The ESL Teacher |
1 January, 2007 |
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MY ADMIRABLE COLLEAGUES I think I'll die with my eyes open and tongue hanging out if I don't mention these 8 admirable teachers. Cikgu Zambri Mat Isa 
A very young Senior Assistant II. A very friendly and dynamic person. He was the one who went against all odds to open a Computer Class in the school way back in the old Piasau Days. A small store room was converted into a computer lab and 6 PCs were put there. The rest as they say it, is history. He and Pn Rosie made a great team and together they raised the standard of SMKAM. Cikgu Zambri was also also a well-known motivational speaker in Miri. He was often invited by other schools in the area to conduct motivational camps for their students. He went back to his hometown in Pahang in 1998 if I'm not mistaken. By the way, he was supposed to pick me up at the airport when I first arrived in Miri in 1997 but he forgot because he was busy with a school project at that time! He more than made it up with his friendliness and good-will towards me later on!
Cikgu Abdullah Bakri 
A friendly, smiley and extremely helpful Living Skills teacher. He was a very hardworking person and seemed not to have the ability to say "no" to anyone much to the consternation of his wife who was also teaching in the same school! Being a strong Living Skills teacher, tasks such as building tents were often given to him. In a way, I felt sorry for him for he was often asked to do those heavy duty stuffs; but, oh well.. He left in 1998 to go back to his hometown in Perak and the last time I heard, he received "Cemerlang" or "Excellent" at his new school in Perak. Good for him! He deserved that title and the increment in salary that came with it.
Ustaz Kamaruzzaman 
He went back to Peninsular Malaysia at the end of 1997 so I didn't get much chance to really know him. But from the few interactions that we had, he stood out in my mind as being a very humble, patient, soft-spoken and extremely polite religious teacher. I think he deserved to be mentioned here.
Ustazah Nik Farhan 
She was a very nice and popular Arabic Teacher. Students clamored to be in her class. She was also the type who was not afraid to give suggestions or voiced out her opinions. She went back to Selangor in 1999 with her husband, Ustaz Sobri (another extremely nice person!) to become a lecturer in Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang.
Cikgu Mohd Rosli Yaakub 
A small fiesty man from Kelantan he took over the loss-making school co-op and turned it into a profitable one. With him at the helm the school co-op won many awards each year. In spite of his short temper, he was very popular among the students for his genuine concern of their achievement in his subject which was Geography. Cikgu Rosli also enjoyed gardening and he was often seen around the school in the evening trimming the verge or planting flowers and shrubs to make the school more beautiful. The credit went to him for making both SMKAM Piasau and Miri such beautiful schools. He went back to his hometown in year 2002.
Ustaz Jaafar Belal 
From Miri itself, Ustaz Jaafar is a very nice, friendly, open minded and funny religious teacher (but a VERY strict Discipline Teacher!). He was the one who started churning 1001 ideas on how to raise funds for the school. Under his creative mind (and energy!), the school has organized many fund-raising events such as "Jualan Amal" (Charity Food Sale) at the old school and other interesting events such as Computerthon, "Baca-thon" (Readathon), "Pantaithon" (marathon along the beach area!), whateverthon and so on. Loads of fun! Anyhow, thanks to his valiant efforts, the school has enough money to sponsor activities such as the prefects' camp at Lambir National Park, the counseling club orientation week at Hawaii Beach, and buy more equipment such as LCD projector, OHP and computers for the school. For your information, all form 5 classes are equipped with their very own OHP. Also, thanks to him, excellent students in PMR and SPM are given cash rewards and Malaysia Airlines return-tickets to Labuan/Sabah! He is now an officer at Sarawak State Education Department.
Ustaz Abd Mukti Md Nor 
Born and raised in Kelantan, Ustaz Mukti is a person who is not afraid to speak up his mind. But he does so nicely, of course! He is a friendly person and gets along well with everyone. He teaches Arabic and the students enjoy his lessons. He is also a very firm Chief Warden and Discipline Teacher. I think the students become more disciplined with him as the Chief Warden because they know they won't get his sympathy if they break the rules. As the Chief Warden, Ustaz Mukti is also responsible for the 500+ students who stay in the hostel and I think that is a heavy responsibility. He genuinely cares for the students' well-being. He is now teaching in Kelantan.
Ustaz Azhan Yusoff 
He came to the school in year 2000. A tall well-built guy from Penang who is a model of politeness and diplomacy. Easy to talk to and he is always generous in terms of his time and energy. His most notable contribution to the school was in single-handedly upgrading the computer lab and the media room which were under his care. He was the one who brought in the ISDN line and set up computer-networking in the school. By the way, if anyone needed help with the setting of the projectors, OHP, LCD, computers, scanners etc, he was the one everyone called for help! Ustaz Azhan was also a person who was open to other people's ideas. It was fun talking and discussing things with him. He went back to his hometown in December 2003.
:: Yours Truly |
