This teacher has a "fresh linen" fetish

Actually, I had wanted to take a short break from blogging. But before I switch to "silence mode", I want to relate a little story about what is going on in one of our Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan.

Now, this is a true story, a "KISAH BENAR". You shall be the judge of the moral behind it.

L is a 15 year old studying in a local national school. She will be sitting for her PMR examination this year. Her form teacher is a nice lady, not too young, not too old. However, she has a strange fetish for "freshly ironed linen", in this case, tablecloths.

Each student in her class is assigned a piece of new fabric at the start of this year, which is to be used to cover up their desk. Those school desks, although not brand new, were not exactly an eyesore either. Who exactly paid for the tablecloths remain a mystery.

Every morning, before classes begin, the tablecloth must be laid out nicely over the desks. At the end of the day, they are folded up and taken home. This is where it gets interesting.

On no account, the students were told, the tablecloth is to be WASHED. It is now March and the students have already used it for 2 months, unwashed. However, EACH day, it must be IRONED before it is reproduced for the next day's use.

And what is the punishment for not heeding the teacher's instruction? Well, every morning, a student will be assigned to "inspect" the laid-out tablecloths for evidence of "creases". So far, none has been caught in defiance of the ruling, so no one knows what the punishment would be for disobeying the teacher's orders. Either the students in that class are an obedient lot or the teacher had managed to strike awesome fear in their hearts. L unfortunately belongs to the second category.

If you ever had to endure the unpleasant task of ironing a piece of unwashed linen almost every day, you will understand the exasperation at the logic and mentality of some people who are tasked by our government to "teach and nurture our future generation of leaders and workers alike".

Why is everyone keeping quiet about this and not do something to end the silliness of the situation, you ask.

Because, like all the rest of the students, L does not want to be the person to tread on Madame Cikgu's toes and spend the rest of the year in her bad books.

So, mummy dear will just have to swallow it, iron that piece of cloth Sunday to Thursday and after each ironing session, just take a damp cloth and wipe the iron clean.

The evidence is below, with creases and all.


In case some one is wondering if this is the same school as the one I blogged about in "Misguided HM in National School" last year, the answer is NO.

Both are in Negeri Sembilan, though. If you think the above tablecloth looks familiar, you may have the answer to the mystery of this school.