MY EARLY SCHOOL DAYS

My Primary School Days – Part I

My first primary school was called Malay School Ulu Yam Bharu, There were two Ulu Yams, the other being Ulu Yam Lama, one new and the other old. I was not disappointed that there was no proper classroom. We were “borrowing” the premises of an “Arabic” school near the Malay school. It is not really an Arabic school in the sense that lessons were taught in Arabic. It is actually a religious school. It was open in the afternoon when those who went to the morning Malay school would go there for their basic religious education. At that time there were no desks and chairs. We sat on the floor. It was not comfortable to say the least. A new school building was being built near the main Malay School building. We were looking forward to the completion the new school. In the meantime we made do with our borrowed classroom. To be sure there was no light and fan in the classroom. For toilet facility fortunately there was a river nearby.

The new school was completed some time later. It was built by the people and not by the Government. Therefore it was a very simple building basically to shelter us from the elements, even that not very satisfactorily. The floor was just the bare earth. Cement would have been costly and unaffordable. There was no wall. The roof was made of attap. So were not completely protected against the rain. However the biggest inconvenience was that in the morning we were subjected to attack by very tiny insects (we called “agas”) who were very fond of biting our bare legs. We could hardly concentrate on our lessons as we had to constantly fend against these tiny insects by slapping them every time they attacked. Fortunately someone discovered a partial solution to this problem. We were told to bring dry coconut husk to school. Before lessons started we would place these husks in the corners of the classroom and burned them. The smoke from the burning husk would drive away the insects. In the same process the smoke also caused a problem to our eyes. We decided this was the lesser of the two evils. We remained in this makeshift building until one day it was blown down by strong wind. We went back to the Arabic school. It was at least a better building and no agas attack. It was only when I went up to standard three we moved to the main building.

In those days the pupils had to maintain and clean the school. So the first one hour after we arrived at the school some of us had to cut the grass or clean the drains. The girls would sweep the classrooms. The older boys would also be taught gardening. We planted various types of vegetables and maize.

When I was in standard three I was selected together with other pupils to sit for a qualifying examination to join the Special Malay Class (SMC). Special Malay Class was a class in an English medium school. It would mean if one is successful in the qualifying examination he would leave the Malay school and continue his education in English with the opportunity to continue his education up to the Cambridge School Certificate. Of course then the sky was the limit. One could even go to University. On the other hand if you remained in Malay school the highest level at that time was standard six. With the standard six qualification we were eligible to apply to become Malay School teachers. Other job opportunities would be policemen and soldiers. Some would get the lowest grade jobs in the civil service like office boys orderlies and the like. Therefore I was very excited when nominated to sit for the qualifying examination. I was even more excited when I learned that I was one of the successful candidates. My life would change dramatically. There would be the daily bus rides to Kuala Kubu Bharu where the Government English School was as SMC would be in that school. I could not wait for the new year to come. Imagine my disappointment when I was subsequently told that I was not to go to the SMC after all. I learned later that my dear mother had other ideas. She had gone to see the Visiting Teacher, who was like the Chief Education Officer of  the Malay School system in the district, and told him there was no way she could afford to send me to SMC in Kuala Kubu Bharu. What a let down. Of course on hindsight I think my mother thought she was right. We just had no money even for the bus fare. She also thought there would be school fees to pay and books to buy and a bit of pocket money for me. Disappointed I continued to go to Standard 4.