See A Wrong... Keep Quiet

From KH1 I went to KH2 and I saw there in 7 months probably sounds unbelievable. There is a teacher who is known to use profanities in class. I shared a PE class with him and it looked like he did not return the exam papers to his students. Further conversations with students imply that he has been like this for many years. Yet the school does nothing about his ways.

Kids from the less privileged backgrounds with parents who don't know any better. I think I am seeing for myself how they are 'bullied' too. Unable to make these kids see the importance of learning, many teachers just plod in the way they know. It is common to see teachers teaching but students behaving as if there is no teacher in the class. When punishment is meted up, it is often harsh. The cane is used because the school doesn't know what else to do to keep the kids silent. The cane is used because the kids refused to do their homework. The method salvaged some but generally we are losing more than we salvage. Public caning used to be a norm but I heard it hasn't been happening since I left. It is a bit peculiar how my leaving would stop such a practice.

If my first encounter with the teacher bully filled me with surprise, I no longer am surprised at the existence of such teachers. In the past 7 months, I have heard stories from students how the teachers have slapped them on their faces or used the rubber bands to flick their ears. I have also heard from students how teachers show their power at the slightest bit of excuse. One kid even told me that his teacher crumpled his folio because the papers weren't stapled. How do you expect kids to love learning with such kind of behaviour.

You get reasons that these kids are repeat offenders. Teachers tell you they can't change. These kids are labelled hopeless and incorrigible. And I wonder if it's us who have lost our way or the kids.

Everyone is looking for quick solutions without looking at themselves or how they have also contributed to the problem. You have Principals who keep coming up with programmes because the grades are falling. You have PKs who chase the teachers to discipline, manage, run projects or programmes. You have GKs who breathe down the teachers' necks for reports and more reports. And finally the poor teachers who have to receive all these brick brats from the top people.

I was reading some messages on the School Social Media App. These days, they use WhatsApp, Telegram to run the school. A teacher reports on the app that students are missing from class. The response from the PK HEM can be something like this. "Go record it in the school system." If you check again later, nothing is done. Gone seems to the days when PKs go running round the school to look for these kids who have played truant. These days digitalisation simply means that. Record it into the system and it will appear as a statistic. And so, the state of the discipline continue to slide. Everyone is pushing the responsibility to everyone. It feels to me like the education system will implode.

I had a conversation with a friend. He said that schools should appreciate and keep teachers who still want to truly teach. I replied Principals don't want that. They want obedient teachers. Obedient teachers that form the pack and move as a pack, values be damned.

So is education really about education these days? Or education never was really education. Perhaps too, the real education never did lie within the institutions. Perhaps real education lies outside the grasp of the institutions. Real education would grow the mind and will. Institutions are set by parameters, not just the physical but it dictates too what you are to learn and master.

Public schools are in a dismal state. It's tiring just to try to do the right thing. Perhaps too, just sit back, do as everyone. That's what most are doing. The rot has set in too deep... and to restore it would take more than just political will. A whole generation is now being lost... and it's always the poor who lose more.

All those sweet sounding words.. all the noble talks about making a change in the lives of the kids... they are just words amidst a decaying and crumbling system. Sad.

And The Student Called the Teacher Ah Gua

So, people are taking sides ... teacher vs student, public vs mother. The kid won’t get too much sympathy for sure. After all, she started it...

Somebody posted out the poor girl’s results. In the midst of all these, obviously many forget that she’s still 13. One tends to do lots of crazy stuff at that age. Emotionally they are also trying to make sense of themselves... 

Then the teacher who lost it. I cannot understand why so many condone caning. The marks on the kid were telling. It was caning done out of control. And he is the adult. If teachers cannot hold their temper or emotions in check, then students’ lives will be in danger.

The SOP on caning is clear. No caning for the girls. Say what we want but the guidelines are clear. And it’s there for a reason. 

Yet, caning... so many seems to swear by it. Nostalgia.

But imagine this...

A school where the cane reigns supreme. You are late. You get caned. You talk to your friends during the school reading time... caned again. You skip your ‘extra class’ ... yup, caned again. 

Then the hair issues in some Chinese conforming schools... 2 weeks after you have cut your hair. You are told it is now too long... lagi kena rotan. Then have your hair cut in full view of everyone who passes by... cane and more caning. The sound of whipping is the one common sound.... over hair which does not break the limits set by the MOE guidelines. 

Should we try this instead? Engaging students, making them understand, moving on with times, staying relevant... would an engaged student be calling a teacher Ah Gua?

Yet, you get bored kids. Those grades.. which have been displayed to shame this kid. You get lots of those these days. Some say it is the good life that’s causing them to lose focus. I think it’s more than that. Most don’t see relevance of what is taught in the class with their lives.

I see kids being lined up and whipped in public, right in plain sight of everyone. Girls being caned too.. now is everyone okay with their kids being dished that in school regularly. 

We desensitise the kids. We normalise caning as a solution to disciplinary problems. It is not. Caning, quick solution for quick adherence.

A walk down my own memory lane. Primary school. I was in Std 2. I always had perfect score for my spelling... cos one mistake ... and the cane awaited. Well, I am human... so like the fallible human... one day, after almost half a year, I made a mistake. The trepidation when lining up to be caned. 😂

Guess what? After that day, I didn’t really care much about being caned any more. It didn’t matter to me any more because my childish mind discovered that I could numb myself to the pain and humiliation. 

Oh! I continued to get perfect scores still for my spelling. But the occasions when I did not, I didn’t think the caning made a difference to ensuring that I hit the perfect score all the time.

Yah.. there might be bad parenting here. But that’s a mother being instinctive. Her language showed her not to be very polished. But put anyone of us in a situation like this... I think most of us would be tongue tied. The school office can also be a very intimidating place... 

There was excessive show of force in the Ah Gua teacher case. 

There was misbehaviour most definitely. 

And you also have a mother who got really, really defensive. 

And yes. The mother viralled it. Good idea? Don’t think so. But years from now, this video might serve as the starting point of a greater awareness for stakeholders involved.

How A School Can Fail To Deliver?

I met an ex-student recently at an event. Taught him in Form 4 last year. I would still be teaching him this year had I not been transferred out from the school over the teacher bullying case. It’s been more than half a year since I saw him. And he has grown taller... and better looking too.

So I called him over, as I sat on the floor and he squatting, we had a conversation about him. Now, this was a boy I regularly reprimanded for skipping classes due to a co-curricular activity. Today I found out that he was one of those given a place in SMJK Keat Hwa 1 for his ability to contribute to the school for that particular co-curricular activity. You see, there were many such kids accepted into the school to boost up the co-curricular achievements... basketball and band mainly. To bring up the school name in various aspects, diversity is required. Other schools have other sports with this same scheme, football, hockey... the chase

These activities actually good for the students. After all, co-curricular activities school a child in the soft skills. It gives opportunity for leadership training and so on. It teaches them sportsmanship, They catch many other skills from playing with other kids. And these skills will be useful when they begin to interact with the world.

However, things do not look so nice once you know what goes on to keep those honours coming in. Lots of training hours are required.

In my former school, KH1, kids basically have no time for co-curricular activities unless you structure it and make it achievement based. Then the kids get wowed and their parents too. Another problem is practice time. To win a world band title is no easy feat. Many hundred hours of practice are required. To enable a brass band to move with the precision required to win a world title would mean a lot of resources as well as man hours. Resources are easy enough to source. The Board and PTA will pay a trainer to do the coaching coach. That is the easy part.

