Posts
It’s that time of the year again when students get their SPM and STPM results. Nerve wrecking as it may be, getting good grades is just half the story. The other half has to do with getting suitable courses in universities or colleges and scholarships that comes with it. All your student life, nay, your entire life (and in some cases, the entire family’s) has been geared towards this moment.
Students would have put in hours after hours of hard work for years to get the best possible results. A fantastic result is a cause for joy for the entire family but that’s just the beginning of the next battle; proper placement. There, things are not entirely in the hands of the students. Higher forces are at play.
This brings back memories of my own school days. My secondary schooling was at SM La Salle Klang, a school rich in it’s tradition of excellence and discipline. I remember parents who enrolled their children in La Salle used to brag about it, as if it was a kind of achievement on its own. Although most well-to-do parents in Klang preferred to send their children to La Salle at that time, it had a good mix of students from upper, middle and working class families.
At La Salle , we were treated equally and were judged based on merits. There were children of state exco members, YB’s, business tycoons and laborers alike. Your religion, race or family background didn’t count for much (unless of course there was a fund-raising). We were constantly reminded that our ticket to a bright future depended on how well we performed academically, coupled with good discipline and some extra curricular achievement for a good measure. We, in La Salle Klang played hard and studied harder.
I had a long time rival in school, Maniyamuthan. We were both in the same class from Form One to Form Six. We were friends but were also fierce rivals when it came to exams. Most of the time Maniyamuthan came out first in class and I used to come in second. However, in SRP (now PMR) I upped him by becoming the top student in school by scoring 8As. Not to be out-done, he came storming back in SPM as the top student with 9As and I came in a distant second with only 7As (although I came out first in the trial!).
We were both from working class families. Therefore, our hopes for a bright future hinged on us obtaining excellent results and getting a ‘suitable’ course on scholarship. There were many other bright students from all races in my school and we all grew up as brothers. However, imagine the despair, hurt and sense of unfairness when none of the non-bumiputra top students were offered JPA Scholarship after SPM.
Our Malay brothers who had good or even average results were offered scholarships to continue their studies overseas. Maniyamuthan and I, despite being the top two students in school didn’t qualify for the JPA Scholarship.
Some of the Malay students who were offered scholarships were deserving but many weren’t; by ordinary standards. Students who did half as well and whose parents were directors of large corporations or high ranking civil servants were offered to further their studies in the USA whilst we, the non-Malay students who had given our all, were consigned to Form Six.
Students from La Salle did their Form Six at Sekolah Tengku Ampuan Rahimah which was just across the street. There were only two Malay students in our Bio-Math’s class and even they were from another school. All our Malay ‘peers’ from La Salle had gone overseas on scholarships. What we were left with were two Malay students from another school who didn’t make the cut. Things were never the same for anyone of us after that; both the Malays and non-Malays.
It was not the fault of our Malay brothers and most of them genuinely felt sorry for us that we weren’t offered scholarships despite having better results. It was the failing of a system that chose one over the other based on race and not merits.
It’s been twenty four years since; regrettably the same cycle is still being played out today in schools all across Malaysia. Imagine the number of students that would have been affected by this form of partiality through the years. A whole generation of Malaysians would have grown up being taught to strive to be the best but would have ‘learnt’ the hard way that the best does not necessarily win.
The policy makers might have had a national agenda of getting more Malays into government sponsored foreign university programmes to balance up the perceived racial inequality. However, they failed miserably on another important front. They failed to nurture and care for all the nation’s children equitably. The policy has left almost half of its children with a sense of alienation and disenchantment.
With that, they killed the spirit and trust of those children that knew only this country as their own and who would have laid down their lives in her protection.
The system was also unjust in that it robbed the dignity of the truly deserving Malay students who would have nevertheless earned their rightful place in a merit based system. Excellence both in the Malays and non-Malays were punished by rewarding the mediocre.
Any effort towards national integration will be futile and a mere gloss over if the educational policy is perceived to be discriminatory. Excellence must be justly rewarded and our children must feel that they are on a level playing ground to enable them to bond seamlessly.
For the survival of this nation and to nurture the spirit of this country, the government must treat all its children equally, regardless of race. Equal educational opportunity must be given to all. Inequality in this field will only serve to diminish the credibility of our educated population.
