By
matisaa_02
I
met Tuan Syed Abu Bakar when he was the headmaster of Sik English
School
. He opened the school from nothing . Not even a chair or a
desk
. Not even a piece of chalk . He was alone .He had to run to
and
fro searching for everything . Borrowed the left-out colonial
benches
from Sekolah Melayu Sik . He walloped everything that comes
through
.At that time there were no lorries in Sik . He carried the
left-over
benches by a bullock-cart belong to the district office .
He
'tumpang' the verandah of the community hall for his class . He
was
not only the headmaster but a teacher , office-boy , clerk , the
school
caretaker , the sweeper and the canteen-man . He represented
everybody
that needs to run a school . He collected school fees by
barter
trading . Parents brought eggs and chickens . He transfered
those
to money but buying the products . During fruits season ,he
had
to buy the fruits . Whaooo , what teacher he was.
Sik
was then still rural,very rural . No good roads , no
electricity
, no water-supply . Nothing at all . Luckily there was a
rest
house , only the house with no facilities . It was there Tuan
Syed
slept and his only friend was Dollah Panjang . Dollah was a
left-out
boy . He had no proper education even at sekolah melayu .
Dollah
assisted Tuan Syed when asked for . If Tuan Syed being called
to
the education office in Alor Setar , it was Dollah who looked
after
the school . When Tuan Syed was away , Dollah will tell
everybody
around that he was the assistant headmaster. By no time .
Dollah
also could speak english . Tuan Syed gave no chance
conversing
in english . Even the rural parents could utter a few
words
of english.
When
the school building was built in the middle of the kampong ,
there
was still no proper road . It was fit only for kumpulan
kembara
FWD .
It
was a mile from pekan Sik . Tuan Syed was no panic . He only
grumbled
, who the hell chose the site . He had to buy a lambretta
to
go to school. During rainy season he used his KAKI ( walk) .
As
times goes by , Sekolah Aneka Jurusan was introduced . Tuan Syed
once
more was chosen to run that school . Also from nothing . He had
to 'tumpang' sekolah melayu Sik and the chinese
school . He had to
run
the classes in the afternoon. So Tuan Syed now hold 2 posts : as
headmaster
of
Menengah
Aneka Jurusan Sik . Till then he had still no school clerk
for
both schools . He used his own pocket money and employed Cik
Sopiah
Abd. Rahim as a school clerk . Her salary was 30 ringgit a
month.
God
willing , I will write more about Tuan Syed and other kirkbyites
that
I know ........so standby .
Till
we meet again .
Regards
to all.
ps
: I contacted thestar.com.my ( The Star published the romance of
Tuan
Syed and Siti Rohani Ismail : REUNITED AFTER 50 YEARS
) , and
they
gave me the following details :
Address
: Tuan Syed Abu Bakar bin Syed Akil Sahabuddin (Kirkbyite 1953-55) and Siti
Rohani
Ismail (Kirkbyite 1954-56)
38,Jalan
Setiarasa,
Bukit
Damansara,
Tel. No, : 03-20959695