Ms Roslyati binti Yaakop

From SMK Convent Bukit Nanas

Nominated by Chin Yue-Xin

Her name was Cik Yati, and she transferred to my school in 2014 when I was Form 3. Nope, my best friend and I didn’t really like her. She seemed busy for the first few months, and did not have much time in school as she was busy marking SPM papers, of course, we didn’t understand or knew what was going on. Hence, our first impression towards her was that “This is a very irresponsible class teacher. Nope. She sucks.” Due to her busy schedule for the first few months, she was only teaching my class Pendidikan Sivik dan Kewarganegaraan. Things were pretty fine. But Cik Yati did not like my friend and I. No, she wasn’t biased, it was us who disrespected her at the first place. As months went on, she became our Bahasa Malaysia teacher. I never liked BM, and never have I scored an A for it. I went for tuition classes as I was constantly lost in class for the past 2 years in secondary school and I guess tuition classes was the only choice I had. When Cik Yati started teaching BM, her methods of teaching were different from the rest, or I would call it SPECIAL. She taught us with much enthusiasm and passion. Cik Yati uses easy, clear and creative ways to construct essays be it Bahan Rangsangan or Karangan Umum. She taught KOMSAS with so much enthusiasm that Malay Literature wasn’t as ‘dumb’, ‘useless’ and boring as i thought it was. She exposed us to so many new “Peribahasa” which are Malay proverbs and they were actually really meaningful and interesting. At the same time, I never liked Sejarah, neither have I ever scored an A for it but a C instead. Cik Yati taught me ways to study effectively for Sejarah and for the first time in forever, neither was I lost nor hopeless during the Sejarah paper of my trials. And I’ve also scored an A for the first time in my three years of secondary school. Besides teaching what needs to be learned within the book, she constantly tells my class to respect our teachers. And remember to “salam” them before they leave the classroom after every lessons. “Hormatilah cikgu awak, sentiasa hormat mereka, sebab exam nanti merekalah yang doa untuk kamu semua.” My mother was also surprised to find out that I didn’t need any tuition classes for BM and Sejarah anymore. That was the moment when I started getting A’s for my BM and Sejarah until my PT3. After PT3, that’s when the major transitional phase comes in and kicks us in the face hardly. Cik Yati wasn’t my class teacher anymore, and she wasn’t teaching my class either. My Sejarah and BM started deteriorating as days go by. Slowly, I have lost interest and motivation towards these subjects. I approached her for help of course, and she offered to tutor me privately after school every week for free. My parents were shocked when they heard about it, and offered to pay her instead, but she refused to accept a single cent. Until my last year of secondary school, I was lucky to receive her as my Sejarah teacher in form 5. My whole class was crazy over it and we were extremely excited for her lessons. The first day she entered our class, she asked all of us: “Siapa tak suka Sejarah? Kenapa?” Everyone raised their hands, providing the most cliche answer one would’ve expected. “Siapa sayang Malaysia dan sanggup berkorban untuk negara kamu?” A very little of us raised our hands. “Siapa nak tinggal kat luar negara dan tak nak pulang lepas ni?” More than half of the class raised up their hands. That was when her meaningful lecture came in, of course, she successfully changed our perceptions and mindsets; and what was the importance behind the Sejarah textbook instead of perceiving it as a BORING-AND-USELESS subject. Sejarah lessons with her weren’t just based on the textbook, but it was way beyond that. It was full of humour and laughter, as Cik Yati was pretty well-known for her sense of humour. I will never forget the lesson on the Federal Constitution, where the entire class was free to question anything about it, and Cik Yati has every answer to them that were rational yet deepens our understanding towards it. To make this story short, the whole class fell in love with Sejarah, we would be reading the textbook 24/7 instead of just focusing too much on Additional Mathematics (as we were like that back then in Form 4). Almost the whole class scored an A for Sejarah in our SPM and our class had the most number of A+ for Sejarah. It was all thanks to her. Not to forget, Cik Yati continued giving me free BM lessons until the SPM examination. With much gratitude for her guidance, I scored an A for my BM too. Before graduating from secondary school, she told us: “Nanti kamu semua dah berjaya, jangan lupa cikgu-cikgu kamu tau.” and one more which touches my heart the most: “Jangan sesekali lupa segala jasa cikgu-cikgu kamu nanti masa dah berjaya, tanpa mereka, kita tak ke mana.” I am currently in my first year of my degree. Life was never the same as the days were back then in secondary school. I’m missing classes with her and so are my friends. Dear Cik Yati, if you're reading this, I hope you’re doing well now. I thank you on behalf of all my friends for being so passionate, “sporting” and awesome in our high school days. Thank you for teaching us important values and for being one of the best teachers one could’ve ever asked for. And not to forget, to all of my teachers in Convent Bukit Nanas too, I sincerely thank all of you. “Nanti kamu semua dah berjaya, kami hanya tetap jadi cikgu mengajar anak-anak murid di sini.” -Cik Yati