The experiences of S K Yong and Yasmin Ooi with trainee teachers interest me because I was, well, on the other side of the coin. I was a teacher before and I think I was among the bad ones.

First, before you blame me, let me recount my career history and show you what was so dreadfully wrong with the education system. To begin with, it was not my choice to become a teacher. I applied to the maktab perguruan (teachers' college) out of frustration because I had been jobless for more than a year. Actually, I don't even know why I applied because I was not even expecting to get selected.

So frankly I think I became a teacher because I could not find another job. Many of my classmates in the college also said the same thing. I think the majority of us were there not because we wanted to teach. But what else can most of us who have a low SPM grade — three — do?

What happened at the college would soon tell why the quality of teachers is so undesirable. I was put into the kursus Pengajian Bahasa Inggeris (course for English teachers). I found this hard to believe as I only had a pass in English. I could not even speak English properly at that time.

The thought of me being an English teacher was too much to stomach. I applied for a change to do something else — like pengajian pendidikan jasmani (physical education) but was rejected because I was deemed one of the best students in the English course!

I was told I should be proud that they selected me to teach English. But I did not like teaching English, so I plodded through the course and found college so very boring. Studying to be an English teacher was however not a problem because in the exams we could resort to copying. Everyone sure pass, as they say. I don't think anyone from my group failed.

In fact, the mission of the college was to make teachers of us all regardless of our capabilities. It was a breeze for all of us because we all passed even without much effort.

However, the realities of teaching struck me when I was posted to a school in Petaling Jaya for a practice stint. I now actually have to teach English in English. During my schooldays, the teacher taught English in Bahasa Melayu, just like what S K Yong said.

The students in the PJ school were very fluent in English. The boys laughed when I said something wrong in English, just like Yasmin said. I hated school and soon became a very garang (fierce) teacher. The students hated me. I saw graffiti about me on the toilet walls.

If you are wondering how I come to write this letter in English now, let me cut my long story short. I quit teaching because the pay was very low — RM600 or so. I got a job in sales at double-pay. In the real business world, I had to work really hard to survive whereas teachers do not really have to put in much of an effort but still get an income ( gaji buta ).

Fortunately, my new boss was very good. He sponsored me for an English course so I could go on business trips abroad. I was really inspired to improve my command of English so I could travel. I met a beautiful woman and am now married with two kids. We speak English at home. That's why I am confident enough to write in English now.

What lessons have I learnt from my teaching stint?