The Final Years in SIS Pasir Mas
Mohamad Zawawi Ahmad
(Writer's note: Reposting an old post which I did in July 2007 after some corrections and additional information added)
I was in form 4A in 1967
with Puan Rahmah Ariffin as our class teacher. We had several other teachers
teaching us other subjects. My memory is now vague as to who were the other
subject teachers except for Puan Zaharah Zohdan who taught us Arts, Mrs Khoo
who taught us Additional Mathematics, Mr. Pang Chok Chu who taught us General
Science, Ustaz Zain Rashidi taught us Ugama Islam and the unforgettable Mr.
Mark Anthony who taught us woodwork. Mr. Gerald Bax, an American Peace Corp
volunteer, taught us Mathematics while Mr. G. Thanda taught us English
Literature.
Puan Rahmah Ariffin took
an early retirement late that year on medical grounds. Another teacher, whom
none of us could recall for sure, came in as a substitute teacher. This escape
in memory could be due to the short duration of replacement as school was about
to end for the year. The substitute teacher did not spend much time with us to
leave much impression on us as even the best brain in the class the likes of
Major (R) Chong Chow Kar(Civil Engineer), Zainal Abidin Hussein(Electrical
Engineer), Mahmud Awang Kechik (Dato’ Dr. who is a surgeon), Lim Siong Peek,
Azmy Omar, Ibrahim Hussein, Ab. Rahman Ismail (Graduate Teachers), Napsah
Mahmud (Pharmacist), Ghani Senik (Food Technologist), Ashaari Amin (a Forest Research
Institute Malaysia Reseacher) and most others that I contacted yielded no
definitive answer. They were not to be blamed as all were approaching 60 at the
time of writing this article (October 2008). They may have overworked much of
their grey matter that what remained was no longer of use. No big deal as my
own sparingly used brain cannot recall too!
Anyway Puan Rahmah
Ariffin left a big impression on me. I was truly indebted to this lady as she
was instrumental in getting me a Federal Minor Scholarship which I received
during the second half of 1967. The scholarship entitled me to a RM20 monthly
allowance for the rest of my schooling days till the end of 1968. It was timely
then as my half-brother who was already married then, had his own family to care
for, had ceased to provide me with the same amount monthly.
I can still visualize the
day when Puan Rahmah came to me in class with a form to apply for the
scholarship. The form had to be immediately filled, get it signed by my father
and certified by the Penggawa
(Headman) of my mukim (area). That
task was no small feat for me. For one my father was living some 10 miles away
in my village known as Chekok, Jabo.
This meant a bus fare of 50 sen to get home. To me that was a big amount
of money then.
Somehow I managed to get
home only to find that father was miles away tending to the family's rubber
small holding. The place was unknown to me and he will only be back by
nightfall and by then the Penggawa's office
would be closed. Although the Penggawa
was my father’s cousin, he refused to certify the form before my father had put
his thumb print on it, saying that signing blind was not the right thing to do.
I had to wait for my father to come home. ThePenggawa’s certifying my father's signature will have to wait till the
next day.
As my father had to leave
for the rubber small holding before daylight the next day, I had to get his thumb print that night itself.
It would be interesting to note how ingenious we were then as there was no
inkpad whatsoever for my father to ink his thumb with. Since I had once seen
other people inking their thumb using the betel leaf (Piper betle) applied with a thin layer of cooking oil and exposing
the oiled surface to the soot of the kerosene lamp, I decided to do the same.
Presto, we had a perfect thumb print of my father's right thumb on the form.
The form was countersigned by the Penggawa
the next day simultaneously testifying that my father's income was about
RM70per month. That was the truth as the family’s income was inconsistent. My
father had no specific job other than tending to the immature rubber holding. In
reality we were not far off from that figure then as the rubber small holding
was still young and still immature for tapping. We lived a subsistence life by
eating the rice from our own plot of padi land and on vegetables that mother
planted. Our family's cash income came mostly from the sale of tembakau darat a type of local tobacco which my parents planted.
