The 10th batch of Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool students have graduated! 34 preschoolers from the Yishun and Toa Payoh branches were the main leads of this graduation ceremony. This would be the first graduation ceremony of these six-year-olds.
On 9 December 2023, at the Jing Si Hall, Tristan Yeo (pictured below) represented the graduation class to give a graduation speech. He held the microphone steadily and spoke confidently. It was hard to imagine that Tristan was timid and jittery when he first enrolled into the preschool. Tristan cried for two years because he did not want to go to school. Looking back, Tristan recalled with an innocent tone, "All the teachers knew that I was a crybaby. This situation lasted for a long time as I didn't want to go to school."
When Tristan Yeo enrolled in preschool at the age of two, he would cry when going to school. Lead Educator Audrey Koh comforted Tristan's mother, Derryn Chan, that Tristan would take at most three months to adapt to the new environment. Unexpectedly, Tristan cried for two years till the age of four.
"Tristan can be the record holder!" Derryn Chan (first right, picture below) said mockingly. But when she saw Tristan alone on the stage to deliver a speech to nearly two hundred parents watching the ceremony, she was very pleased and touched. "From always crying to loving school, it is a great progress and signals the beginning of independence. This must be credited to the care and upbringing of the teachers in the preschool."
Derryn Chan said: "My son turned six years old in the blink of an eye. He was neither a baby nor a big boy, but when he served the tea to me, I felt that my child had really grown up."
Although it might just be a graduation ceremony for preschool children, Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool put in great effort to ensure that the ceremony was grand and dignified. The little graduates lined up into two files and marched steadily into the hall. Parents lining the aisles recorded this special moment eagerly with their mobile phones.
All the 34 kindergarten graduates went up on stage and bowed three times to their parents. Then, they performed with sign language and sang the "Repaying Kindness" chapter from "The Sutra about the Deep Kindness of Parents and the Difficulty of Repaying It". This was to instil in their mind to always remember their parents' love and effort in bringing them up.
Next, the kindergarten graduates transformed the stage for a play, presenting a story about caring for the environment and the Earth.
Mok Wei Xiang and his wife, parents of one of the students, recalled visiting a few other kindergartens before deciding on Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool. He explained that the main reason is that Tzu Chi's teaching attaches great importance to character building.
Mok Wei Xiang was deeply moved by his son's prostrations and tea serving: "I am very grateful to the preschool for imparting filial piety to my son, especially the three bows to the parents. I was overwhelmed and emotional. I have never had such a teaching when I was a child."
But Mok Wei Xiang was most pleased by his son's deep sense of "giving back". He said: "There were times when we saw elderly people selling tissue paper; he would not hesitate to donate 50 cents or 1 dollar. He is also very committed to environmental protection through his daily actions and valuing resources. It is truly commendable that he has developed such character even before entering primary school."
Chan Bao Xuan (middle, picture below) watched with marvel when the children performed "Repaying Kindness" in sign language. "The lyrics of "Repaying Kindness" are very long. The children must have practised for a long time to be able to memorise the lyrics, perform using sign language and pace correctly at the same time."
When her son Teoh Li Ren (first from left, picture below) bowed to her three times, she was deeply touched. Chan Bao Xuan said: "In Singapore, children seldom bow three times to their parents unless during special occasions. I am very grateful that the kindergarten included such a grand and solemn etiquette in the graduation ceremony."
Chan Bao Xuan shared that since attending preschool, her son has become the "little eco-warrior" of the family. She said: "Previously, Li Ren had no idea about environmental protection, and our family had no such awareness. After he learned it at school, whenever he came home and saw recyclables dumped into the dustbin, he would 'lecture' the family for not recycling them. Gradually, my family learned to develop good habits of environmental protection."
A rich and exhilarating graduation ceremony is always a child's first and most significant milestone, cherished by both the graduates and their parents.
Preschool teachers have to organise a graduation ceremony every year, but every graduation is unique because each batch of students is different. They have watched these children grow up, some from infant class, some from playgroup, all the way to six years old when they graduate.
Audrey Koh, who participated in the 10th graduation ceremony of Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool, said: "As a preschool teacher, we treat these little seedlings just like their parents. We play an important role in their lives because, other than their parents, we are their first teachers."
Witnessing batches after batches of children graduate, Audrey Koh said with conviction: "Every word, deed, and action of the preschool teachers serves as a role model for the children, as they spend a significant portion of their time in school. We hope that they can maintain a kind heart and carry their sense of filial piety, perform good deeds, show empathy, and embrace vegetarianism as they enter the next chapter of their lives."
Under the influence of Tzu Chi's teachings, the 34 graduates shared the values they learned in the form of a graduation video, such as "doing good deeds", "donating to bamboo coin bank", "loving animals", etc. These are also their precious virtues as they embark on their primary school life.
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