BOOKS: The story behind the story

2009/11/20

SUZIEANA UDA NAGU

The origin of the idea for You Should Read This..., a book written by students of Five Arif at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Baru Sungai Buloh, is as fantastic as its content, writes SUZIEANA UDA NAGU. STUDENTS of Five Arif at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Baru Sungai Buloh, Selangor have a reason to celebrate despite the ongoing Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination. During a small ceremony in class last Friday, the group of 33 students each received RM96 in royalties for the book they co-wrote titled You Should Read This... Released in July, it features a mishmash of 42 short stories and essays, which depict the innermost feelings of Malaysian teens. The book, which is sold in major stores nationwide for RM4.90, has been reprinted by its sole agent SPP Book Agency Sdn Bhd. The students have also presented a copy of it to Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in person. Not bad for a group of teens who claim to have mediocre English proficiency. “We never thought that we would be known as writers at age 17,” says Nurul Azalea Azarae, chief editor of the book. The origin of the idea for the book is as fantastic as its content. It started with a stack of homework that English teacher Shantini Karalasingam gave the students during the December 2008 school holidays. “They each had to complete 1,200 grammar exercises and write 33 essays by January, when school reopened. “I knew I would end up with a thick pile of papers to mark.

But it was important that the class practised their grammar and writing skills during the six-week break,” says Shantini, an Excellent Teacher in English (see accompanying report). She believes that SMK Bandar Baru Sungai Buloh students need all the help they can get to hone their English skills. Located in suburban Sungai Buloh, the school is predominantly Malay with only one fifth of its students belonging to other ethnicities. It has 3,000 students and 165 teachers for the morning and afternoon sessions.

There are 18 classes for Form One students and 12 for Form Five, with as many as 40 students per class. Most of the students come from low-income families.

About 18 per cent of them are children of Indonesian immigrants, who have resided in Malaysia for the last 20 years or so. “Out of the 3,000 students, only a handful of them can speak and write well in English,” says Shantini. Although Five Arif comprises the top students in the school, many of them struggle with the language. “My grammar is bad” is an answer that you will get when you ask the students to rate their English. So when the new school term began this year, Shantini had the students read essays written by their friends. “I also asked them to spot and correct grammatical mistakes they found before giving suitable titles to the essays.” It was at this point that the idea to turn the essays into a book began to take shape. “I wanted to see how far we could go with the project.

So we worked on it for months; we kept it secret from principal Abdul Hakim Kassim until we were ready to launch the book,” she says. Shantini picked three editors — Nurul Azalea, Nurul Fahima Mohd Rosli and Amizah Sulaiman — to polish the essays. “It was challenging because we were not sure of our own language skills.

Our grammar was as poor as the rest,” says Nurul Fahima, who wrote two of the 42 featured essays. “On top of that, we had to spice up some of the essays because they read too similar to each other,” says Amizah. Thinking that the essays would only be read by Shantini, the students revealed their secrets, ambitions, fears, regrets and other private matters which they would otherwise keep to themselves. Initially, the students were embarrassed to have their innermost thoughts exposed.

However, they later realised how educational the project was. Spotting grammatical mistakes done by others have made them more aware of their own faults.

As they were given complete responsibility to edit the book — Shantini refused to read the essays until the book was published — they not only learned to brush up on their English skills independently but also to manage their time well. The project had also fostered team spirit among the students. The class worked together to come up with several ideas for the book title and voted for the best one. “Some of them came up with really bizarre titles like Malaysian Duck Soup for the Soul,” says Shantini. The title that was eventually picked came from a student with the poorest English test scores last year. “We wanted a title that was easily understood by everyone, whether they had good English or not.

So I suggested You Should Read This...

I’m very proud that my title was chosen,” says Mohd Nawawi Roslan in halting English. It has also encouraged the students to recognise their strengths and talents.

(From left) Muhammad Azim Mohamed Zaki, Mohd Nawawi Roslan, Kawsalya Nadarajan, Amizah Sulaiman, Siti Hafsyah Mohamad Sidi, Andrea Wong Chen Wan, Nurul Fahima Mohd Rosli and Nurul Azalea Azarae worked hard as a team to make the project a success.

Realising Muhammad Azim Mohamed Zaki’s interest in graphic designing, the class unanimously voted for him to create the cover. “I asked my classmates for ideas and one of them suggested a design similar to the Dummies’ Guide.

But I thought our book should be original, so I designed five samples and left it to the class, (Shantini) and the principal (Abdul Hakim) to decide. The final artwork — a colourful cover which is a combination of blue, red yellow and white hues — was chosen because it reminded students of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Although the class worked hard as a team to make the project a success, it would have been difficult to launch the book without a publisher who was willing to take the risk on the project. Shantini says that credit also goes to a local book store owner who was willing to invest in publishing the book and printing 3,300 copies of it. “All he wanted was to cover the cost.

