A recent video has gone viral on social media after a woman, believed to be a Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) officer, visited her former Geography teacher from 20 years ago to thank him for the kindness he showed her during her Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) days.
Recalling her time as a struggling Form 6 student back in 2003/2004, Ain (@ainsofeaadam27) shared that her teacher, Mr Koay Aun Chuan, had approached her one day to remind her that her STPM examination fees were still unpaid, with only a week left before the deadline. If she failed to settle the payment, she would not be allowed to sit for the exam.
A lifeline for a struggling student
Struggling to come up with the money, Ain said she had even considered pawning something to pay her STPM fees. However, the pawnshops were closed for the Chinese New Year holidays at the time.
“Mr Koay Aun Chuan was my Form 6 teacher in 2003/2004. It was a long time ago, but I have never forgotten his kindness to this day,” she said.
After learning about her situation, Mr Koay told her not to pawn anything and instead encouraged her to apply for financial assistance from a specific teacher, assuring her that he would help explain her circumstances to the said teacher. However, little did she know that his kindness would go far beyond that.
Ain shared,
“Whenever I had to buy reference books, photocopy exam papers, or spend money on anything school-related, Mr Koay would quietly come to my desk and place the money back on it so my classmates wouldn’t notice. Even if it was just 20 sen for photocopies, he would still reimburse me.
“Thanks to his help, I received the assistance and was able to pay the exam fees right away. His advice was always the same: ‘Study hard. Education is the only thing that can change our lives,’.”
“I will never forget his kindness”
Remembering Mr Koay’s benevolence, Ain made it her mission to find him again and only recently managed to get in touch with him.
In the video, Ain can be seen visiting Mr Koay at his home with a gift basket. Mr Koay looks visibly surprised and breaks into a warm smile upon seeing his former student.
“I had been searching for him for a long time and only recently managed to find him again. I’m truly happy to have met him and to hear his stories.”
“Even though we come from different racial backgrounds, he helped me immensely when I was a struggling student. Thank you, Mr Koay Aun Chuan of SMK Kuala Ketil. I will never forget your kindness,” she added.
You can watch the full video below:
@ainsofeaadam27 Alhamdulillah. Selamat Hari Guru utk semua guru dan yg bakal bergelar guru. Ini kisah saya dan Cikgu Koay Aun Chuan, Cikgu saya masa Form 6 2003/2004. Dah lama sangat kan, tapi jasa dia saya xpernah lupa hingga hari ini. Walau berlainan bangsa, dia banyak bantu saya pelajar yang susah ni. Cikgu Koay ajar Geografi form 6. Cerita ni tidak semua tahu, masa saya form 6, cikgu Koay datang jumpa sy tanya bila nak bayar yuran exam STPM sebab lagi seminggu sebelum tarikh tutup, kalau xbayar xboleh ambil exam. Saya bgtau cikgu, bukan xnak bayar tapi blm ada duit, nak gadai raya cina kedai tutup, cikgu Koay terus cakap, jangan sampai bergadai, nanti rehat jumpa cikgu sekian2, dapatkan duit bantuan. nanti cikgu akan maklumkan cikgu tersebut berkenaan hal ni. jadi, dgn bantuan cikgu Koay, dapat duit dan terus bayar yuran. Senang hati hanya Allah yang tahu. Alhamdulillah. Selepas dari tu, setiap kali beli buku rujukan, fotostat soalan2 atau apa2 yang kena keluarkan duit, Cikgu Koay akan datang kat meja dan letak balik duit kat meja saya perlahan2 supaya kawan2 lain x nampak. walaupun kertas fotostat hanya 20 sen, tetap dia pulangkan balik. Nasihat dia selalu, belajar rajin2, hanya pelajaran dapat ubah hidup kita. Sebenarnya dah lama cari cikgu dan baru terjumpa. Alhamdulillah, terima kasih cikgu Koay Aun Chuan, SMK Kuala Ketil.
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