Until My Last Breath.

I had colourful memories of my primary school. There were no reason to worry about important things other than finishing the homework given by the teachers. One of my teachers who like to give me alot of homework is Cikgu Badariah, my Maths teacher when I was at Sekolah Kebangsaan Dato Bandar Rasah (SKDBR). She is very notorious for giving hundreds of Maths homework to her students. Don't even think of not finishing the work given by her as it would usually mean that you would get the hairdryer treatment from her and your ear would most likely be detached from your head as she would pull the ear of the students who do not finish the work given by her,very, very hard.Haha. Everytime I think about the ear-pulling, I am so relieved that at least I scored for my Maths in UPSR. She is so dearly loved by her students even when she 'tortures' the students with loads of homeworks. As one of her students, I love her too for being one part that helped me to be where I am right now. So when I got the news that she already passed away yesterday evening, I was so devastated beyond any description.

I went to her house yesterday evening to read Yassin for her. As I reached the door of her house, I stopped for a while as I remembered my experience being there. It is already more than 10 years since I stepped into her house. She is very famous with her tuition classes and I was one of her students for her Math tuition class.Yeah, as if I didnt get enough torturing at school during her Maths subject, I offered myself to be in her tuition class like offering myself to be eaten by a dragon.Hehe. The sole reason that I went to her tuition class is because of a girl that I had a crush on went to the same tuition. I guess I tried to spend more time with the girl though actually more of it was spent doing hundreds of Maths exercises.Haha.Off I went to the tuition class at Cikgu Badariah's house and luckily I didnt disappoint her and got an A in Maths for my UPSR. So yesterday was a sign of respect for her, for all the good deeds and nagging that she did for us. Being a teacher like her is not an easy job. She is very strict as she doesnt want her students to stray from the path to excellence though her strictness would not win her fans. But she didnt mind that, she's teaching because she wants her students to be successful in life, not because she wants to have fans. But I guess her strictness wins her admirers instead, as I'm one of them. As I was reading the Yassin for her, I shed tears of emptiness as one of my favourite teachers has passed away and would never come back. One part of me, one part of my memories has gone with her demise.

After I finished reading Yassin and tahlil, I listened to her husband as her husband told stories about her. The last few weeks before her death, her husband already asked her to stop teaching tuition as they already have enough money from their pension. But she was very persistent and said that she would continue teaching. Her husband asked her again, then when would she stop teaching the students? She answered,

" Until my last breath."

And as I looked around the house, it's very true. The house that I went to more than 10 years ago is still the same house that I went to yesterday. She leads a very modest life, she didnt do the tuition for the sake of the money, but for the benefit of the students instead. On top of the fan switch box, there is still a whiteboard duster that she would usually use during her tuition classes. I guess the whiteboard duster wont be used anymore after this.

It's hard for me to write about her in past tense as it is very hard for me to accept the fact that she's now gone. I already planned to go to her house during Hari Raya Aidilfiti a few years back but it never materialised. I really regret it now that I didnt get the chance to meet her after I left primary school. I just hope that she knows that her students love her very much and she would always be a part of her students, until the very last breath.