Happy retirement: Zahara cutting a cake during her farewell at the school.
“Be obedient to your parents and teachers because they are the keys to success.”
Those were Zahara Abd Majid’s parting words to the students of SMK Dato’ Shahardin (SMKDS), Negri Sembilan, as the school’s most senior language teacher.
Students, she added, need to obey school rules and study hard to achieve their goals in life.
Her advice for aspiring teachers is to cultivate interest and sincerity in their teaching and to treat students as their own children.
Always remain calm and patient when facing problems with students, she said.
Born in Labu, Negri Sembilan, the Malay Language teacher recently retired at the age of 60.
Zahara, whose motto in life is to make today better than yesterday and to be of benefit to others, obtained her Teaching Certificate in Malay Language Studies from Maktab Perguruan Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur, in 1988, before earning a diploma at Maktab Perguruan Raja Melewar, Seremban, a decade later.
She graduated from Universiti Malaya in 2000 with a degree in Malay Language Studies, and served in SJK(C) Kg. Baru Petaling, Kuala Klawang, and SK Methodist (ACS), Seremban, before retiring from SMKDS last month.
During her service at SMKDS from 2000 to 2025, the mother of four headed the Geography and Malay Language panels before being promoted to lead the Language Department. She was also a Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) Malay Language marker from 2007 to 2023.
In 2014, under her guidance, the school pantun team became the Negri Sembilan district champion and runner-up at the state level. One of her achievements was ensuring a 100% pass rate for Malay Language in the SPM examination in 2021.
Zahara was awarded the Excellent in Service Award twice, in 2005 and 2020.