The training part is not so easy. Where do you find time for kids who have tuition packed throughout the week? Enter some creative arrangements. Permission slips are give out to members to practice during school hours. And this is where we begin to see how the delivery system fails our kids.

You give a kid an opportunity to skip classes and bets are all on that they will stay out of class for as long as possible. After all, who would want to sit in the class and listen to boring lessons which many feel they will be able to get in their private tuitions? As long as the tuition centres out there are on the right track, things would be fine. But one can always expect that as mainstream system deteriorates, the same would be seen in the private tuition systems too.

I specifically remember 2 of my students. That was the year when they had a major competition. Both kids were in Form 5. That year both of them were missing from my classes for 3 to 4 months. Each time I ‘chased’ them to attend classes, it was always band practice. And the school allowed it. They are given the permission slip by the PK Kokurikulum, sanctioned by the school. If memory serves me right, one of them failed his history. We teachers, have no say when the kids wave their permission slips.

Now, I wonder how many unsuspecting parents are there who do not realise that their kids skipped classes for all these extra practices. Many students will tell you too that they go to school not to learn. They have tuitions outside to settle that. School is for them socialise, get involved in activities. But many forget too that there are kids who can catch on quickly and kids who need more time to cope with their lessons. And for those who cannot cope, the results can be disastrous.

As the deterioration becomes apparent, I think we have come to a stage where we are seeing kids who  are having real issues of learning. The academically weaker kid from a vernacular school often has dismal language mastery. Because of that, going MIA from classes is bad for them. For those kids who were brought in so that they can play basketball for the school or be in the band, those activities become the cause for the further deterioration in their studies. And the school knowingly allow it. And parents seem to not know any better.

These kids would do much better had they gone to national schools because they would at least leave school being able to use Bahasa Melayu. Being in a Chinese school, they bring glory for the school but they lose so much themselves because they lose themselves in the system.

As for the school brass band, I don’t know how the unsuspecting parents cannot see that they will hardly see any of the school teachers’ children joining the band. That fact should have sent some alarm bells to them.

The constant practices that eat into lesson time is wrong to begin with. Also, outside coaches who are not teachers push their agendas without really understanding their charges’ problems because they also need to show results to be able to continue to ply their trade. For them what matters are the medals, the wins. These are some of the problems brought in by a system that pays its way for everything. In a way, it reduces the teacher’s load but at the same time, it brings in other problems. As for a band member who has been part of the team which may have won a world title.... what use is that achievement if he leaves the school without his SPM certificate or without the required language skills?

It feels like the school has made used of these kids without really seeing into their welfare.

As for our conversation, the teenager had this to say. He knows his basketball prowess isn’t going to bring him any further. I asked him if he passed any of his subjects. He said, how to pass. He has been sleeping in class most of the time and he didn’t even study at all. I told him not to give up yet... with our SPM full of surprises, there is still hope yet.

So, how relevant are our schools really? As schools try to make a name for themselves, it looks like many kids become casualties too... this is one facet of our education which we rarely talk about. Yet I have seen it happening but most will not acknowledge.

I don’t believe that kids cannot learn anything. All kids (unless they have some disabilities) should be able to learn the basic skills set by the curriculum. When they fail to learn those basic skills it can only mean that we have failed to make students see the relevance, either through carelessness or downright apathy.

Basketball and Hari Raya... and what the Minister of Education Says

This message was published in the papers recently. Apparently after some laments (these days teachers are but mere stooges and kuli who must obey the principals) the Minister of Education released some press statements that school breaks should be kept as school breaks. But it is often hard not to have any activities during the break at school... 

This mid year break also coincides with the Hari Raya Puasa. So, one can imagine how many people are looking forward to it. For the Muslim teachers, it’s a break from the grind at school. For the students, it’s holidays. I think many kids find holidays boring, unless their parents take them on a trip. But, the economy is not doing well. Many families are making do with less expensive or no mid year holidays. 

Then the message came above as school heads continue to ‘force’ teachers to hold Program Peningkatan. Actually the Program Peningkatan is extra class. But because extra classes cannot be forced upon the teachers, school heads have cleverly rebranded extra classes as Program Peningkatan. And teachers are pressured to give extra classes. It has come to the point where some teachers have cannot go for their holidays, which of course these heads will point to the regulations that they have a right to call the teachers back for a certain number of days during the break. So, it becomes a norm to see kids in full uniform, at 1.00 noon during school breaks. 

Which of course highlights this basketball tournament. Organised by the Conforming Chinese Schools, they decided to have it during this break too because apparently (again) there is no other suitable date. The point is, the organisers figured that since this involves only the Chinese schools, therefore it is okay to have it during the fasting month, even though it is held so near to the Hari Raya... which is still fine, except that the Muslim teachers who are getting ready for their Hari Raya had to go on duty too. It is a Conforming Chineses Schools competition but Malays teachers had to be involved too, with Raya just a few days away, because the Principal of the organizing school said so. This is where, it crosses into being inconsiderate. 

So apparently, now the Ministry advises schools to cancel activities during the break so that everyone can get a break. Question now... why allow an event such as this to be carried out under its auspices, so near the Hari Raya.

4000 MINUTES... TERBUANG

What is 4000 minutes to a teacher? Been thinking about it for the past few months.

Schools are supposed to inculcate a love for reading in their students. So they craft all sorts of programmes to instil that love for reading. From NILAM to Reading Corner to Morning Reading Session, they hope to get students to want to read. After all, we know those kids won't be doing much lifelong learning or self-directed learning if they don't like reading.

NIILAM has been going on for years. Schools try to cajole, coerce, force and even threaten kids to get NILAM going, though I think NILAM has gone into cold-storage for the time being. However, I think NILAM has not succeeded in most schools simply because there wasn't much concerted effort put into it. Teachers have too many other things on their hands.

Reading Corner, on the other hand, collects dust after the initial brouhaha dies. It sits in the corners of classrooms, school compound, collecting dust... and eventually cobwebs, the reading materials aged by the unforgiving weather.

Enter Morning Reading Programme. In my school they force everyone to gather at the assembly area. Kids can't go to the classroom. So they are forced to sit there till reading starts at 7.20 a.m. If you walk into a school for the first time and see this programme, you'd be forgiven for being impressed. I mean, how not to. That is until you actually see it in action for a couple of weeks, when you, as a teacher are forced to sit there with the kids. After a few weeks, you will begin to notice that kids actually don't read. They just sit and stare at whatever printed stuff they are holding, under the watchful eyes of the prefects and discipline teachers...

As a teacher, I find it a chore after a few weeks. I mean, before I even get to sit down and work on my lesson, it's time to go down. And I am one who often arrives at school before 7.00 a.m. It is frustrating. These days, I make it a point to sit at the coffee shop before I go to school since the canteen food is rather unpalatable. Why torture myself some more?

When asked why the teachers have to sit there, I was told we need to read with the students, be a reading role model. Lol! After a couple of months, I find myself resenting having to sit there. I find myself telling myself, why even bother to prepare the lessons when the school doesn't see the need for teachers to settle down or prepare their lessons. Lol! Lesson prep is not important. Sitting there and wasting time is... for a show.

And, I asked a few classes what they thought of the Morning Reading Programme. One student even said she felt like an idiot sitting there. Even the younger ones said they do not like sitting there. Who can blame them. In the beginning I thought it was a good idea. But after a few months, I can see that I was wrong to think so. A school is also a place where kids play. These kids' lives are regimented from the time they step into school. So how fun is it to sit there? If I were one of the kids, I'd hate it. Lol!

