What The Children See Through Their Eyes...

A controversy (if you want to call it that) broke out recently and was exposed by The Sun here in Malaysia. I believe the article reproduced below would be self explanatory. It was written by the editor of the special and investigative reporting desk of the daily, R. Nadeswaran or more popularly known as Citizen Nades.

Don’t poison children’s minds

REGULARS of this column would have remembered the number of times this writer has reiterated that he would not write on race, religion or politics. The reason for this was simple – I have always believed in one race – the Malaysian race long before 1Malaysia, and that religion is a personal thing and that none has the right to advocate one is better than the other. As for politics and the dirt it brings out, the least said, the better. Yes, I mix with politicians from both sides of the divide (some of them have become good friends) but except for the general elections when all hands are on deck for a small crew like ours, the intra and inter-party bickering, the name calling, accusations and the lies that are perpetrated become unpalatable.

I am making an exception, nearly eight years after my self-imposed gag-order. I am doing it reluctantly after seeing how children at the age of 12, are being compelled to see themselves being segregated by race and religion. It sad that almost every issue is seen through the eyes of race or religion. Even scholarships for good students who excel academically are transformed by certain parties into “you got more than me” games. What is more pathetic is the one-upmanship practised by a few and the many who wait on the sidelines to score cheap political points. And yet, we go around talking about integration, unity and the like, and not practising what we are preaching.

There’s religious education and there’s the learning of one’s mother tongue or what they called “pupil’s own language” in our days in school. On Friday, I took a trip to my alma mater after more than 40 years (I used to go for its sports day or play cricket but these were limited to the school field). While waiting to meet the principal of the Klang High School, I couldn’t help but read the notices on the board. One involved the enrolment in what has now become a co-educational school. It gave the breakdown of the enrolment of each class by gender and race. The statistics made interesting reading and we will save it for another day.

The visit was prompted by complaints from parents that the “headmistress has dissolved all non-Muslim religious societies” in the school, which I later found out, was not true. The decision was not made by the headmistress – it was made by the Selangor Education Department.

Since the headmistress was not around, she asked one Mrs Chen, the teacher in charge of co-curriculum, to address the issue. She had a chat with me. “I am new. I only came in February. When I took over the guru besar asked me to check if all the clubs and societies in the school have been approved by the department. I went through the files and there were no approvals. So, I was asked to write to check if they had been approved.”

She wrote in March and last week, a note came from the department – the Kelab Agama Hindu, Kelab Agama Buddha and the Christian Union have to be dissolved immediately. An announcement to this effect was made at the school assembly last week.

But hadn’t these societies existed in the school for years? No one raised an issue; no one objected to their existence and as usual, students were allowed to take part in them. Were they previously in existence illegally and students who had participated in them could be considered past members of “secret societies”? It is merely an administrative decision to legalise (for the lack of a better word) these clubs. Couldn’t the school be told to make a fresh application for approval pending which activities can continue? How come they have to be dissolved while similar clubs in other schools can continue to exist?

As many students are members of these societies and as co-curricular activities form part of the grading for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examinations, it is causing concern. With three months to go before their exams, why are students put under such pressure? Do they now have to scramble to be members of other societies?

My umbrage is on two issues – don’t mess with our children’s education and don’t inculcate differentiation or classification to children based on religion. They will start viewing things from a racial and religious perspective. Once these are ingrained in their minds, no amount of program muhibbah or kursus toleransi is going to help. For the sake of the future of this nation, stop messing around with our children – the leaders of the future.

R. NADESWARAN'S “homecoming” was somewhat sombre seeing and hearing the deterioration of standards at the Klang High School which gave him a foundation in education, sports and leadership. Comments: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com

This article was published on 12th July and can be viewed at : http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=49263

In an immediate response, a reader responded today with this letter:

Let mutual respect rule the day

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.

If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.

If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.

- excerpt from Children Learn What They Live by Dorothy Law Nolte

Teach them that it’s not wrong to discriminate on the grounds of racial and religious difference and you’ve got yourself a new batch of racists and religious fundamentalists.

With reference to “Don’t poison children’s minds” (Citizen Nades, July 12) I cannot for the life of me see how the students in Klang High School will be better off with the dissolution of the Kelab Agama Buddha, Kelab Agama Hindu and Christian Union. And the grounds for dismissal? The clubs were never given approval in the first place.

That means that for all the years that the clubs were in existence, they had operated “illegally” as they were not given the permission to exist by the Education Department. Doing some sleuthing work on the Net, I found that the Christian Union of the school had been in existence as far back as 1969.

With the public furore caused by this exposure, I’m almost certain that the Education Department will do one of two things or maybe even both. The first would be to justify its decision with a myriad of reasons which would range from regulating clubs to ensuring no subversive teachings in the club. What lies in between the two reasons is limited only by your imagination. The second would be a retraction of the earlier directive and full reinstatement of the clubs. A variation to this action would be a temporary reinstatement while the school went about applying for approval.

I wonder if these guidelines on clubs in schools requiring approval from the State Education Department is new or is it some “syok sendiri” initiative by some pompous ignorant officer in the department.

I recall in the mid 90s when I was still in secondary school. My batch had a number of good ideas on clubs that would serve the students well. After seeking advice from the teachers, the students were asked to draw up a working plan on the clubs they were keen to start. Within days of these plans being submitted to the school’s authorities, the clubs were born. And I was reliably informed that all three clubs that were formed then are still in existence today and are booming.

