The Untold Story of a Mu'allim: MASMA (Part 1)

It was Saturday and he still didn't get it. Tasked with reciting the doa for the closing he was still combining the perfect words to make it memorable. He took out his tiny netbook, switched on to Microsoft Word and looked intently to the cursor waiting for the words to appear by themselves.

It didn't.

He looked at his maroon coloured shirt specially tailored for this day. It cost him RM 75 but he didn't care. This should be a special day. He wanted to make it speacial. All the burden was onto him as he thought of the people who gave him the task to recite the doa.

He felt so lost.

And then, he went deep further into his memory. He remembered. He remembered the most precious thing he ever met or would ever meet. It was not the all the VIPs who would sit there and waiting patiently to finish up his recitation of doa. It was not the people who gave him the piece of cloth which was transformed into a pretty nice shirt. It was not the eyes and the ears that would observe every words he would utter.

It was the children of Al-Amin. The future.

Then, like a fresh stream of river, the words came through his mind, through his little tiny netbook and finally filling up the empty pages. He shared what was written with his father, his father shared his thoughts. And there was only one the thankful to. It was the Almighty Lord.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: PERTAH

Back to school. Back in uniform. He hate to say this but he felt a little bit restricted when wearing a uniform. Less freedom, he mumbled.

The colour changed from dark blue to green but none can be said about the colour of his heart. He stood there bearing hardly with a fake smile and enthusiasm. He did it not because of love but because of necessity.

He thought he suffered the most. He was wrong.

PERTAH was a camping programme where he had to accompany a group of students as a mentor. On the outside, nobody could question his commitment in doing his job. With limited knowledge and skill he tried his best to fulfill the need of the whole system. He felt exhausted, tired and almost frustrated. He avoided himself from cursing his luck because doing so would be a betrayal to his faith. He felt doomed.

Then, the night came. It was time for evaluation of the programme for the day. As the students were fast asleep, a group of mentors sat in circle sharing their mind about the programme so far. They concluded that the activities prepared by 'the host' was regrettable. Shortage of time and exahaustion were pinpointed as the culprits.

He listened hard and shared the feeling of the other members of the circle. He was touched when one particular mentor almost burst into tears expressing the burden that all the mentors had to bear. Then, he realized that he was wrong.

He was not doomed. He did not suffer the most. Others carried more burden than him and they had every right to complain but they didn't. They just did what they were obliged to do with tears of pain streaming from the bottom of their heart.

He emphatised and pray that all deeds done were seen in the eyes of The Most Merciful. In the still of the night, he looked upon the heaven and asked himself, "How could I say that I am a believer when I am yet to be tested?"

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim

It was 2:20 pm. Finally, the final class of the day. He walked to the class thinking of the relief afterwards. What a long day, he thought. As a newbie, everyday is a challenge for him.The first challenge was a new working environment; all of a sudden he got children. Not only one, but hundreds of them. As a single, he was struggling to defind the true meaning of fatherhood.

The other challenge was a new bunch of colleagues. He couldn't deny that all of them were great persons, with great visions. They even had greater commitment than him as some of them had a family of their own. The problem was, that commitment had become an undisputable justification to put on most of the burdens to singles like him. He sigh but never made any complaint. There's always a rainbow after a rainy day.

He made his walk with pride carrying all the burden on his broad shoulder. His new children greeted him. He replied with a smile. He taught and did everything to the best of his limited knowledge and skill to discharge his responsiblity for the day. So far, so good, he thought. The children were doing what they were asked. Everything was good until suddenly, he started to lose his grip. The children started to lose their attention. Some started to play. He moved around and patiently asked them to sit and do their work. They obeyed except for one particular child.

With a badminton racket on his hand, that child ran out of the class and aiming the racket like an M-16 and start making firing sound along the balcony. It was a very hot day, and the teacher lost his patient. Almost losing his mind, he shouted to the child. Suddenly there was silence. Suddenly, there was order. But it didn't end there, the teacher kept on scolding the child in English until the end of the day.

The next day, he went to the same class. To his surprise, the child that he scolded yesterday came to him and helped him to carry his things. He thought that this child had learnt something from yesterday's scolding. Before he began the class, the child looked at him innocently and asked him in Malay, "Mu'allim, apa yang mua'llim jerit-jerit dekat saya semalam? Saya tak faham lah." Dang!