And it got me thinking about the time it forces the teachers to waste. 10 minutes of sitting there waiting for the kids to finish reading. I am already in no mood to read because my mind will be on the lessons for the day. I get cheesed off because I would probably want to work on my computer or print some worksheets for my students. My printer is up there printing and I'd be thinking, did I leave enough paper in it? Would the paper jam ... that's a real worry cos I used recycled papers whenever possible. Life is a constant hurry, a harried rush down and then up again... so much energy wasted. 20 minutes a day.

A schooling year is an average of 200 days. The school wastes 4000 minutes for me without me having to do it myself. But I am not the only teacher. If there are 60 teachers, that is a whopping 240,000 minutes! And 20 minutes is an understatement. Very often it runs to 30 minutes, when there is a spot-check for hair length (that is another topic to ramble on), for example. So much time wasted. So much goodwill burnt. So much forcing down the throat the need to read... so I guess the students must have a very high level literacy ability. But sadly, it is not so.

So yeah.. READING IS HOW WE INSTALL 'SOFTWARES' INTO OUR HEADS.. but when done for show, those heads in the assembly area will still be empty even after 200 days of 10 minutes-a-morning enforced reading.

Want to see how to kill the love for reading??? I think one can safely make an assumption that such a Morning Reading Session will kill it... many, many times over. Want to really get kids to love reading.. inspire the teachers to do so. We'd achieved more this way.

Hari Guru Hijacked

So, what actually is Hari Guru or Teachers' Day for? Is it a day for students to show appreciation for their teachers or what?

I feel Teachers' Day has been hijacked. Hijacked because it is no longer a day for students to appreciate their teachers.  It is more a day of show, and more show.. a lot of physical activities with expected superficial responses.... perhaps that's also a reflection of what we have all become.

The fanfare may all be there. Teachers seemingly being feted yet there seems to be an emptiness of sorts. This year, it is no different.

A special assembly. Class parties banned. Students reminded to attend school under guarded breath. You wonder why... The usual assembly, followed by the usual oath taking and the teacher song by teachers. I find it strange that students scream (or yelled) at any given opportunity during the 'show'. I don't think so our singing was that awesome. But the screaming goes to show the seeping of a concert going culture. Perhaps these kids are just so bored that they become like that at the slightest opportunity, an opportunity to let it all go, to assert themselves. To scream to claim the space or attention.

This year, though in another school, the celebration to me was just as staid as before. It would be nice if kids were allowed to have their class parties. Somehow it is always nicer to be able to go class to class at your own pace. You get to do real mingling with your students in a more relaxed environment. I always believe that working together for a common cause teaches us to be better people. When we remove the class parties, we remove so much of those unseen lessons. For me the joke becomes this... teachers feting themselves on Teachers' Day. I mean, what sense is there for teachers to organise a day to appreciate them. Are we focusing on self appreciation? It is rather comical.

The best things each year for me are those well thought out little gifts that kids made themselves for me. Homemade cookies, little cards with heartwarming messages and things that they thought out. I think they are the most priceless appreciation a teacher can have, I feel. Instead they congregated everyone in the hall... an institution institutionalising her own because it is way easier to exert control... and put on a show that something is being done... hijacked for convenience.

So, we have this stage show. Teachers sitting down there. Students screaming and yelling as if they were in a concert. So much fanfare, yet one can be forgiven to feel the sterility of it.

I spent a good part of the day fixing a fan with a colleague in the classroom that I am using. Figured might as well used the time to get the fan fixed ourselves so that the students will be more comfortable. The weather has been very unforgiving. Pleas for more fans have fallen on deaf ears because I was told all classroom in Malaysia are hot and stuffy. I can never understand why a school can raise hundreds of thousands of ringgit or embark on an endeavour to build a hall or some other buildings but not embark of projects to make classrooms more comfortable. How can they expect kids to study and even stay focussed if the classrooms are like mini ovens? Is it because things fixed in the classroom cannot be seen cos they are not imposing? We focus on the big things but ignore the small things...

In between fixing and trying to get my exam papers ready, we were 'invited' to go watch the concert. For me who just cannot stand loud noises, watching a concert is a torture to the ears and the mind. My own kids asked me to join them for the Ed Sheeran concert in KL recently... it definitely would have been an experience with more wow than the one this morning but I told them to go have a good time, minus me. Cos I don't like crowds and noise. I even gladly sponsored the tickets for them.

Teachers' Day... it would be nice just to let the teachers have their day. Instead, these days, many schools force teachers to watch, be part of a show that is put up yet minus all the personal touches... Everything planned.. everything organised... but the heart and soul left out. And in the end you are supposed to partake of it and pretend that it is the best thing that could have been done.

This year... despite in a new place... there were 2 cards... 2 different groups of students. One had this phrase... 'never a dull moment in your class'. They mean more than any of those other organised stuff... We no longer teach kids to take the trouble to appreciate those around them. We take things into our hands because we feel we know better. We don't... that is the sad thing. Our education system is run by these people who feel that they know best.....

Oh ya... every year they have this cake cutting ceremony... the irony of it.. Teachers' Day... yet those who stood in front, taking all the photos, doing all the cutting... the admin and the invited guests... all the while.. the teachers standing behind... Teachers' Day Hijacked. Lol!

The essence and the spirit of Teachers' Day are gone, hijacked.. I wonder by who?

One more thing.. they tried to have a special celebration for teachers who had their birthdays from Jan to June. Thing is when you do something like this, make sure you comb through your teachers list. Lol! They left me out... not that I mind cos I would not have budged from my seat for that sort of thing but it goes to show that it might be better just to opt that out...

Anyway, teaching is not so important these days... holding extra classes, winning competitions... those seem far more important than the mundane, routine work of building character... It is easy to see why. One gives instant recognition while the other ... well you might not even feel the fruits. Yet, without the latter, our country would surely face a further decline too...

Ramblings about Hari Guru... hijacked.

Musings about Teaching

Am beginning to lose faith in the system. Thinking perhaps it is time to throw in the towel. People who know me laugh at me when I tell them that, saying that's not me. Lol! I guess they forget that here is a limit called 'survival' and when that is breached it's just survival from then on. We are generally expected to be conforming.. either to a set of values, image for example.

My last few months have been a rollercoaster of sorts because of a teacher bully case who was my colleague. Having believed that such behaviour should not be tolerated by anyone, I foolishly stood up. And even when the signals were there that our value system has changed, I still steadfastly voiced out for action. But still that didn't deter me because I felt kids needed an advocate... for the right reasons. And so, I wasn't too perturbed even by the fact that I was transferred by a system that went against its own for something so serious like a teacher bullying students. I guess too verbal bullying is okay... the message from all those people with pangkat seems to indicate so.

Then recently, an academic cluster of excellence school, suffered a drop in its SPM results. The drop was marked enough for certain quarters to voice displeasure. And suddenly, there was this flurry of teachers being transferred. We suddenly began hearing teachers with good credentials and from the non-bumi race being transferred from their respective schools into the cluster school. Now these were Guru Cemerlang, teachers with C2 in their CPT exams (for English), teachers who were 'acknowledged' as being good by proof of APC.... Their schools are those normal day schools which struggle with less than sterling students. The cluster school meanwhile gets selected students with excellent results in the UPSR.

