MIND MODULE

The results were out and the principal was not happy. The matter was brought up in the following meeting. I was all ready for it and as expected, she pointed the finger at me. Imagine the humiliation she put me through when she ordered me to seek help from other teachers.  I must admit that she had  succeeded in making me appear  foolish in front of all my colleagues. Throughout the  meeting that seemed like forever, I saw myself as nothing more than a loser.  A Colossal  Failure.

Even though she put me to shame that day, I was not at all defeated. Instead,  I was determined to gain back my dignity. “ It is not the end of the world,” I told myself, “This is just the beginning.”  What did I do next ? Well, I did not consult nor seek advice from anyone but came up with my very own strategy. It was called the “ Mind Module ”.

 “ Mind Module ” was a learning module prepared by the students themselves. Materials for the module were obtained from “ Minda Pelajar ”, a weekly pull out in the New Straits Times issued every Tuesday for lower secondary students that  year .  The English section covered every language aspects as well as the literature components for Form 1, 2 and 3. What the students did was just  to cut and paste every single item in one special book which had been divided into 5 parts; grammar, reading comprehension, writing, literature components and model answers. All notes and exercises were pasted accordingly in the book or the self- made module.

The students did the exercises at home and how they made use of the module was left for them to decide; either individually or in a group discussion. I was actually providing them with an independent practice by adopting this strategy. The answers  given a week  after every topic was introduced also helped these students to self-monitor their performance in learning the target language. The students worked on this for weeks and stopped only a week before their examination.

The results were out two months later. When I walked into the office that morning, I was greeted loudly by one of the senior teachers, “ Congratulations Cikgu!! Your subject is among the best!” With hands shaking,  I went through the long list.  Check it out! That year nearly 70 students  scored  A for my paper!  It was far better  than the year before. Not bad for a rural school ! Not bad at all !  To add to my joy, most of them were my Mind Module students!!

So, it was a happy, sweet and bitter ending for me.  Bitter ? Yea, bitter because the principal was not at all stirred by the results ;  what more to apologise.  Bitter as it was, I forgave her anyway. It did not matter to me anymore as I had gained back what I had lost before. My Dignity.

( p.s. Thank you NST 2006 )

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

 I was with Abang and Ecah waiting for our turn to be with my late father ; who was then hospitalized after suffering a stroke;  when a voice talking over the phone in Arabic caught my ears. I turned around expecting to see an Arab man. To my surprise, the one talking was a Malay guy! “ How wonderful, “ I said to myself, “ A Malay guy speaking  fluent Arabic!  This is  awesome!” . I continued to listen  even though I could not understand a word. Later, I went home and totally forgot about “ the Malay guy who speaks fluent Arabic.”

            That night, I came back to stay with Abah since Mom needed some rests. What do you know! To my surprise, I saw the guy again. What a coincidence! His father also suffered a stroke and was placed a bed away from my father. Later, I learned that he was an Ustaz and in the midst of completing his PHD studies overseas. This time around, I was able to get to know him ; from far. He was always at his father's  side, day and night. Sometimes, when he was not nursing his father, he would recite the Holy Quran to him.  There were also times when I saw him sitting there, merely looking at his father.  Whatever his thoughts were, I was sure they were about seeing his father back on his feet again; the same prayers I had for Abah.

            Finally, came the day when his father was discharged from the hospital and that was the last we heard of him.

Abah was also discharged a few days later. Sadly,  Abah passed away peacefully two months later on 28 December 2011. It had never crossed my mind that 2011 would be the last year I got to wish abah “Happy Father’s Day”…..  May  Allah  swt  place  Abah  amongst  the  Solehin.   AMIN.

(p.s. HAPPY FATHER’S DAY .)

GRANDPA

That Sunday, Dad decided to take us all including Grandpa out shopping. Since a sale was on, the mall was crowded with people going in and out. However, it did not seem to bother Dad who headed straight for the electrical gadget section ! As for  Mom, well, she chose to go to the ladies’ clothes department and left me alone with Grandpa. It seemed like everyone was really in high spirits to do some shopping that day ! I carefully held Grandpa’s hand and led him to the book section as that was the only place that would keep him calm while waiting for everyone to complete their shopping spree! After making sure that he would be alright, I quickly made my way to the accessories outlet.

I was admiring a beautiful brooch on display when I felt a pat on my shoulder. It was Grandpa. He looked tired and said that he would be happy if he could rest somewhere. Luckily, there was a bench nearby and Grandpa looked relieved as we made our way to it.  As  I really needed to buy a few things, I did not stay with Grandpa but  I kept my eyes on him from far.

After getting all that I needed, I walked quickly to where Grandpa was. That was when  I heard a very loud scream. I turned around just in time to see a man snatching a woman's handbag. The woman, too shocked to run after the man, was only able to scream frantically for help! Grandpa who was resting on the bench saw the snatch thief running towards him. Without a second thought, Grandpa pushed out his walking stick and the thief ran straight into it. He tripped and fell face down onto the floor. A few other shoppers who saw the incident  quickly pounced on him and pinned him down. Later, like in any movies about thefts and robberies, the police arrived and took the thief  away.

Tears of gratitude filled the woman's eyes as she repeatedly thanked Grandpa. She even offered him some money to show how grateful she was. Grandpa refused to accept the money  but he looked hard at the woman.  It seemed like she reminded him of someone. I noticed this and quickly made an excuse for Grandpa. The woman thanked Grandpa again and left. 

Grandpa was strangely   quiet all the way home even though everyone was praising him for his heroic act. That night before going to sleep, I saw Grandpa staring into the night. I was curious, so I asked him about the woman and why was Grandpa so quiet all the way home. However, Grandpa just smiled and said, " It's a long story. A story about a man, a woman and a broken heart." I understood and asked no more.
(p.s.  Just a story, nothing personal ya... )