At my secondary school classmate’s Raya open house, my friend (Tasha) and I chatted with her fierce mom.

Tasha asked her, “So what do you do now that you are retired?”

Like most people, Tasha thought that people who are not working (ahem, yours truly included maybe) are very free and must be bored out of their minds!

Her mom replied, “No.. actually, now I have a lot to do also. Now I have my own time to do what I want. I have planning to do this, that.. travel and see my daughter. So it depends on yourself.”

She talked about her trips and favourite places in Europe. Soo much fun! Isn’t it great to have money and time to go travelling around the world with your loved ones?

Teachers earn more than normal people do!

Retired teachers who work for more than 23 (or 22?) years get 50% of their basic salary! Senior teachers can earn up to RM6K for basic. So, there’s no shortage of teachers in Malaysia right now, ever since government changed the payment scheme. Even Degree grads get RM2K at least! Let’s hope this higher pay would encourage more people to be good teachers.

She explained the differences between school teacher and lecturer, “For a school teacher, you’ll have to love to teach and take care of the students welfare. The syllabus is easier but you have the responsibility for the students.”

“For a lecturer, the subjects are harder but you don’t have to care about the students. So it’s actually a trade off.”

That’s certainly true. Good teachers who are genuinely trying to impart knowledge in the right way are hard to find.