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Ma Yan-yan has been nominated as a Compassion Ambassador in the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Long on compassion: Hong Kong teacher who is also a mentor, nurse, friend and even house mover

Ma Yan-yan looks after her young charges in a bid to nurture good character and not just to get them to pass exams

Yu Yuet

Teaching is never just about academic education. Teachers regularly pick up the roles of parent, counsellor, mentor, nurse, friend and occasionally even house mover.

That is the case with Ma Yan-yan, who’s been all of the above for about two decades. She teaches Chinese, integrated humanities and liberal studies at HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No 1 Secondary School in Kwai Chung. She loves most being class teacher “because I really get to know each pupil”.

Ma spends just as much time outside the classroom helping students in need, even keeping in contact with them through mobile messaging platforms.

“I was using an old brick phone, actually. They said to me: ‘Miss Ma, let us lead you out of the stone age’,” she laughs. It’s a most warm and sincere laugh, the kind that puts anyone instantly at ease.

The smartphone switch enlightened Ma to the difference it makes to be level with her students in their mode of communication. “Sometimes they find it difficult to bring up their troubles at school, or talk about their feelings face to face. It’s easier to put it in text, so they are more open to sharing when I make myself available this way.”

Ma runs a “dolphin group” in her school, which looks after students who are new arrivals from the mainland.

“The group is mandatory for those in their first year in Hong Kong, so they can integrate better with the rest of the school and society,” she explains. “The older ones get upgraded to ‘dolphin buddies’, who then help the younger ones settle in.”

Volunteer work is compulsory for them. “That way they get to know the local community here, what the culture is like. It’s also useful for them in terms of learning to communicate, learning to respond to situations, giving them confidence,” she says.

For Ma, nurturing good character in students is much more important than exam results, and volunteer work is great for that. “I feel like there used to be a more equal emphasis on character building and achieving good grades, but these days it seems more driven by exam results.”

Among the many activities she does with her dolphins, they run a “dolphin moving agency” for hard-up students who are often shifting between temporary living arrangements.

Moving house is a costly activity, so Ma and older dolphins, including some alumni, help out. “We’ll bring along trolleys and move everything with the family. I also teach the students how to pack boxes. Sometimes they just have no clue about that.”

Warm moments like these are what bond them like family, forming connections that last long after graduation. “We have so much fun. The kids love getting pushed around on the trolley.”

Ma has been nominated by the Professional Teachers’ Union as a Compassion Ambassador in the South China Morning Post’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards.

She credits her students for saving her life. Ma was almost killed by throat cancer in 2006. “The radiotherapy was unbearable. It pushed my body and my mind right to the edge. I was ready to give up,” she shudders. But encouragement from family, friends and especially her students helped her win her battle against the disease.

“The kids knew I was sick, so they got their acts together to be disciplined without me around.”

She was supposed to rest up for three months, but leapt back into action after about six weeks. “It just makes me happy to be around them, to watch them grow up.”

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