This is where it gets really interesting. For years, many of us were reminded that all teachers are the same in terms of ability. But this whole incident smacks a peculiarity that defies that perception. Suddenly we have this transfers of non-bumi teachers into a cluster school who over the years have been seen a decline in its non-bumi students as well as teachers. And of course, in the process of the transfers, you have bumi teachers who had to be transferred out to make way for former. And this takes place in March, at a time all schools have set into a routine.... not forgetting to the teachers on transfer who now find their very own lives disrupted to.

Then yesterday, I saw the extra classes list. The weather has been very punishing of late. Temperatures soaring to 38-39 degrees Centigrades in the afternoons, less than desirable conditions of the class because of the lack of fans as well as the design of the school which makes it into a perfect heat trapper, in the pursuit of CGPA, there is this demand for extra class. Now why does the admin of a school demand extra classes without consulting the teachers? And even in some cases where teachers insist that they do not want to hold the classes, they are forced upon them?

Of late, Principals keep reminding the teachers that they need to carry out these Program Peningkatan (read that as forced free tuition to be given by teachers after school hours) because PPD/JPN will demand an explanation from them if the results drop. So holding a Program Peningkatan will be proof that something has been done.

And that's where too I think we miss another point. The Program Peningkatan in most schools, I suspect is not running. Teachers are too tired. Students too. The classrooms are uncomfortable. We are making kids stay back after 7-8 hours of enforced learning in sweltering heat. Holding these extra classes are just not effective without proper rest.

Teaching time during school hours... how much of that is actually happening??? How much of it is wasted? Yet we tax the teachers without realising that it's the heart of the teacher for the students that actually makes the world of difference.

The heart of a teacher, the effort put into moulding a kid and imparting values... those are the important things. Yet what I am seeing, is a system lost in its own labyrinth, one that is of its own making. A system that has been eaten away by its own policies of segregating and compromising.

An illustration. In the teaching of languages for example, a student is supposed to learn a few short stories, poems and novels. So, what is a teacher supposed to do? Teaching novel is always one of the more difficult thing to do. So what I am now being made aware is there are teachers who are clueless how to get students to read those novels. Yet the school admin breathe down hard on them to produce results. So what some teachers do is they give the question to the students before the exam, sometimes complete with the answer. Students sit for the school exams, get good scores, marks look good on the score sheet... teacher gets breathing space.

One would think that the public exam should be able to weed these students out. Yet, as a teacher of almost 3 decades, I am constantly surprised by the number of As and passes that I  seem to be hearing from students who actually do not show those qualities of a Cemerlang student. A student who has trouble writing cohesive sentences now can score A and even A+. And so, we tap ourselves on our shoulders and tell the world how great our students are and how effective our efforts are.

But that all stops when these same students enter the job market. We begin to hear laments from the market about how incompetent or unmovable these now young adults are. This shouldn't be as the students were A scorers in the public exams. Where did we go wrong? Have we compromised so much that we no longer are able to discern what quality actually is? Or are we just proverbial ostriches with our heads in the sand?

And so, in trying to maintain grades, more rote learning, more extra classes... more of everything that produces mechanical thinking and disinterest in knowledge...

We did have a good education system once... in an era without the need of PAK21 models. Those days we had thinking teachers but more importantly, teachers who were dedicated and taught. We didn't need extra class.... and we didn't turn out too badly. There weren't laments from the employers about the quality of graduates... if there were laments, it was from the graduates who lament about the market not being able to provide employment opportunities because of economic downturns......

SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Sijil Berhenti Fiasco

Haih... so there is word going around that I gave my last year's class at school Kelakuan B on purpose and the Attendance was left blank. The thing is I think I forgot to fill in and passed it back to the Form Supervisor... cannot remember whether it was last year or in the chaotic one day of moving stuff out of my  room at school during my surprise and very quick transfer which the Principal claimed my colleague and I had arranged ourselves. In the final analysis, things will always look bad on the small people.

We had to move our stuff very quickly. And the joke was, I passed the keys of the room that I occupied to a colleague after the very whirlwind move. That colleague didn't even have the chance to pass the keys to the office the next day cos they cut the lock to the door. Now, why would they do that? Cos could have just called us for the keys but they chose to cut the lock... Makes you wonder what kind of 'thoughts' they had... cos not like they didn't have my number. But nah... they had to bring out the cutter...  If you apply some PAK skills here.. you'd be wondering why about that juvenile-like reaction.

Then my sudden transfer with my colleague because I bising too much about the teacher bully. The Principal claimed my colleague and I had worked out the transfers without his knowledge with the PPD... how he could claim so when we were given the rudest treatment when we went to see him to ask him why.... (3 minutes which I can replay at will).... that remains a wonderment to me at how smooth he can weave himself in and out with his smooth talking ways. The excuses (and lies) made by him were not necessary. Yet, he did it... sometimes it's best to just leave things be... but nah.. he had to keep justifying himself. Wonder why?

So, then I thought things have somewhat settled down again after all the flaks the past month. Then the SPM Sijil Berhenti issue came up. I am truly sorry that my students had to go through the process of asking for amendments to be made. It was an oversight on my part which I am truly sorry to my students.

But this also highlights the typical failure of the check and balance system put in place. The Form 5 Supervisor was supposed to have noticed that when the forms were in her hands. The PK1 and Principal should have taken note too cos the forms are passed up a chain of command. I remember when I was SU of SPM in another school, my then Principal would check through the certificates herself... that also, after reminding me countless times to check that everything be in order before the certs get to the students hands. (I think I will write more on this)

But what happened here is, I made a mistake. The mistake was missed by the Form 5 Supervisor who collected those forms. Then it was missed by the PK1/Principal who were supposed to oversee this thing. And finally before distribution, the SU SPM did not ensure that the certs were all properly completed. Class teachers were supposed to be the final check. The teacher bully was allowed to give her B grade to the very students she cursed and bullied for 2 whole years! And that kind of action is supposed to be okay? Where is the check and balance? Why do we even have all those 'pangkat' people sitting in their places then?

And so, when I commented about how this check and balance mechanisms failed, apparently some hell broke loose. Taking it as personal criticisms, those teachers went ballistic. Where earlier they had agreed to amend the Sijil Berhenti, it now became a personal thing. A poor student was asked to pass a message to me to delete my comment regarding the matter. I wonder if these teachers understand the responsibilities of the positions they are holding. I made a mistake, to which I readily apologise. But for them not to see that they failed  as the check and balance mechanisms goes to show many things too.

These same teachers stayed on the sidelines when the same kids were bullied and had to go through all sorts of unthinkable things the teacher bully did. Many kept their silence because they felt it was none of their business. But a perceived criticism of them failing to see to the students' well-being was enough to unleash this perceived injustice on themselves, and what a show it was... ranting and venting it out on a student. And they readily agreed that these students who had no justice served to them in the teacher bully case had to be punished with another whammy. The other class who got all B happened to be my class. Where is the check and balance people who were supposed to watch out for the kids?

The same kids are victimised yet again. By the school this time.

So one day in the future such bullying behaviour is a norm and their own children become victims, it would be interesting to watch their responses. I hope they continue to stand by the sidelines. Yet some will say that their children were bullied by that teacher too... But as parents and teachers, they did not make a concerted effort to stop that bully. And she got worse. To make matters worse, when the issue of race is brought in, everything becomes even more muddled. As teachers, we must always be colour blind. Yet in such matters, even teachers get muted or blinded by race. What kind role models are we? How do we answer to the God we purportedly pray to everyday?