Do the powers that be in the Education Departments have so much free time on hands that they are taking it upon themselves to personally approve formation of clubs in the schools under their purview. For whatever reasons they give to justify their actions, are they going to monitor the clubs to ensure that the clubs adhere to guidelines drawn by the departments? I am assuming of course that there are guidelines.

The tenets of the Education Department should go somewhere along the lines of ensuring that the leaders of tomorrow are ingrained with good values to set them up for life. I just can’t understand how this can be achieved by telling our young that discrimination on the basis of one’s religion is not wrong?

The building blocks of a great nation are the children. We are just borrowing the country today from our children. Let’s not return it to them in a state far worse then when our forefathers returned it to us. Let common sense and mutual respect rule the day.

This response can be viewed at :
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=49320

<<< . >>>

At the end of the day, I do wonder if those who are entrusted with the education of the children are screened upfront for bigotry, racism and the likes. A perfect example of "showing exemplary initiative" while discharging one's duties as a public servant. 

If this is a reflection of the Islam Hadhari that was propagated by the previous PM and by extension, of 1Malaysia that seem to be the "in" catchphrase of the day, I shudder at the future that lies beyond us. I can imagine one where those who do not profess the official religion of the federation be subjected to all kinds of measures to "regulate" them. 

If you posed me the same question say 2-3 years back, I'd probably dismiss it out of hand without even blinking. Today however, I don't think it's beyond "Malaysia Boleh" that some time somewhere the horizon yonder we'd be required by law to visit "Jabatan Perlesenan Agama" (literally translated as Religions Licensing Department) to renew our yearly practicing license. Failure to do so would be to practice your religion without license which is thus an illegal act and punishable by the law? Too far fetched? Visit your friendly neighbourhood (illegal) bookie and he/she may give you good odds for that.

Ironically of course, the actions of the Selangor Education Department can be described as a violation of there country's constitution which clearly stated that Malaysians are accorded the freedom to practice the religion of their choice. It does make a good workout for the brain cells if we try to justify how certain quarters are blatantly using the Constitution to fight for their (perceived) rights and at the same time denying others of theirs (which is ironically also covered by the constitution).

I do wonder what goes on in that brain of theirs? Are they so thick up  there that they fail to remember the essence of education? Don't they know that what children pick up from their growing up years would be the foundations of the kind of life they would lead and the type of person they would be?

Where the fault lies over this matter is anybody's guess. Somehow, I'm in the opinion that there are hidden hands behind all of this. It wouldn't be a surprise if those behind these decisions are doing so at the bidding of their political masters.

I recalled a few months back as I greeted the coming of the new year with a Thanksgiving Service in an Ipoh church. The priest in his homily (sermon) said that we were celebrating the new year with a bit of good news. That the court had ruled earlier (on Dec 31st) that the word "Allah" was not exclusive to the Muslims in the country thus allowing the church and all other religions to use it in their printed materials as well as in worship. 

The priest though cautioned the congregation to not be too euphoric over this victory. He warned that the battle had just started and is a long way from reaching it's conclusion. Like a charm, true to his words the church arson occurred a short while later. The aftermath of the landmark ruling would probably rank as one of the darkest days in the history of the country alongside the May 13th tragedy.

As sure as the sun would rise again, the political animals immediately joined in the fracas to gain political mileage from the malaise. And it came to no surprise that opinions were divided like the Red Sea which Abraham parted. Inter and intra party disagreement were the order of the day. Demonstrations were organized. Protests were voiced. Memorandum drafted and handed to show displeasure at something or another over the matter. As a result of all the hoo-haa, an appeal was filed on behalf of the government and the matter is still pending. 

Religion is a funny little thing you know. It can make brothers take up arms against one another. It can bring out the best (or the worst) in a person. It can also move mountains. Little wonder then how many people are justifying their actions on the basis of the faith that they profess. I wonder if God is as vengeful as He is made out to be judging by some ofter carnage that was given a divine stamp of approval...

Society at large will have to take a step back and reflect on what is happening around them today. Faith is something that is personal and I am a firm believer that it cannot be forced and rammed down one's throat. But then again, perhaps the masses or the political/religious leaders know better than me...

What I'm saying is that if we expect others to respect us, then we should accord the same respect to them as well. Respect is a two way street, like it or not. And I'm certain that when we abuse whatever earthly powers that are conferred on us by mere mortals, the Almighty cannot be pleased with us. 

Isn't it sad that the Tourism Ministry is harping on the diversity of the races and religions in the country overseas but we see all this happening in front of our very eyes. Malaysians - politicians or the man on the street, will have to get it into their thick heads of theirs that our diversity is something to be cherished and embraced. Unfortunately, the Education Department which falls directly under the purview of the Deputy Prime Minister no less, shot itself in the foot... Or perhaps in the spirit of the just concluded World Cup, scored an own goal in the semi-finals...  

All's not lost as there's still time on the clock to claw their way back into the game. Make amends and fight to win the match to qualify for the championship match? The first step would be to make a sincere apology and take firm steps to put things right. Flip flopping on the issue would be of no benefit to anyone...

A point worth thinking about? Go ahead, put your grey cells to use...