My Days in ACS

     My school days were rich of information , knowledge and exposure, the three different parts of my school life is primary full of my culture and I learnt about my language, religion and literacy related to Tamil and my passion for dramas and plays.I had a Malay neighbour friend who was same age with me, but language was a barrier between us. My Malay was not so good but we still manage to be good friends. We at times in the evenings explored our schools, i mean we played most of  teh evenings in both of our school compounds. I was in  MGVS Sitiawan and she was in SK Seri Selamat, a national primary school.After scoring  strait A's in UPSR, her family sent her to Tun Fatimah Boarding School. Her name is Siti Halimah and her father was a police driver. Her sister is Kamisah and she was my sisters friend.

     When  I started  secondary school , I was very happy to gain many friends.Most of them were Chinese and they were all my classmates. The lower secondary school  life was full of fun. My Chinese friends were my best friends during this time and I mange to polish my Malay and  became the most friendlier girl in my class and liked by most of the students, even from other classes. The teachers were very friendly and learning  hours were  something I cherished. The environment was Malay medium, and I improved my Bahasa Melayu until I manage to get 78 or  79 , A not even once   The mark which i gained considered very good compared to many of my class mates who failed the subject and even those who passed scored just  40 to 50.

   Each and every one of the teachers were unique and few of them were very funny, when they speak in  colloquial Malay, especially the Chinese Teachers. Mr. Wong, Mrs Diong & Mrs Jesudason, frequently spoke in English but when they saw no response from the students, they started to speak in funny Malay.I would like to share here that the seventies Teachers were gems. Most of my teachers were dedicated and the teaching and learning hours were quality . Lower secondary was the peak years of my study years.

    When I was in form 4 the environment was totally different, from Malay medium, I was upgraded to English Medium, that was in ACS. Everything was in English, the teaching , learning hours and the discussion with the Teachers. Even during Bahasa Malaysia , The conversation was in English but the learning hour was in Malay, Same  with the geography Teacher Mr. Ong Seng Hee. He taught my class geography but everything was in English only the names and things were mentioned in Malay. Mr Ong pronounce "potato' In Malay as "Gentang" which sounds funny.These Teachers have been teaching in English and when the Malay medium was introduced and my batch was the pioneer batch of the Malay medium, The teachers some how struggled to use Malay.
     One more interesting news is , My Form Teacher in form 4  was Mdm Aida Abdullah, she was our English Teacher. A very simple lady without makeup but the most beautiful Teacher in our School. She wore simple cotton batik suits almost daily. A verysweet and soft spoken fair complexion lady.Who never utter Malay words. She was the wife of the ADO of Lumut in late seventies.Mr. Soo Fong Beng was our English Teacher in form 5, He is the writer  of human  geografi text book in  seventies with Goh Cheng Leong.
       Mr. Ong Seng Hee, joined Ulu Kinta Teachers Training College and became one of my lecturer during my study years. One of my classmate, Ling Siew Lee was in the same programme and was in the same class with me during my  training years in Ulu Kinta.

     Though Mr. Soo Fong Beng was  a very strict man and at the same time a  sporting teacher. He encouraged us  to go  outing on our own and without any teachers assistance. During school break, the first weekend we  outing to  Pangkor Island and Pasir Bogak was  our choice . There were only mini huts at that time.We booked two mini huts for us. One for the girls and the other one for the boys. We were almost  14 of us. I was the only Indian girl and there were four of the boys, Baskar, Gopi, Ganapathy, and Ravindran, The rest of them, Toh Peng Leong and his sister Geok Sie, Oi Chan, Siew Lee, Chew Eng and several of  my class boys. It was  two  nights and three days outing. We  all like small kids played  games and in the sand and in water. Ooi Chan and Geok Sie were the main cooks  and the food was really delicious and fresh. Actually we bought everything in  Sitiawan and took with us, such as few whole chicken, cabbage, eggs, onions, carrots, rice and cooking oil. Fridge , woks , stoves and pots were available there including cups and plates. So preparing food was something easy for us.

     ACS has its own culture of nurturing the learners in literacy in the early morning and the first slot of the day is, newspaper test. This culture was applied to all the form 4 and form 5 studentss. Its an informal way of forcing the students to read  the news papers daily. Monday to Friday News paper test, 10 questions given to students and we need to get at least 5 wright answers and those who get 4 and below will get canning(boys)  and  girls duck walking around the block.So we all visit the school library almost everyday to read the news papers and escape from being punished. This method had made wonders and thats why majority of the students, I mean the ACS students  are quality students. 

The special Teachers who taught me.

     This years Teachers day reminds me of my teachers those who have been inspiration in my life and where school was the best part of my life'. When I recall my primary days, Mr. Kannaya, Mr. Appana, mdm Ponnamal, Mr. Subramaniam, Mr. Muniandy @Mugilarasan and Mrs Cheong my English Teacher, are the main Teachers whose memories  still fresh in my Life.
Among them Mr. Kanya was the most charming Teacher and my favourite among all. he disturbed me almost everyday by singing the song"Oh Meena oh Myna" and sat beside me during class hours, and I would say that , I had crush on him(puppy love) Mr. Kannaya was a very good looking man with curly hair. I mean I was only in standard 5 and was performing well in my studies and become his favorite student. That particular year we the standard 5 students perform well in year 5 examination. Five  of us were the toppers and we were given free seats to travel in the tour organized by the school. The trip was a one day tour visiting marble factory in Kantan, an orphanage in Taiping and Japanese Garden and Ipoh Race course . The five of us were not only given free trip but also as additional Rm 5 .

