I was born in a Chinese-educated family. I was once a child who hated to learn Mandarin. Not only that, I refused to take Mandarin lessons and always thought that I was being forced to learn the language. But everything started to change ever since university life. I was admitted as a teacher trainee at a local teacher training college and “unfortunately” given an opportunity majoring in the Mandarin language. I was so afraid of the situation, thinking that I was not going to make it through until graduation.

       Five and a half years (2010–2015) being a teacher trainee had totally changed my attitude. I started to realize the significance of learning Mandarin. It really changed my life, especially in my career. Since then, I had started to love Mandarin so much that it sparked a little voice inside me to have a heart to teach the language. After graduation, I started my teaching career in West Malaysia, and that little voice in me grew even stronger. I started to try out different kinds of teaching pedagogy. In order to deepen my knowledge, I took up psychology courses with the aim of helping change the children’s mindset toward learning Mandarin. My main intention is to explain to them the advantages of learning the language and that learning the language is fun. There is a high percentage of children that are not interested in learning Mandarin and even refuse to learn. These children include those who come from an English-speaking background. I always love to have conversations with little ones about learning Mandarin, and what I always heard the most was, “Mandarin is too hard!” This is quite a pathetic notion! I was once a Mandarin “hater,” and I don’t want the next generation to have this wrong conception as well. I believe that learning through fun playing is the key to overcoming “Mandarin is too hard!”

       After a year (2016–2017) of being a Mandarin teacher in an urban primary school, I decided to pursue my master’s degree in education via long-distance learning with a prominent local university. I was hoping that somehow I would make a breakthrough for not just being an ordinary teacher. I want to become a teacher who can make a difference. I want to be a teacher who can make life-impacting changes. I have a vision to build up learning attitudes amongst younger children. In my third year (2018) of teaching, I was posted back to my hometown, Sabah, to teach in a rural Mandarin-medium school.

      About 80% of the students in this school were the natives of Sabah, who speak either their own mother tongues: the Kadazan Dusun language, the Murut language, or the Malay language. What makes it even worse is that most of them from a Chinese background don’t speak fluent Mandarin because they speak English at home. This situation worsens the learning condition of Mandarin and English in the school. Most teachers translate the learning contents into Bahasa Malaysia. I could imagine most of these children don’t have the interest to attend Mandarin-medium schools. As such, we may say that most of the students (at least 80% as mentioned above) in this school neither speak Mandarin nor write standard Mandarin, as well as not being eloquent in the English language. Sad to say, they face difficulties in mastering or acquiring Mandarin and English.

       I have been a teacher of a primary school, but after teaching in government schools for four years, first in a school in an urban area, followed by a school in a rural area, I realized there is something missing in the present educational system. There is no intention on my part to blame any parties but to take action and make a difference. There sparks a very strong flame in my heart to help this group of kids. Consequently, I, Teacher Jemimah, aspire to find ways to help them. As time goes by, my desire to help grows stronger and deeper in my heart each day, and Juperhero EduFun Academy is initiated for this meaningful purpose in education. This is why Juperhero EduFun Academy is initiated to help not only children learn effectively but parents can also benefit as well. Now, everyone can learn Mandarin and English easily, no matter who they are.

Jem Hiew,
Founder of Juperhero EduFun Academy