Hence too, it makes sense why so many Chinese kids I see are rather subdued in school... compliance is often by force or pain, or just by plain acceptance.

The reason for this post is simple... apparently students went to see the Principal regarding the matter and he retorted they deserved the B grade for Kelakuan. He is rather annoyed that some students like my posts, I supposed. We talk about developing character for the 21st century. How can we when students are taught that a wrong can be condoned? In a school.... where teachers are supposed to role model them, we role model them this way.... values be damned.

Anyway, back to my 2018 Form 5 class. In my class there is a very special student whom I always reminded my students to watch out for. For 2 years I always reminded his classmates to encourage him, and watch out for him. I would not intentionally give him a B because he is a good kid who has come a long, long way. I spent many hours thinking about him... And the school has no compassion nor the concern about such kids... in this school you are only valued if you have something to contribute. If you are ordinary or below ordinary, you are sidestepped. Everyone is just a statistic unless you are a privileged one. Lately, I am hearing that a lot... "if you are privileged."

Oh ya! One thing about this class of mine... it happens to be one of the 'back' classes. I am sure if it had been the first class, the Kelakuan thingy would have been avoided. They would have moved mountains to change it. The thing is, this supposedly last class that I was class teacher of... their results are rather outstanding this time around.... these are mostly kids I will 'label' as comeback kids.... for which I am very proud to have been part of their journey. These are kids who have learned to cross the racial boundaries, learned to watch out for each other despite many differences... many are beginning to believe in themselves in remarkable ways....

So, this Sijil thingy... I make no excuses for my oversight... but my mistake is also a reminder how the system in this school fails to take care of the kids. It seems like it is more about the teachers than the kids. Kids get bullied, they try to seek a solution and help from the Principal. Yet the same kids get bullied by the teachers via this way. Sympathy??? Nah!

The irony now is this is now the school wielding its power. You see, if I had been mean in giving those kids a 'B' for their Kelakuan, then the school should protect them from me. Instead, they weaponise this by trying to get the kids to feel that I am this mean teacher. Plus they ranted and raved to a student. Is that professional? Where is the logic? Where is their decency? It feels like the oldest game being played out here... us vs them. And I have no interest in it actually. I apologise (to the kids) because it was my mistake. I could have been so tired or blur that I put in a Baik mistaking it as the best... but for whatever reason also, the many layers of check and balance in the system should have caught my mistake and rectified it. Unless there is no interest in the students best interest at work here. It is a no wonder the teacher bully got away... as long as you are one of them, toe their line... they will protect you... want to curse a kid to hell also okay. I wonder who the juvenile is here...

Oh ya! In frustration, I messaged an upright Board Member and told him how this can happen. But preach whatever too... in the end, other things will be more important.

Each time, I thought this school can be pushed to the background, surely something must come around to tickle me into some action...

SMJK Keat Hwa 1
... as long lives this and this gives life to thee... Shakespeare's sonnet 18.

I guess this will remain the most memorable school in my career.

For a complete picture of the incident:

SMJK Keat Hwa I: Beyond the Facade of Pride 2

SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Kisah Seorang Guru Pembuli

SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Beyond the Facade of Pride 1

SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Teacher, Is It Worth It?

   It is the time of the year when results are out or are coming out. This is usually a busy time for me as students will come for chats to explore options. Over the years, this time of the year would be the time when there would be quite a few such impromptu sessions. 

This year, it is different. We to had meet for yumcha sessions instead. Boy! It’s a challenge trying to keep up with the young who feel that 12 midnight is still young like them. Been a long time I even stay out of the house past midnight. Lol!

Anyway, in one of the conversations, a former student asked if it was worth it, 'chasing' the teacher bully and getting transferred out from the school. I told her that I was anticipating it because the Principal didn’t seem to want to do anything about it and I had applied pressure that would make him retaliate. In fact, I had told a teacher in late October that the Principal would do that. At that time, the teacher said that would not happen. Turned out my gut feeling was right. It's not about whether it was worth it. At that time, to those students, it meant something for their voices to be heard.

     Then she asked why I did it. This was because she said many of the students I stood up for didn’t appreciate what I did. I told her, how could I expect any of them to appreciate what I did. Anyway, I wasn’t expecting any. They were teenagers and for 2 years, they had been on the receiving end of verbal curses and intimidation. I told her, if a teacher comes into a class and berates, curses or scolds a student, wouldn’t the rest of the class just sit out quietly, and in their heart, hoping that she will continue with that one particular student and not zoom in on them? 

     Survival instincts would kick in and everyone will just hope that it would not be them who get the showers of verbal assaults. In such kinds of classes too there would also be less cooperation and trust among each other. It will be each person for his own because when ‘attacks’ come, you need to survive.

     It wasn’t the teacher I had issues with. It was her behaviour. Actions and behaviour which were unbecoming of a teacher. And so, there I listed those behaviours as put forward by the students to the Principal in their meeting on the morning of 31/10/18. You find them in 3 sessions of meeting. They are taken from 3 sessions of recordings. 

1. Teacher making the class monitor complete and mark her attendance monthly/daily. Even after being admonished by the Principal, she continued to do it by asking another student to do it because she was angry at the class monitor for going against her. 
2. Using her position as a class teacher to intimidate the students. There have been incidents of previous batches who had their Kelakuan in their Sijil Berhenti bad because she didn’t like them. 
3. There was a case of missing funds (PIBG and magazine) which a student’s parents complained to the school. When the parent insisted that the money be returned, the student became a victim. He failed his BM consecutively during F5 until the trial exam, where he got an exact pass for the paper.
4. The same student had his BM Lisan SPM given a score of below 10 marks. When the external examiner came and pulled his name out for a moderation exercise, he used the same material and the marks given were significantly higher.
5. The students were worried for their siblings in the lower forms because they were worried that this teacher would take it out on them. An example was given where during a PT3 Lisan exam, for no reason, when a candidate entered the room, he was asked whether he was ‘so-and-so’s’ brother. Students talked about their older siblings’ experiences, all of which pointed towards a verbally abusive teacher. 
6. Students talked about the teacher being on her mobile phone during lessons most of the time and not teaching. Apparently she would be scrolling on the phone. 
7. She would also punish them by making them sit outside the class for 1-2 weeks for not completing just one question of a 50 or 100 questions exercise. Those students would sit out of the ‘class lessons’ for that duration of time.

     Now, these were the list of complaints put forward by those students. I asked the student if she would be okay with such kind of behaviour from a teacher. Silence ensued... 

The point is, many seem to think that I went overboard by pushing for a solution from the Principal. She said some students said they joined in the ‘fight’, and was looking for drama. I told her I knew that. You have victims, bystanders and what have you not in any scenario. 

This was a straightforward issue. It was regarding an abusive and unprofessional behaviour of a teacher. How do we condone and tolerate such behaviour? Worse still, apparently too, she had always been like that, for more than a decade in SMJK KH1. Did she become meaner over the years?

A final point... the human mind is myriad of complex mix of emotions and logic. Many said that they learned to deal with her by shutting their ears and minds while she ranted and cursed. That's logic at work. But how many of us ever paused to thank our lucky stars that no one had actually snapped emotionally and mentally because of her abusive behaviour? That is where emotion might have taken over and caused permanent loss? So, what if one day, one kid... perhaps on an emo-roller-coaster…. is in class and the teacher curses her... and something snaps? 

