Ali could hear the chattering noises as he approached his designated classroom. He was not surprised. That had been the usual occurrence since he was in school ten years ago and there was no reason for it to change now.
Naturally, the students would use the time gap between the lessons and take the opportunity in the absence of the teacher in the classroom to get an update on each other's lives.
Teenagers. Ali shook his head. As if they will not be meeting each other again the next day.
This time, Ali did not have to pep talk himself before entering the class. Seemed like he had successfully got rid of his nervousness as he entered confidently, his eyes darted towards his students.
As soon as he entered, the noises died down instantly much to his relief. Ali placed the black ring file and the History text book in his hand as well as his black backpack on the table before turning to his side facing his students for the usual greetings.
While his ears ringing to the screeching sound of the chair as the students in front of him slowly stood up following the class leader, Ali's eyes immediately zeroed to the empty seats in front of him.
One of them was the furthest seat at the back which belonged to the girl who was late the day before named Dami and the other belonged to one of the boys who made fun of him named Sanjay Singh.
Ali nodded to the class leader once they finished the greetings. He looked down to the attendance register that he had picked up from the office before with wrinkled eyebrows. He began ticking in the box next to the names of the students present while wondering why the two were absent.
Other teachers would call out their names one by one and ask the students to raise up their hand but Ali preferred doing things by himself. He had a knack for remembering people's names so he had all his students' names memorized in his head in just one day. Plus, it saves time this way.
"Su Lee, do you know where is Sanjay? Is he coming to school or not?" Ali asked the girl sitting next to that empty seat. She slowly looked up from her book with pursed lips and shrugged her shoulders.
Ali hummed. "How about you, Harith? Do you know where your friend is? Why is he not coming to school?" Ali asked the other boy who seemed to be in a good rapport with Sanjay as he was the one who joined in with Sanjay's lame joke the day before.
The boy shook his head with his eyes maintained to his fingers spinning around a black pen at the table. His lower lip protruded in a pout in which Ali had no idea what could be the cause.
Either he was being sulky due to the absence of his friend and did not know the whereabouts of his friend or simply because he was called out by the teacher. Judging from his reluctance to even spare Ali a glance, Ali's good guess was the other.
"Anyone else?", he asked. In response, some of them simply shrugged their shoulders like Su Lee did while the others shook their heads while avoiding his gaze like Harith did.
Ali let out an exasperated sigh, feeling way more dissatisfied with the manner in which the students are responding to him rather than the lack of the response itself. "Do any of you have a sore throat or a fever or any type of disease? If you do, please raise your hand." He asked.
None held up their hand, as he expected.
"Now, raise up your hand if any of you are hiding gold or any sort of precious jewelleries in your mouth?" Ali said with furrowed brows.
The effect was immediate. Nearly all of the students held up their heads with widened eyes almost at the same moment upon hearing his question. Sensing the sarcasm dripping in his voice, no one dared to give out any answer.
"Next, is there anyone who is deaf or mute here?" Ali asked, holding his hand up and waving it like he would wave the national flag on National Day.
"I'm being serious. No one?" He asked again while eyeing every single student in front of him. "Okay. Not even one of you. Then, does anyone here care to tell me why I am getting mute responses here?" He said.
In response, the students in front of him started nudging and whispering to one another, persuading other people than themselves to speak up so that they could be relieved of the burden on their shoulders.
Watching his students scrambling in search of someone to sacrifice, Ali pondered, is this kind of silent treatment towards teachers common here.
He pondered as in his previous school, it was not since putting up such an act would result in a punishment for sure. Since it was a boarding school and there were no parents around to shield or shelter their children as the teachers were considered the replacement of the parents there, the teacher could conveniently punish any misbehaved students to teach them a lesson albeit with appropriate measure.
At the same time, he would not deny that there were teachers who would let their emotions take over their rational brain which resulted in a punishment that was uncalled for.
However, there was still the fear that they would be punished severely themselves if the word got out and were still looming over their head.
One time, a teacher who is also a volleyball coach slapped a student who slacked during the volleyball practice and the student suffered no injury from the slap. The video of the incident, however, went viral causing the teacher to be heavily criticized online and he made an apology.
The student's father who cited the sacrifices made by the teacher and his strong desire to make sure the students give their best might have clouded his judgment at the time, had forgiven the teacher but not the public.
He wondered what could be the cause for the lack of courtesy shown by the students towards the teachers. Wait. Is he the only teacher that they acted this way? Based on the sudden change of attitude of Anna before and after the principal's presence, this thought seemed more than plausible.
These questions could roam in his head all day and he could obtain the answer only by asking the other teachers for answers but what he did know at the moment, this kind of attitude must be stopped.
