school prefect

My house is located near schools.

Sekolah rendah, sekolah menengah, sekolah agama rakyat, I passed them all every working day.

One time I saw the school prefects standing by the school's gate, ever ready to summon late comers.

That sight brought a chuckle and a visit to yesteryears memory lane.

You the ones who were prefect during your schooling days, do you remember feeling godlike, just because you were a prefect. I remember how the power 'corrupted' my friends; the ones who broke rules because rules are meant to be broken, suddenly become little napolean.

Funny how power changes people.

Suddenly makan dalam kelas, ponteng solat jemaah, lambat ke kelas were considered dosa besar. No more amnesty for staying up after lights off, or your black shoes not shiny enough, or your white shoes not white enough.

I remember meeting a few of them after we left school, but for the life of me I can't figure out why I don't like them. After a short soul-searching, then it hit me. The annoyance that I felt towards those people, I carried through even after I left school. I guess some things do not need to be painfully earth shattering for the memories to run deep for a young person

I wonder if any of my cadet juniors felt that way about me, their Sarjan. Was it Sarjan I or Sarjan II? I can't remember.

Suddenly, this one incident came to mind.

My vice head mistress called me and some friends because of some complaints from the juniors/teachers.

The others got ticked off because they didn't pay attention in class or making remarks the teachers considered rude, etc. They got called in for something that would add points to their 'street' cred, except me.

I got the icing on the cake, she called me because of something nutty, the juniors said they were afraid of me because I got 'muka garang'. Itu jek. I got called in to the office not because I rag some kiddies, torch the school or flight from school. I wonder anak menteri, pegawai kerajaan, orang kaya yang mana lah that was such a wuss. (That particular teacher, single handedly taught my batch that you are noone if you or your family are a nobody)