A Form 5 boy from that batch was killed while riding on his motorcycle one night early this year. What if he had been one of those boys who had been cursed? One of her regular curses was “Aku sumpah kamu mati dilanggar lori.” Such curses... they do not belong in the classrooms, what more coming from a teacher. In BM, we can sometimes be melodramatic and use phrases like “Kita yang bergelar Pendidik.” So what if kita yang bergelar Pendidik ini menyumpah anak muridnya mati dilanggar lori.... and it did indeed happen?

So, is it worth it??? I told her I am actually past caring about the transfer. What I may still care about is the shame that I feel because it was allowed to continue... that my former colleagues were divided along racial lines and could not stand as one to stamp out a bad behaviour. The curses of this bully teacher should be on their children too…

What right do we teachers have ... to strut around, some with the canes or heads held high up and say... “Saya cikgu, you kena dengar cakap saya?” We lost our credibility the day we made excuses for all the things listed above….. Kids are sent to us to be shaped and moulded.. but we let them loose as damaged products. 

For a complete picture of the incident:
SMJK Keat Hwa I: Beyond the Facade of Pride 2
SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Kisah Seorang Guru Pembuli
SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Beyond the Facade of Pride 1

Teacher Stories..

I think my teachers were a special breed. They were the know-all people. And we were lucky we had them to inspire us. ACS Sitiawan in those days was the school to be in. Small kampung but we'd produce not just jaguh kampung but world beaters, back in those years, when Michael Jackson's moonwalk used to be one of the crazes. 

I remember Mrs. Tan Kam Thiam, the formidable Add Maths teacher. There is no Add Math question that she could not solve. Try as we did, we never did succeed in finding a question she could not do. It was only much later she told us, there is probably no question that she had not done before. You see, she'd go through any reference books that she could get her hands on and do them all. We never stood the chance of finding one she cannot do. She had done them all.

Then there was the legendary Mrs. P. She has a name but she will always be Mrs. P to us. And when we see her, we still call her that. Last year, she gifted us an avocado tree. It's still in my garden. She was not only the Discipline Mistress but a darn good Biology teacher. She is way into her 70s and she is still writing Bio books. There used to be nothing that she didn’t seem to know. Many were in awe of her. We still are. Garang as she was, many of us, taught or not taught by her would often still enjoy moments of conversations with her. 

There was also Mrs. Wong Tai Meng, my Perdagangan cum English teacher. Small and petite, many of us would look for opportunities to talk to her. I remember cycling on the road, rushing to get back for school, hoping to catch a glimpse of her on her way to school. Never mind that her glasses were really thick. We loved her for some strange reason. But she was an interesting Perdagangan and English teacher.

Mrs. Quay Beng Tiong... and her famous pembetulan. She was strict and firm, no nonsense. Her BM was always correct. I learned to use the language from her. Everyone of us respected her, for the teacher she was. One word - tabik.

I don’t think I can recall any teacher being bad... except maybe for a primary school teacher. This was how I remembered my teachers and this is how we still talk about them even as we enter into our half a century mark. 

Fast forward to the present day. I am still in school but the stories are vastly different now. These are not my stories but the stories of my students...

I used to keep an eye on my friend’s son in school. So, whenever I saw him at the canteen during lesson time, I would ask him why. He and his friend would sheepishly sometimes smile, and with their fingers pointing to the canteen where the teachers sit....”Our teacher is still inside there, eating.” I would later find out that the teacher,  would often be late to class one period cos he would be eating in the canteen. Class time....

Then, there was this "bag/present' teacher. Every year her students must buy her presents. Very often she will ask for bags. There are other presents I supposed. but I am not too sure. Anyway, she dictates and decides the bags that the students buy for her. She calls those gifts, the symbol of their appreciation. Do not know why ladies and their bag penchants. But then again, we have Rosmah and her famous Bijan bag.

Another teacher goes into class. Hardly teaches but many says she used to be a good teacher. Maybe she got lazy or something but in later years, due to competition, her tuition classes dwindled somewhat. So, what she did was to fail and give low scores to the students. In a school where marks seem to mean a world to the students, many buckled and ended up in her tuitions. Not bad eh.. get paid to intimidate students to earn more. Oh ya... when it didn't suit her, students got cursed to die... again and again, the menacing woman she is. Wonder why she did that...

There’s this teacher who runs a tuition centre. To increase flow into the centre, there are certain seasons primed for strikes. These days PT3 exams are school based. Say what they want about it being secured, questions often find their way into the open. Very often, these teachers who run tuition centres, they are the ones who will weave their ways into convenient access of exam papers.  A few intensive classes, a couple of thousand bucks richer... Lucrative...

Another teacher would often feign forgetfulness in entering classes. Or if he entered at all, he would leave shortly. Sometimes students would try to go find him and locate him in the Staff Room, laughing rambunctiously. And when they say, “Sir, your lesson still on.” His response was classic... look at the time and say, “You all go back to class first.” And he would still go MIA.

Yet another, when asked a question, the student tak paham, so asked again. The teacher uses the same method to explain. 5 kali you ask, 5 kali you get the same explanation. Budak dah tak paham.. teacher seemed like lagi tak paham cos he is on a one way track only. These are the 'limited-edition-imagination' teachers. How to encourage creativity if teacher sendiri does not exhibit creativity.

Then there are those, who when asked a difficult question, usually it will be Math, the teacher will say, "Kita letak tanda bunga (or bintang) and we will come back to it." Next lesson, student asked the teacher about the bunga question. Teacher will say, “Oh, saya tak tanya kawan lagi.” It is repeated - oldest trick in the book. Soon students forget and that’s it. Bunga remains with the question, layu with the question dan dibuang terus dari kelas. So easy hor, to be a teacher. Dunno how to do, never mind wan. Just senyum-senyum more and be super duper nice to students, beres semua.

Now for a student to get one teacher like that in a year is bad enough. But if you get 2-3, you are skewed big time. Where once tuitions used to be remedial now it replaces the actual classes. So why even go waste time in school?

In Malaysia, many of us like to talk halal and haram. But if we go by these stories, it would be ambil gaji which is actually tak halal. Then as if that is not enough, we sugar coat our kaki busuk by being extra nice to the the students. We cover our shortcomings by being nice. And students who don't know any better, termakan habis-habis. We make them forget why they go to school. But these days, apparently everything can be made kosher (or halal)... just the intention baik can d... (our political leaders say so)

So, what plagues our schools? Well, the answer is all in the school. In religious schools, you will get teachers who will go into excessive physical punishments. In national and (now) national-type schools, you see an erosion of dedication and commitment of what it entails to be a teacher. A country built on 100% sound moral values would most probably be impossible. But that should not be an excuse not to try to build that little utopia in this broken world. The thing is... our very fallen nature will always make us do the opposite. 

So, how many of the above can you relate to? 

By the way, if you are student reading this. You should know your rights as a student. Never short change yourself by allowing your teachers to get away with not teaching y'all. Hold them accountable as teachers. 

If you are teacher reading this. Ask yourself why you became a teacher. If you are in for the extra money from tuition or just for the easy life, then ask yourself if you would like the same to be given to your own children or grandchildren. 

SMJK Keat Hwa: Memories of Paid Concerts On School Day Relived

Just saw a promo about a concert in SMJK Keat Hwa 1. Tomorrow the school is having a paid concert during school hours. Can schools do that? Not everyone can pay the RM12 or RM18 tickets leh. Thought schools are supposed to be a place where everyone is supposed to get treated same. But they are having a paid concert.

