Utuh Paloi Banjar Blog

KANGAR, Oct 29 (Bernama) — A gale overturned a van, uprooted trees and damaged more than 50 houses, food stalls and motor workshops in Jejawi near here Thursday…

Walaupun berita itu sudah basi tapi gambar-gambar di bawah ini mungkin tidak kerana ia adalah milik peribadi QDC dan adiknya. Secara kebetulan, masa kejadian, QDC berada di kampung kelahirannya di Perlis, dan sempat merakamkan bentuk dan akibat kemurkaan alam.

Sekali pandang, wajah puting beliung mirip semburan dari ’nozzle’ bomba sewaktu kami belajar memadam api di KD Malaya, Woodlands. 

Semakin  diperhati bentuk (atas kiri) gambar, semakin teringat paparan yang pernah tersiar di Astro tentang cerita puting beliung yang dihubung-kaitkan dengan kuasa ghaib.

Adakah bentuk orang berkepala dan mata besar yang sedang berdiri atas pokok terhasil dari ‘camera trick’ QDC atau secara kebetulan?

Setelah penat melindungi gerai dari hujan dan panas, kanopi mengambil keputusan untuk berehat sementara atas bumbung.

Gerai makan tidak terkecuali.

Wartawan QDC menemubual pemilik bengkel. Mereka berdua hairan siapa yang sidai selimut gergasi atas cable TNB/Telekom? 

Ada perlindungan insurans ke? Setaunya, dulu-dulu insurans tak meliputi “Act of Nature”. Kalau begitu, pemilik bengkel dan kenderaan sama-sama rugi. 

Van Securiforce juga tak secure (selamat).

“SES Kluang forever, towards the left (or was it right) we swerve…” part of the lyrics of the school anthem that we used to sing in unison at every Sunday morning assembly, under the conductorship of Mr Anthony, and when he passed away at the age of 32, the baton was handed over to the unsmiling Mr Selvaraj.

While surfing the internet looking for the remaining part of the anthem, I stumbled upon a site displaying the front cover of Kluang High School magazine from the 90s, which prompted me to scan and upload the same, albeit from another era. Why only three? I suppose, at that time, I did not have the budget to buy the rest…5 dollars (it wasn’t Ringgit yet) was a hell of a lot then.

1960…Secondary and Primary school shared the same magazine.  

As with the 1961 issue.  

In 1963, Kluang Primary English School, which was located behind the secondary school main building, had moved out to another location and rightly, decided to have its own magazine. That separation prompted our editors to relate a brief history of GES/SES Kluang.    

Events at the school that evoked memories which the present generation may not be aware of:

1948 - 80 boys and girls from the Malay schools admitted to Special Malay Class (SMC)…beginning of the ‘tongkat’ syndrome?

1961 - Form 1 in Malay medium was started…beginning of the end for English medium school.

1977 - Last intake for English medium Remove class…final nail in the coffin & death knell for English language.

2010 @ 33 years later - the education policy has backfired…the number of Malays capable of communicating effectively, not only in English but also in Malay, are dwindling by the day. Today, English is in deep coma, and the Malay language…aaaaahhh ”hidup segan mati tak mau”. 

The experiment goes on and on, and a bunch of creatures called Malaysians become the guinea pigs.

Seated L to R:  Miss N. Kanagamalar, Mr Tan Cheng Hai, Mr M.K. Lakshman, Mr C.R. Krishnan, Mr M. Nair, Mr K. Carthigesu (Headmaster), Mr A. Sellathurai, Mr Sng Boon Kui, Tuan Sheikh Jaafar, Mr Yeo Cheng Swee, Miss Azizah Bte Masron

Standing L to R:  Che Kadir bin Mat Said (Lab Att), Mr Chuah Teng Siah, Mr Lionel Forbes, Che Hassan bin A. Majid, Mr J.P. Selvaraj, Che Mazlan bin Sidek (Office Boy), Mr M.V. Chandran, Mr R.N. Sharma, Mr V.K. Sabapathy, Che Md Nazeri b. Othman, Che Md Salleh b. Ibrahim, Che Yunos b. Mi’on (Clerk), Che Amin b. Sukardi (Lab Att)

Mr J.P. Selvaraj - J.P.? No, it’s not Justice of Peace. He was the first teacher I met on my first day in English school. His opening question which seemed so alien at that time, “What is your name?” sent shivers down the spine of a kampung boy who could understand only 2 words of English - Yes & No. Yes, he was the Form Teacher in my Remove Class days and History Teacher in Form V.

