Cikgu Bahar (SMSK: 1975-1977)

I've always wanted to write about him. I don't know why but he is always special to me and many of my friends...

His full name is Baharudin Mohd Arus. My batch and Cikgu Bahar have something in common - we started in SMSKel at almost the same time (he arrived a day or 2 before us and it was his first posting as a teacher, having completed his studies at MPIK) - He as a teacher and we as students. Cikgu Bahar started as our BM teacher. We found out much later (i.e. in 2001 when we met him again), that he actually was not prepared to teach BM (his majoring was Sports and Arts). However the impact that he had on us was great enough for us to appreciate BM literature. Many of us still remember some of the Malay poems (sajak) that he exposed us to. We came to know and appreciate more of Amir Hamzah, Tongkat Warrant, Hamka and Chairil Anwar, to name a few. As for me, one of them was sajak AKU by Chairil Anwar , which stays permanently in my head, especially when I was/am feeling very down. Here's the full poem:

AKU

Kalau sampai waktuku
'Ku mau tak seorang kan merayu
Tidak juga kau

Tak perlu sedu sedan itu

Aku ini binatang jalang
Dari kumpulannya terbuang

Biar peluru menembus kulitku
Aku tetap meradang menerjang

Luka dan bisa kubawa berlari
Berlari
Hingga hilang pedih peri

Dan aku akan lebih tidak perduli

Aku mau hidup seribu tahun lagi

Apart from teaching BM, Cikgu Bahar was also a warden, the Sports Secretary (means he handles all the matches/competitions within school as well as interschool and interdistrict).
I was one of his "helpers", taking charge of refreshments for the players, especially when we had to go out for matches. I enjoyed the task very much since I had the chance to visit so many schools and cheer for our school teams!

Cikgu Bahar was also the advisor to the Art Club, where I was the Bendahari, I think... or maybe just an AJK.

Cikgu was more of our abang too, he liked to tell us about his tunang then (who later became and still remains his missus now). He liked to go round the classes during night prep and sometimes when his mood was right, he would be telling us interesting tales e.g. his experience as a cop (before joining the maktab perguruan). I still remember his stories of his childhood, how he and siblings would do well in sports and cycled home with all the trophies. He said that he has a big family, and his hometown is Sijangkang, which is halfway between Klang and Banting, so his parents decided to send some of them to a school in Klang and some to the school Banting!

As for me, I had neighbours in Serom, Muar who were cikgu's collegemates in MPIK (maktab Perguruan Ilmu Khas), and there were some interesting stories between them too ;-)

He also made arts classes very interesting - he taught us to make mobiles (that we hung in the classroom), 3-D greeting cards (how to make a raya card where you can have two hands shaking each other when you open it; a card that looks like a blazer, with shirt and tie inside), and abstract drawings. He also showed us how to produce interesting collages. His favourite students from my class were of course Hood & Norita, who would normally score very high in Arts - they were the great artists among us!

In early 1978, cikgu managed to get transfered to Perak, to be closer to home(Klang)! Later we heard that cikgu went on to pursue his degree in USM.

The next time I met Cikgu was in 1988 when I went for an interview for the ASHES (Academic Staff Higher Education Scheme) in USM. It was really a pleasant surprise. I was the last candidate for the morning interview session, and cikgu was the first for the afternoon session. I told DH (dearest Hubby) that I wanted to meet and surprise him. DH agreed, so we waited for him. He was really surprised to see us!!! He told DH "Anak2 murid saya dah pergi overseas, dan balik.. Ni biarlah saya pulak merasa...". I was applying for Software Engineering and Cikgu was applying for Fine Arts. Both of us got the offer, and had to go through Kementerian Pendidikan (since we were both bonded by the ministry) for release. Both of us got the release. Cikgu went to US but I decided not to take up the scholarship after all :-(
I was supposed to pursue my master's and PhD in Software Engineering in Sheffield University but DH only allowed me to go alone and leave our 3 small kids behind with him (for at least 4 yrs!!). MANA BOLEH!!!!!

In 2001, my batch managed to have a mini gathering at KLCC, where my surprise for them was Cikgu Bahar himself!! I managed to trace him (he was about to leave USM) just before he left for Universiti Berunei Darul Salam. Here's the group pix taken on that day with Cikgu Bahar in orange batik (sitting). Others who were there were Surea Mamat, Zuhdi, Zuhaimi, Mazlin, Yasmin, Salwani, Che Rohani, Norita, Nuraini, Mat Puji, Kamil and Roslan.


Another pix of some of us with cikgu:

Cikgu, Norita, me and Fauzi

And another:

Kamil, Zuhaimi, cikgu, with a bit of Mazlin

I last met Cikgu at the end of 2005, when he invited us to the wedding of his eldest child. The family home is in Klang but I think he is still in Sultan Hasanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, UBD.

I think cikgu is still a member of my batch's e-group but he hardly says anything. The last mail from him was when he invited us to his child's wedding - among those who went were Hood, Norita and me.