There are teachers who do not accompany us all our lives but remain deeply present in the memories of students like a cloud of good fortune – quiet, gentle, and lasting. For me, that is Associate Professor Hanh – who taught me Civic Education for three years in high school, and then, by chance – or perhaps a strange arrangement of life – became my Philosophy lecturer at university.
People often say: "Philosophy is a subject for people who like to be complicated and sophisticated." But Ms. Hanh does not "teach philosophy" that way. She does not make us students memorize dry lines from Marx, Hegel or Aristotle. She tells stories. And in those stories, we see a whole system of values, a way of thinking, a way of life.
I still remember vividly the afternoons at the end of high school, the class was silent, not because of fear but because of attention. She lectured on professional ethics, on human rights – not as someone imparting a curriculum, but as someone who was living with those big questions. She did not hesitate to raise thorny issues about society, power, and trust. And most importantly, she never gave us the answers – she let us find them ourselves.
On the podium, she is a teacher. But behind the classroom door, she is a listener. She knows which student in the class is struggling with family burdens, who has just failed a scholarship, who is struggling with moral choices in everyday life. She remembers names, faces, and even the unanswered questions we asked from the previous semester. After teaching, she stays behind, quietly acting as a lighthouse keeper for those who are still wandering on the path of education and personality.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thi Hanh - Faculty of Philosophy, University of Social Sciences and Humanities
In an era where “being a teacher” seems to be caught up in standards of achievement and image, Ms. Hanh still chooses to stay – not noisy, not ostentatious, not controversial. But it is that quietness, the enduring love for the profession and the unwavering humanitarian spirit that makes her a rare teacher – not only teaching us how to think, but also teaching us how to be human.
