SEPT 6 — I don’t know if the recent alleged incidents of racist remarks by two school principals in Johor and Kedah mean anything or anything particularly alarming.[1]

But it does prove that teachers are only human — fallible, imperfect, flawed — and humans are not averse to the occasional daftness and social ineptitude. They can be clumsy in their judgement and equally crummy in their behaviour. Like the rest of us, they have their weak moments.

Lest I be accused of launching an astonishing attack on the teaching profession, let me make one thing clear: I think it is a noble profession. I liked the teachers when I was at school, and it is fair to say that, on the most part, they found me a rather willing (if not always pleasant) student.

I mostly stayed out of trouble and was always interested when it came to learning, except for subjects that I deemed impenetrably complicated [2] or mind-numbingly boring.[3] I kept my grades respectable, although the teachers were almost always exasperated by what they perceived as my “lack of effort to realise his full potential.”

I appreciated what the teachers were trying to do, so I didn’t go out of my way to make life difficult for them. I’ve always thought that they were underpaid, overworked, and certainly under-appreciated. I wonder how — and indeed why — they went through it all.

They did their damnedest to persuade kids — not the most co-operative human species — to learn and “jadi orang yang berguna.” Their effort in making a difference in people’s lives and shaping the future should really be applauded.

It is rather unfortunate that there is always a small group of misguided anti-socials who prowl around, masquerading as teachers. They are the ones who tend to take the gloss off the teaching profession and really, you wouldn’t want these lunatics anywhere near your kids.

I remember an English class when I was in Form One. I didn’t know how to write properly [4] and I wrote a very bad essay about a car accident and someone dying in the crash.

It was so bad that the teacher deemed it appropriate to read it out loud to the whole class. Everyone laughed at me as she sneered and criticised me for doing a piss-poor job.[5] Obviously it was an utterly embarrassing moment for me, and after 25 years, I sometimes still cringe when I think about it.

She didn’t quite grasp how such a simple gesture could have such a huge, lasting impact. She almost killed my interest in learning the subject altogether, and for the best part of the following 12 months I continued churning out shoddy work. I couldn’t be bothered to learn, and as far as I was concerned, the subject was about as interesting as a penguin’s bottom.

However, what she did was nothing compared to what one teacher — who was also a warden at school — did to all of us.[6]

It was a Sunday afternoon, I was in Form Four. We were all enjoying a lazy weekend and a kip after lunch when the whole batch was called to the lecture theatre.

The teacher was waiting at the door, and as soon as we arrived, he split us all up into two groups, and directed us to sit on either the left or right side of the hall. It appeared fairly random, so we thought nothing of it.

Once everyone had arrived, the teacher — with the fiercest, most bad-a** face he could muster — suddenly said, “the guys on this side (pointing to the right) are good guys.”

And he continued with a damning finality in the tone of his voice, “those on this side (pointing to left) semua budak-budak jahat.”[7]

Bloody hell.

And then he rambled on about how we were a worthless bunch, a waste of time bla bla bla. I think he said something about morals and discipline and some other stuff, which I didn’t think was important. Or relevant.

He may have said something about his odd-shaped testicles or something equally daft, but we were not listening anymore. We were too mortified, too aggrieved and maybe too half-asleep to say anything.

We were just kids, so we didn’t protest — we didn’t really know how to — but we were seething with rage at the festering stupidity. Let’s just say that there were some fairly robust conjectures about the teacher’s paternity later during evening prep class.

I remember our sense of outrage at the time, and we just couldn’t believe what had happened. I mean, what the hell was his problem? So okay, maybe he was just cheesed off with life in general. Maybe he was missing his kids back in the kampung. Or maybe he was just plain horny as a result of not having his wife around that he took matters into his, urm, own hands.[8]

He may have had issues, but he shouldn’t have taken it out on us. He should have gone home and played with his moustache or something, instead of barking at us for no apparent reason.

A few months after that, the teacher was transferred back to his home state, ending his (presumably) miserable three-year stint at our school. During the farewell do, we all shouted in mock melodrama, “Please don’t go!” but what we really wanted to do was to bitch-slap the jerk and tell him to bugger off. Expressing our real feelings would have involved some colourful, heavy-duty PG-rated expletives, which is not suitable for printing here.

The old man may have thought that he was merely teaching us a lesson or putting us in our place that afternoon, but really, he was executing our souls.[9] It was a disgraceful thing to have done to a bunch of impressionable young kids, and God knows how some of them may have carried a psychological scar for the rest of their lives.

We were pretty resilient kids, so we weren’t traumatised or anything. We recovered from the initial shock and survived the episode. We shrugged it off, got on with our lives and we are all grown-ups now. Still, I shudder at the thought that it could have gone oh so wrong given how completely vulnerable a child’s mind can be under such circumstances.[10] 

That’s the thing about being teachers and educators, they are supposed to protect the kids and act in their best interests in loco parentis. Betray that trust and it could go so horrifyingly wrong, as we often have no idea how much — and how permanent — the damage we can inflict on the young minds in such a small time window.

The sobering reality is that teachers are all too human, and they are quite capable of royally screwing things up. But then again, should human fallibility be an excuse to legitimise hasty and reckless behaviour? The gravity of the task and the enormity of responsibility can be pretty mind-numbing, and who knows if they suitably and adequately equipped to carry out such a scary and complicated job?

A few words carelessly uttered could very well determine the kind of people the kids will grow up to be. Their minds may not be sophisticated enough to deal with it, so most just silently heed or hate, or both. And therein lies the danger.

I guess we just have to be more careful because to paraphrase Lt Col Frank Slade,[11] there is probably nothing worse that the sight of an amputated spirit because there is really no prosthetic for that.

Notes:

[1] I know racist behaviour is always a serious thing, but it’s possible that the incidents are isolated cases rather that widespread social affliction among Malaysians. In any case, they are still under investigation, so everyone should remain calm and not overreact.

[2] Exhibit A: the needlessly complex Additional Mathematics.

[3] Exhibit B: the tedium that is Geography.

[4] Still don’t.

[5] To be fair, it was a very poor composition. But I was 13. What was HER excuse?

[6] Before you get over-excited, NO, the episode did not involve sexual abuse and whatever naughty stuff you might have in mind.

[7] Needless to say, I was seated with the “budak-budak jahat” group.

[8] Double entendre intended.

[9] Sorry to be so dramatic, but I think it’s quite true.

[10] Read also James Clavell’s “The Children's Story” (Coronet Books, 1983).

[11] Al Pacino in the movie “Scent of a Woman” (1992).

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.