Away from office
This KPT’s cubicle. This is her ‘Away From Office’ notice. And it’s the only notice. No email setting. Everyone is either marking test papers at home or enjoying holidays somewhere during these 2 weeks of term break. Office is quiet, especially without KPT. She sits along my alley, diagonally across me.
KPT is an unique individual. She is probably one of the best lecturer and mentor. She is also one of the most compassionate person I ever met. No, she is not gentle. She’s funny and she’s loud. She can be nasty too. I didn’t ask her age but her favorite sentence to me goes like ‘When I’m teaching, you are still wearing diapers’.
You either hate her guts or love her as who she is. And this goes for the students too. To the students who absolutely adores her, she has a big and kind heart. She often gives helping hands to those in financial difficulty and doesn’t expect monetary return. To the students who hate her guts, she is their worst nightmare. She locks latecomers out of classroom and tick off ‘bo-chiap’ students during lectures right in front of 400 students. And once she ‘mark’ you, you are dead. You will be her target in every lecture and tutorial.
Many of her students stay in touch with her all these years after graduating from school. Those who love her, of course. Some are just a few years younger than me.
The best part of my work are my colleagues who sit along the same alley. We joke, we bitch, we complain, like no one business. We have fun. No rivalry. They are the best colleagues I ever met.
For me, I choose to love KPT.
