TEACHERS -- THE BAD, THE MEDIOCRE AND THE GOOD
Most of the teachers in Penang Free School were good. Actually, irrespective of whether the teachers were bad, mediocre or good, the pupils would progress because they were the cream of the school population. But having good teachers inspired the pupils to perform even better.
Bad, mediocre and good teachers were obvious, yet it may be helpful to indicate them. Bad teachers were those who did not teach, or worse those who gave wrong information. Luckily, as far as I knew, there were no teachers who gave wrong information. No teachers, for examples, mentioned that London was the capital of Malaya, which the country was then called before Malaysia was formed.
Mediocre teachers were those who taught according to what they were supposed to teach. If they taught non-sense, I would regard them as bad teachers, in fact very bad teachers.
Good teachers not only taught, but they made their lessons very interesting. You would not want to miss any of their lessons. Some wits mentioned that good teachers did not teach, but they inspired. Luckily for us, good teachers in Penang Free School actually taught, often more than what they were supposed to do. Even if they did not teach, pupils in Penang Free School would still pass their examinations.
These good teachers also inspired. They made studying in Penang Free School a joy. Indeed, when I was at Penang Free School, I looked forward to going to school every day. Not only there were many good teachers who make their lessons interesting, there were also many other lovely things to do in school. This was a main reason why when I attended university, not immediately after school as I or my parents could not afford university education but many years after working, I found the two universities I went to, the University of Malaya and the University of Penang, regarded as the two best universities in the country, not an expansion of mind or a meeting of intellect, which I thought a university should be.
But I had a bad teacher, a very bad teacher in Penang Free School. He never taught – literally. He was supposed to teach us, the pupils of Penang Free School, history. I think I was in Form 4 then in 1961. He was eminently qualified – in paper qualifications. He held two master’s degrees, which was a rare achievement at that time.
Every time he came into our class, which was twice a week, he would write on the blackboard “Read chapter 6” or whatever chapter we were supposed to read progressively. He would then, literally, hide himself behind his newspapers which he brought to class every time, right in front of the class. Of course no one read chapter 6, or his history book, except perhaps some bookworms. But we were quite quiet because he could be quite fierce. Physical punishment, like slapping a pupil on his face, was not uncommon then.
I remember an interesting incident. It did not happen in our class, but in another class also in Form 4, and every student was talking about it. For some petty reason, this bad teacher quarreled with a brilliant boy. The boy took off one of his shoes and threw it at the teacher, but missed him. Instead of slapping the boy, the teacher calmly picked up the shoe and walked out of the classroom.
Nevertheless, the next year when I was in Form 5 in 1962, I had an excellent teacher in Mr Leong Yi Foong. He also taught us history. He had a bachelor degree then, which was also an achievement in those days though today bachelor holders could be easily found. Later when Mr Leong became a lecturer in the University of Penang, he took up his master’s degree and his Ph.D.
Mr Leong prepared his lessons well, and presented them in class even better. He inspired us to read a lot of books, not just for answering his assignments but more for our pleasure. He also told us many interesting stories related to the lessons he taught. He was the one who told us that an aspiring Chinese emperor, despite having fought with his life, would ask or pretend to ask his advisers three times before accepting the throne. I remember that after reading a lot of reference material, I wrote a long history of modern China, much longer than most pupils would write for an assignment.
I also had an excellent history teacher in Mr Rao when I entered Lower Form Six. We were very proud, in a good way, to be in Form Six as only a selected few could be there, especially in Penang Free School, the oldest and best school in the country, or as many Old Frees would say the best school anywhere in the world.
Mr Rao taught us ancient world history, and brought to life the empires of the ancient Egyptians, Indians and Chinese, as well as the achievements of great people of the Greeks and the Romans. I vividly remember that I used to ask him how to spell words like “Paleolithic”, “Thucydides” and “Xerxers”, but after he told me that I should have read up what he was to teach, I ceased to ask him such spellings.
Another excellent teacher was Mrs Hughes, the wife of Mr Hughes, the headmaster of Penang Free School. I was in Form 5 in 1962, and Mrs Hughes taught English. Mrs Hughes brought my English to a higher level. Not only I could write grammatically, I could express myself poetically and coherently. I made my statements clear, and learned different ways of presenting them.
When I went to From 6, Lower 6 and Upper 6 in two years in 1963 and 1964, an excellent teacher, Miss Ann Stamford, taught English Literature. Not many pupils took English Literature, but Miss Stamford not only enabled me to write good English, but also introduced me to the best English. In 1964 I won the English Literature prize, and later when I was in the University of Penang where Miss Stamford also taught, I also won another English Literature prize.
Having good teachers is a privilege. Amongst other benefits, they enable students to live and enjoy life more rewardingly. Since leaving school I have been a teacher all my life, first teaching in secondary schools in such subjects like English, literature, geography and history, and later teaching chi kung and kungfu to give health and happiness to those deserving irrespective of their race, culture and religion. My choice of being a teacher must have been much influenced by my good fortune of having good teachers in Penang Free School.
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