Former students thank BM teacher

story by eddy puah

When he first stepped into the classroom, the students had a cultural shock. The tall lanky BM teacher from West Malaysia refused to use English to teach Bahasa Malaysia.

These Sacred Heart English medium boys have always learned BM using English from Primary 1 to 6. Now out of the blue, the teacher refuses to use English to teach them in Form 1. It was the “end of the world” for these English medium boys.

It was only years later, they realised why their BM teacher, did what he did, back then.

When asked why he was so strict and adamant on teaching the national language without using any English, his rationale was simple. Those who entered Form 1 in 1982, had only three years before facing the LCE. And the challenging part was, the BM language paper had just been made a compulsory pass subject.

If the boys failed their BM paper, there was no feasible turning back for them. This was the year when repeating was out of the question.

Looking back Cikgu Azman said though the majority of the boys he taught were very naughty in Sacred Heart, he was proud to see that they have grown up to make something of life.