More stories....

Sy was a student of mine some years back. As a matter of fact, I taught him for 2 years. He was already getting rascally at the end of F3, obnoxious and disruptive in class. Much to our chagrin, he managed to get to F4. I had the misfortune of teaching him again in F5. He was much worse and he influenced a few other kids to dance to his tune. He would outrightly rebel, be nonchalant.... he seemed to derive great pleasure from such actions. I had by then realized that it was better just to leave him be. I chased him for my work whenever he was in class but it never went far. To go too far would do me no good as I cannot count on my bosses to stand behind me...

Where English was concern, it was a lost cause. He was caught stealing copper wires that year. What he would do is roll those wires up and throw them in the flower pots for collection later in the evening. No one knows exactly how much he took. But the school did not expel him... kesian, I guess. There were stories about how this boy, with his father would go round the village clearing the villagers' fruit trees for their own profit.

He'd come to school looking and smelling unwashed. He'd do things to elicit comments... like wiping his hands with newspapers after eating and proceeding to do his work immediately after that. And he was above all, extremely rude. A recalcitrant in which the punishments meted out by the school did not work. I felt he should have been expelled but we were too much into this kesian thing back then.

Recently, he came back to school to return his textbooks so that he can get his exam result slip and certificate. Students were supposed to return those books immediately after their SPM but he just couldn't be bothered. I guess he didn't care much about his result slip or whatever certificates. That's so typical him!!

He has not changed much... still looking rather disheveled. You can still catch a whiff of that old smell. It's been a couple of years since his SPM. Apparently he wanted to collect his School Leaving Certificate so that he can apply to be a soldier. Most of us were left shaking our heads... Can you imagine him a soldier patrolling the border? Who knows what he'll be up to. Add that to the live ammo that will be placed in his hands. We all voiced our hope that he would not succeed in his application..... If he does, then something must be wrong with our selection process...