My primary school days were a traumatic experience. Freddy Krueger would be ashamed to know that his nightmarish antics on Elm Street were nothing compared to mine. I happen to attend a certain
Sekolah Rendah at
Jalan Selangor adjacent to SRK Assunta. In case you think I’m making all this up just because I was spoilt then, please allow me to reassure you that children don’t lie unless their toys are in danger of being taken away from them. And I also happen to hold a grudge against certain teachers who I thought belonged more to the mental institution than that school.
We were a good bunch of students but vulnerable. Perhaps those sadistic teachers saw fit to be cruel to prepare us to face our violence-loving world. Well thank you, because not only did we grew up sane and peace-loving you have failed miserably as a teacher propagating violence.
May I relate a few bone chilling experiences of this particular teacher of mine, and let’s call her
Cik J. Her weapons include a blackboard duster (preferably filled with white chalk), metal pencil cases, the 100cm wooden ruler, a
rotan. When these weapons are unavailable, no fear she still has her bare hands. She will wring your ears, pinch your tummy or arms, slap your face, pull your hair, scream ‘
bodoh’ at you and any other vicious actions she can think of. All in the name of educating her students. Tell me, how does repetitious hitting enhance one’s intelligence up a notch?
I remember all of us trembling with fear every morning because
Cik J also happened to be our class teacher, for two whole damn years! We had a class fund where every student will contribute some money to buy certain school supplies, to buy our teachers a gift for
Hari Guru or for our end of the year tea party. Bad luck if you happen to be poor and cannot make a weekly contribution because she would pinch you till you bruised while unleashing a barrage of verbal abuse. If you think
Cik J was being sadistic because she was ugly, you’re wrong. In fact, she’s a very pretty lady, dressed nicely in
baju kurung/kebaya with matching 3-inch heels.
I told myself if she ever laid a finger of violence on me, she will be a goner. And she did just that one fine day. We had a mock Mathematics exam to prepare us for our UPSR exams that year. I scored a 48 out of 50. I was made to stand up and instead of receiving a pat on the back and a compliment; I received a hard thwack on my bony back with a huge thick book. I nearly peed in my panties. So just imagine what the other students received for scoring below that. Some were given the ‘powder’ treatment with the blackboard duster, some were whacked with the wooden ruler till it broke into two, some received bruised arms and I remember some classmates of mine crying piteously ‘
Cikgu, sakit, jangan, jangan’. If this happened once in a blue moon, fine I can accept that. But no, we were tormented five days a week.
I squealed to my mom when I reached home that day. But I pleaded with her not to file a complain to my headmistress less we aggravate
Cik J further. Mom being the protective guardian made sure the headmistress was aware of what happened. Two days later, a
gempur meeting was called for by the headmistress.
Cik J came back to class and demanded to know whose parent dared to humiliate her during the meeting. You’d think she will change for the better. As they say, old habits die hard. In fact, she remained a tyrant while being pregnant much later on.
During the last day of my primary school, most students went to the teacher’s room to ask for forgiveness from the teachers. I sat glued to my seat, happy to finally able to escape this madhouse. I didn’t have an ounce of forgiveness for these so called mentors and I wasn’t about to fake that.
Back then I wished I was brave enough to collect incriminating evidence against this school. Imagine what a huge scandal this might hit our national headlines. Few years after I left primary school, some parent did make sure the country knew about our failing education system. An abusive teacher from some school made it to the front news. I could only say thank God! And not long after that, more parents and students came forward with their tales of woe. The Education Ministry issued a warning statement to teachers to refrain from physical violence towards their students.
Dear teachers, I am not saying that you should spare the rotan and spoil the child. Cane us if we set your car on fire. But cane us not when we cannot answer your subject questions because we are not little Einsteins. Please do not bring your domestic unhappiness or your personal failings to school. We are least interested. I grew up fearing authority, fearing school, fearing society. Thank you for the scarred memories otherwise there would be no tale for me to tell today.
