2007 ~ 2012 |
A NEW CAMPUS AND THE BIRTH OF SASS
I ensure that I can protect myself as much as I protect
the students. Me fighting for them, finding ways to not
fail them, doesn’t mean that I don’t pull the trigger when
I find it difficult to justify otherwise. That responsibility I
see placed on my shoulders (either by myself or others)
does not weigh me down in doing what needs to be
done. Without my subjectivity, there is no objectivity.
I am professional because I am personal.
*****
I finish the marking, and place it in a pile. The prognosis
is not good, but it’s on life support now, until I can take
a closer look at it with a fresher mind and pot of coffee.
For now, I reach for another, briefly taking another sip of
my coffee, and start anew with my purple pen.
92
In secondary school, Mrs. Ward taught me
mathematics. That quintessential hippie also loved
purple. Absolutely loved it. Hair, clothes, scarves,
jackets, bracelets, the lot. The students would joke
that she would marry the colour if she could, for this
is an affair extended even to her weapon of choice in
(de)grading the works of her students with her written
comments.
Once, I had made the unwise decision of writing on the
wall next to my seat during class. This was the trend
back then, to say that we exist with a simple ‘Dave woz
ere 98’.
▼ Learning Film Directing (and more) in South Korea (2009).
A few days later, it was gone. As I silently wondered
what happened, Mrs. Ward saw my quizzical
expression, and tore me a new one in front of everyone.
“How did you know it was me, Miss?” I asked,
surprised that she had correctly identified me. Her jaw
dropped, mouth agape, unable to believe how blind I
was to the writing on the wall about my writing on the
wall. “Are you stupid or what?!” she bellowed. “There’s
not really a lot of Fikris around here, is there?!” In the
deep Sarf East of London in the late 1990s, I suppose
she was right.
I think of her, and of that story, every time I see the
colour purple, especially if it is now me who (de)grades
the works of others with that shade.
It’s always personal.
Fikri Jermadi graduated with a Bachelor of
Communication in 2006. Subsequently, he obtained
a Masters of Fine Arts in Filmmaking (Film Directing)
from Korea National University of Arts in 2010. He is
currently close to finishing a PhD in Screen Technology
from Universiti Teknologi MARA.