Not Know What You'd Lost Until It's Gone...

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Dear TomHa,
Yesterday, Junjie told me that Mrs Nair had passed on, as Bernice had picked up the news from the Orbituary section in the papers. Well, yesterday was her burial date as I found out today and I guess it was a case of too little, too late.

Mrs Nair Chor Eng was my form teacher during my Sec. 2 days. I would not say that she was very close to us and vice versa as somehow, during those puberty, hormone-filled days of teenage years, under the influence of my peers who somehow did not like her way of teaching for reasons I still could not fathom, I just remained as I was, another student in a rather boisterous class who joined in the jeering and putting down of her in those free canteen times. Very hypocrite, yes I know, but oh well..

In fact, my memories of her were just a simple "She was my form and Geography teacher" kind of thing. In fact, I couldn't even remember that she taught us English! What a terrible human being I am...

However, despite the hazy memories of her, still, I must thank Mrs Nair for instilling in me a deeper interest in Geography than what her predecessor, my Sec. 1 geography teacher whom I can't even remember her name, did. Somehow, I enjoyed Geography under her, perhaps because I managed to get better grades in this subject than what other teachers might have given.

This renewed interest in Geography is perhaps the catalyst to me taking up Geography in my Upper sec years and then in my A-levels, and finally, perhaps, my interest in mountaineering and the great outdoors, which, I enjoyed greatly, really. I had been a 3-minute fervor kind of person all my life, but surprisingly, this interest in Geography, of the clouds above and the unfathomable tectonic movements below the crusts stucked with me ever since.

Thank you Mrs Nair, and may you rest in peace