Tuan Sheikh Jaafar - Our Malay Language teacher in Form IV and V and used to ask us “Which side of the shoulder shall I punch you?” whenever we could not respond correctly to his questions. 

Miss Azizah - Our English Literature teacher in Form I. She caned me once on my back for talking to my friend Nordin Kassim while she was teaching in front.

Mr M.K. Lakshman - Science, Additional Science, Maths and Add Maths as well as our Form Teacher in Form IV & V. When one American Chinese from the US Peace Corps (who had never heard of Malaya before) took over the teaching of Science in our class, we sent a petition to the headmaster requesting the return of Mr Lakshman because we could hardly understand the ‘garbage’ mumbled by the American.

Mr R.N. Sharma - R.N. Royal Navy? Mr Sharma, our Geography Teacher in Form V.

And the rest had, at one time or another, taught us various subjects from Remove Class to Form V.

Will we ever see again such composition of teachers in Malaysian schools? An honest answer will be NO. Never again. It has become History. And that’s the reason I upload this picture for the current and future generations to see and think…why?

Why the number of non-Malay teachers have  dwindled over the years to a level that does not reflect the race composition of Malaysia?

Why the standard of English (among Malays especially) is getting from bad to worse, comparable to the standard of our National Soccer Team.

Come to think of it, the late Black Joe did not even complete Form 1, but his command of English was better than many present day professionals with oversea Phd qualifications.

I remember vividly - in the 80s - receiving a letter from a lecturer who went to USA for his Master’s Degree, “I hope you no oppose to this…” and enclosed with the letter were post-dated cheques for his overdue rental payments. To my understanding, what the lecturer meant was, “I hope you are agreeable to this…”.

Where has it all gone wrong? Education Ministers come and ago, and every one of them tried to leave a legacy of their own which, more often than not, at the expense of the students.

Who is Mr Nair? Is he a JP, Datuk, Datuk Seri or Tan Seri? Or some VIP from another era?

To some extent, yes. He was a VIP in his own right, a VIP to us - students of that era.

Mr Nair was a no-nonsense headmaster of Secondary English School Kluang in the 50s. I still remember the way he spoke during our weekly school assembly, and the way he ended his speech with his trademark reminder “…remember that” - a phrase that used to send chills down my spine. And after more than 50 years, I still ‘remember that’. 

Upon retirement in 1960, he did not disappear into the sunset like most teachers but continued burning himself like a candle by accepting the offer to teach English and English Literature for Form Four and Form Five classes. The toughness in his stance and voice that he displayed when he was the headmaster was gone, and in place was a teacher whose dedication was second to none - he dedicated his time to help us improve our English. 

Appended below is his writing that appeared in the 1960 School Magazine. At that time I could not fully grasp what he meant by:

“…when one’s heart is not in what one does, and what is done is done out of necessity, the chances are the routine will be broken at the earliest opportunity.”

“…But with those who like what they do, the very doing of the work develops into a pleasure…” 

Dari kiri: Azman, Mustapha, Rashid dan Rahman ‘Iban’.

Dari mana datangnya gelaran ‘Iban’, mungkin XRejang ada jawapan.

Iban…dalam perjumpaan ‘atuk-atuk navy’ 25hb September lalu, aku tersua seorang lagi yang ada gelaran sama - bekas POME KD Sri Terengganu - Talib ‘Iban’.

“Dah tak kenal lagi ke?. Talib Ibanlah” Dia menegur sambil menghulur tangan