Female heavy machinery instructor proves her mettle
Published on: Wednesday, October 21, 2020
By: Bernama
Rosniza: Pioneer for women in Kelantan to get involved in driving heavy vehicles.
KOTA BARU: Handling heavy machinery, driving trailers as well as riding high-powered motorcycles are synonymous with men but a female driving instructor here has proven she is just as capable.Rosniza Ghazali, 42, an instructor at the Anda Melor Driving Institute here, is the pioneer for women in Kelantan to get involved in driving heavy vehicles when she attended a Goods Driving License (GDL) (trailer) course and qualified as instructor for Class E (lorry) and heavy motorised machines (chained) in 2012.
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She was the first and only female instructor at the Berhemat Kotaraya Driving Academy here in 2003 and had worked at the Harmony Driving Academy in Sungai Buloh, Selangor from 2005 until 2011 before returning to the Anda Melor Driving Institute.
“Teaching others to drive involves people’s lives and we are prone to accident. That’s why not many women ventured into this field.
“Although this is an extreme job, you will get to feel the excitement and satisfaction once you’re in,” she said when met at the driving institute recently.
In 2002, Rosniza, who hails from Kampung Kedai Buloh, here, attended a course to enable her to obtain a driving school instructors’ certificate.
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She admitted that it was not easy at the beginning as many people, especially men, were not confident with a ‘lady driver’ as a driving instructor and teaching others to drive.
“However, after one candidate managed to get her licence, people’s doubt slowly went away and many began requesting for a female instructor,” said Rosniza who now has 19 years of experience in the area.
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Rosniza also shared her experience of meeting with various types of candidates including an 18-year-old girl who was very scared of driving a car.
“If I’m not mistaken, it was in 1997. The candidate took one hour just to move the car and when she drove on the road, she couldn’t handle the steering wheel properly because she was too nervous,” she said.
However, Rosniza kept on motivating her and the candidate managed to obtain her driving licence after two days of attending theory and practical classes.
Currently, Rosniza is more focus on carrying out office management duty and would regularly take some time to visit the driving circuit.
Meanwhile, a candidate taking high-powered motorcycle licence, Mohd Zulkarnain Deraman, 44, said he has confidence in Rosniza as an instructor and assessor for heavy vehicles driving licence.
“At first, I was surprised to see a woman teaching men how to drive, but when I work with her, she definitely has the knowledge and skills,” he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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