The tobacco leaves were processed for sale. The tobacco is normally rolled with
palm leaves and smoked as cigarettes.
I arrived late for school
the next day to submit the duly completed scholarship form as my mum had to
find RM3 to pay for my fare back to Pasir Mas. The balance was to be my pocket
money for my expenses for the week. Puan Rahmah believed in my excuse for being
late.
Out of the forty odd students
in my class, I was the only one given the form. How did I get to be the lucky one?
My guess was that she was advised by the Senior School Assistant, En. Ab.Rahman
Ali. Earlier I had met the Senior
Assistant to decline my appointment to the school prefect board (En. Ab. Rahman
Ali later became the School Headmaster, The Principal of Sultan Ismail College,
the Principal of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar and later on the Negeri
Sembilan State Education Director.
Subsequently, he was promoted to be the Director of one of the
departments in the Ministry of Education). At the meeting with the Senior
Assistant, I cited my inability to buy a pair of white pants which was the
uniform for the prefects then. En. Ab. Rahman assured me that he will look into
my problem. Later he sent me to Kuan Sin Tailor in town to have my uniform
measured and tailored. The two pairs of white trousers cost a total of RM40.00, a big sum by my standard
then.
The tailor shop remained the same the day I revisited it in
2008.
The owner, Mr. Eng Fook Seng, was 66
years old the day I went to take the above photograph. Counting backwards, he
must be 25 years old when he did my trousers back then. He said the same pair
of trousers would now cost RM60. That was the value of money in 1967 compared
to the present (2008).
It was
not long after that when Puan Rahmah had a serious medical issue and retired.
Our class was without a class teacher for quite a while after she left. However,
we were not worried as Form Four was considered as a honeymoon year as we were
not sitting for any major examination that year. We would only be sitting for the School Certificate Examination and the
Malaysian Certificate Examination next year
while in Form Five.
The Sixth
Form Malay Medium classes was started in 1967. It was a milestone as the only
other school offering Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia in Kelantan was Sultan Ismail College in Kota Bharu.
Another significant event for 1967 was that the Teacher's Union was holding a strike nationwide over something which I could neither understand nor remember. They boycotted all extracurricular activities including the Sports Day and all societal activities. Even the annual school magazine Sempana failed to be published that year. For that reason there was nothing much we could use as a reference of our 1967 school year.
The 1967 Form 4A class photographed without the class teacher. Yours truly is the one in prefect uniform on the right.
The only consolation was that I have the
above picture of the Prefect Board. With us were the Headmaster, the late Mr.
Yusoff Ghouse (in black suit) the School Senior Assistant, En. Ab. Rahman Ali (with
the dark tie), flanking Saary Yahya, the Headboy. If you can recognize Dato’
Mustapha Muhamad sitting on the extreme left, yours truly is the one standing right
behind him.
The year of 1967 was also
a happy year for me as in the middle of the year I received a princely sum of
RM120 being the backdated amount of Federal Minor Scholarship.That was indeed a princely sum for someone who did not
even have RM5 to his name. For the first time in my life I splurged, buying a
pair of readymade black pants, a tailor made shirt and a pair of Thailand made Obermain leather shoes. The pair of shoes were purchased from Sg. Golok
costing me RM12! With those apparel I
once again was able to roam the town to meet my friends. Earlier I ceased going
out to town after a friend chided me for wearing the same white school pants
whenever I went out. Well the school uniform was all the trousers I had back
then. Feeling slighted with the comment,
any activities organized by my class outside of school was off limits to me then.
The poor kampong boy with his new found richness, dressed to kill in his tailor made shirt (RM14), and Thailand made Obermain shoes (RM12.00), bought with the scholarship money, white school pants (RM20.00 paid for by the Parent Teachers Association fund) posing with his close friend Azmy Omar in front of the old main market. On this very site now is Bangunan Serakai Mas built after the old market was gutted down by fire.
