Guru O Guru

happy teacher's day to teachers everywhere! especially to teacher syimee who left the high-paying rat race, workstation and desk job to devote herself to the joy of teaching, instead of someone who resorted to teaching just because it's the last thing that they could do. this is a person who chooses to be a teacher because she can, not because she had to.

and doing a very good job at it too! also, most importantly, she's enjoying it. i'm so proud of you teacher syimee!

teacher syimee surrounded by her students in flower costume

to my primary class-teacher puan zamrudah who believed that i could be more, to puan cheah who taught english and english literature, my fav subjects in school (duuh!), to puan hasnah for her sincere care for her students and mr. ooi for his warmth, puan chan for her loveliness that makes lab sessions a little less boring, to mr. cheang for his coolness in showing how easy maths should be.

teacher's day is not complete without this moving poem by the great usman awang. dedicated to yong, my teachers at methodist girls' school, ipoh, mr. khairul's teachers at penang free and the malay college, lecturers at uia and uni melb.

to my just10 pals cikgu syuhada, cikgu elmy, lecturers madam niraku; my buddies madam put, madam aisha, mr. abby ashraf and my uncle rosli, also teacher aida in winchester school, dubai not forgetting aunties jo, jennifer, dora, haida and mohana - just to name a few! selamat hari guru, semua!

Guru o Guru
Usman Awang

BERBURU ke padang datar
Dapat rusa belang kaki
Berguru kepala ajar
Ibarat bunga kembang tak jadi

Dialah pemberi paling setia
Tiap akar ilmu miliknya
Pelita dan lampu segala
Untuk manusia sebelum manjadi dewasa.

Dialah ibu dialah bapa juga sahabat
Alur kesetiaan mengalirkan nasihat
Pemimpin yang ditauliahkan segala umat
Seribu tahun katanya menjadi hikmat.

Jika hari ini seorang Perdana Menteri berkuasa
Jika hari ini seorang Raja menaiki takhta
Jika hari ini seorang Presiden sebuah negara
Jika hari ini seorang ulama yang mulia
Jika hari ini seorang peguam menang bicara
Jika hari ini seorang penulis terkemuka
Jika hari ini siapa saja menjadi dewasa;
Sejarahnya dimulakan oleh seorang guru biasa
Dengan lembut sabarnya mengajar tulis-baca.

Di mana-mana dia berdiri di muka muridnya
Di sebuah sekolah mewah di Ibu Kota
Di bangunan tua sekolah Hulu Terengganu
Dia adalah guru mewakili seribu buku;
Semakin terpencil duduknya di ceruk desa
Semakin bererti tugasnya kepada negara.

Jadilah apa pun pada akhir kehidupanmu, guruku
Budi yang diapungkan di dulang ilmu
Panggilan keramat "cikgu" kekal terpahat
Menjadi kenangan ke akhir hayat

* * *

i've taught really big dudes. and really small dudes. boys who are becoming men, and boys who still acts like babies. so to those who says that teaching teenagers are more pain-staking than teaching children or vice versa - they are very wrong.

teaching is like custom-made for the people we're helping to educate. be it 25 or 5, each comes with their own idiosyncracies, challenges and brand of amusement. rebellious teens or kids with temper-tantrums. older kids who confide in you about their problems or little children who tells you about their weekend at the zoo. students who make you proud by finally getting the A they had wanted, or students who make you beam when they can finally write an 'A' without help.

there's no way i could squeeze the amount of memorable anecdotes i have teaching teens and children alike in this posting - from cuddling teen couples at the back of a lecture hall to a boy who fell asleep as i taught him to read! from coaching the student-emcees for a convocation night to guiding the children to pronounce their elocution properly. priceless memories!

but i have pictures!

with my students on their convocation day. can you spot me?

with my students on our trip to pangkor - yes, that's me in the orange t-shirt!

i really miss teaching. being in a class with young minds waiting to be filled with knowledge and experiences. i love the preparation. the lesson planning, thinking of the most creative ways to run the class. the reporting. (ok, not so much the reporting hihi) the post-mortem. the works!

ms e, please save a space for me coz i still want to teach when i come back!