A practical educationist

KNOWN for his work in the world of education and Malay literature, Datuk Dr Adi Badiozaman Tuah, 59, has a special gift to “motivate and mould” individuals who had crossed paths with him, be it students, teachers, or colleagues in the literary world.

He recently retired as director of the Malaysian Examination Syndicate of the Ministry of Education. A former state education director, he has been involved in education for more than 30 years. He is also Yayasan Islam Sarawak’s director of education.

He is married to Datin Fatimah Abdullah, who is a Minister in the Chief Minister’s office and Dalat assemblyman. He is blessed with two children Ida Fatimawati and Adi Khairulzaman, and two granddaughters.

Adi is a graduate of University Malaya in Malay Literature in 1973 and he also obtained a degree in education from the same university in 1979. In 1996, he obtained his doctorate in education from University of Bristol United Kingdom.

He received many literary awards including the Hadiah Sastera Kebangsaan (Puisi) 1975 and 2003.

His “out of the box” thinking and method of leadership and disciplining students are well remembered by those at Kolej Tun Datu Tuanku Haji Bujang (KTDTHB) Miri where he was headmaster from 1980 to 1983.

Adi has introduced many “firsts” in his teaching career, for his ex-students his introduction of “Cabinet Ministerial” system in the 1980’s was a classic example of his out of the box method. Safely said, it has never been done in any schools in Malaysia so far.

Instead of following the tried and tested school prefect system, the school was managed by student ministers with a chief minister and deputy ministers. There was also a finance minister who took care of the school budget.

To exemplify his unusual method of teaching, Adi also introduced a system where he encouraged bumiputra students who were on scholarship to donate a portion of their money to the school fund to help needy non-bumiputra students who do not receive financial aid from the government.

On top of that, he also introduced a “work party” system where all students were given tasks such as cleaning toilets, dormitories, cafeteria, classes, cutting grasses, landscaping and many more.

One memorable example of this “work party” system was the formation of a human chain to carry rocks from Luak Bay to the school. It did not make any sense to the students until he explained why he introduced it during a school reunion recently.

“You don’t look at the act but instead at the implications. By forming a human chain, you will understand what team spirit, togetherness and communication mean,” said Adi.

Aside from being a task master, Adi also has a fun and softer side to him. It was during his time that “ballroom dancing” was revived, and introduced were drama and art festivals, talentine, public speaking, cultural festivals, and poem recital nighs.

Definitely drawing huge respect from his students, colleagues and friends, Adi at the same time is an enigma to many particularly his students. During the recent reunion, his ex-students had the opportunity to finally ask the questions they have always wanted to ask him:

Q: Until today we can’t place you, what race are you?

A: I am a kampung boy born in Tatau, Bintulu to a Javanese father. His name was Widji Dermoikromo @ Tuah Drahman. My mother, Yaunah Drahman is a Malay.

Her grandparents are a mix of Melanau Kampung Kuala Lama in Mukah and Malay of Sambas Kalimantan. My father was taken by the Japanese from Klaten in Central Java to be part of the forced labour to build bridges in Burma during the Second World War.

He escaped with a group in a boat and they landed in Brunei. From there, my father landed in Tatau.

I was raised in my formative years in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic setting.

In my extended family, I have Iban and Chinese ‘aki’, ‘inek’, ‘uncles and aunties’. We were part of a small socio-cultural territory we call Tatau-Bintulu, an authentic ‘anak’ Sarawak.

I entered the world of formal education in 1958 in Local Authourity School Tatau (LAST). The school was later turned into a central upper primary school and is now called SRK Tatau.

Q: Why is Kolej Tun Datu Tuanku Haji Bujang or Tanjong Lobang College special to you?

A: It was my school. I pursued my upper secondary education in Miri where I became a member of the “Anak Kenyalang” community in Tanjong Lobang School (later known as Tanjong Lobang College, and now Kolej Tun Datuk Tuanku Haji Bujang).

One particular individual who has left a remarkable lasting impression on me was my principal Robert Nicholl. It was he who in many ways shaped my outlook as an educationist.

He has gone many times out of his way to ensure that the students were well taken care of.

He was there to meet me at the Miri wharf when I arrived and he also gave my father and me a place to stay at the school for a few days.

Mr Nicholl’s genuine enthusiasm to help mould every student was impressive. He showed us not to look down on a person who sits quietly in a corner, for that individual may one day be someone who is important in your life.

Q: So you have in many ways emulated his ways of imparting knowledge; do you have a special term to describe the way you taught us?

A: Nicholl taught us General Paper and always showed us through his own professional practices how teaching should be conducted. As a principal, he always placed the welfare and wellbeing of his students first.

I learned a lot from him – a wonderful teacher and a good mentor, a man of great wisdom.

I have tried my very best to be a good professional leader when I was the principal, and as a teacher I always believe that I must have these qualities - sound content knowledge, a high level of mastery of pedagogical knowledge and skills, the ability to communicate well and passion for teaching and creative endeavours.

I view all these as a humanistic approach to education; focusing more on wholesome development and not merely concerned about the delivery of content knowledge.

Q: What is your opinion of our current method of educating students? What kind of students are we producing now?

A: There is an overemphasis on the importance of performance in public examinations. The educational process of our young children is currently viewed from a very narrow educational perspective. Education is equated to schooling, and schooling is seen purely as a process of preparing our young children for public examinations.

The socio-cultural and human developmental roles of schools are seldom highlighted. The significance of parental

roles in the formal and non-formal educational settings of our young children too is not given their rightful place in our schools.

If this is to continue to characterise our schools, then the students we produce from such institutions will lack social skills and other important socio-cultural abilities which are equally relevant for the harmonious existence of our multi-racial society.

Q: In your opinion what are the cardinal rules in teaching that all educators must have to produce wholesome students and individuals that will make up a society that will ensure the sovereignty and uniqueness of Sarawak?

A: The main concern should not be the teaching of academic subjects for the sake of passing with good grades in public examinations. But rather the wholesome development of our young children through the teaching and learning experiences which academic and non-academic activities are capable of providing and giving.

For example, History must be taught in such a way that not only will we be able to understand historical significance of events in history but also become better and wiser individuals of it. Similarly, we must also place subjects like Science, Mathematics and the languages in the context of making our young children better members of their own society.

Our school must inculcate human values among our children so that they will be able to appreciate their very own existence and the existence of others as fellow beings.

Q: What role can parents play to ensure that their children can become wholesome individuals that strive towards excellence in whatever they do?

A: It is important for us as parents to inculcate universal human values among our children – respect for and acknowledgment of one’s strength and weakness and the power of our creator – and thus the need to grow and develop together as meaningful members of our society.

We must also start the education of our young from home in ensuring that our children subscribe to good values and accepted norms of their society, recognising the importance of excellence and success in life as their ultimate targets, and at the same time recognising the fact that that journey is not always smooth and easy.

They must be taught to accept success and failure as integral parts of the growing-up process. They must be brought up to accept defeat or failure with courage and celebrate success with humility and dignity.