Refreshing new look: A view of the classroom after the upgrading work initiated by Kamaruddin,
KOTA TINGGI: While most people would use their holidays and bonuses to treat themselves and their loved ones, a teacher has chosen to give it all up for his pupils.
Kamaruddin Mohd Darwin (pic), 28, said he wanted to give his pupils at SK Felda Air Tawar 4 here a chance to learn in a more conducive and healthy environment.
“I was assigned as the class teacher for a Year Two class with about 25 pupils. From the moment I first saw the classroom, I promised myself that I would do something to improve it.
“I felt that it was in pretty poor condition, and there was no proper ventilation.
“I wanted my pupils to enjoy a better learning environment as I believe that this will help boost their confidence,” he told The Star.
Kamaruddin’s desire to motivate his pupils led him to spend all of the RM2,000 bonus he received as a civil servant, on the classroom.
“The bonus was given along with my February salary, just before the final semester school holidays started.
“I decided to spend all of it to fulfil the promise I had made to myself. Even if I had not got the bonus, I would have still worked towards improving the classroom, but the bonus allowed me to get there faster,” he said.
On top of forking out his own money, the teacher also sacrificed half of his holidays for the project.
“I went back to my hometown in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan during the holidays, and decided to come back two weeks early so that I would have time to work on the project.
“I also informed my pupils’ parents through a WhatsApp group about my plan and told them that they could join me if they wanted to.
“However, I told them that they should not bring their children along as I wanted to surprise my pupils,” he said.
A view of the classroom before the upgrading work initiated by Kamaruddin.
He said some of the parents, teachers, and other school staff members also gave their support by directly helping him with the project and giving donations and ideas.
“A total of about RM2,870 was spent on the classroom. The extra RM807 was donated by the school and parents.
“With the money, we managed to buy some paint, tablecloths, banners, baskets, a carpet, some furniture and tools used to carry out the project,” said Kamaruddin, who only started his career in teaching about five months ago.
His social media post on his journey impressed many and went viral.
“I like to share my experiences on social media as I see it as a place to keep a record of my memories.
“I never intended to or even expected it to go viral. In fact, I did not even know that it had gone viral until my friends told me about it,” he said, adding that he hopes to inspire others to do the same.
As of press time, his post on X (formerly known as Twitter) had gathered 1.3 million views, 8,900 likes, 3,200 retweets and 165 comments.
