Salmaliza best Engineering Faculty lecturer made of steel

By: Daniel Yeap

Her method is simple: correction must be done indirectly but creatively, so that reprimand is directed at the behavior and not the person.

Footsteps filled the corridor as she hurried to her destination.

Glancing at the sheet of paper in her hands, she took a breath and pushed open the door.

A group of young men looked up, froze, and then …

“Welcome back Miss! Where have you been? We miss you!”

Salmaliza Salleh, 35 had been away for 3 weeks during which she underwent surgery of her eyes. 

Salmaliza: All smiles all day

She teaches Civil Engineering at SEGi University, a private university in the suburbs of Kota Damansara.

Her students’ warm welcome and their queries about her post-surgery condition is no surprise since Salmaliza had been voted Favorite Lecturer by engineering students at the university.

Wide-eyed and ever ready to break into a smile, this cheerful instructor admits she enjoys being around her students and interacting with them in class.

“When I’m at home I feel stressed and uncomfortable. The moment I step on campus, all my cares just evaporate into thin air!” she says.

Salmaliza says she has surprisingly few, if any, problems with her students.

“I always have a full class, which presents a challenge for me because of their incessant chatter!”

Although her students faithfully show up for classes, Salmaliza has other things to grapple with such as maintaining order in class, getting her students to listen when she speaks and giving reprimand when they don’t behave.

With her own unique style of dealing with students, she seems to handle their idiosyncrasies seamlessly; they do not fight back, instead they obediently do as she asks.

Her method is simple: correction must be done indirectly but creatively, so that reprimand is directed at the behavior and not the person.

Salmaliza recalls one of her classes where one student had been missing for two classes in a row.

When she asked the other students about his absence, they replied they hadn’t a clue.

“I told the class that because of that, they will get an impromptu quiz on that day.

From then onwards, every time someone is absent, there will be at least one from the class who will inform me about the reason of his absence,” she chuckled.

“They are in a class together, and I want them to learn to care for each other,” she said.

No doubt there will always be the bad apples – students who challenge their instructors and are playful in class. How does she handle them?

“If the student uses a joke to poke fun at me, I sometimes make another joke to poke back at him.

“After that he will back down and become quiet.”

Laugh and learn: the best way to study

Unconventional as they are, her methods appear to be highly effective.

“I owe it to my parenting experience at home,” says the mother of three.

All three of her children have different personalities, she says, which calls for different parenting approaches.

Her eldest son, Irfan, 7 is the most obedient of the lot. When reprimanded he would go silent, hand his head and obediently do as he is told.

Her 5-year-old daughter is the direct opposite.

“She is the rebel.

“If I shout at her, she will shout back at me five times louder!

“With her I have to gently tell her that what she did was wrong and what she should have done.

“For the youngest one, screaming at him is the only thing that will work!”

At most times, however, Salmaliza is strict but gentle with her children.

“My husband says I should scold them more,” she laughs.

The same maternal care is brought to the classroom, where she treats her students like her own children.

She goes on to explain that she wants her students, especially those who are far from their homeland to feel cared for and comfortable. Only then will they enjoy the subject matter and do well academically.

“I teach students as individuals, not as a group.

“Not everyone can get strings of A’s.

“It’s about feeling appreciated and giving them the confidence to strive ahead.”

Explanation through demonstration

Despite playing a motherly role in class, she has a clear separation between teaching and her personal life.

Weekdays are mainly taken up by work, leaving only night time when she ensures her children complete their homework.

Weekends are reserved for family, when she and her husband will take the children out to watch movies or just for a stroll in the park.

This time is important to her since she does not get to spend much time with her children and husband during the week, although her husband is also an Engineering graduate.

The two met when they were in university.

At that time Salmaliza had finished her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations with a miserable two A’s.

Her kuih-selling mother went knocking on the doors of various institutions of higher learning to beg for a place for her daughter.

At one particular university, the administrator attending to them blatantly told Salmaliza’s mother that she was degrading herself by doing this given her daughter’s poor results.

This caused zeal to arise within Salmaliza, who was determined to buck up and prove herself worthy.

“I told the administrator that I would work hard to improve my standing and get a job at the same university with a higher salary than her.

“I wanted to prove her wrong!”

So after retaking her SPM and passing with flying colors, she applied to the same university, which offered her a place in the male-dominated Engineering field, graduated and got a job there.

“One day I went to look for the administrator and asked if she remembered me.

“I said ‘Do you remember what you told an old lady a few years ago?’

“And I told her that “here I am, working here and I have a higher salary than you!”

“Then I quit and went on to do my Master’s.”

It was there while she was pursuing her engineering degree that she met the man who would later become her beloved husband.

“We got married three days before our convocation,” she said gleefully.

 Her experiences through thick and thin has made her who she is today – a dedicated instructor who loves being around people and enjoys investing into their lives.

Getting along well and being liked by people does not mean she is free from any idiosyncrasies: she has an aversion to furry animals.

“Cats, hamsters, anything with fur gives me the creeps,” she says.

“Even seeing them on television or in print makes me feel ticklish.

“I have no problem with reptiles though.

“I love snakes! I caught one in my house the other day because I’ve seen how they do it on National Geographic.

“I would love to take a photo with one around my neck!”