My Journey

November 2009 – 1.4.2017 ( Part One)

My last eight  years in the education sector was not spent in one school but in fact in many schools. I left school in 2009 to join the Institute Aminuddin Baki, the Ministry of Education training wing  for heads of schools . 

 

When I made the move in 2009, I brought with me 25 years of classroom teaching . During  the last  14 years of my 25 years at school,  I was a subject teacher as well as an administrator ( Senior Assistant in Student Affairs and Senior Assistant in Administration and Academics ).I missed out on the top post , that is the Principal of the school. I was at the saturation point. I was ready for new challenges, new working environment. No regrets.

Since April 1981, I have served at 5 schools in total . I took a short break of unpaid leave from November 1986 to April 1990. In 1995, while serving at the fourth school. I was appointed as the Senior Assistant of the Student Affairs, an administrative post .In December 2002 I was appointed as the Senior Assistant in Administration and  Academics at my fifth and final  school. In November 2009, I moved to my final post as a senior lecturer at the Institut Aminuddin Baki before retiring in April 2017. 

 

I reported for duty on September  2009, about 1 month after the letter of appointment  to the post of Senior lecturer was sent to the state education department. It was  dated 1.8.2009. I wonder why the delay in delivery. My gut feeling told me to make an enquiry at the state department. Eventually it came after a month later . I received the letter of appointment on the 10^th of September 2009 and as soon as I received it, I immediately drove up the Genting Highlands to report for duty

There was a big number of new intakes for this post ( about 200 )  at different grade levels and seniority. The most junior post was DG44 , the most senior was DG52. I think there were about 10 us seniors in the DG52 post category. I think the big numbers of us who reported for duty was quite overwhelming for the old staff. The term tsunami was often heard mentioned amongst them. 

 

Before this influx of new lectures , there were about 50 teaching staff. 

 

With the main focus of the Ministry of Education to increase quality training to all schools heads  and to increase the knowledge and skills capacity in the present and future heads of school, the increase number  was justifiable.  And of course there were many of us seniors who came in on grade post higher than the present staff. And of course words were circulating that we came merely for the post  because we were offered a grade higher in salary and seniority. We were perceived as very inexperience in the field of training. So how can we be given the trust to this job well. My colleague even overheard one of the administrators talking out loud that we ‘don’t know anything’ . oh well, we were not in the capacity to rebuke that statement. Of course we lacked experience in training but the majority of us who were from schools were mostly ex assistant heads .We may lack the experience in training but trust us, we had years of running the school . What we lacked we compensated by the knowledge and skills and the right frame of mind.

My Ramblings

1.1.2021

 

Page one, 2021. Another 364 pages to plough through till the year ends. God willing, Insha Allah we will all reach there. Well, not all of us .  Some will  bow out , the numbers we are not certain  of. Who amongst us will make it , only Allah knows.  Its Allah’s work. We don’t’t know what lies ahead, what’s in store for us. We can all plan, but Allah knows what is in store for us .

 

Indeed your Lord is the Doer of what He wills (Quran 11:107) 

 

When I was working, both at schools and at the training institute, strategic planning, tactical planning were  the order of the day for the heads of schools , for the teacher in the classroom. The input, the output / expected results and the contingency plans are all well mapped out. We make predictions on how many of our students are going to make it , how many topscorers, the average and those who below average.Sometimes what we planned worked to the letter T, sometimes not. So we have the postmortem… what went wrong. What need to be improved on etc. 

 

But if only that personal planner that is determined by the Almighty is given to us on the day we were born, wouldn’t  it be wonderful. To be able  to know what lies ahead, what’s in store. What age we will die and how we will die. 

But it is  not how things works. 

 

“And He created all things and determined them in full determination” (Quran 25:2)

 

Looking back to 2020, how many us ever imagined that the whole  world one day wake  up to the fact that a microscopic organism would rule the world and cause the whole world to literally shut down . Total choas. While the majority of us acknowleged that we need to do something about it, listen to the scientists , there are others who think it is all a hoax. Be it a hoax or a reality, at the end of the day, it is Allah who created this microorganism, not man. It is Allah who decides what is to happen and what will happen.

 

“Indeed your Lord is the Doer of what He wills” (Quran 11:107) 

“He is the Doer of what He wills “(Quran 85:16)

 

This means that everything in existence occurs because Allah wills it to be. 

 

So let us stay patient in these hard times. One of the best remedies for tough times is to be patient. It requires that we do not resort to complaining , but remember Allah often. We know from the Quran that when we remember Allah in good times, Allah will help us in tough times. We learn that lesson from the story of Prophet Yunus (peace be upon him) when he was swallowed by a whale.. Out of His mercy, Allah finally relieved him out of that calamity. He tells us in the Quran: “Had he not been of them who glorify Allah, he would have indeed remained inside its belly( the fish) till the Day of resurrection”( Quran 143:144)

 

And as the pandemic continues, let us continue with our  Muslim practice of quarantines in the form of lockdown, self-isolation and physical distance. And InSha Allah, with Allah's help we may find a vaccine to slow down the effect of this micro-organisms on us. 

 

The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said, “If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if the plague breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place”(Bukhari,#5728). He also said, “Do not graze a sick herd with a healthy one,( or, Do not put a sick patient with a healthyperson ‘( Bukhari #5771;Muslim.#2221)

 

The Quran relates, “he has succeeded who purifies it”(Quran91:9): “Truly, Allah loves those who keep themselves clean (Quran 2:222): ‘clean your garments ‘(Quran 74:4)

 

The Prophet (pbuh) emphasized and elaborated on this in several Hadith: “cleanliness is half of faith” ( Muslim, Hadith #223): “ No salat is accepted without Wudu’( Muslim,##433). The prophet urged hygiene and handwashing, even cleaning nasal cavities every morning. 

 

Praise be to Allah. 

 

Allah has decreed everything that happens in the universe according to His prior knowledge and the dictates of his wisdom.  This is al-Qadar.

 

May Allah protect and heal those that are in pain, help those who are in need, make it easy for those suffering, and guide those who are lost. 

 

 Ya Allah, I know this is your plan, please help me through it. Aamiin