SPM Top Scorer Aspired to Change Lives through Teaching

Semporna, 27 August – A Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) top scorer is now aspired to change the lives of Semporna kids, after hers had been changed by her teacher 10 years ago.

Jessica Fung Lee Ying, who achieved 11As in SPM 10 years ago, did not want to pursue higher education due to her family’s financial problems.

In order to overcome financial difficulty, she started taking up jobs to help her family at the age of 17 where she worked at a fast food restaurant and also as a cashier.

However, when her former teacher Roslyn Cheryl Tunggolou discovered her situation, she contacted her and convinced her not to give up on her studies.

Roslyn assisted Jessica with her studies financially and ensured that she was enrolled in Form 6.

Few years later, Jessica graduated from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak with a bachelor’s degree in plant resource science and management. She recounted that she was disappointed when she did not get the course she wanted. However, her teacher Roslyn convinced her to at least complete her degree as it will lead her to a better career path in the future.

Jessica’s hard work, motivated by Roslyn, has paid off. Seeing Roslyn as her role model, she aspired to become a teacher to help changing lives of others.

Jessica, 28, is now a homeroom teacher at SMK Bugaya. Before becoming a homeroom teacher, she worked at the same school under a two-year fellowship with Teach For Malaysia (TFM).

The fellowship offers young graduates a chance to teach in schools in need of teachers without a teaching education background.

After the fellowship, she went for a job interview with the Civil Service Commission which allowed her to work full time under the Ministry of Education.

Recounting her experience in class, Jessica revealed that she finds teaching students from families of traditional farmers or fishermen to be challenging as they could not understand simple instructions in English.

However, after understanding their backgrounds and knowing their culture, Jessica is proud that she could tackle the challenges and provide them basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics. She also encouraged them to further their interests in other subjects.

She believes that teaching is a way for her to give back to the community, just like how her teacher had helped her back in the days.