Cikgu Zulkarnain Personal Opinion : Don't Share Your Personal Stories With Others.

I learned not to tell anyone everything about myself. This is because the more we talk to others the more people wish bad things on us. People who always hear stories about us are actually our enemies without us realizing it. However, there are those who are really honest and good-hearted friends with us. However, we should be careful. The most effective way is not to see each other every day or to exchange messages often. It's enough to just ask how each other is doing, once every two weeks is enough or once a month.

If there is someone who likes to ask about personal things too much, invite him to chat about artists, football, recipes, health tips and others. Trust me, people who like to hear other people's personal stories are people who actually hate you. This is a reality that always happens to me. Therefore, we can be close friends on the futsal court or in the gym every day but don't share everything with our friends.

Life is very difficult to live if we are not wise to manage ourselves. We should have both types of thinking which are positive thinking and negative thinking. If we manage to apply both types of thinking to the right situation, we will succeed. Most importantly, we should have a feeling of love for ourselves. People who love themselves more than others, will surely succeed in the future. Our personal story is our absolute haka completely. If we don't tell our life stories, others won't know about our stories.

Let people wonder. The answer to his question about our personal matters, let time decide. The price of self-respect is very high, don't let others talk about us as they please after listening to our own stories. Now, information is only shared using the fingertips instead of pigeons or sardine tin phones! Stories that we think are good to share with people can apparently invite controversy after being shared on social media.

Cikgu Zulkarnain Personal Opinion : Is it true that male students' interest in academics is decreasing?

The Malaysian Education Development Master Plan (PIPPM) sets the target of closing the gender achievement gap between male and female students. I admit that male students are far behind than female students in academics. However, I am aware that there are still many male students who excel in academics. If we compare in terms of quality, the achievement of male and female students is the same or the achievement of male students is better than that of female students.

The achievement of male students is far behind the achievement of female students if we look at some other factors. First, the percentage of student failure in SPM. The majority of students who are not eligible for a certificate are male students. They did not pass the qualification requirements for the certificate because they failed in the subjects of Bahasa Melayu and History. This failure has to do with the attitude of male students towards education. They are not aware of the importance of education. They are still immature and childish. This group of male students who have discipline problems always do not attend school and do not complete assignments or course work.

The attitude of male students who like to waste time with useless work causes their academic achievement to lag behind the academic achievement of female students. They are easily influenced by friends' invitations to hang out at coffee shops for hours. They also spend time playing video games until they are always tired and sleepy. They are not actually weak in academics but their achievements are deteriorating due to attitude. As a result, they fail and cannot continue their studies at university.

In my opinion, the complete package to be a real man is that a man should be educated, healthy, and have a positive mentality. Even if the man's body has a six pack, if he is not highly educated, he still has shortcomings. Education helps a man to look great and impressive. Men who finish their education after getting the SPM Certificate, should rethink that decision. Men will be the head of the family, a role model for the children one day. I understand, many people manage to earn a lot of money without furthering their studies at university but we have to remember, the world is always changing. The life we enjoy today may be different from the life 10 years from now. Come on boys, let's figure this out together!

CATATAN CIKGU ZULKARNAIN : PENJUAL TONG GAS BERJIWA MURNI

Penjual tong gas sangat dekat dengan diri kita tetapi saya yakin ramai yang memandang kerjaya ini hanya sebelah mata. Mereka berpakaian selekeh dan memikul tong gas hanya dengan beralaskan sehelai tuala yang juga digunakan untuk mengesat peluh. Secara jujur, siapakah yang pernah memarahi penghantar dan penjual tong gas ini apabila mereka lewat sampai ke rumah kita? Situasi dimarahi oleh pembeli kerana lambat menghantar tong gas ini sudah menjadi asam garam bagi mereka. Akan tetapi, pernahkah kita terfikir akan pengorbanan yang mereka lakukan terhadap kita? Walaupun mereka menjual barangan dan perkhidmatan, mereka juga manusia biasa yang wajar dihormati dan dimuliakan.

Saya terdorong untuk menulis cerita ini selepas memikirkan tentang tulusnya hati dan ikhlasnya jiwa seorang usahawan tong gas yang selalu menghantar tong gas ke rumah saya. Dia tidak pernah menolak apabila diminta menghantar tong gas ke rumah saya walaupun pada masa saya menelefon dia berada jauh dari lokasi rumah saya. Dia hanya tidak menepati masa yang dijanjikan. Namun begitu saya maklum, untuk sampai ke rumah saya dari bandar Sibu memerlukan masa 30 hingga 45 minit, itupun jika tiada masalah kesesakan lalu lintas. Pada masa yang sama orang yang meminta khidmat mereka mungkin dari rumah yang dilalui semasa perjalanan maka dia perlulah singgah dahulu.

