a teacher & a student

Seen from DW's instagram page

Encik Rahimy taught my brother when he was in primary school 

and later he taught me as well for two years. I was 10 and 12 

when he taught me and I remember him to be a very inspiring teacher 

in the sense that he nurtured my love for design, drawing, 

colours and anything related to art. He encouraged us to participate 

in colouring contests, he brought music to the class, he gave us 

rolls of coloured paper and without a pair of scissors asked us to 

create a backdrop, he yelled as us when we were rowdy and 

disorderly, he brought us for adventures to explore, he gave 

us prizes when we did well with his own money, he allowed us 

to explore acting and so much more. 

When I left primary school, it was difficult to say goodbye to 

him and my other classmates as we were all going to 

different schools and do we made promises and wrote

in our autograph books that we would be friends forever,

we were all still afraid of what our new adventure would

hold for us. Encik Rahimy however, was quick to tell us

that we would be okay and that we would all do well

and that we should not worry.

I didn't see Encik Rahimy for many years. I thought about 

him every now and then when I heard a song or when I passed

by the old primary school I attended and then just recently

my friend Soorian who was coming back from LA said that

we should try tracking him down and so I did. It was fairly

easy and as luck would have had it, he was visiting Kuala

Lumpur as well. So long story short, I got to meet with him.

It was a surreal experience in some ways. Almost 18 years

had passed and here we were, teacher and student.

He remembered quite a number of things about me and in

particular he remembered how I loved to draw, to colour,

to create. He said he kept the cards I made him {and in 

fact several people did mention this to me... about keeping the 

handmade cards/bookmarks I made for them yonks ago.} 

I was happy to hear this because somewhere

between then and several years ago, no one bothered

to encourage me much in developing that part of me.

It was always about studying, getting good grades, not

failing in my exam, vying for scholarships, part time work,

writing, more writing and then getting a good job, and then

performing in your job to get bonuses, increments and 

promotions. Then there was the endless dramas of boys,

men, friendships, death, love and everything in between. 

There was hardly time for creating and colouring.

And seeing him there, older, quieter, married with a

daughter of his own I realised that it was always in me

this desire to create, to colour, to draw but I had forgotten.

It was a good affirmation to meet him and have him 

remind me of the girl that used to be, the girl that actually

still is *smiles smiles* I am so thankful that I got to meet

him with B and I like the pink soft toy snake that he got me.

I am going to be planning a reunion for me and my primary

school friends 'cos when they saw this photo of us on FB,

they too wanted to say 'hello' and to thank Encik Rahimy

for being such an awesome teacher. Some of them were as inspired 

as me as well and I hope that Encik Rahimy knows how 

many lives he has touched and how we all 

remember him for his awesomeness.

And yes, I am going to keep on crafting and creating.