SUATU KETIKA DI USM: GHAZALI YASIN WAS A DEER IN USM'S ACADEMIC VILLAGE

Ghazali Yasin - the"deer" from Kuala Johol

• Selain teringat kisah lama sewaktu belajar di TBS dulu saya juga tidak lupa mengingati pengalaman saya semasa mula bertugas di Universiti Pulau Pinang (kemudian namanya ditukar kepada 'Universiti Sains Malaysia') pada awal tahun 70an dahulu. Disitulah bermulanya migrasi seorang budak kampung untuk memulakan penghidupan baru di Pulau Pinang. Saya ingin berkongsi di sini satu pengalaman - yang boleh diibaratkan seperti rusa masuk kampung! [GY]
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  LOOKING BACK AT MY EARLY DAYS IN USM
  
  [This is a slightly longer version of the article that first appeared in ‘The Leader’, a magazine of the Universiti Sains Malaysia Alumni, September 2009, Volume 4 No.3 issue]
  
  That April Fool’s Day, was the day that my cousin, Mohd. Noor Ayun and my nephew, Hashim Wahab joined me in reporting for work at Universiti Pulau Pinang (later known as Universiti Sains Malaysia), then quartered at the Malayan Teachers College in Bukit Gambiar.
  
  My cousin was appointed Attendant at the Registry, and Hashim as Microfilm Operator in the main Library. As for me, I became a Typist at the Chancellery. What bound all three of us together to the new surrounding was our common blood ties to Professor Hamzah Sendut – the first Vice-Chancellor (VC).
  
  Not long after we reported for work with the Registrar, (now Dato’) Noel Alfred Ogle all three of us had to confront Hamzah who gave us less than 10 minutes of his time. In that short time we found him to be quite a different person from the familiar ‘Pak Long’ whom we adored back in the kampung which he never failed to visit during Hari Raya Puasa. Now, he had a stern front and looked serious as though he had never known us at all.
  
  He retorted with unexpected cynicism when I enquired why I had not been considered for a clerk’s post, as I had the required qualifications. I was compelled to raise this matter as I had been teased by a lady stenographer who asked me to wear a skirt to office like the rest of the lady typists.
  
  Hamzah’s response keeps ringing in my ear to this day, “First, prove that you can type fast and understand all aspects of office work.” He then advised all three of us to work hard and to finish a job even if it was beyond our normal duty. “This is not a coffee shop we are running. We are running a university. Here, everyone works hard.”
  
  He used the familiar analogy of the padi field to illustrate his points. “If Ali works hard but neglects to manure or fence his field, a portion of the food will be consumed by the buffaloes - leaving him with only 150 gantangs of rice. As for Ahmad, although he might have tilled the soil and planted the seedlings, everything is futile if he chooses to throw the manure lazily at the sides of the bunds, and to sit down to a drink at the coffee shop. Maybe he will get only 100 gantangs of rice. Take the third person, Abu, who does work from A to Z, from tilling the soil right up to ensuring that the pests do not destroy the yield. His yield is 600 gantang.”
  
  “If Abu reaped a rich harvest the other two have no reason to be angry with him. Abu was hard working, persistent, responsible and did not waste time like the other two,” said Hamzah.
  
  He also advised us against emulating the buffaloes that will only start working when they are beaten.
  
  Professor Hamzah’s advice was a mantra that constituted the basis for a positive outlook on life.
  
  I made sure that I work fast and meticulous. I wanted to show Hamzah that I could type faster than Santha Devi (my colleague in the Chancellery); and better still, that I could do better than any other typist in the Universiti. I also wanted to be a resource person who knew every single detail about the Universiti.
  
  At the Chancellory, I worked under the supervision of Cheah Swee Peng, VC’s Secretary and the late Mohd. Ariff Abdullah (Special Assistant to the VC). later I also had to assist (now Dato’) Sheikh Sulaiman Ismail, the Assistant Registrar in charge of Public Relations. Working under many bosses I developed the skill to multitask.
  