Education is the life-line of a Nation. This lifeline should never be chocked by the debris of mediocrity. Let the best student be given the best opportunity. Without it, this nation will never achieve greatness.
Murugesan Sinnandavar
Students would have put in hours after hours of hard work for years to get the best possible results. A fantastic result is a cause for joy for the entire family but that’s just the beginning of the next battle; proper placement. There, things are not entirely in the hands of the students. Higher forces are at play.
This brings back memories of my own school days. My secondary schooling was at SM La Salle Klang, a school rich in it’s tradition of excellence and discipline. I remember parents who enrolled their children in La Salle used to brag about it, as if it was a kind of achievement on its own. Although most well-to-do parents in Klang preferred to send their children to La Salle at that time, it had a good mix of students from upper, middle and working class families.
At La Salle , we were treated equally and were judged based on merits. There were children of state exco members, YB’s, business tycoons and laborers alike. Your religion, race or family background didn’t count for much (unless of course there was a fund-raising). We were constantly reminded that our ticket to a bright future depended on how well we performed academically, coupled with good discipline and some extra curricular achievement for a good measure. We, in La Salle Klang played hard and studied harder.
I had a long time rival in school, Maniyamuthan. We were both in the same class from Form One to Form Six. We were friends but were also fierce rivals when it came to exams. Most of the time Maniyamuthan came out first in class and I used to come in second. However, in SRP (now PMR) I upped him by becoming the top student in school by scoring 8As. Not to be out-done, he came storming back in SPM as the top student with 9As and I came in a distant second with only 7As (although I came out first in the trial!).
We were both from working class families. Therefore, our hopes for a bright future hinged on us obtaining excellent results and getting a ‘suitable’ course on scholarship. There were many other bright students from all races in my school and we all grew up as brothers. However, imagine the despair, hurt and sense of unfairness when none of the non-bumiputra top students were offered JPA Scholarship after SPM.
Our Malay brothers who had good or even average results were offered scholarships to continue their studies overseas. Maniyamuthan and I, despite being the top two students in school didn’t qualify for the JPA Scholarship.
Some of the Malay students who were offered scholarships were deserving but many weren’t; by ordinary standards. Students who did half as well and whose parents were directors of large corporations or high ranking civil servants were offered to further their studies in the USA whilst we, the non-Malay students who had given our all, were consigned to Form Six.
Students from La Salle did their Form Six at Sekolah Tengku Ampuan Rahimah which was just across the street. There were only two Malay students in our Bio-Math’s class and even they were from another school. All our Malay ‘peers’ from La Salle had gone overseas on scholarships. What we were left with were two Malay students from another school who didn’t make the cut. Things were never the same for anyone of us after that; both the Malays and non-Malays.
It was not the fault of our Malay brothers and most of them genuinely felt sorry for us that we weren’t offered scholarships despite having better results. It was the failing of a system that chose one over the other based on race and not merits.
It’s been twenty four years since; regrettably the same cycle is still being played out today in schools all across Malaysia. Imagine the number of students that would have been affected by this form of partiality through the years. A whole generation of Malaysians would have grown up being taught to strive to be the best but would have ‘learnt’ the hard way that the best does not necessarily win.
The policy makers might have had a national agenda of getting more Malays into government sponsored foreign university programmes to balance up the perceived racial inequality. However, they failed miserably on another important front. They failed to nurture and care for all the nation’s children equitably. The policy has left almost half of its children with a sense of alienation and disenchantment.
With that, they killed the spirit and trust of those children that knew only this country as their own and who would have laid down their lives in her protection.
The system was also unjust in that it robbed the dignity of the truly deserving Malay students who would have nevertheless earned their rightful place in a merit based system. Excellence both in the Malays and non-Malays were punished by rewarding the mediocre.
Any effort towards national integration will be futile and a mere gloss over if the educational policy is perceived to be discriminatory. Excellence must be justly rewarded and our children must feel that they are on a level playing ground to enable them to bond seamlessly.
For the survival of this nation and to nurture the spirit of this country, the government must treat all its children equally, regardless of race. Equal educational opportunity must be given to all. Inequality in this field will only serve to diminish the credibility of our educated population.
Education is the life-line of a Nation. This lifeline should never be chocked by the debris of mediocrity. Let the best student be given the best opportunity. Without it, this nation will never achieve greatness.
Murugesan Sinnandavar
8 comments:
I don’t know what to say. This article is moving in so many levels.
