My Sec Sch classmate, Adrian Loo (now Dr. Adrian Loo) paid tribute to our art teacher and AMKSS soccer coach, the late Cikgu* Rahim.
http://www.singaporememory.sg/contents/SMA-11c13b96-8e4d-4e0c-9ddc-dfabf6027e49
Adrian wrote:
"Despite him raising his voice all the time, he was no tyrant but a very warm and encouraging teacher. He happened to also be my class Art teacher and I often did well for Art! But not as well as Ivan Chew who was my secondary school classmate in Sec 1B/E. Ivan Chew's art piece would be held up and Cikgu Rahim would unreservedly boom out how beautiful his art was."
I tried to look for art work from my Sec Sch days. Alas, I did not have the foresight to preserve any back then. So what I have to show, as proof of my artistic abilities, is this certificate of my winning 2nd prize for a Senior Citizen's Week Celebration art competition (I'm not sure how many schools participated but I came up 2nd island-wide).
Now that I've convinced you of my artistic prowess in Sec Sch (*ahem*), here's the punchline: My first encounter with Mr Rahim was NOT so pleasant!
Mr Rahim FAILED the very first art piece that I handed in.
When I entered Sec 1, I was sure of my artistic abilities. Perhaps a bit cocky too. With that first art piece not making the grade, I thought I was doomed for the rest of my art lessons in Sec Sch. :)
[To be continued in Part 2.]
* Cikgu = Teacher
