A tribute to Mrs. Rita Leicester

A tribute to Mrs. Rita Leicester

Last week, i was looking at obituary section of the straits times. i saw a notice put up by the family of the late Mrs. Rita Leicester thanking all who were at her funeral. At that moment, my heart somehow felt a sense of loss. Quickly, i went through the newspapers to trace back her obituary, which i did quite easily (considering i have six weeks worth of backdated newspapers, but that is another story altogether). She went home to be with the Lord on 28 Jun 2007 at the age of 64. I wished i had seen the obituary earlier. i wished i had a chance to be at the wake or funeral. i wished i have given her a call earlier in the year. i wished... The only comfort is that i will still be able to see her again some day when i go home to be with the Lord.

The late Mrs. Leicester was my art teacher in TJ. i was a science student, and in those days if you were a science student you were not allowed to do art. But Mrs. Leicester joined TJ in the year i was repeating my 1st year. She changed this rule completely. Because of her, i am able to do art in science stream. Not only that, i get to do four A-level subjects (art being my 4th subject) instead of three (all repeat students can only do 3 subj in my time). As i reflected, the Lord had really used her to change the course of my life. If she had never come into my life, i would most probably be doing engineering or some scientific or mathematical kind of job.

She was an inspiring teacher. Though during my days in TJ, sometimes her artistic nature and temperament drove me nuts, she was still a fantastic teacher. She taught well. She was the teacher who taught me how to paint batik from scratch. Most art students already knew the craft as they were O-level art students. Though i may not be as good as many of my art classmates, never did i feel inferior because she never compare me with them.

She gave her students lots of freedom. She trusted us a lot. Every week she would set the tasks, and allowed us to come into the art room as and when we like to complete the tasks. She understood that we all loved art and we all have other subjects and ccas to cope with. With this, it meant that she had to be in the art room for longer hours so that she would "bump" into us at least once a week to sit down and evaluate our progress with us. However, she would still do it and this gave me time and space to balance my life.

Though I graduated from TJ, she never graduated me out of her student list. She remembered me by name. When I became an art teacher, and was unsure about guiding my students O-level art projects. She had retired by then, though she still continued to teach some enrichment art classes. She needed not do it, but she came to my school to help me. She spent an afternoon going through all the projects (almost 40 pcs) and explaining what i could do to help each student. For that, i am deeply grateful for what she had done in my life.

After i left teaching, i bumped into her one day at the entrance of St Hilda's Sec a few years back. She was teaching batik to the students there. She invited me to teach alongside with her in her enrichment classes to which i did not take up her invitation.

She has lived a full life. I thank God for her devotion to her work and her love for her students. I have been greatly blessed. What would my life be like if our paths never crossed...