Otherwise normal

Circa 1990s, she was a teacher at our school.

She's the skinny Ms with shoulder length hair pinned at the sides, her fair skin graced with just a little make-up on her face. Standing at medium height in her black pumps, most of the time she's in pastel-coloured baju kurung or a combi of maxi skirt and billowy blouse.

She's one that walks with quiet confidence in the hallways, yet articulate and strict in class.

She thought the sixth formers, but along with a few more teachers, she took over my class for a short duration while our teacher in charge was on maternity leave. She shared bits and pieces of general knowledge, addressing us in Bahasa Malaysia, once in a while in English.

But we've heard about her dark peculiarity, so non of us dared to test her. We were too fascinated with her mysterious personality to have time for pranks.

Younger teachers speak in hushed tones everytime she walks by. The seasoned staff don't discuss her at all. The headmistress treats her just like anyone else.

Of course, PIBG parents were worried. When the buzz about her became to hard to ignore, the ustazs and ustazahs released a general warning to the students to seek them out if someone tries to confuse us about religion.

We all know who they meant by "someone".

Every time it's her turn to babysit, we expected her to launch into a sermon to lure us into darkness, or maybe hypnotize us into becoming her followers. But she never did.

The only time she did something different was that time she gave out a recipe in conjunction of the class being moved to the Kemahiran Hidup lab.

Then one day she was already in the news. She claims she's the messenger of God who brings God's words.

It was as if a deep sea volcano had erupted - students saw only ripples on the surface but we knew deep down it was a serious matter. Parents came worried, teachers tried to play it down while the headmistress took the necessary actions.

Local ulamas swiftly did their job - she was detained and asked to repent. According to reports she did. We heard she was transferred to the education office to do clerical work, and we never saw her again.

Once in a while the news about her resurfaced, and apparently she still believes she is the chosen one. But the last we heard about her was years ago.

To suddenly see her being headline material again is quite a tragedy. All these years and she's still swimming against the tide.

Wonder what's going on in her head?

What was it that propelled her towards the path she chose?

What is triggering her thoughts and action?

Has anyone ever tried to get her to tell her story?

Has anyone truly helped her?

Where's her family?

What kept her going?