What is your Sanctuary – Ng Kwang Ming David

What is your Sanctuary

By Ng Kwang Ming David

My classroom, my sanctuary.

Potential arrives every morning, waiting to be unlocked.  Some do not know that they are the Potential.  All they feel is that this is a safe environment.  Some do know that they are the Potential.  Like a chick taking its first flight, all they need is a nudge.  Like a lock on a treasure chest, all they need is  a turn of a key, a ‘click’. I welcome them all into my sanctuary, our sanctuary, and the day of learning begins.

There are days the keys don’t work.  Then, there are days Potential unlocks potential.  Growth takes place right here in the sanctuary.  Potential realised out there beyond the sanctuary.  What a privilege to witness it.  What a responsibility to keep at it.  Over the years, I’ve realised that I don’t hold all the keys.

And there are days Potential goes missing.  Absent, Non-Valid Reason.  What a waste!  Because as much as they need the sanctuary, the sanctuary is not complete without them.

Over the years, Potential re-connects and I’m always amazed at how my nudging helped them take flight, how the turning of a key unlocked their potential.  I’ve played my part, an early part, but an important part.  A teacher, a surgeon (who treated my wife!), a musician, a dancer, a WTA tennis player, a lawyer, a PHD holder and the list goes on.  They were all in my sanctuary and in the sanctuaries of many others who answered the noble call to educate and nurture.

Our classroom, our sanctuary.