Generations upon generation of Malaysians have experienced this ordeal. All we had was our own anguish and bitter resentment shared secretly amongst those who had the same experience and with like minded allies.
Most of us Indians were never commercially inclined. Therefore education was our only hope for a better future. The possibility of a higher education was seized away from our grasp and given to others less deserving only because they were sons of the soil and we were the ‘poor adopted brethrens’. Yet we resigned to this fate and hoped for the best for our children. But when it came to their turn, as you said “regrettably the same cycle is still being played out today in schools all across Malaysia”.
As a parent, we can only imagine how gut wrenching it is to tell our children, “Sorry I can’t afford to send you for further studies” or worse, to pick which child to send for further studies overseas because we cant afford to send them all. When they do get in to local universities, they are assigned a course that is chosen for them.
Reading your post brought back bitter memories. I come from a family of four siblings. My mother is a single parent. She worked as a cleaner earning $400 a month. Though we all passed our SPM with excellent results, we failed in our application for scholarships. My mother had to choose which child to send to university overseas. I lucked out again. After 15 years in a menial position in a large local corporation I am now pursuing a degree at a local university.
Not a day goes by that I don’t think about what would have happened if I had been given an equal opportunity. Who knows, I could have been a successful doctor today. I am not bitter or resentful but neither am I respectful or trusting of the system.
I only hoped that my children would be given the opportunity that I had unfairly missed out on. Year after year, when my relatives, friends and acquaintances tell me how their brilliant children could not obtain a scholarship, my hope for my children steadily diminish.
All I can say to you is thank you for giving voice to our plight, which now I see was yours to. I hope your message is carried across this nation , I hope it sets in motion a change for a fair and just education system and I really hope all children will be able to get the opportunity they rightly deserve. Once again, thank you.
Regards
Sashi
What was theorized may not bear the actual theorized result in the real world.UMNO at that point of time theorized that by giving certain privileges to bumiputra’s it will help them in certain quick ways to achieve economical advantages which they believed that they were laggards compared to other races. To be in control of the government u require the majority support…at that point of time UMNO believed that this is what the Malay majority wanted.....hence they implemented it.
Just like a company has objectives outlined by the executive officers…sometimes company fail miserably…why…because, the men who were managing it did not manage and execute it properly..likewise, the policy of the government was to help the Malays…but some managerial ministers whom were not competent did not implement the policies accordingly…they may have overdone it I guess..
But I would not want to blame all screw ups to the people in power,….in our system of democracy…we also played a role, conscious or unconsciously,…by putting those people there. Democracy,….by itself it’s not a perfect system…it’s a system of simple majority….it too has a lot of flaws….of which one of the byproducts is the unfairness in our education system. Let’s hope things change
Let’s work harder, pray more……slowly, but surely a day will come where our children’s will not be dependent on other people’s subsidies,…….so let’s keep the faith.
I still remember my own sister given an unknown course in an east coast university despite scoring a cgpa of 3.8/4.0 in her stpm. She was among the best student in La Salle PJ. Of course she rejected the and one private university was generous enough to offer her a full scholarship to pursue Bac Pharmacy.
I think today's newspaper article is a prove that the situation is not getting better:
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/14/nation/21240224&sec=nation
ammu.
with your own life as example, i dont think i have to go through writing long stories to explain the matter.
i just wish to make 1 point here.
you have experienced it first hand and can understand that it is unfair for you, and you have asked for Meritocracy in Our Education System. not just you alone, many others like you are also dissatisfied.
Then why didn't MIC ask for more scholarship and places in Uni's but resort to boasting about how many students studying medical at overseas ?
most who go overseas are from rich families and are funded by their parents (or MIED). those who are left behind are the poor ones. very few of them enter to local uni's and another few do it in private colleges. how about the rest of the poor ?
they end up working at young age in factories or estates, and never manage to continue their studies. Wont they be angry ???
This story is not new. It has been there for a long time. I am a MIC member myself but I dont know for the reason best known to MIC & other component parties and its leaders they has slept on it for a long time. They have given in too much to UMNO leaders fearing for their own personal interest. Thats the truth. Nobody there until recently dare to talk against UMNO leaders. UMNO has taken MIC, MCA and other parties for a ride for long. Enough is enough. Workout a strategy to be self dependant. We had good opportunity in MIED, MAIKA holdings and i know all that have gone to dump. The Indian Community is lost and headless due to personal interest of few. Deny and deny but that is the current situation.