The 1968
Form 5A Class photo
The teachers sitting from left to right: Cikgu
Ismail Mat (deceased), Ustaz Nawi Hamat, Mr. G. Thanda, Mr. Gerald Bax, Miss
Wong An Yin (Mrs. Foo, form teacher), Mahmud Awang Kechik (Dato’ Dr, class
monitor), Mr. Pang Chok Chu, Cikgu Shukri and Mr. Loo Hock Guan.
Not in the picture was Mr. Toh Kin Woon (Datok
Dr.)
A black
dot in the history of the school occurred in 1968. A group of five boys were
publicly caned in front of the school assembly by the school discipline
teacher, Chegu Nik Alwi Omar. The crime they committed was tearing pages from
the library’s Encyclopedia Britannica to take home as reference. In those days
Photostat machines were unheard of. Their heinous act were sighted by another
fellow student who reported to me as The Head Librarian. In turn, it was
reported to the Library Master, Mr.
Anandan. With names given, it
didn’t take long for Mr. Anandan to obtain a confession.
To
alleviate their pain from the lashing, one of the five guilty students placed
some exercise books in his pant which made a different kind of sound when hit
by the cane. Chegu Nik Alwi made him remove the exercise books before
continuing the caning. It was a pitiful sight as the pain inflicted was
temporary but the pride was damaged forever. From that day I became the enemy
of the five.
All was
forgiven when we met later in life but who squealed on them remain a secret
till now. It was a lesson to be learnt by all who witnessed the caning.
The
school magazine,Sempana, was not published in 1967 due to the teachers’ boycott
of all school extracurricular activities. It reappeared in 1968 with yours
truly as the editor. I have to say that I was a poor choice due to my heavy
workload; as a School Prefect, Hostel Prefect, Head Librarian and Chairman of
the Literary and Debating Society, to dispense a more satisfactory output. I had earlier declined the post of Chairman
of the Camera Club of which I was an active member. How I wish I had the gumption to decline the
editor’s job too and let another person handle it. Maybe the person handling it
could have done a much better job, especially to produce a bumper 1968 Sempana
issue, thus compensating for the 1967 missing issue.
The
School Sports Day, which did not see daylight in 1967 was held in1968. Our
school 4 x 100 m relay team was the pride of the school as they managed to win
most of the races when invited to participate in other schools’ Sports Day.
School
societies were so active that every nooks and corners of the school were used
for activities. Even the school canteen, hostel's dining room and shade trees were
not spared. The school had a double session then and without a hall, the
teachers were at their wits end trying to hold activities for the societies
they were in charge of.
The Prefect Board of 1968 with the School Board
of Directors and the Honourable Minister of Education, the late Tun Khir
Johari. Yours truly is the first from left in the middle row. Ismail Yusof(Dato’, deceased), the Headboy,
stands behind the Education Minister.
Another
important event of the year was the inter house debate. The final was between
the Blue House as the proposer and the Yellow House as
the oppose. Yours truly
represented the Blue House, seconded by Alexander Chan and another third
speaker which nobody could confirm. I vaguely remember a soft spoken Wee Mek
Chu who could be the third speaker.Wee Mek Chu had migrated to Europe and was
not available to confirm. The Yellow House as the opposition was represented by
Chong Chow Kar (Major Retired), Rohani Ibrahim (Dr) and another debator whom
nobody could remember.. Mr. Loo Hock Guan, the English teacher, chaired the
debate.
What
about the topic? I would say that the topic is pretty sensitive by today's
standard, "Houses Of Worships Are Not A Waste of Money". Would any
teacher dare to suggest such a topic for students to debate on nowadays? I
doubt it. We were then very free to express our opinions and nobody held back
anything. Well the debate went well and the students came in full force to
witness the debate. They stood there till the result was announced.
Forty
years later I called Chong Chow Kar (Major Retired) who led the opposition team
and asked him if he remembered anything about the debate. He could not remember
much and even enquired about the winning team. He forgot that his team won the
debate!
