Someone once said the rain always brings sadness

Of the many grievances I went through today, the most hurtful would be learning that my favourite teacher passed away at 2am last night. And the rain started pouring shortly after the SMS came through...

He taught me maths in Year4, made hockey my number 1 love, gave us car rides in his trusty gold proton (DR XXXX - ajah u remember?) practically every day because we're such spoilt girls who didnt wanna go on the school bus because it's just not as cool - yeah private ride home on a teacher's car meant a different social status for 12-year-olds ok?, bought us mcdonalds (a higher social hierarchy for this, like yours truly aha...), and he was the only man who could make me run 7 rounds with my goalkeeper pads under the sweltering sun.

Yet all I did after I left primary school was call him once on teacher's day in 2008. My only phone call to him. Once. Just once. He still remembered me despite the non-contact of 15 years.

I wanted to visit him every raya. I didn't.

I really wanted to visit him last raya. I didn't.

And now he's gone.

Al-Fatihah to Allahyarham Sir Mahisham Mahmood... His passing is a great loss to all of us ZS girls.





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An update at 2am, March 25 - 24 hours of Sir Mahisham's demise



I read Ajah's blog after I updated mine, and only then that I learnt that Sir has been really sick all these while. I thought he only had diabetic issues. Sir went back to school for his Degree and earned himself an Honour roll. I called Ajah crying really hard, feeling like an arse for not being in touch as often as I should. Apparently there were times when he was wheelchair-bound, and when he's back on his feet again he would go back to teaching. Sir was like a real father to me back then as I didn't stay with ayah for 2 years. i believe he was one to all of us girls. To the rest of you, try Googling 'Mahisham Mahmood' and you will find many an entry dedicated to him, showing how much he was (and still is) loved by his students. Here, I share with you why we're very proud of him:

ARKIB : 17/12/2006

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Penyakit saraf tak halang Mahisham jadi graduan terbaik OUM




KUALA LUMPUR 16 Dis. – Walaupun menghidap penyakit saraf yang menyebabkan sebahagian anggota badannya lumpuh, Mahisham Mahmood hari ini membuktikan ia bukan penghalang untuk beliau muncul antara graduan terbaik Universiti Terbuka Malaysia (OUM).
Lebih membanggakan Mahisham, 44, lulusan Sarjana Muda Pengajaran Bahasa Inggeris Sebagai Bahasa Kedua, mencapai kejayaan berganda apabila dinobatkan sebagai penerima anugerah Hadiah Buku Universiti.

‘‘Walaupun lebih kurang setahun saya tak dapat menghadirkan diri (ke kelas) sebab kecederaan tulang belakang dan penyakit saraf, tetapi dengan menggunakan cara pembelajaran terkini secara dalam talian, Alhamdulillah, saya berjaya ke tahap ini,’’ katanya ketika ditemui Bernama pada majlis Konvokesyen OUM, di Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra (PWTC) di sini hari ini.
Mahisham lulus dengan cemerlang walaupun terpaksa berulang-alik dari hospital dan melaksanakan tugasan beliau sepenuhnya di atas katil kerana penyakitnya.
Mahisham yang kini mengajar di Sekolah Kebangsaan Warkah Baru, Kelantan, berkata ibunya juga antara faktor pendorong kejayaannya.

‘‘Selain daripada sambung belajar, saya juga memenuhi hasrat ibu yang mahu melihat anaknya mengambil ijazah kerana sebelum ini ibu saya tidak dapat menghadirkan diri pada konvokesyen adik saya di Amerika Syarikat,’’ katanya.

Ibu Mahisham, Maimun Abdullah, 72, yang hadir pada majlis itu berkata, beliau bersyukur terhadap kejayaan anaknya.

Pada majlis yang sama, tiga tokoh dianugerahkan Ijazah Kehormat. Ijazah Kehormat Doktor Pengurusan dianugerahkan kepada bekas naib canselor Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Tan Sri Dr. Abu Hassan Othman manakala Ijazah Kehormat Doktor Sains masing-masing diberikan kepada Tan Sri Dr. Syed Jalaludin Syed Salim, pengerusi Bank Rakyat dan bekas penasihat sains kepada Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Dr. Ahmad Zaharudin Idrus. Anugerah itu disampaikan oleh Pro-Canselor OUM, Tan Sri Azman Hashim.

– Bernama (Pic link from Ajah's blog, terteaforsea)

For the record, Sir Mahisham was a state hockey player in his youth but had to quit due to knee injuries. He continued to pass on his hockey legacy to his students and I believe that the passion rubbed on us hard. If it wasn't for him, there wouldn't have been the hockey in us. Plus, he spoke excellent English. That's really something for a primary school teacher.