History Lesson - 1
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…”
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