Teaching has always been Alimah’s passion. Better known as Cikgu Alimah to her friends and students, she has been in the education field for over 20 years.

Upon obtaining her ‘O’ Levels, Alimah joined the National Institute of Education (NIE) and attained a Certificate in Education. She became a qualified teacher and taught Malay at Swiss Cottage Secondary School. Soon, she got engaged and found out about a teaching opportunity in Brunei. Barely two weeks into her marriage, Alimah ventured to Brunei with her husband where she taught for 14 years before returning to Singapore.

She then resumed her teaching career at Dunearn Secondary School and later at Ping Yi Secondary School. To keep abreast of the vast changes in education, Alimah took up a twoyear part-time Advanced Diploma in Education and graduated with distinctions in several modules in 1992.

Whilst teaching at Ping Yi, she learnt that the Ministry of Education, Curriculum and Planning Development Department was looking for writers for Malay secondary school textbooks. She grabbed this offer as writing was her passion. There, she devoted herself to writing and developing textbooks for five years.

It was during this time that Alimah signed up for the Masters of Science (Teaching of Malay as a First Language) with the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). She also took up NIE’s Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Guidance and Counselling as she was keen to learn more about the psychological aspect of learning. This proved to be quite a big challenge as she had to juggle her Masters and Advanced Diploma courses. However, through sheer determination and willpower, Alimah completed her Masters last year.

Alimah currently teaches at East Spring Secondary School and is concurrently pursuing a two-year PhD in the Malay Language with UPM. Good time management is vital as she has to juggle family, work and study commitments.

Alimah believes in leading by example to inspire her students. While many at her age may have chosen to be a full-time homemaker, Alimah wants to continue to stay employable through constant upgrading and show that age is not a barrier to learning.