Exemplary HM - Letter from Shukor Rahman in the NST today

Syed Abdullah sent me this nice tribute to Mike and Jean in the New Straits Times this morning. Many thanks,  Syed for sharing with us.

2011/03/24
A. SHUKOR RAHMAN, Penang
letters@nst.com.my

 

J.M.B. HUGHES (or Michael to those close to him), one of the most popular headmasters of Penang Free School, died in England on March 16. His wife Jean, who also taught at the school, had passed away five days earlier.

Both had been in poor health for some time. Their joint funeral was held on Tuesday in Exeter.

What made Hughes, who was headmaster from 1957 to 1963, so highly popular and respected among students and staff?

I entered Penang Free School as a Form One student in 1962, which it happened to be Hughes' final year as headmaster. For one year, I had the opportunity to experience his style of "hands-on" administration.
He treated everyone fairly and decently irrespective of whether you were a teacher, a student, the office boy or the school gardener.

He engaged everyone as a friend and an equal. He would make the class rounds when the end-of-term examination results were out.

Apart from picking out the top two in each class for mention, he would also call up the bottom two, and try to find out why they had not done well. Instead of harsh words, he always tried to encourage them to do better the next time.

He joined Penang Free School in 1949 as the senior Geography teacher. As chairman of the Geographical Society, he would organise numerous activities, such as making excursions to (the yet undeveloped) Pulau Langkawi.

Hughes and Jean had no airs about them. Jean taught English Literature and was active in the Music and Drama Society. They were humble, warm and friendly, and never threw their weight around.

Former students were warmly welcomed when they visited the Hughes in England. He considered former students who kept in touch with him as members of his extended family. On several occasions, some successful former students even sponsored Hughes' visit to Malaysia to meet up with Old Frees. This showed how highly they regarded him.

Almost to the end, Hughes was in touch with a group of Old Frees, exchanging views, banter and memories via email.

If only some of our headmasters would take a leaf out of his book, I am sure there would be less problems in our schools today.

Thank you, Mr Hughes, for your warmth and kindness and for being a friend to all. And thank you for making the sun shine even on bleak, gloomy days


Read more: Exemplary HM: Take a leaf out of Hughes' book http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/21hughe/Article/#ixzz1HTSsWnUb