KUCHING: A teacher has found a novel way of keeping the cobwebs away when he retires next year and he wants others in the same shoes to also get in on the act.
It all started with producing grammar learning videos on YouTube when schools were forced to temporarily close after the Covid-19 pandemic hit and Haini Hamlin, despite the initial jitters, got to grips with new media fairly quickly. And he loves it.
Now Haini, better known as Cikgu Haini, who currently teaches at SK Muara Tebas plans to continue earning by producing video content after his retirement.
He has been producing grammar learning videos on YouTube since early January last year but, by his own admission, initially it was a little daunting as he needed to talk in front of the camera instead of the normal face to face teacher-student interaction in class.
“But I accepted the challenge. And it was easy to remember the techniques of memorising the compound words by singing,” he said, adding, “ students want an interesting learning session hence the reason I produced the learning videos.”
As Cikgu Haini is approaching the age of 60 he said he had often thought about his retirement plan.
“My life as a teacher will end in 2023 and I am worried about my activities and income after retiring.
“This is because there are statistics reporting that most of the savings of retirees will decrease in the first five years and that reality makes me think about my plan,” he said.
But, as fate would have it, he has found a way and thinks that now is the best time to start – by continuing to produce videos for YouTube.
“Imagine, if I only record 12 episodes of video over six days and these are shown for 12 weeks or the next three months consistently? Do it seriously and wait for incentives from YouTube in the future,” he said.
Cikgu Haini already has a head start as the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia and the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) have agreed to expand his fledgling YouTube career through the PRISMA Digital Content Fund.
With the support, Haini has published the latest series, entitled ‘Cobaan’ in which he explores exciting activities in several places around Kuching to Siburan.
‘Cobaan’ is aired almost every week on his YouTube channel and previous episodes have managed to find a place in the hearts of its viewers.
With the number of subscribers and viewers still growing, Cikgu Haini is thinking of producing videos for the long term.
“Apart from expecting a passive income after retirement, I would like to inspire my friends who are mostly senior civil servants and those who have retired to make YouTube a source of passive income.
“I believe many of them have stories, experiences or talents to share with everyone. I want to see everyone succeed and be even happier after they retire,” he said.
