That Fire

I remember my time at school, we had our fair share of boring classes, pointless meetings and assemblies and unhelpful teachers. Sometimes, we did have some lecturers and classes that we enjoy and cherish even after our time there; but honestly, who really enjoys waking up early and staying back late for classes? Nobody enjoys their last day of holiday knowing that they have to get up early for school tomorrow. Well, that was West Malaysia for me, classes are not our No. 1 interest, and the teachers’ No. 1 fans are definitely not all of their students.

Bario was the first time I ever jumped into an East Malaysia classroom. I have some experience in teaching for private tuitions, but that was with at most two students. Knowing that I would have to teach a class of more than 5 students did scare me. We always have those trouble makers sitting at the back of the class in the West, making lots of noise, not paying attention to the speaker, even disrupting or skipping classes. I was unsure of how I could handle these people, considering that it has been less than 2 years since I graduated from high school. Putting aside my inexperience and young age compared to my elder teammates, I stepped in my first class with YC and Kit May, my two teammates. The class we had: Standard 5 of SK Bario.

Our class of 5 boys and 3 girls was surprisingly receptive to us, even though we had some difficulties teaching Science in Bahasa Malaysia. They ran into their class and sat in front, anticipating us big brothers and sisters to teach them something. The students may be older than the others in the other classes, but they are very polite, which surprised us a lot. If we entered a West Malaysia class, there are high chances for half the class to be missing, either skipping or genuinely having some more important commitments than us. The polite and relaxing class atmosphere in Bario is a rare sight in West Malaysia; I have never seen so much respect to any new outsider before. Although we struggled to translate the words we knew into Bahasa Malaysia to the class, they were very patient towards us. They even did the class activities and exercises with enthusiasm.

Our next assignment was Form 2B in SMK Bario, which was a much bigger class. The sight of 25 students was intimidating to me and Ai Jin. However, just like the SK students, they were receptive even when I struggled to teach them about air pressure in Bahasa Malaysia. They were also smart and grasped concepts easily. However, we discovered an ugly truth of what our education system has done. The English standard in the schools are poor; poorer than our already deteriorating standard of English in West Malaysia. They struggled to even construct simple sentences in Form 2, and heavily relied on the Bahasa Malaysia-English dictionary. 

Then, Ai Jin realised the standard of the class after she saw their recent examination results at the back of the classroom. The passing rate in the class was very low. Maybe, the students there have the enthusiasm to study, but do not have the adequate resources to strive forward. The situation in the West is absolutely opposite; many do not have the enthusiasm to study, but are flooded with private tuitions, extra classes and workbooks. I am really worried about the English standard there. Over here at where I live, I struggled to get into an international school and getting a decent score in IELTS because of my lack of proficiency in English. However, these children in Bario cannot even score high in our low English standard examinations, what more competing with the world.

Teaching for the last time to the Standard 5 class, we taught them to aim higher and strive for the best. I cannot hope for any different for them, they have the enthusiasm to strive and succeed. To the urbanites, I can only advise you to appreciate what you have; respect your lecturers, appreciate what your parents sacrifice for your education, and attend those classes. You have no idea how lucky and fortunate you are. To the students I taught in Bario as well as those of you in similar situations, well done in your enthusiasm, never die down, in fact strive for more and more. Never stop improving, push away those that undermine you, ignore the criticisms and follow your dreams. Sooner or later, you will all become great people, and it all starts with that enthusiasm to learn, that fire in you.