Gan Ray Jim (standing right) with Patricia Rao (standing 2nd left) //Provided pix// 18 May 2025
ALL of us have teachers we never forget even years after leaving school, because they had left an indelible mark on our lives during our school days.
Gan Ray Jim, who recently scored 9As in his SPM examination, paid tribute to his English teacher Patricia Shanta Rao, whom he described as his guiding light.
The 18-year-old said Patricia coached him and his friends through a gauntlet of English competitions “like a storm”.
“I could never forget my teacher Patricia, who nurtured my interest in essay writing competitions and public speaking at Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid (KSAH) in Alor Setar, Kedah,” Ray Jim wrote in an email to The Star.
“She introduced me to the prestigious Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC) and allowed me to represent KSAH in the competition from 2021 to 2024,” he said.
Ray Jim added that he had also emerged champion in a national- level English public speaking competition and state-level English debate as well as won the QCEC gold award, among other competitions, in 2023.
“I am a much better person today because of her,” he shared.
“I wouldn’t have confidence to speak in public if not for her guidance, which included coaching my friends and me, even during weekends, and setting up roleplay sessions before competitions to ensure we were well prepared.”
Ray Jim, who has a number of other accolades, said he had kept in touch with Patricia even after leaving school.
Patricia was the head of the English panel in KSAH from 2013 to 2023 and is now senior head of languages at SMK Dato Syed Omar in Alor Setar, Kedah.
Ray Jim said Patricia continued to nurture students to win in essay writing and public speaking competitions at her present school and was preparing some of them for the next QCEC.
For Teachers Day, Ray Jim said he planned to visit Patricia and present her a bouquet of flowers along with a framed picture of him and his teacher.
“It will serve as a remembrance of the joyful journey all of us had together,” he added.
