KUALA LUMPUR: Teacher Yahaya Wahi who has a severe water phobia needed to travel a one-hour boat ride to reach his school in SK RPS Kemar in a remote area of Gerik.
Upon learning this, Yahaya failed to report himself at the school on Dec 16, 2012 that would have required him to reach the school by boat across a lake.
The school which houses almost 1,000 students from the Temiar tribe was located near Sungai Temenggor in Gerik, Perak.
One needs to take a 30 kilometer drive from Gerik town to Trojan jetty near Temenggor Dam before taking another 49 kilometer journey via a boat ride to reach the school.
The science and mathematics teacher did not teach at SK RPS Kemar until he discovered a land route to the school — a logging trail on May 16, 2017.
Yahaya has a phobia of water due to a near-drowning incident during his childhood which was further compounded by witnessing the drowning death of his elder brother.
He received medical attention in a government hospital in Sungai Petani and was referred to its psychiatry department in 2015.
In his four years of absence, the 44-year-old teacher tried to discuss his case with the authorities and requested another transfer but it fell on deaf ears.
Yahaya was dismissed from the teaching service on Aug 9, 2019 and all his emoluments were stopped from Aug 6, 2019.
Yahaya later filed a judicial review at the Taiping High Court to quash his dismissal and be reinstated as a teacher at any other school which is reachable via a land route.
Judge K. Muniandy allowed Yahaya's application by stating that the latter's dismissal was against the nature of justice and procedural fairness.
However, despite a court order, Yahaya's intention to continue teaching remains uncertain as the Attorney-General's Chambers is appealing the case at the Court of Appeal.
The Appellate Court has fixed Aug 28 for case management.
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