Tanggal 28 Ogos 2022, saya hubungi "Tauke" yang selalu menghantar tong gas ke rumah saya. Tong gas rumah saya sudah habis dua minggu lepas. Saya memasak menggunakan dapur elektrik. Namun begitu, saya tergerak untuk menukar tong gas pada hari itu. Petang itu hujan turun dengan lebat. Penjual tong gas itu menelefon saya selepas saya selesai menunaikan sembahyang mahgrib. Saya buka pintu pagar rumah untuk memudahkan dia masuk dan membancuhkan kopi untuknya seperti biasa. Yang peliknya, selalunya, "Tauke Tong Gas" itu akan hantar sendiri tong gas masuk ke rumah saya. Pekerja dia akan menunggu di dalam lori. Dia selalu memanggil saya dengan panggilan "Cikgu Rumah Cantik" atau "Cikgu". Petang itu pun begitu, sebaik sahaja sampai, dia terus pikul tong gas masuk ke rumah saya. Hujan masih lebat. 

Cikgu, boleh aku masuk? Kaki aku basah? Nanti lu rumah kotor! 

Masuk tauke, tak apa. Nanti saya mop. 

Dia pun terus masuk dan meletakkan tong gas di ruang khas di luar dapur memasak. Dia dah hafal pun lokasi tong gas itu. Selepas memasang dan mengunci kepala tong gas, saya pun hulurkan bayaran dan jemput dia minum dahulu macam biasa. Dia minum dengan laju. Dia beritahu selepas ini perlu memandu ke sebuah sekolah di luar bandar yang jauhnya lebih kurang 60 kilometer. Dia kata dia mesti hantar tong gas malam itu juga. Kawasan sekolah itu tidak ada kedai makan. Kalau dia tidak hantar cikgu itu tidak makan! Saya kata cikgu itu boleh makan mi segera. Saya cadangkan dia hantar esok sebab hujan lebat. Waktu pun sudah menunjukkan pukul 8:00 malam. Dia kata dia kasihankan cikgu itu. 

Terdetik di kepala saya, "Tauke Tong Gas" ini bukan bekerja untuk duit tetapi lebih mengutamakan pelanggan daripada kesihatan dan keselamatan diri. Saya terharu. Saya nasihatkan dia memandu dengan hati-hati. Jalan gelap. Dia terus masuk ke dalam lori sambil melambaikan tangan mengucapkan terima kasih. Hubungan silaturrahim saya dengan Tauke Tong Gas itu sudah lama, jika dia hantar tong gas kami selalu berbual. Dia suka memuji rumah saya walaupun saya tahu rumah dia lagi besar dan cantik. Dia sebenarnya jutawan. Orang yang menyintai kerjaya mereka sanggup mengorbankan apa-apa sahaja kerana itulah kepuasan bagi mereka.

Kalaulah aku serajin dia!

The Meaning of Independence for a Teacher

The meaning of Independence for a teacher like me is when I see my students succeed in their studies and life. This is because I educate them sincerely. I know that education is very important to free everyone from poverty and hardship in the future. I became a teacher not to pursue rank and position but I am aware that this profession is truly noble. I'm not rich, I don't have millions of ringgit. I only have knowledge to share with my students.

Teaching is not an easy job. I am always sad when there are stubborn and undisciplined students. I don't blame anyone. I know their parents send them to school hoping that they will change. Parents want them to be human beings with noble character and knowledge. That is the responsibility of teachers like me. I have to make the dreams of all parents come true. Because of this, teachers need to be dedicated educators and willing to sacrifice time to socialize. I am always busy thinking about targets, analyzing data, and checking student assignments.

I spend a lot of time providing motivation, advice, and encouragement to all students. I have to teach them to the heart so that they realize and want to change. This humanizing process is not easy. I'm always disappointed when students don't want to change, especially in terms of mentality. I scolded them. I scold them not because I hate them but because I love them. However, I know some of them may feel that I don't love them anymore. That is the specialty of this teacher's career.

I will be a teacher until I retire. I love this career. I teach to fulfill the responsibility that God entrusted to me. Therefore, I have to teach with an honest and sincere heart. I don't want the teaching career to be tarnished with bad stories. The salary I receive every month should be commensurate with the sacrifices I give. I am always self-reflecting. Have I provided the best service to my students? I'm just a normal human being who will always fix my shortcomings. My hope is that God continues to bless all the things I do to make my students successful in their lives.