Sympathy

There was a commotion in Year 1 Isa this morning. A student refused to answer Bahasa Inggeris paper. Reason? He said he doesn't understand a single word. When the teacher coaxed him to write, he went into a tantrum. In order to restore peace in the classroom, he was sent to the staff room.

I saw him arguing with a senior teacher. I sat next to him and he asked me,
' Muallimah kenal ayah saya tak.'
'Kenal. Dulu ayah Hanan ajar anak Muallimah kat St Michael.'
Then he complained.
'Saya tak tahu Bahasa Inggeris. Apa yang dia tulis kat atas ni. Saya tak faham.'

I looked through his papers. All the objective questions were answered. Actually he refused to write the words and the phrases. There were only 3 pages to be completed.

'Bagus! Banyak dah siap.'

I guided him with the exercises and with a little help he managed to finish it in time.

The next paper was pendidikan seni. He didn't bring along his colour pencils so Puan Khalimah lent him a box. I asked him to behave well and send him back to class.

Sometimes when he misbehaved, we wondered whether he was missing his late mother.