When I was 12, I had this teacher - Cikgu Hilmy. He was huge, probably 250 pounds. Came to school in a motorcycle and I remembered always having to go downstairs to where he parked and helped him carry his bag to class.
He was a good teacher. He thought me music when I was 10 and Bahasa when I was 12. Jovial, charismatic and loving, Quite a man. Of the many things I remembered about him was this particular lesson he shared with the class - it stuck with me. Roughly paraphrased:
We should never look down upon those people who 'undesirable' jobs like your rubbish collector or 'city sweeper'. Characters we so often take for granted. For they are really performing honourable jobs. Honest jobs.
My car had a got shitfaced few days back, nothing major, but a simple fix me up on the bumper. I took this photo thinking about what he had said and looked back at my life in high school.
Standing in the workshop, I thought to myself, these are the guys who probably never did well in school, never gave shit about the books, probably bullied you, probably were deviant, probably coming from troubled back grounds, probably never really wanted to excel, and all the other negative probabilities that swarmed my mind.
Yet, as I stood there looking at this man repairing my car, with pure dedication and focus, ensuring he gets the job done at the highest of levels, it reminded me of how we need each other. How even if you make success your own, drive your own Mercedes, you'd need Cap Lap Joe here to fix her up for you.
In the end, respect all , respect errbody.
I still remember cikgu hilmi.He courted my class for a music subject.Indeed he is a good teacher.
ReplyDeleteEx-SKTM
Ex-SKTM,
ReplyDeleteIt's good to remember teachers from old, in ways great and small, they have shaped our upbringing and perspectives in life - only if we chose to listen