So how can we have so many strata in the school student population for tomorrow... RM12 paying students, RM18 VIP paying students, students who didn’t buy the tickets stay in class while the ones who can pay get to sit in the multi-million air conditioned hall??? Or will those students who are not paying for the concert be given the opportunity to watch the basketball tournament which is on now.

There was a  Hari Ko-Kurikulum earlier this year but not all students were allowed to participate in it.  Only the AJK members were allowed to be in the Hari Kokurikulum. The rest of the students had to stay in the class cos lessons were supposed to run as usual. That is rather strange, it being a Hari Kokurilum.

Seriously, can we consider this an exploitation? Cos if you were to have this as a CNY celebration, shouldn’t it be free? Later in April or May, when they have the Hari Anugerah Cemerlang (HAC), the prize winners will get the watch another concert free. Then after the HAC, in previous years another paying concert is carried out during school hours. Tickets are sold to students to get back the money spent to prepare for the HAC. Winners get to watch free... the non prize winners HAD TO PAY.... go figure. Prize winners are already feted to adulation and praises while the common masses (read that as the ordinary students with non stellar performance) will need to pay to watch the same concert, and that will be during school hours too.

Btw, never did agree with this kind of thing cos there is supposed to be a level playing ground in schools... since I am out.. and I just saw the promo, just remembered this practice in this school.

If the purpose of tomorrow’s concert is t celebrate CNY, make it free for all... don’t take advantage or dangle ticket sales by offering students the chance to get out of class. Then when results come out and if it merosot, the admin will say macam-macam about the need for extra classes la....

Paid concert on a school day.... kids will happily be exploited. 😂😂 Dunno whether adults smart or kids dumb...

SMJK Keat Hwa 1 Beyond the Facade of Pride 2

This post is based on the article, SMJK Keat Hwa: Beyond the Facade of Pride  and SMJK Keat Hwa: Kisah Guru Pembuli which I wrote a while back. After being a whistleblower about a teacher who verbally abused and used her position to intimidate students, I found myself in a spot because kids started telling me about what the teacher had done. What was I to do? Should I just brush it aside and keep quiet about it like most of the teachers had been doing?

The shocking thing was the teacher had been in the school for about 18 years, way longer than me and I do not know how long she actually has been like this. But based on hearsay, former students 27-28 years old said she was a mean teacher. If that is to be believed, then she has been at it for more than 10 years, and getting meaner.

The following is a timeline of the sequence of events which took place. Information is taken from audio recordings of meetings, incidents and telephone conversations. So, here goes... this will be a dual language post. This is kinda like a PAK21 approach in dissecting the whole incident in a timeline for analysis.

The objective of this timeline is to explore how the Principal seemed to renegade on his words and decisions over and over again.

The acronym for the teacher will be CT for class teacher, the teacher who allegedly was bullying, intimidating, etc the kids.

