PETALING JAYA, March 12 — A Malaysian schoolteacher became an overnight social media sensation for sharing a hilarious clip of her managing her students during mealtime.
The 30-second TikTok clip shows primary school educator Herdiana Abdul Hamid calling out the names of students while coordinating their lunch boxes in class.
Things took a comedic turn when Herdiana’s high-pitched tone switched to a deep voice as she instructed students to wait for others before eating.
“The others, sit down, don’t eat just yet,” she yelled out while handing out porridge and chicken rice to students.
The 33-year-old who is known as Teacher Dian to students captioned the TikTok clip, “Luckily no fire came out”, along with a dragon emoji.
In a matter of days, Herdiana’s video was watched more than 17 million times and received more than 1.4 million likes.
The clip’s popularity even prompted celebrities such as Diana Danielle to parody the fierce teacher using her voice.
Herdiana told mStar she did not expect the clip to go viral, saying she had recorded it during recess and not during lessons.
The clip also captured the new normal for Malaysian public school students as communal dining at the canteen is a thing of the past during Covid-19 times.
“For recess, we observe standard operating procedures (SOP) where our canteen operators will deliver pre-ordered meals from students to the classroom.
“But not everyone gets the pre-ordered meals because some students choose to bring food from home.
“As the class teacher, I manage the distribution of food to students,” she told the Malay language news site.
Herdiana said she makes sure students wash their hands, say their prayers and eat together in class according to the SOPs.
“I changed my squeaky Doraemon voice because I wanted students who already have their food to wait for their classmates,” she said.
The English language teacher for Primary One and Primary Two at a Negri Sembilan school admitted she is strict not just in school but at home.
“I’m not the fierce type who makes students scared but the kind of fierce that educates children.
“I’m actually a cheerful and funny teacher — I love telling stories and can’t stop once I start.
“I also love making my students happy,” the Teluk Intan native said.
Herdiana, who has been teaching for the past 10 years, said she started a TikTok account earlier this year to get tips on parenting, photo editing and makeup looks.
“I was thinking what to post on TikTok so I recorded the classroom situation because parents would probably want to know how the teachers and their kids are doing at school.
“I love getting makeup tips from TikTok but I want to clarify that I used a filter in the clip which is why it looks like I have heavy makeup on,” she said.
The mum of two found it amusing that parodies have been created in response to her video, saying it was just an ordinary clip in her opinion.
“But if people saw it in a positive light and were entertained, I’m glad.
“Like the Diana Danielle parody, that was hilarious,” she said.
The teacher also responded to negative comments and said she accepted them openly but also apologised to those who found it inappropriate.
