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My boss and my Malay classes

 



When I assumed my new appointment as a Labour Officer I had three bosses. 


Two of them were kind and compassionate while the third one was arrogant. For some reason he had a hatred for me. I must say the feelings were mutual as I always preferred to avoid him. When I saw him coming to the Club where we were members I would take the back entrance and drive off in my car. One day he confronted  me in the office and asked why I was avoiding him. I told him it was not deliberate but a coincidence. He was not pleased with my reply, gave an uneasy smile and moved away from where I was. 


From then on I confined my activities to the skittle table in the club and avoided him at the bar which was meant for beer drinkers. We used to have Bahasa Melayu  classes at 5.00pm on alternate days of the week. Those were the early years after independence and the Government encouraged all Officers to attend these classes.These classes were usually held outside office hours in the Office. The standard of the lessons was very rudimentary as they were meant for officers who had their schooling in English who had no exposure to the Malay language. In fact the Government provided the wages for Malay Language teachers who conducted these classes. The wages amounted to RM50/- per month for each student and paid directly to the teacher who was required to maintain a register of students, which would then be used to calculate his wages. If the student enrolment went below 15 students per month, no allowance would be paid for the month. 


We who were conversant in Malay, felt the classes were a waste of time. Similarly our language teacher had the same view. He devised a system where we would join him at the beginning of class, sign our names in the register and go our way. For these efforts the teacher would collect his fees and share it with the students in equal proportions. The Supervisor at the Ministry of Education was satisfied to see a well done up register, the teacher was happy he could collect fees without conducting classes and of course the students regarded it as a bonus to collect part of the fees without attending classes with  no effort on their part. However as the years rolled by the Government Agency charged with responsibility to organise Malay classes started questioning the wisdom of conducting classes for the National Language and brought the scheme to an end. 


This boss of mine who had his education fully in the English Language felt that it was mandatory for all

Officers to attend these classes. One day he found I was not at these classes and asked one of the clerks who knew my home address to accompany him to my neighbourhood  to check if I had missed classes to return home early. It so happened I was on field duty that day, got caught in a heavy shower and decided to return home instead of attending the class. 

As I was slipping off my wet shoes I saw my boss’s car with a clerk sitting beside him slowing down while passing my house. I knew it meant trouble for me the next day. 


The following day I left early for work and headed towards my Director’s office. He was an early bird and I found him working. I wished him good morning and explained the reasons I was not able to return to the Department for Malay Language classes.  He inquired  if I indeed had a credit in Malay in my Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination. When I replied in the affirmative he told me I was wasting my time attending these classes and he suggested I do something more useful during that period.  From then on I would strut about near my boss’s office during language classes much to my boss’s dismay. 


All contents (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy, mynameisgana@blogspot.com


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