We also
held the gala night to showcase talents from the school. Crooners were
accompanied by the school band, The Kostrad Pelajar, with Suhaimi Hussin on
lead guitar, Azmy Omar on bass guitar, Fauzan Omar on rhythm guitar while the
quiet Mohamad Jusoh played the drums. A form four student by the name of
Shamsiah Abdullah stole the show with her rendition of the Latin son called Luna
Lunera.
Kostrad Pelajar SIS
Besides singing we had short dramas, comedy sketches, choir group and most notable was the musical dance drama, A Gang Fight in Golden Sand performed by the hostel residents. Yours truly was involved not only as a performer but also as the director and creator of the dance based on the style of West Side Story previously screened at the local Rex Cinema in town. All the dance moves were self improvised as none of us had any previous experience. The music from the The Good, The Bad and The Ugly album accompanied the entire dance drama. I remember distinctly Che Ahmad Che Daud as the operator of the tape recorder for the show.
The main
story line was a gang fight which ensued after a gambling session between two
members of a gang played by Natpi (deceased) and yours truly. The fight itself
involved the gang leaders played by Mahmud Awang Kechik(Dato’ Dr) and Ashaari
Amin. A real knife was used and in the ensuing fight, the sharp end of the
knife poked into Ashaari Amin’s thigh resulting in a gush of blood dripping on
stage floor. As per script, Mahmud Awang Kechik dropped the knife on the stage
floor and the sharp knife stood on its tip on the wooden floor. The innjured
Ashaari Amin was carried off the stage floor by gang members and straight to
hospital for treatment. The audience thought the blood was part of the show and
gasped in awe. Fortunately none of the performers panicked and the dance was
performed till the end. For the repeat show the next day’s performance, permission
was only granted after we promised to use a plastic knife. Abbas Akbar replace
Ashaari Amin. The audience had a good laugh when the knife bounced on the floor
when Mahmud dropped it.
Auld
Lang Synge was sung by the choir at the end of the show. It was truly an apt
number to close the final chapter in our school life.
All the performers at the school Talentime Night in 1968, including the choir group.
A
milestone of sort was reached in 1968 when three of our classmates comprising
of Ridzwan Hashim (Dato’ Dr.) Chong Chow Kar (Major Retired) and Zainal Abidin
Hussin opted to take Pure Science for their Senior Cambridge and Malaysian
Certificate of Examination Exam. Without qualified teachers to guide them,
these self taught pioneers ventured out on their own while the rest of the Form
5A science class stuck to their Double Credit Science subjects.
Fortunately
for them, the late Mr. Pang Chok Chu gave them free access to the school
science laboratory to do their practical.
They had
to do their practical exam in Sultan Ismail College in Kota Bharu since it was
the only school in Kelantan that offered pure science subjects. During the
practical exam, the late Mr. Pang Chok Chu waited anxiously outside the
laboratory while the threesome did their exam.
It was
glad to note that another five students opted to do pure science subject for
the subsequent batch.
Most of
us really burned the midnight oil for the examination. When the results were
announced in early 1969, 13 of us obtained Grade 1, a feat that we were really
proud of. Six of us who obtained an aggregate of nine or less from our best
three subjects gained admission to Sultan Ismail College(SIC) to do our Sixth Form.We
have to transfer to SIC as SIS only catered for the Malay medium Sixth Form
students. Your truly was one of the six. Others gained admission to MCKK and Sekolah
Tun Abdul Razak (STAR) to do their Sixth Form.
Most of the rest applied to join other colleges such as Mara Institute
of Technology (now UiTM), Serdang College of Agriculture (now Univesiti
Pertanian Malaysia, later Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM), Technical College
(now Universiti Teknologi Malaysi, UTM), Teacher Training colleges or chose
careers in the army or police forces. A
few did venture out to open up their own businesses.
Most of
us did well in our respective chosen careers making us proud to be the product
of this small rural school, Sultan Ibrahim School (SIS), Pasir Mas.
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