CONTRIBUTION FROM TAN SRI MOHD ZAMAN KHAN
I was one of those boys who migrated to the then Sultan
Ismail School in 1955 together with Dato Shaari, the late Mokhtar Hj Awang
(Dato Shaari's uncle), the late Ramli Zain, the late Yusuff Hj Abdullah, Mohd.
Yunus Amin, Nik Yusuff Nik Wan, Abdul Razak Shariff, Nawawi Sulaiman, M.
Goindasamy, the late Mohammed Hj Yusuff and a few more. We were the the first
batch to sit for the standard VI examination; now the UPSR. At that time there
were only two secondary schools in
Kelantan; Sultan Ismail School for boys and Zainab School
for girls. Zainab School did not cater for Form V. The girls from the ulu;
Kuala Krai English School and Pasir Mas went to Zainab School. I now recall
their names; Kamariah Mahmood and Nik Khuzaimah.
I was lucky enough to be admitted to Form 1A together with
the likes Abdullah Hj Hassan, Mohd Ali Yusuff, Dato Shaari, Mokhtar Hj Awang, Aw
Eng Sun, Darus Ujang, Tengku Razak, Nik Hussein, Foo Meng How, Patrick Perera,
Razak, Mah Guan Teck.
The late
Darus was our class monitor. Among our teachers were Che Gu Rahim Kadir, Mr
Jaccob, Bapoo Hashim, Hussein Mohammed, Mr Leong ..., Raj Kumar, Mr. Menon, Mrs
Hendersen and
Mr Gupta.
The headmasters were Hughes, Cartwright, Thagar Singh and Chan Meng Kee.
The late Mr
Jacob was teaching us Mathematics. During algebra lesson he would not forget
"birds of the same feathers flocks together. He was always dressed in immaculate
white. One fine day he sat on my desk and it happened that he parked himself on
my pen and there was a blue patch you know where la. When he moved away the
class started laughing and he realised that his trousers spotted blue, He was
quite angry and asked the monitor, my good friend Darus "Monitor is he a
good boy?". Darus played a joke and retorted "No sir. He is a baddy
boy." I was rewarded with spanking from him. When the class told him that
I was a good boy Mr Jacob just smiled. He was helpful to all of us.
Che Gu Bapoo Hashim let me be honest was the most hard
working and caring teacher. His quarters
was close by the hostel and he would come round during prep to check on
us and helped us with our studies. If he were to catch you playing around he
would give you a pep talk. Every Saturday the girls from Zainab School would
come to our school for science class as there was no laboratory at their
school. We hostel boys would ambush them by whistling and what not. They would
park their bicycles close the dorm and some naughty hostelites would give
comfort to frogs and at times the harmless green snakes on their bicycle bags. After
class they would innocently open the bags and the frog or the snake popped up.
Imagine the noise - the cry and we would laugh.
On one occasion Mr Bapoo assembled all of us and gave a pep
talk. He ended by saying something to the effect "Well. If you are not
naughty like that you all have not grown up the proper way." He told us to
stop the prank. I think we did. However, we continued to play monkey by teasing
them from the windows. Cheap thrills.
Mr Bapoo was also our Scout Master. He would always take us
to Kijang Camp during weekends and we would be looking forward to it. Looking
back scouting equipped me with sense of camaraderie, discipline, loyalty, helpful
and caring.
Mr Bapoo was like a father to a lot of successful students
of his. Some of them would not fail to visit him during balik kampong.
Mr Rahmat Hussein was also scout master and like Bapoo was very
caring.
Che Gun Hussein Mohamed who taught us history was just the
like of Bapoo and Rahmat. When I went to China to attend a conference his
daughter who was a senior officer with our Embassy waited for me. I could not
recognise her. When the embassy was told that I was coming she personally
received me at airport and that surprised the Chinese Officials and I was
accorded a special treatment. She had told her father that I was coming and the
father must have given her a good impression of his student who used to steal
papayas from the back of the house.
Mr D.S.B
Malayapillay taught us English Literature. He is known to some us by different
name as he used a car with strange name. In fact at the time his was the only
car by that name. After leaving school I have never met him. A few years ago Eng
Sun gave me his number. When I asked him
if he
remembers him his reply was "Why not. You were the only one who scored A
in the English Literature." It was Macbeth.
You will recall Mr Kam Teck Soon who taught us Chemistry. He
too used to pop in at the hostel to check on us.
Dato Shaari mentioned a teacher who taught us English ;
"I kicked the wall."
Well he was the one who was trying to get to say the
"volleyball " properly. When he uttered the word he did not say V.
Instead he uttered "wollyball".
If you all recall a teacher who used to return late to the
hostel. As he walked to the dormitory's C bathroom his exhaust misfired. On one
occasion some body played prank; a bucket of water was placed at the swing door
and when he pushed the door he was splashed. He walked on and said
"bastard". Nothing more.
Do you all recall the tiffin carriers on the table - the
lunch for the teachers. Some us would wait and if the teachers did come back by
say 3.30 pm those tiffin carriers would be emptied.
After leaving SIC in 1959 I was admitted to Form VI at the
Victoria Institution. Those days there was no Form VI classes on Kelantan,
Trengganu and Pahang. For admission one has to have a good grade in the
Entrance Examination.
I was offered a place in Penang Free School. However, at the
invitation of Dr. G.E.D. Lewis, the HM of VI I switched to VI. It was a coincidence.
I was the captain of SIC Rugby Team. In 1959 the first Combined School Rugby
competition was held at the Merdeka Stadium. SIC representing Kelantan Combined
School went the final against Perak . Perak Team comprised of boys from the
Malay College, Anderson, and KGV Taiping. Everybody, including our teachers
predicted we would be trounced. No. We put a good performance and was beaten 6
points to five. We scored a try and converted. Those days a try get 3 points
and a conversation 2 points. Perak scored through 2 penalties. The last penalty
was just 3 mins before time. At the end of the game Dr Lewis approached Mr
Henry Perera wanting speak to me. When I was asked I told Lewis that I would be
joining PFS for HSC. He invited me to VI and pointed at the clock tower of the
school. I was reluctant. However, Mr Perera and Ariffin Baboo, a PFS old boy
and Mr Sidique Merican all encouraged me to join VI saying that it was an elite
school. I gave a nod.
At SIC I was made prefect in Form IV together with Abdullah
Hj Hassan. In 1959 I was a deputy head boy to Abdullah as the head. I was the
Cricket Captain as well the Rugby Captain.