Tarikh	Insiden	Komen
24/10/18	Pelajar meminta pembetulan markah untuk Ujian Bulan Mac dalam Slip Keputusan kerana terdapat kesilapan. Guru Kelas (CT) meminta pelajar berjumpa Penyelia Tingkatan 5.	Pelajar cuba mencari Penyelia Tingkatan 5 tersebut 2 kali tetapi gagal.
25/10/18	Pelajar memaklumkan kepada CT kegagalannya mencari guru tersebut dan telah dimarahi 'bossy', 'sombong'. PK1 dimaklumkan tentang insiden ini kerana cara dia memarahi pelajar tersebut tidak wajar.	Pelajar-pelajar lain mula menceritakan pelbagai tingkah laku lain CT seperti menyumpah, menyindir perawakan pelajar, intimidasi, bertindak keterlaluan dalam menghukum pelajar untuk kerja rumah yang tidak disiapkan.
28/10/18	CT menghantar mesej WeChat kepada Ketua Kelas (KK) menyuruh pelajar tersebut berjumpanya. Satu mesej berunsur ugutan juga dihantar. Pelajar tadi berasa amat gelisah dan ketakutan. Saya telah berjumpa dengan Pengetua berkenaan mesej berkenaan.	PK1 juga berada di Pejabat semasa saya berjumpa dengan Pengetua. Saya telah memaklumkan kepada Pengetua, seseorang guru tidak seharusnya menghantar mesej berbentuk demikian. Apatah lagi, perkara yang mencetuskan ini berlaku kerana CT sendiri yang tidak konsisten dalam pengendalian kertas ujian/peperiksaan.
30/10/18	Waktu pagi di kantin, saya telah berjumpa dengan PK1 di kantin. Di situ, guru lain telah bercakap panjang lebar tentang sikap pembengis CT dalam kelas. Pada waktu rehat, Ketua Kelas memaklumkan kepada CT pelajar tersebut tidak mahu membuat pembetulan markah lagi. CT telah meluru naik ke kelas dan memarahi pelajar itu sekali lagi. Kemudian, CT telah memarahi Ketua Kelas (KK) kerana menurutnya, KK telah menyusahkannya dengan meletakkan mesej 'ugutan' tersebut dalam WeChat kelas.	Waktu CT meluru naik ke kelas adalah sejurus selepas rehat. Waktu tersebut merupakan waktu guru lain.
31/10/18	7.10 pagi, waris pelajar menelefon Pengetua kerana pelajar (anaknya) telah menunjukkan tekanan emosi di rumah. Waris bertanya apakah tindakan seterusnya. Pengetua mengatakan beliau sedang menunggu arahan dari PPD. Pengetua meminta waris berjumpa dengannya. 7.15 pg, Pengetua masuk ke kelas dan telah bertanya kepada beberapa orang pelajar yang ada dalam kelas pada masa itu samada mereka ada apa-apa aduan tentang CT. Dalam keadaan tergesa-gesa, beliau telah meminta seorang pelajar menjadi saksi tiada aduan. Dalam situasi itu, seorang pelajar telah bangun dan mengadakan dia ada aduan. 7.20 pg, pelajar-pelajar diminta turun ke Pejabat. Barisan pentadbir lain juga telah diminta ke Pejabat. Pelajar-pelajar telah menceritakan apa yang telah dilakukan oleh CT sepanjang 2 tahun menjadi guru kelas dan sabjek mereka. 8.00 pg, perjumpaan di antara waris, Pengetua dan Barisan Pentadbir. Waris telah mengingatkan sekolah, buli secara lisan juga boleh membawa kesan yang amat negatif. Sekolah seharusnya merupakan tempat yang selamat. Waris bertanya apakah tindakan yang akan diambil. 10.40 pg, KK dan penolongnya masuk ke bilik saya. Kedua-duanya kelihatan tertekan. Mereka memaklumkan CT berada dalam kelas. Saya bertanya kepada mereka samada CT memarahi mereka. Jawapan mereka adalah ya. 10.50 -11.40 pg Kelas menjadi amat emosi. Pelajar-pelajar marah dan kebingungan kerana jaminan telah diberi oleh Pengetua dalam perjumpaan pagi. Ada pelajar-pelajar yang marah sehingga nak mencabar Pengetua. Pelajar telah mengulang semula apa yang dikatakan pagi tadi. Semasa Pengetua masuk, seorang pelajar sedang menulis dalam Buku Rekod Kehadiran dan Pengetua telah melihat perkara tersebut.                                                                12.30 tgh, Pelajar-pelajar telah meminta perjumpaan dengan CT setelah keadaan lebih terkawal. Namun sesi perjumpaan dengan CT berakhir dengan pelajar-pelajar berasa tidak puas hati dan terkilan. Dalam sesi ini, pelajar-pelajar telah berterus-terang kepada CT tindak-tanduknya yang telah menyebabkan mereka rasa terluka di hati. Pelajar-pelajar juga memohon maaf dengan harapan CT juga akan berbuat demikian. Namun CT berkata dia tidak bersedia untuk berbuat demikian.	Waris juga telah bertanya samada Pengetua telah berjumpa dengan pelajar-pelajar untuk mendapat gambaran yang sebenarnya. Pelajar-pelajar lain telah berlari ke kantin memanggil rakan-rakan mereka untuk ke Pejabat Pengetua. Pengetua telah memberi jaminan pelajar-pelajar tidak perlu bimbang dan tindakan akan diambil. Persetujuan telah dibuat di depan waris CT tidak perlu lagi memasuki kelas memandangkan tinggal sehari lagi sahaja Cuti Belajar SPM akan bermula. Untuk hari itu, pelajar-pelajar akan ke Bilik Kaunseling untuk sesi kaunseling dengan Kaunselor sekolah semasa waktu CT. Saya telah mengikut mereka ke kelas. CT berada dalam kelas. Saya tidak memasuki kelas, cuma berdiri di luar sahaja. Keadaan agak tegang bila CT melihat saya. Seorang Guru Kanan lalu dan saya memintanya untuk memerhatikan keadaan sementara saya turun ke Pejabat mencari Pengetua. Orang yang pertama saya temui di Pejabat ialah PK HEM dan beliau terkejut bila diberitahu pelajar diminta berada dalam kelas. Pengetua telah mengarahkan pelajar yang berada di Bilik Kaunseling untuk kembali ke kelas mereka. Kaunselor telah menelefon Pengetua meminta penjelasan dan kaunselor diberitahu ia sememangnya arahannya.
3/11/18	Waris telah menelefon ke PPD tentang kes tersebut. Namun dari rekod panggilan telefon tersebut, didapati pihak PPD seperti tidak ketahuan. Pegawai telah meminta sedikit masa untuk mendapat kepastian.	Urusan dengan pihak PPD menunjukkan cara walaupun skop tugas pegawai dinyatakan, namun cara operasi adalah amat kucar-kacir sekali.
4/11/18	Saya ditemani oleh seorang rakan dan 2 waris telah ke PPD dengan surat aduan. Kami juga menjelaskan kepada kedua pegawai di PPD kejadian yang telah berlaku. Kami diberi jaminan PPD akan membuat siasatan.	Pegawai PPD cuma berjumpa dengan CT. Mereka langsung tidak berjumpa dengan pelajar. Bagaimanakah keadilan akan dilaksanakan jika siasatan cuma di satu pihak sahaja?
27/12/18	Mesyuarat Guru telah diadakan dan kami langsung tidak tahu kami bakal ditukarkan. CT tidak hadir dalam mesyuarat tersebut kerana dikhabarkan sedang bercuti di Turki.	Persoalan di sini, bolehkan guru-guru mengambil cuti pada hal tarikh mesyuarat guru telah ditetapkan awal-awal lagi?
30/12/18	Panggilan telefon dari Pejabat Sekolah meminta kami mengambil Surat Penempatan Semula. Saya telah memaklumkan kerani saya akan mengambil surat kemudian kerana ingin membuat aduan ke KPM. Kerani itu kemudian telah berkata saya sendiri yang mencari pasal kerana kes CT marah adalah perkara yang amat kecil sahaja. Saya cuba menerangkan ia bukan perkara kecil kerana melibatkan seorang guru menyumpah pelajar untuk mati, bukan sekali tetapi hampir setiap minggu. Dia tidak percaya CT menyumpah budak.	Apakah yang menyebabkan kerani memberi reaksi sedemikian pada hal saya jarang berinteraksi dengannya kecuali untuk urusan rasmi sahaja?
31/12/18	Saya telah ke JPN dan kami berjumpa dengan Pengarah. Kes kami diserahkan kepada seorang pegawai. Semua bahan telah saya serahkan kepada pegawai tersebut. Sudah lebih dari sebulan, setiap kali saya mesej pegawai tersebut, beliau tidak menjawab. Dari perbualan juga, nampak seperti pihak PPD dan JPN 'segan' bertindak kerana SMJK Keat Hwa adalah sebuah sekolah conforming.	Konklusinya, seorang guru adalah bebas untuk bertindak sesuka hatinya asalkan tidak melakukan kecederaan fizikal dan mengikut apa jua arahan dari pihak atasan. Dari peringkat sekolah ke PPD sampailah ke JPN, tindakan guru menyumpah adalah sesuatu yang remeh. Guru yang melapor ditukarkan sebagai pertukaran untuk guru yang membuli untuk bertukar. Sesuatu lagi, CT telah mesej dalam WhatsApp Sekolah dan juga WhatApp Panitia BM mengatakan dirinya telah dianiayai oleh saya. Dia telah menyebarkan mesej dalam group WhatsApp Geng Keat Hwa saya telah bercakap bohong mengatakan dia menyuruh budak mengisi Buku Rekod Kedatangan. Sebenarnya amat menghairankan tuduhannya kerana pelajar-pelajar sendiri yang menceritakan kepada Pengetua perkara ini. Satu lagi, semasa Pengetua masuk ke kelas dalam insiden 31/10/18, seorang pelajarnya sedang menulis dalam Buku Rekod Kedatangan. CT telah melenting mungkin kerana telah dinasihati oleh Pengetua, namun dia seolah-olah tidak boleh menerima teguran dan telah menggunakan platform WhatsApp Geng Keat Hwa untuk menyebar pelbagai versinya sendiri dan juga mendapat sokongan dari rakan gurunya yang lain.

Timelining... that's something that I picked up from teaching history. I found that when we are able to put things in their places in a timeline, we will be able to infer and make many conclusions, and see the bigger picture. Most of the time, when we look at events/incidents in isolation and only have hearsay(s) as our source, things become muddled up. Doubt and falsehood creep in. In this case, there are audio recordings and screenshots of messages to fall back on for more details.

There are many inferences that can be made from the timeline. There are many questions which can be asked. One of them is the inconsistencies in the Principal's way of dealing with things and the words he say. For example, the parent calling him on 31/10/18 to ask him what the school was going to do. There is a recording of the conversation and it is interesting to note that he said that he had informed the PPD and was awaiting them to instruct him what do. So what does a Principal actually do at school?

Also, when the parent called the PPD on 3/11/18, the records seem to show that the PPD seemed to be in the dark. A call later, the certainty of the PPD in the know seemed still not to be there.

In the subsequent meeting between the parent and Principal (and admin), a decision was reached that the students need not see the teachers again. Again the Principal renegaded on his words and sent the students back to their class. The incident after that was one which would have been avoided had he just kept to the decision made.

So many decisions were made, and so many promises made too... all broken by the same man who made them. It seems that he will change his mind like the wind. Whoever is doing the blowing, he will oblige.

The lie that makes a man shapes the institution that he leads. And that institution is SMJK Keat Hwa 1, shaped after the image of this Principal. Words are but like clanging cymbals in this institution. Autocracy, patronage, favouritism, fear, racism..... are schools now the breeding grounds of these? If so, then we will be going the way of Zimbabwe, Venezuela.... and by then, most of us will not be spared....