Okay, here's the polished version of the transcript, formatted for clarity and readability:

Autobiography - 6 | To Become a Trainer

Q: In the last clip, you mentioned wanting to become a karate master and told your mother about it after your first lesson. Is that right?

A: Yes, that's correct. I was very happy after my first karate session. I observed what was happening in the dojo, how the sensei was teaching, and how he was earning money. I decided I wanted to be a karate teacher too. I went home and told my mother.

Dedicated Training

I continued my karate training about five to six times a week. We had two sessions: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. There were three training sessions a day. The first started around 5:30 or 6:00 AM and lasted about 1.5 hours. Then, a new group would come for the next session, and then another. I trained in all three sessions on the same day!

Wow!

I trained very hard in the humid Malaysian weather. I only had one karate gi (uniform) that I had bought. After training, I would stand on the third floor, open the front side (we didn't have windows), squeeze the top of my gi to wring out the sweat, and then wear it for the second and third sessions. I never missed a training. I was very motivated.

Later, the three training sessions per day reduced to two, and then to one as people dropped out. Eventually, the six times a week reduced to three, and later to twice a week, if I remember correctly.

New Job, New Opportunities

I trained very hard and progressed to the lower junior belts (around blue or brown belt level). Then, I got a better job at the hospital, leaving my job as an office boy. I started as an IMG worker (a very low working class position) and was later transferred to the engineering department. I learned mechanic and electrical skills, assisting the electrician and doing small jobs, like an apprentice.

However, the engineer and some other people put too much pressure on me. I think my karate training was making me more confident. I didn't want to be pushed around anymore. This was a change from when I was the "small fatty." I started to rebel in my workplace.

Recognition and Teaching Doctors

I participated in tournaments, and sometimes my name appeared in the newspapers. The doctors at the hospital read these articles and noticed someone named Jamal Karate working in the engineering department. They contacted the engineer and asked about me.

When I arrived at work one day, the engineer told me the doctors wanted to meet me. I went to see them, feeling very proud and confident. I wasn't as deferential as others were to doctors.

I knocked on the door, and the doctor asked what I needed. I said, "I'm Jamal, the karate man you wanted to see." They invited me in, and we talked about my karate training. They asked if I could teach them karate.

I said, "Sure." They said they would gather four or five friends, and I could teach them once or twice a week. They offered to pick me up after work, take me to their house (they had a garage for rainy days or we could train in the garden), pay me for the training, and then bring me back home. I agreed.

Teaching Private Lessons

They gathered four or five doctors, who were all very nice to me. They felt like friends. They would pick me up, give me orange juice (which was a treat at the time in Malaysia), and a cold drink. I didn't even have a refrigerator at home back then. We would train, then sit and talk in their house or garden. This continued for maybe one or two years. They paid me about $5 per training session.

That's like about four people, $20 maybe, it was like I'm not sure maybe $100 a month I used to get from them all together. My salary at that time in the hospital was like 110 to 120 Malaysian dollars or Malaysian Ringit. So this was already 100, that's a quite a lot.

Rising Prestige

When I went to the hospital canteen, which had a separate area for doctors, they would call me over to sit with them. All the other people used to look around and say, "What are you doing with these guys you know these are all doctors so I used to say I'm teaching karate so I was motivated and had a good uh prestige" The doctors were proud to say they were training karate, and I was proud to sit with them. Other hospital staff would wonder what I was doing with the doctors. I would tell them I was teaching karate. This gave me motivation and prestige. Karate gave me a good life. I was well-recognized in the hospital.

The word spread among my colleagues, and they asked me to teach them karate too. I asked my sensei (teacher) if I could use the dojo on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since he taught on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He agreed, and I offered him 30 or 40 Malaysian dollars, which was quite a lot at the time.

I gathered a group of 40 to 50 people through word of mouth. They paid a fee of $12 Malaysian dollars, which amounted to $500-$600. Doctors at the time earned around $500, and specialists made maybe $700. As a brown belt, I was making more money than the doctors through private teaching. I was doing well. My ambition was to become a professional teacher.

Maybe I can continue this in the next episode and hope you all be able to enjoy it. It's a very nice motivation time. I remember my childhood and I think this can motivate many people.

Thank you for this.

You're most welcome. Bye.