Ali slammed the duster to the whiteboard in front which produced a loud knocking sound, effectively stopping the hushed whispers and directing the student's attention towards him.
After making sure all the student's eyes were on him, Ali said, "From today onwards, certain courtesies will be observed at all times in this classroom. You will address me as 'Mr. Ali' or 'Sir' only. When I ask a question, you must answer with 'Yes, Sir' or 'No, Sir' or 'I don't know, Sir'." He paused before continuing, "No shrugging, no shaking head, no nodding. I will not accept anything other than that and if any of you disobeys this rule, that person will be on duty to clean the classroom for a week."
Gasps of surprises could be heard all over the classroom and amongst them, were a mumble of protests and murmurs of disagreements.
"Anyone who is dissatisfied, raise up your hand." For several moments, Ali witnessed his students glancing towards each other as if daring each other to speak out.
A hand suddenly shot up.
"Yes, Anna?" Ali answered with a defeated look.
"You cannot do that. That is against the law." She answered with her shoulders squared up, as if preparing for a battle.
"I see. What law are we talking about?" Ali asked, raising an eyebrow.
"There is a law that states each person should be treated equally at all times. You cannot punish a student with the cleaning work which was supposed to be done by the other students. That is not equal." She sounded resolute in her argument.
Realizing that the rest of the classmates' attention was on her, she added. "As a teacher, I think you should already know." She then ended her word with a sardonic smile.
Ali pressed his lips together, suppressing a laugh after hearing his student's sarcastic remark challenging his knowledge. He inserted his hands into his trouser's pocket with a small smile. "I do know. You are talking about Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, right?"
She became hesitant. "Yes…"
"Yes, what?" Ali gritted his teeth.
Anna's eyes darted towards her classmates before saying, "Yes…" and the delayed "Sir."
"Thank you. Yes, you are right. The law states all persons are equal before the law…" Her doubtful expression suddenly changed into a satisfied smile under the eyes of her classmates. They were looking at her with mixed expression of half awe and half concern for the teacher's response.
"...but you forget the sentence after that. It says no law shall discriminate against anyone due to their religion, race, gender or place of birth."
Ali took a deep breath before continuing, "Now, tell me, Anna. Is that against that provision if I am discriminating against those who failed to use basic courtesy when addressing me as a teacher with those who did? On what basis can that be considered a discrimination according to Article 8 that you mentioned just now?"
A strained silence. Anna's previously smug expression after her little win immediately changed into a grimace.
Ali continued with a satisfied smile on his face, "In case you don't know, Anna, every numbered sentence in the law is called a provision not rules."
"What is your answer?"
With one accord, all the student's heads turned towards Anna, anticipating her response. Feeling pressured, she pressed her lips together with frustration visible on her face before he defeatedly answered, "No, Sir."
"Thank you for answering, Anna. All of you remember that this basic courtesy is not only for me and for other teachers as well and to everyone around you including your classmates. If you want to get respect, you need to first give respect to other people. You might think this is nothing now but you will regret it if you do not practice this. Who knows the homeless man you bumped into turned out to be your future employer. The world is round nowadays. You will never know when you will be on top or bottom.``
Ali then walked around to his desk but remained standing while watching over all the students in the classroom. For the first time in the span of two days, they were really really paying attention to him. A little achievement for him if he were to compare it with the disastrous first day.
Although he had not intended to tell his students off on the second day, he felt relieved that he did. He stayed silent, allowing his students several moments to digest his words.
His eyes fell onto Vanitha who looked like she was about to shrunk herself into the chair with her hands clasped together on the table, as if praying for herself to be invisible at the moment.
However, when she noticed his eyes on him, she managed to hold eye contact with him, probably wary of offending him.
"Vanitha?"
"Yes, Sir." She promptly answered. This time, the "Sir" came faster without slighted hesitation. A small progress.
"Where is Dami?" Ali asked. Vanitha rubbed her hands together nervously while her eyes darted around anxiously towards her classmates who were staring hard at her. "I'm not sure, Sir." She answered with a low voice.
Turning around to eye the clock behind him, it seemed like he had not much time left so he did not wish to bring the matter further. "It's fine. I take it none of you knew her whereabouts as well?"
There were collective nods amongst his students. "What is it? Yes or no?"
"Yes, Sir." The students chorused a response.
A satisfied smile stretched his lips as he pulled out a stack of papers from the black ring file on the table. "Good. Now, close your textbook."
While waving the stack of papers, Ali said. "We are going to have a test today. There are forty objective questions. Please write your name on the first page and give it to me before the class is over."
Groans of disappointment echoed all over the classroom. "No need to sound that upset. These test marks will not be counted in your results. These questions are easy. You already learned it."