Try gardening or farming!

I read in a report in Pikiran Rakyat on June 28, that teachers were becoming ojeg (motor-cycle taxi) drivers.

Frankly speaking, I am against such moonlighting because teachers deserve praise for being responsible for our children's education, i.e. the would-be leaders of the nation.

James E. Alatis, Howard B. Altman and Penelope M. Alatis in their book The Second Language Classroom illustrate 85 fields that can be done by a teacher, especially a language teacher, ranging from being a classroom researcher, motivator, evaluator to metalinguist, comedian and folksinger to improve their career. None of them suggest a teacher to become an ojeg driver.

I would like to suggest to those teacher ojeg drivers to take up another sort of side-job, like gardening or farming. Gardening, besides being profitable, can be regarded as the cheapest and most useful hobby. James M. Rippe, in his book Fit for Forty, describes gardening or farming as one of the most pleasant outdoor activities after washing and waxing the car, chopping wood and raking leaves. Besides, gardening is a botanical or biological subject which demands research and experiments on the teachers' part.

ODO FADLOELI

Bandung, West Java