Greetings to all,
What was experienced by Mr. Murugesan and his friend is something that has been encountered by many bright and promising Indians students for a long time.
We cannot expect MIC alone to champion this cause. We have to lend our voices too. Once the Umno led government realizes that they have a larger and unified group to contend with, they will be forced to concede and make changes.
Also, we have to acknowledged the corruption within MIC that has robbed many, of funding for further education. We would all like to know where the money went. MIC must provide the public with detailed accounts.
If MIC is indeed innocent of the accusations then the providing the public with these accounts will only serve to vindicate it.
Should MIC fail to provide the necessary accounts, the public should rally the government to set up an independent body to investigation these claims. If the government fails, then it will prove that the accusations against MIC are true.
All most all politicians have personal agendas; Samy Velu being a senior politician will have his own long list of agendas, which is why he will not resign. Understandably, Samy Velu would want to salvage his reputation before he leaves and the only way to ensure this is to hold on to his seat and with it the powers it possesses.
My advise to Datuk Sri is “please set things right as soon as possible, for your own sake. It is for your own benefit. If you fail to do this, your infamy will be sealed. People will not remember the good you have done for the community; they will only remember the debacle. As it is this is already happening. If you fail to set things right, even if the people around you don’t, history will judge you accordingly.”
MIC has a lot of spring cleaning to do. It has a long history and definitely many skeletons in its closets. There is no escaping anymore. Layers and layers of 'white washes' and lies have caused a rot within MIC. It cannot weed out and dispose of all its tainted members but, they can be removed from key positions and in their place credible and accountable members must be placed.
MIC will never be able to successfully “re brand” itself if it does not free it self from its trademark corruption, nepotism and thuggery. I am sure within MIC there exist many competent members who have the credibility and intelligence to carry MIC forward. Why! The owner of this very blog is one of them!
MIC putting its house in order and us rallying together will be an impetus for the much needed progress which has thus far eluded us mainly because of the disease within MIC and incoherence within our community. This advancement will result in a cumulative effect across many areas. One of the first areas that will most certainly benefit will be our education system.
Regards
S. Krishnakutty.
Wow not suprisingly there's a lot of comments for this post.
I salute you S.Murugesan for being a member of the ruling party and yet pointing your finger directly to one of their delibrate mistake.
I hope with this you would realise no Malaysian Indian buys what MIC claims to have done.
Your post,MIC....let it be had a lot on MIC's givings like the MIED loans,Tafe college and AIMST.
Just by buying someone ice-cream doesn't mean you've fed that someone.
Our children are left out in this Golden Oppurtunity which is education eventhough their parents are taxpayers all this years.This is very unfair.
Malaysians whom have migrated to US,UK,Australia and many other countries see their children getting decent higher education there just because they are taxpayers in that country.
This is what that fuels the hatred on MIC.Denial of this my MIC leaders adds fuel to this hatred even more.
With Malaysia moving on to be a developed nation,i hope that her education system follows suit or else......
Sir
Congatulations to you on taking leading role in MIC in getting closer to the Malaysian public, through blogging
I share the same feeling in school in your earlier day as i was also from the same school and had fair share of good performance among other races.
I did face severe blows when i see my malay buddies get selected to MARA; JBA scholarship right after their SRP and SPM; without having to sit for the Form 6. The hatred for govt policies and its leaders starts very young in my case and also for may out there.
Meritocracy in the country is going to be another rethorical debate and it will be pointless to discuss by us who has very little to do with the country's policy making.
I say this because since the outcome of the GE12 result, UMNO has become so protective of Malays dominance issue and still have strong call and tendency to stick to bumiputra affirmative policies.
MIC; being component to BN which is predominanyly UMNO; may not go anywhere with this discussion as long your big brothers in UMNO are not going to come down from their old and outdated standpoint.
Bro Muru; i can understand you could be helping MIC to gain its confidence among the ppl esp the indians; but lets do that by discussing the main pressing issues to start with.
And you surely know what that is...
It could mean exposing can of worms and alot of your buddies in MIC may not agree.
But this will be good for the good guys like who wants to really help Indians in Malaysia.
After all another 4 yrs is the next GE
Post a Comment