RIDING A TRISHAW TO SCHOOL

It is embarassing, to say the least, just thinking about how late it was for me to know how to ride a bicycle.

My children always laugh whenever I told them that it toook me a dream and a constant mental harassment by one teacher by the name of Cikgu Rahmat Jantan to finally push me to learn to ride one.

I was in standard five and approaching standard six then. Cikgu Rahmat, I did not know why, but he just did not like me, even from the first time we met.

Imagine he placed me in standard five B instead of standard five A which I rightfully deserved. His hatred increased when I was the top class student three straight terms.

During that time I always arrived late to school, usually ten to fifteen minutes late. That was because Pok Man, the trishaw peddlar, being as old as him, pedalled ever so slowly. I could not blame him for that...there were four of us in the trishaw.

Cikgu Rahmat always said this to me: "Azahar is always late to class."

One night I had a dream. I was riding a brand new bicycle! The next morning, there I was, with the help of my two girl cousins, the late Jamilah and Zainun, helped me to learn to ride bicycle!

I later moved to standard six A under one great teacher, Cikgu Yong bin Hitam.

Recently I met my trishaw-riding mate. She is Wan Sepiah. At first I did not remember her as she was two years my junior. She then re-lived the days when we all travelled to school by a trishaw.