To set things in context, Singapore teachers enjoy almost the entire month of December off. It’s christened as protected time. No one is supposed to bother you about work.

Yes, I know I’m blessed because my wife is a non-teacher, so I recognise the privilege my society has afforded me to not think about work for a month. What’s more, my fellow countrymen are vocal in their support for teachers having rest time. I am always touched by how netizens go up in arms when a policy that is perceived to affect teachers negatively is implemented. Like woah, people aren’t jealous?!

Because teaching is a tough job. And I will astutely leave it as that.

So, what has one month of rest given me? I would say it has gifted me the bigness of heart. Now, that sounds all Hallmark-y and seems counter to the usual yardsticks of KPIs and tangible outcomes.

Sensei can’t quite quantify this bigness of heart, but he will explain it the best he can.

First up, a tale from my personal life. M is a very nice girl who often gives my son snacks at the playground. My boy wanted to reciprocate, so we bought a box of Hello Panda chocolates for her during the weekend. He planned to pass it to her the following Monday.

I promised him on Sunday that I would bring the chocolates for him when I picked him up for school the next day.

Did I remember to bring it on Monday?

Nope! Guys are notoriously bad at multi-tasking, but I naively thought I was an exception. Shame on me.

My boy was visibly dejected. Pre-holidays, I would have felt quite exasperated because I have so many things on my mind and why should I expend my energy to help you remember your stuff and I really dislike how I cannot have my headspace all to myself and…

But because I was well rested from my month of respite, I felt bad for dropping the ball and went to the nearby supermarket to buy another box of Hello Panda chocolates. Now, this is harder than it sounds because I had to take my daughter - a fragile firecracker - with me. Anything could happen. I was testing fate.

It was a nerve-wracking 10 minutes before I finished completing the purchase and passed it to my son. He gave it to M. My credibility was restored.

Later that evening, he recounted the entire episode to his mum, and the message he received was that I am as good as my word.

I was proud of myself. I not only had the capacity to deal with this curveball that was admittedly my own causing, but I was INFINITE.

Another tale from my professional life. So, a couple of students have been messaging me about the start of school and all.

Pre-holidays, this would have elicited a major ‘Tsk! Tsk!’ response from me. I AM SO TIRED. Why do I have to deal with this?!!!

But because I was well rested from my month of respite, I made sure to type “Good forward planning” before proceeding to answer their question. Not to put labels on any kid, but if an ADHD-cum-dyslexia kid takes the initiative to ask about school ahead of time, this is awesome habit forming. This must be encouraged. This is why I’m in the profession.

With the onslaught of stuff come next week, I doubt my bigness of heart can last long. How do I measure it anyway? It’s an abstract concept. But as all great teachers do, I will break it down to more manageable and concrete goals. It is pithy, so take note:

And with that, Sensei wishes all his readers a very Happy New Year ahead.