My maternal grandfather, Mr Kuah Gim Teik, retired school headmaster embodied this value to his dying day and inspired many of his ex-students, some of his children and grandchildren to continue this value.
Even when he had a stroke and became half paralyzed, he fought back and trained daily and diligently until he regained the use of his paralyzed left, could walk with the help of a cane and could talk. For the next 18 years until his death at 85 in 1996, he continued to learn. He learnt one new Bahasa Malaysia word a day and played word games with Kevin when he came home from school. He also undertook to teach himself the then-new Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin and recruited another grand-daughter in Mandarin word games, believing like most great educators that games reinforce learning.
His personal motto was: "The day you stopped learning is the day your mind deteriorate and you're fit for the grave."
This blog is written for all the descendants of Mr Kuah Gim Teik, that you may remember his legacy and stay true to his learning spirit.
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