    My primary schooldays were  most enjoyable and full of fun. Since most of my classmates were boys, I spent time playing football with them during school hours and in the evenings.Almost everyday i had scratches and wound on my knee and arms. Before one scare heal I  used to have new scratches. And the Priciple. Mr. Subramaniam used to apply lotion on my wounded legs and elbows. He had a corner in the school  where he kept the first Aid box and i used to be the 'frequent patient' to get his service.

    I dont know why my teachers were very fond of me even after school hours. Once my sisters who attended a wedding told me that , they met my Teacher Miss Ponnammal and she asked about me. another time my 3rd brother told me that Mr. Appanah who was my Tamil Teacher advised him to help me to pursue    "higher Education". My brother told me several times about this. I was in standard six when I was introduced to Tamil Literature for the first time by Mr. Mugilarasan who learnt Tamil due to his interest in Tamil Language. Actually he was not exposed to Tamil language  during his younger days but in later life he became a Tamil Teacher. The first drama that we performed  under his guidance was "Silapathigaram".

           When I started secondary school, the environment was different but something pleasing. The teachers and my Friends were very caring and thoughtful.  I was the top three in my class and became the Teachers pet. My class teachers and the subject teachers were very nice to me. My form one class teacher was  Miss. Hayati Majid who treated me like her own sister. She was very compassionate  and very loving, under her tutelage, I improved Bahasa Malaysia and scored highest and well versed in Malay proverbs and in Idioms. she used me as an example when teaching in the class for being neatly and well dressed.Once she took me to her rented house where she has been sharing the house with other teacher friends. She introduced me and my classmate Gopal to her friends. then she took out her family album and told me about her family members. She mixed tea and treated us  biscuits
\that was the first "Plain tea" without milk that I tasted in my life and it taste heavenly.
        when I was in form 3 miss Hayati taught me Geographic and it was my best subject. She was the most committed and dedicated Teacher whom I come a cross first time in life.She was so caring that when the Tamil  Teachers organized a trip to KL, she accompanied us and slept with the girls and watched her eye on us, so the boys couldn't near the girls. A rare teacher, whom until today im still searching about her whereabouts. She must be in mid or late 50ies now. A rare gem and i was very lucky to be  her student. She is from Kuala Kangsar, thats her home town and very fair complexioned and had a mole on her lower cheek.

My Spiritual Teachers ( Religious Teachers @ gurus)

       I think I was only nine when I started attending Hindu religious class. I came to know about this class when one of the 'Chettiar"  who comes to my house to meet my dad. Those days text books need to buy our self and monthly need to pay certain amount of school fee. My dad with 9 children borrowed from the money lender  to provide us all our needs. Because dad was the only bread winner and had to educate 9 kids. This chettiar  is a very pious man Thenappan is his name if im not mistaken. But when ever he sees kids his palms will reach near his heart and with a wide smile on his face and santhanam on his forehead which is a sign that he is strong Hindu. He wished "Namaskaram" to the child he meets, which means "Vanakam" or "hello" a formal greeting .

       On weekends he teaches religious lessons, free of charge. He told my dad after seeing us the kids, to send us to the religious class. Me and my younger sister attended his classes on Sunday mornings. The class start at 8am and ends at 12.pm, we were served tea and Indian cakes such as vadai and kesari around 10am. My sister after some time did not attend, she was not interested but  I continued my spiritual journey with this teachers guidance until I was 16.
       We, I  mean the students  were invited to perform "kootu prathanai" almost every month when there is a function, such as birthday function, Babies naming ceremony, well wishing prayers. we were provided transport to those places and our duty was to sing the "Thevaram's and Thirumurai's.

   When I was in form 4, there was no news about the religious Teacher's whereabouts.That was the time the Hindu Youth Organization was started in Sitiawan and my brother Govind was the youth president. We had gatherings and games for the youths. During festive seasons we collected and gathered all the cakes and Indian sweets and packed those  and distributed to the Lumut Hospital patients. Mr. Aeramban , who was the ACS school librarian, was the founder of the Hindu Organization. During this Time Kanthaya a Ceylonese priest was appointed as the priest of Sitiawan Murugan Temple. We address him and his wife as "Ayya and Amma" which means dad and mum. They were just parents to all those youths and served food tirelessly. Most of the youths were schooling and all in upper secondary, today all those youths are graduates and several of them are higher officers.
  
      This Ayya is a pleasant man and works hard. Both amma and Ayya worked all day. Ayya other than doing the temple work, had his own  huge garden in the temple yard with various flowers and vegetables. Ayya supply betel leaves from his garden from Sitiawan shops to Bruas. He pedaled his cycle to all the estates and supplied the betel leaves to the estate shops and to the temples.

      Almost every Friday evenings after school I used to go to the temple and clean it. while ayya makes the garland. Ayya told me the story of Pattinathar and who  was a King and later turned a beggar and cursed a woman who provided  him poisonous rice. He was a man full of knowledge about Hindu   Epic stories and the years I visited the temple were the years of rich knowledge in religious life. I ate only vegetarian food and learnt few simple but delicious vegetarian dishes from "amma'. I practice preparing vegetarian food at home. Me and my brother ate vegetarian food but my sisters kids   were served both veg and non veg .