Before i start with my thank you speech in conjuction with teachers day, allow me to share one 'the' silliest story ever happened to me in school. My school days were filled with lots of exciting memories and i am proud to say that i have enjoyed every bits and pieces of my school days. There are countless events during my school days where, when i look back, i don't know what i was thinking. But it was fun. If i would ever go back in time, i would go back to school anytime! Guess i have been tranfered to different school at different states and countries would have contributed to my many exciting and some bizzarre experiences in school.
This is by far, my all time favourite school stories. I should start by making in clear to all you readers that i spend my entire primary school in Hong Kong, except for my primary 6. Ironically, my dad decided to go back to Malaysia for good that year so that i would be able to take my UPSR in the country. Hmm. Giving it a deep thought for awhile,one would wonder how would i be able to make it pass the exams having ZERO knowledge of the subjects tought in my country. On the bright side, i know that my dad did so because he didnt want me to be soo left behind as sooner or later we will all come back to Malaysia, and I will have to deal with the school here.
Putting aside the few months at school was bad. I did get a lot of attention. News that "she's from overseas" spread fast. Not to mention i got a label "poyo" because they think i can't speak malay and everything i write is in English. And not-so surprisingly i scored highest in English subject for my entire form. haha (kelakar pon ade okay, baru berape bulan masuk sek tibe2 naik pentas amik hadiah. gila lah!).
Back to this story of mine having in mind at that material time, i literally have zero knowledge of the subjects they tought in school here, except for maths, english and science - i'm doing fine there.
The class was having like peperiksaan apa tah. I donno, back then in school there's just too many level of exams. test, mid term lah..pre-trial lah..bottom line is it was a test.
And it was Bahasa Melayu.
I don't mean to freak out. I use to think "hey, it couldn't be that hard". Little did i know that my shallow knowledge in Bahasa at that time did me no justice. To warm things up, there was penjodoh bilangan. The last time i was in school in the country which is in my kindergarten, all they tought me was se-buah and se-biji. I was taken back in shocked by the multiple choices in the answer which consist of se-ulas, se-papan, and many more i can't recall. I answered everything se-buah and se-biji. I was confused when some of the multiple answers contained none the twos which then call for,,tembak je laah. Then there was peribahasa. I can't quite recall my reaction to those. Most probably because i can't remember none of them as i'm not familiar with any of them. Another one of those desperate calls for desperate measures- hentam je laah.
And then comes the juicy part. The essay! I love writing. When i was in my international school, my teacher, Miss Rachel she use to put like five random pictures on the board and we all would have to write our own story based on the picture we choose. So every student have different unique story as in their own interpretation of the picture. We all have to hand in the essay right that day, so it reflects each of our own spontaneous reflection of the picture. I remember Miss Rachel reading my essay, and i one of her exact word as i remember was "nor, this is a good story. very unpredictable and it has a little twist. do u mind if i show it to Mr. Lee" (mr. lee is the teacher next class which i hate, i have a feeling he doesnt like me very much either.haha.). Well, that was flattering indeed.
But essay is only good when you know what you are writing. And writing in a language which you don't conquer is a tough challenge. At that material time, writing in Bahasa is tough for me because i don't master the language. I can't seem to find the right word to express myself. Though, that is the least of my problem.
Remember in school there's this sort of question where they give you the introduction, and then you have to kindda follow through / continue the story. That's what happen to my essay.
I'll just describe a little bit how it went. Introduction sounded something like....situasi is anda berada di perhentian bas, dh malam, hujan lebat, seorang, and nampak ada rumah usang.....sila sambung cerita.
Notice i highlighed the rumah usang word. To be honest, AT THAT moment, i have no clue what on earth is a rumah usang. i know lah rumah tu house, but usang? And i made one of the most ridicilous story every told. I though usang is like a label given to an individual who lived in a very pedalaman kampung. So i made the story like there was Pak Usang, and i met him, and we chatted, used his telephone to call home. Worse- i met his wife! She served us coffee! For god's sake!! You know i confidentally wrote about 2 pages! And i was confident what i wrote was correct! I only realise i wrote such crap until the my teacher (Puan Faizah) was about to hand out the paper and she told the class how terrible the essay she got. She specifically told that someone wrote about rumah usang as in Pak Usang. I could no longer feel my airliur at that time. I look at my friend beside me, she was laughing at the thought of someone writing about that. I asked her what rumah usang was and she said it's a term used for a house that's been left for many years without anyone living in it anymore. I gulped myself. Crap. Thank god my teacher did not meantion who wrote it.
When she called me to hand in my essay, i could not look at her. She knows i wrote such silly essay! I'm embarassed and ashame of myself. I can't even read the essay again. It's humiliating. I remember that i hide it so that no one could ever find it. Since it was only a test, i threw the essay as it's so embarasssing to read. Thinking about it now, i should have kept it. I'll have a good laugh reading it. I still do when i think about it. I shared this story with my sister and my mum. They all cracked real hard!! Who wouldn't?!
So that's how it was. After that incident, i realise how much i've been left out in my Bahasa. I asked my mum to buy me all those peribahasa, penjodoh bilangan and Bahasa Melayu books for me. I seriously start from scratch in my Bahasa. Gladly i manage to buckled up in time for my exams. I scored in my UPSR, and yes, got an A for my Bahasa. My parents and teachers were very pleased. I am pleased too. Just one year to cope up with everything is not a bad record. = )
So there it is. It was a weird-funny experience that thought me a good lesson. Puan Faizah is an amzing teacher. I felt bad for making such bad essay as i didn't want her to think that she hasn't tought her student well, so i asked my mum to come over to school to meet her. My mum came and she explain about how i'm still getting use to master the language and Puan Faizah said now that she knows, she's not very worried about me anymore. She said there's still time and she believe i can still make it in time for the exam. And i did.
So this teachers day, i would like to express my great appriciation to all teachers that have tought me. I can't list down the names as i might have forgotten a few. Teacher is a noble profession. They are what make us today. I would not have make it as i am now today without their help and guidance. At the early days of my school days in Malaysia was kind of hard. I fell estrange to the enviroments and subjects. But my teachers were all very nice to me. I remember one in particular who cared deeply for me. Thank you so much. I hope when my kids gets here, they will be tought by the same amazing teachers that have tought me.
HAPPY TEACHERS DAY TO ALL TEACHERS!
THANK YOU AND THANK YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN.
p.s ..
My dad made a good decison to go back that year. = )
I hope Mrs. Faizah did not make a copy my essay.
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