This chapter is dedicated to the late Mr.Loong Ah Kew, who had recently passed away due to a brain tumour. He was a secondary school discipline teacher in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Taman Desa, and he will be deeply missed by all of his students, teachers, friends, relatives, and also his family.

You have touched the lives of many.

And one of them...

...is me.

* * *

Isn't it funny?

That you'll only start remembering the memories of a person only when he/she is gone?

I guess it happens a lot to many of us.

Because we'll only start remembering and appreciating them only after they're gone.

*RIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGG!!*

"Did you hear? Mr.Loong is our class teacher!"

"You mean that half botak teacher in the school assembly just now? Sure anot?!"

"What?! Really?! Who told you?!?!"

A group of students who just entered the classroom started whispering and snickering.

I just so happen to eavesdrop while everyone was busy talking and choosing their 'strategic' class seats.

It was my first day of secondary school. My first time stepping into a totally new environment. 1M was the name of my class. The so called last class of the whole Form1, but I was more glad that I wasn't sentenced to "Peralihan", or the so called "Remove Class". The sound of those class names sounded more terrifying than 1M.

In short, I think 1M wasn't that bad.

1 MEGA-AWESOME CLASS mah! I told myself, trying to convince my heart that it was going to be okay.

"He very scary leh! I heard he canned students one wor," said a girl student.

"Ya lorh. He looks damn scary leh! More scarier than my mother!" said another student, seated beside the girl.

Suddenly, a man walked in to the room.

5 feet tall, slightly plumped and bald, and fair skin, his presence was enough to kill the noises of the classroom instantly. Alas, it was true, he was none other than Mr.Loong Ah Kew.

The whole classroom immediately stood up and greeted him.

"Se-la-mat Se-jah-te-ra Cik-gu."

Mr.Loong nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay. Sit down," he said.

Everyone settled down, but no one dare to make a move or a sound. Mr.Loong stood in front of the class. His eyes started scanning the whole classroom, as if he was a robot or something, but his smile instantly greeted us.


“My name is Mr.Loong, and I’ll be your class teacher from today onwards,” he said, “Since today is your first day of school, I won’t be giving any homework but I would like to get to know every one of you in this class. So, I would like all of us to introduce ourselves.”


The students started chattering softly, exchanging glances and small talks with one another.


“So let’s start from here,” he pointed.
The girl sitting at the utmost front row corner was caught by his surprised.
“Stand up, introduce yourself by saying your name, and what are your hobbies,” he said.


And one by one, every student stood up, and shared their names and hobbies to the class. Each time, giggles and laughers were exchanged as the amused Mr.Loong questioned and teased about the weird stories and hobbies that certain students had shared. And when it was finally my turn, I slowly stood up.

“My name is Siew Lin,” I said, softly. “And I like cooking.”

“Oh… So what do you usually cook?” Mr.Loong asked.

I paused for awhile. “Maggi mee?”

“Maggi mee?!” he repeated, cheekily smiling.
The class roared with laughter. The two guys who was seated in front of me kept laughing.
I stood there, feeling confused while staring at him.
Was it supposed to be funny? I asked myself.

“Well… erm… I can fried fish too,” I added on, thinking that it might help improve my previous answer. "And I can draw too!"

"Ya, teacher!" The guy in front of me said. "She can really draw!"
He lifted my plastic file up to show him the hand-drawn anime pictures pasted on my file cover.
"Damn geng you know she draw!" the guy next to him said.

Mr.Loong smiled. "Alright. Alright. Thank you Siew Lin, you may sit down."


And that was how I met Mr.Loong for the first time.



* * * * *

Mr.Loong wasn't just our class teacher, he was also our English teacher.

"Okay, class. I want you to construct a sentence using these 5 words written here," Mr.Loong said.

The words written on the blackboard:
Hostile.
Amuse.
Jovial.
Alluring.
Mischievous.

Hmm... This doesn't look tough. I know every word except the third one, I thought.



“Let me explain each word, so that you would know what each word means,” said Mr.Loong, “The first word, hostile, means being rude and aggressive to someone.”

Before I could hear him explained, I’ve had already started writing down the constructed sentences in my workbook.
“Sam’s parents didn’t like Ahmad because of his hostile attitude” I wrote.


“The next word, amused, means to be surprised at something that you least expect.”
“Alex was amused when he saw his friend showed him some magic tricks" I wrote.


The next word, jovial, the word that I didn't understand. I look up at Mr.Loong, waiting for him to explain.
"And jovial, means being happy. It describes a person who is happy-go-lucky and always in a good and happy mood," Mr.Loong said.

I look at him in amusement, something had already struck my head after he had finished describing. I look down at my workbook and immediately started scribbling:
"Mr.Loong looks very strict but he is actually a very jovial person."