Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
Malaysian netizens are currently on fire with the lecturer from UiTM who was berating her student who was without a laptop. The wonder of modern technology meant that what happened during this online class is forever available on the internet, and of course, on YouTube.
Source: nst online (youtube)
This got some wondering: who else has tales of lecturers and professors who were cut from the same cloth as this particular educator?
Here are 5 stories from past and present Malaysian university students about their worst lecturers!
1. I was told that engineering is too hard for women
When I was a university student, I enrolled in the engineering faculty to (obviously) become an engineer. My problem was that I didn’t know what type of engineer I wanted to be, so I had to play it smart. I picked a university that offered a lot of engineering majors, and would let me switch majors before I started my second year.
While I started thinking of electrical engineering, eventually I made the final choice to do mechanical engineering instead. I submitted the necessary paperwork, and was approved to make the switch at the end of my second semester in first year.
Imagine my surprise when the Academic Department Head (ADH) called me into his office to “discuss” my choice. Imagine my shock when he went on a verbal diatribe about how I would never make it as a female engineer in mechanical engineering, and that even electrical was probably beyond my comprehension! Then he denied my request, and told me to stick to electrical or go elsewhere to study!
I left his office fuming in anger, but decided to double down. I scheduled another meeting, and recorded the entire meeting using my phone. I lucked out because he was as sexist, condescending and mocking in the second meeting as the first.
Suffice to say, when I let my parents hear the recording, my father – a senior chemical engineer with Petronas – lost his temper. The ADH got another meeting request from me, and my father went in there to have a conversation.
Let’s just say that the entire engineering faculty office could hear my father call into question the validity of my ADH’s education and professional credentials. Let’s just say that the Head of Faculty had to step in to defuse the situation.
I was allowed to switch, and the ADH did not have his contract renewed. Incidentally, I graduated with first class honours.
2. In medical school, our lecturer neglected teaching us about the kidneys
I had a lecturer when I was a medical student, who was supposed to be teaching us about the so-called “silent organ” a.k.a the kidneys. Unfortunately, she didn’t teach us much about the kidney but focused almost completely on diseases of the kidney.
By the end of the course I knew all about various kidney related diseases, infections, possible ways it could malfunction and how to treat them, but absolutely nothing about the organ itself!
Fortunately, this was just one module in the anatomy course for first year students so I wasn’t too worried. I went on to become a psychiatrist and thankfully I’ve never had to treat a kidney in my 20 years of psychiatric practice.
3. My lecturer didn’t teach us anything at all!
He was the lecturer for an introductory course in my first year of students, which was sadly the first academic semester of 2021. This meant there were a lot of issues to be overcome that had nothing to do with the students.
But this “lecturer” literally didn’t teach anything for the entire 14 weeks of his introduction to programming class (Unity Engine). He just uploaded his powerpoint slides to the student learning platform (Moodle) but those slides were mostly chunks of code.
His idea of an online lecture was to show up for between 20-30 minutes of his 90 minute bi-weekly lecture and just wait for us to ask him questions. We couldn’t ask questions, because nobody had any prior programming experience and even knew what to do!
He refused to answer any questions by email or the Moodle forums. He even refused to answer administrative questions! He actually had a template reply to “ask me during the next lecture.”
In the end, I had to sign up for a Udemy course (and PAY for it!). But at least I managed to pass the course with a “C-”. His attitude towards his subject, and students absolutely turned me off from ever starting to consider a career in any kind of computer programming or coding field.
We rallied together and several semesters’ worth of students had to fail him on his teaching evaluation. Apparently he improved from terrible to subpar, and if the rumours are correct, his contract is not being renewed.
Shame on the administration and management who let him screw over 200 students before doing something about him!
4. My lecturer penalised us for something beyond our control
I was studying for my MBA locally, and I think this was somehow caused by the program being a part-time programme, which made the timetable go a little bit haywire for everyone.
The submission and marking schedule looked something like this:
- On Wednesday (the 1st of March), Assignment A is due
- On Friday (the 3rd of March), Assignment B is due
- The following Monday (the 6th of March), we would get Assignment A returned, graded with feedback
- On Wednesday (the 8th of March), we would get Assignment B returned, graded with feedback
But whenever we got Assignment B returned, it would have a comment like this one: “You made this exact same mistake in Assignment A. Penalty applied for not applying Assignment A feedback.”
I explained the situation to him, and he told me (in very polite terms) to piss off because he didn’t care. In the end, I compiled the evidence from half of my class and then went to the dean with the evidence.
I’m not sure what happened behind the scenes, but we were not penalised on further assignments and everyone got a few extra marks on previously submitted projects.
5. Our lecturer would throw paper balls at us for giving wrong answers
My university has a lot of international students, and one thing I’ve noticed is that those foreign students do not put up with shit from anyone. Kamaal was from India and an avid cricket player and fan – this is relevant.
My introduction to accounting course had bi-weekly tutorials and the teaching assistant (TA) kept paper balls on his desk, and he would throw these at students who got questions wrong.
The TA did this to Kamaal, who just frowned and tossed the projectile aside the first few times it happened. Then after a few weeks, the TA called on him. I was sitting next to Kamaal. I could see that he had the right answer, but he deliberately gave the WRONG one.
Sure enough, a paper ball came flying his way. It bounced off his desk and hit him in the chest. Kamaal rose to his feet and whipped a tennis ball across the classroom. The ball smacked the TA in the chest and he staggered back, slamming into the whiteboard.
There was utter silence in the classroom, and Kamaal just glared at the TA, silently daring him to make an issue of it.
No paper balls were thrown for the rest of the semester.
Respect goes both ways
Educators, whether they are lecturers, professors, or the teaching assistants, definitely deserve to be respected. I would never dispute that educators are underappreciated.
However, respect is a two way street. If you want it, you must give it in equal measure. It’s only a matter of time before the student(s) decide they’ve had enough and drop the proverbial hammer that ends a teaching career.
For more stories like this, read: Malaysians Share Stories Of Teachers That Taught Them Life Lessons You Can’t Find In A Textbook, Malaysians Share Stories About Their Favourite And Least Favourite School Teachers, and I Was Sexually Assaulted By A Lecturer In A Malaysian Private University.
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