By selling the book to 3,000 students in our school at RM4.50, we managed to pay him back.” It was Andrea Wong Chen Wan’s duty to oversee the sales of the book among her schoolmates. “It was a big responsibility.

Getting everyone to pay for the book required a lot of patience and persistence,” she says. Seeing the students’ full commitment to the book, Shantini thought they deserved a grand ceremony to launch it. She encouraged them to find sponsors to fund the event and personally went to various media houses to ask for coverage. The launch in July, attended by parents and the local media, was a huge success. Abdul Hakim is proud and impressed by what the class had achieved. “They have proven that with a little encouragement and guidance, students from a regular school like ours can also accomplish great things,” he says. He believes the book project is in line with the Education Ministry’s policy to elevate Bahasa Malaysia and strengthen English language proficiency. “When Science and Mathematics are taught in Bahasa Malaysia again in 2011, we will have to fill the (language) gap.

Schools need to come up with meaningful projects in which students can showcase their talents and potential,” says Abdul Hakim. Abdul Hakim lauded Shantini’s effort to encourage the reading and writing culture among students of SMK Bandar Baru Sungai Buloh. “We are lucky to have teachers like her, who are able to motivate and organise the students,” he says. The book has received its fair share of negative feedback from readers since the launch. Some English teachers are disappointed that the book contains glaring grammatical mistakes. “That is to be expected of a project which is carried out by students who are learning to improve their English,” says Shantini, who is proud of the book in spite of the errors. Adults tend to stop young people from making mistakes, says Shantini. Siti Hafsyah Mohamad Sidi, the only Indonesian student in the class, agrees. “The more I write, the more I learn,” says Siti Hafsyah, who now helps her younger sister with her English homework as it helps improve her own English. Kawsalya Nadarajan now pays closer attention to the way sentences are constructed in books that she reads. “Now, after I complete the first draft of my essay, I will give it another read,” she says.

First and foremost a teacher

AS a young teacher at Sekolah Sri Inai, Kuala Lumpur, Shantini Karalasingam learned to omit the word “impossible” from her vocabulary.

“If I needed to get something done, I had to find a way to do it. The word ‘impossible’ was not accepted,” says Shantini, recalling her stint at the private school in 1986.

Shantini joined Sri Inai while waiting for her Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia results. Noticing her potential and passion for teaching, the school sponsored Shantini’s studies at University of Malaya (UM) — she did her Bachelor of Arts (English) programme in 1986 and later Diploma of Education in 1992 — and hired her as soon she finished her course.

Although Shantini left Sri Inai to teach in public schools after her bond ended in 1992, the fast-paced and result-orientated work culture at the private sector stuck with her. Shantini has since served at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Taman Keramat (1993-1995) and SMK Bandar Baru Sungai Buloh (1996 to present).

“I have been indoctrinated with the culture. That is why I am always thinking of the next exciting activity for the students,” she says.

Earlier this year, Shantini engaged Five Arif class in a book project. The class released their book titled You Should Read This..., a collection of 42 short stories and essays which depict the innermost feelings of Malaysian teens, in a grand affair in July.

Although Five Arif comprises the best students at SMK Bandar Baru Sungai Buloh, the students struggle with their English.

The project has not only enhanced their language skills but also armed them with soft skills such as effective communication, time management and teamwork.

It is fitting that Shantini was recently appointed an Excellent Teacher under the Guru Cemerlang scheme.

Introduced in 1993, the plan provides promotional opportunities for teachers who demonstrate excellence in their services.

Instead of being transferred to administrative positions on promotion, the Excellent Teacher remains in his or her current school and continues to impart and share knowledge, expertise and experience with his or her charges and colleagues.

Excellent teachers commonly comprise textbook authors, subject panel speakers, seminar paper presenters, education technology experts, examination question setters and examiners, curriculum co-designers and pedagogical consultants.

They are the visionary, innovative, creative and exemplary leaders of their subjects.

They also play the roles of advisers, initiators, motivators and coordinators in school societies and programmes. Judging by the success of the book project, Shantini has certainly lived up to the honour.

Students from a regular school like ours can also accomplish great things, says Abdul Hakim Kassim.

To Shantini, she is first and foremost a teacher. She believes that the label “excellent” means little if she fails to contribute in meaningful ways to her school. She views herself as a counsellor and motivator who can spur the school to move as a unit — “a close-knit one at that”. “We have to work as a family.

There should be no disparity (between teachers and students). That is when my training in guidance and counselling comes in handy,” says Shantini, who has a Master’s in Education (Guidance and Counselling) from UM. Shantini is already thinking of a project for next year.

“It will involve the entire school,” she adds.

Students of Five Arif presenting a copy of You Should Read This... to Muhyiddin Yassin.