LIFE AS A CIKGU: NO PERKS NO NOTHING! SHEER MONOTONY

Cikgu Abu Aman Bachik, retired: A shot by Zahiman Alias at Datin Rozna Md. Jan's residence in Springhill, Lukut, 4 November 2012.

An ordinary cikgu is indeed ordinary, as the literal meaning of the word. There is no frills, there is no perks in whatever form it may be, there are no bonuses to  look forward to, there is no comfy hotel rooms, there is no buffet breakfast or buffet lunch to wait for as you wake up in the morning, nor to rush to during lunch break hour. All you have as an ordinary teacher is the promised monthly pay minus all the deductions necessary. Such is the cikgu or teacher in Malaysia then. Of course the public will argue that teachers have a lot of holidays. These holidays are not the teachers' asking. The system is such that the children have to have breaks to rest their minds. Its not the teachers' asking  and it's no fault of the teachers is it? it's not that the teachers are not willng to teach during these holidays either!

 In those days refresher courses were only held in school with hostel facilities. Never were they held in posh hotels or golf resorts. Reason being they were too costly to be held there. If they were held in schools with hostel facilities participating teachers would be served with hostel food with slight variation here and there, of course. As for lodging the hostel's dorms would be used. Such was the thriftiness of the Education Ministry. Other ministries  would have  courses for their staff in hotels or resorts,where buffet lunch or dinner would be served to the participants. The teachers were indeed the ill -treated lot of the government servants then. Reason being teachers were the larger in number as compared to other personnel of other ministries. The budget for the Education Ministry was apportioned largely to the upgrading of schools and things connected to schools. Thus the teacher manpower development was sidetracked. Teachers were only urged to sacrifice and they were sweet talked that their profession is a very noble one and that they would be rewarded in the hereafter world.I

As for their  present lives, they have to suffice with their monthly pay, minus all the necessary deductions. Their yearly increment was so meagre, that if compared to the increments of and to the bonuses of the private sector they were just like a dew drop in the vast ocean. Against all odds that teachers had to face, they were able to build homes for their families, they too were able to buy cars, pieces of land, properties and not to forget, were able to make the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. Such a wonderful creatures of Allah were these teachers. Alhamdulillah.

 Mr. S.K. Nathan front row, centre, chairing TBS Literary and Debating Society 1960. Abu Aman Bachik standing back row, (2nd from right) with Ahmad Fadzil Yassin (centre).

All these were possible due to the wonder of co-operative societies. Such were and is the power of co-operation among the population of Malaysia. As you know co-operative societies pool the funds from their members and then allowed their members to borrow from them, by stressing their borrowers to pay back plus a token  interest. There were so many co-operative societies, and to name a few: The Kesatuan Guru Guru Melayu Malaysia Barat, Syarikat Kerjasama Anak Melayu Negeri Sembilan, and Syarikat Guru Melayu Negeri Sembilan. The co-operative society movements were so laudable, they even established their own bank I.e. Bank Rakyat Malaysia. Without the co-operative societies, the teachers would be a miserable lot, with their small pay barely enough to make ends meet. With the money borrowed from Co-operative Societies, teachers buy cars, become landed landlords and performed  the Haj to Mecca.

 Teachers in Malaysia then were indeed a pitiful lot. As I said earlier, they were always  asked to be patient and always to sacrifice, especially to those who were posted to the remotest of kampungs, where there were no modern amenities available. There were no entertainments, no comfort living, no nothing. Yet they survived the miserable situations and produced wonders with their dedications and commitments. The Orang Asli graduates who headed certain ministry now are living testimony of the remote teachers dedication and commitments. Syabas Cikgu.!!!

I had my first taste of luxury only when I was appointed a Subject Discipline Chief back in July, 1993. When I became a Ketua Bidang, I had my first buffet lunch when I attended The Subject Discipline Chief Meeting. The meeting was held at the Port Dickson Golf Club. The lunch was indeed a breakaway from the hostel cooking that I used to have when attending teacher refresher courses. These luxury  meals continued for a series of other meetings and short courses for The Subject Discipline Chief. Sometimes, These meetings  were held at posh hotels too, around Port Dickson, thus the luxurious meals and the comfortable lodgings.

This was just after being appointed Subject Discipline Chief. Imagine if I accepted the post of Ketua Penolong Pengarah  Bahagian Teknik and Vokasional in the Education Department, in Seremban. But, I had to turn down the post as I was not willing to make a daily return trip to Seremban from my home in Tampin. Furthermore, my health then did not permit me as I am suffering from acute asthma. The office in Seremban was fully air-conditioned. And this was not conducive to my asthma.

Had I accepted the post, the situation would definitely be different altogether. If you should attend a meeting, you were an officer attending a meeting. You were no more the ordinary cikgu attending a meeting. The way you carried yourself would surely be different. You would be dressed in suit, or at least in a bush jacket, complete with tie and shining polished shoes. Therefore the lunch served would be  certainly be different from the lunch that was served when you were Subject Discipline Chief. If you were to spend the night, it would surely not be the hostel dormitory standard. It would be a twin sharing hotel room   and nothing less. Those were the different situations that one were to experience if one were to accept increased responsibilities.

While enjoying the Subject Discipline Chief status, I was  blessed with another luck. I was appointed as a Team Leader of SPM  Principles of Accounts Answer Scripts Examiners. Before this I was an ordinary examiner. As an examiner I had to attend correcting briefings only in the school where the Team Leader was teaching, and served packed lunches. But the situation was somewhat different when I served as a

Team Leader of Examiners. It was totally different in fact.

Briefing for Team Leaders would last a week, it was always held in posh hotels like The Penang Bay View Hotel, The Melaka Bay View Hotel and another hotel also in Melaka, which I have forgotten the name. When it was held in Hotels and for a week long too, definitely the food and the lodging were class. However I was a team leader only for three years, I stopped being a Team Leader, a year before I retired in 1998. This was to give way to younger candidates. I think, the Examination Syndicate of Tha Ministry Of Education, has a lot more funds than the Ministry itself, for being able to have briefings in posh hotels for the examiners.

Those were the days in the life of the so called cikgu. Only after thirty years as a teacher did a cikgu have a decent treatment from the Ministry of Education. If teachers were so valuable to the society couldn't they be better treated right from the day they were appointed as teachers? At least nowadays  teachers are provided with living quarters which are decent enough. And they are now given a better starting salary. Hopefully, they would be better treated too, when they are asked to attend refresher courses. Now that the generous Government is quite lavish with its spending especially to ease off the burden of the poor, with their various aids, do not overlook the welfare of the teachers, upon whom is rested the gigantic task of educating the children, who are the beneficiaries of the nation. Their human capital must surely be of the  uppermost importance to care for and to nurture. Thus to make them ready for the high income society dream. aab,1057, 081112.