SEMPORNA: A Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) top scorer could have been eking out a meagre living through odd jobs today if a teacher did not step in to alleviate her troubles some 10 years ago.
Hailing from Kota Kinabalu, Jessica Fung Lee Ying did not want to pursue higher education although she aced the national examination with 11As, due to her family's financial problems.
"At the age of 17, I started working at many places including at a fast-food restaurant and as a cashier to help my family," she said.
However, that did not sit well with her former teacher, Roslyn Cheryl Tunggolou.
"When my former teacher found out about my situation, she contacted me and persuaded me not to give up and assisted with my studies, financially," Fung said.
Roslyn's perseverance saw efforts put in place to ensure Fung enrolled in Form 6, before furthering her studies at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
A few years later, Fung graduated with a bachelor's degree in plant resource science and management. Still, she aspired to be a teacher.
"The same teacher (Roslyn) helped me to apply for courses at universities, but unfortunately I did not get the course I wanted. However, she told me that at least with a degree, my (career) path is better."
As always, Fung's hard work, as motivated by Roslyn, paid off.
Fast forward to today, Fung, 28, is now a homeroom teacher at SMK Bugaya after completing a two-year fellowship with a non-governmental organisation Teach For Malaysia (TFM) last year at the same school.
The fellowship gives a chance for young graduates without a teaching education background to work in schools in need of teachers.
Fung also attended a job interview with the Civil Service Commission to work full time under the Education Ministry.
Relating her experience in class, Fung said among others, teaching students from families of traditional farmers or fishermen could be challenging.
"On my first day (in class), the students did not respond to me when I told them to take their seats. They did not even know what 'sit down' (in English) means.
"But over time, after knowing their culture and understanding their lives, I can tackle the challenges," Fung said, adding that her primary goals were to provide basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics before encouraging them to further their interests in other subjects.
Fung also had to help address disciplinary issues at the school, where her colleague Susan Balong founded a "Zero Crime" project during their fellowship.
The programme has helped the school to reduce disciplinary cases by half.
"Teaching at this school is not easy, but, just like how my teacher had helped me, this is a way for me to give back to the community.
"For those with big hearts, resilience, the drive to tackle inequality and reach out to children in need, I do encourage you to join TFM."