Cigu Ada kan Ku Cakapkan

I was walking past my class when a student of mine approached me and with all the seriousness in the world told me that he wanted to have a talk.

"Ada kan ku cakapkan teecha!"

"Pasal apa? Bah cakap tah."

"Nanti tah teecha. Ada aku kan cakapkan. Aku tunggu udah klas English."

Then he went to the back of the room to check the class timetable.

"Minggu dapan cigu!"

I got worried. What was so important for him to share with me yet he chose to wait for a few days? What kind of problem did this kid have? I was playing several scenarios in my mind. If the kid's parents were divorcing, what advice should I give? Did I offend him in anyway and should apologize? Is he having problems at school? I wrecked my brains thinking about what he wanted to say. I thought it must be something so serious because he wanted to talk to me without having his friends around.

The day finally came. I was walking to a room quickly when he caught up with me. I realised that he wanted to share something that was troubling him when he took a deep breath. Then he said, "Teecha, kita kan membali tiket konference?"

At that point, I burst out laughing.

"Aku ejen menjual tiket konference cigu."

I laughed harder when I heard that and politely declined. I guess next time I have to teach my students about making a sales pitch.