  I was promoted as a Clerk in April 1971 and was then transferred to the Registry and placed directly under S. Kandasamy. ‘SKS’ (as he was fondly referred to) was what schoolchildren would describe as ‘fierce’. Practically all the Registry staff were scared of him. We had to work beyond the call of duty almost every day. Despite not being paid for working overtime, SKS was kind and generous to use his own money to provide food and drinks for all of us. I suppose he could afford to do that, as he was still a bachelor at that time!
  
  From Ogle I learnt quite a bit on methods such as “Management by Objectives’ and ‘Critical Path Analysis’. He also drove home the point that ‘everything must have been done by yesterday’.
  
  Others who guided my were Zambri Haji Mahmud, P. Arunasalam and Yeoh Oon Seng. All my colleagues work hard. Among those that come to mind are Chin Saik Yoon (who is now a successful Publisher), Janet Scully, Molly Toh, Philomena David, Naemah Zainur, Kalthom Che Din, Mohd. Noor Ayun, Sharifah Aishah, Zainab Hassan, Razak Ahmad, Yusof Ari and Ismail Bidin.
  
  I mixed around and could know almost every single member of administrative as well as the academic community. Those few who were closed to me were (Prof. Dr.) Chandra Muzaffar, (Dato’ Prof. Dr.) Vincent Lowe, Dr. Collin Abraham, Prof. Shuichi Nagata, the late Prof. David Gibbons and (Dr.) Chee Kim Loy. All of them were from the School of Social Sciences. They had their offices in a bungalow rented by the University at No. 5 North Road, Bukit Gelugor as there was an acute shortage of office space for academic staff in the MTC shared campus. Chandra was then Assistant Lecturer in Political Science. He never failed to share ideas with us on a wide range of subjects touching on human rights, social justice, local politics and religion. He was very popular and well-liked by the students.
  
  Mohd. Noor, Hashim and I were allowed to stay for free in a small room next to the kitchen. In return, we were asked to clean all three rooms used by the six academic staff. It was during non-working hours that the three of us made use of the kitchen. I presume they just could not bear the stench that emanated from the fried salted fish and sardine that bachelors usually found easy to cook! I realized later that most of them did not stay back after office hours or during holidays -- except for Chandra whom we considered to be a workaholic.
  
  Mohd. Nor Ayun continued working until his compulsory retirement age in 2006 from the day he joined the University until he retired. My nephew, Hashim Wahab, who worked in the Library, tendered his resignation from the Universiti in the late 70s to take up a better job with Petronas. As for me, I chose to opt for early retirement on 31 December 1994 after having served the Universiti for almost 25 years to join the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) – an international NGO based in Kuala Lumpur dedicated to the cause of world peace and justice. My last position at USM was Computer Programmer at the Computer Centre.
  
  On looking back over the silver jubilee years of my career as one of the pioneer staff, I must say that USM has done me proud. I was given the opportunity to get an overseas training in computer programming and was able to gain wide experience in academic administration under the able direction of three Vice-Chancellors (Tan Sri Professor Hamzah Sendut, Tun Hamdan Sheikh Tahir and Tan Sri Musa Mohamed) and two Registrars whom I admired greatly (Dato’ N.A Ogle and Dato’ Hajjah Siti Mazenah Saad). If I could be said to have imbibed an understanding of modern concepts of office management and administration from these towering personalities, I must also acknowledge the wealth of experience and knowledge gained from each and every single member of the campus and academic community whom I had the privilege to know.
  
  Together with my tenure as President of the General Staff Union for six years, I gained precious experience working with, and getting to know people from the diverse communities. It helped to shape my worldview and open-minded attitude towards people of various races and religions.
  
  By the time I retired, USM had transformed me from a boy who was nothing more than a ‘katak bawah tempurung’ to one who is able to analyse sympathetically, rationally and humanistic in order to understand this vast world full of intricate issues beyond my kampong confines.
  
  When the three of us were leaving for an uncharted world away from kampong in 1970, my late father gave this advice, “Berhati-hati di negeri orang, jaga diri baik-baik – dalam dunia ini ramai orang yang pandai tetapi tak ramai yang mempunyai hati yang baik!.”
  
  Thanks to USM, the apprehension of being transported into a strangers’ land full of unknown dangers was soon to be transformed into a joyful learning experience of life in new surroundings and with new friends through whom I was able to relate to a complex world, beyond my expectations as a child back in the kampong.