Ahmad was a bright, curious boy.
He was born in rural Kampung Sungai Liku - a typical Malay kampung in Negeri Sembilan, not far from Seremban town. His was the typical Malay kampung family. He grew up as the eldest among 4 brothers and sisters. His father had a small orchard and his mum was a housewife who occasionally sold kuih to city tourists who passed through the kampung to supplement their family income.
They were simple folk and didn't crave luxuries, content to enjoy the simple life – even though the cost of living had been creeping up steadily in the past few years.
From young, Ahmad had a sharp eye for nature. When he was only 3 years old, he was fascinated by frogs, mice, lizards and other small animals, often catching them to show his mum. Although she didn't like the things in the house, Pn Khatijah didn't want to disappoint her son. So she would smile and nod her head and then tell him to release the animals safely back into the wild after he was done playing with them.
Ahmad would always hold the little critters carefully in his hands and carefully observe their colours and patterns. When he had satisfied himslef, he would bring them back to where he found them and let them go. After all, he reasoned, he wouldn't have liked it if someone dumped him far away from HIS home.
As Ahmad grew older, his interest in animals grew deeper. He would ask for the names of all the animals he noticed (and he noticed a lot), where they lived, what they ate, why they behaved the way they did, and so on. He exasperated his parents and relatives – try as they might, they just could not answer all his questions. They looked forward to the day when he would start school and the teachers would be obliged to impart such knowledge to him.
As he approached school age, Ahmad's parents decided they should prepare him. They had seen pictures of screaming children on television year after year when they were ushered off to school. So they sat him down and told him about this wonderful place called “school” that he would be going to in a few months. There, he would have teachers who would teach him all he wanted to know about the world. Ahmad's parents were very surprised when he didn't hesitate to say that he wanted to go. In fact, he couldn't understand why he couldn't go NOW!
Ahmad waited impatiently for school to start. He had so many questions to ask the teacher. And because he didn't know how to write yet, he rehearsed his questions every night in case he forgot. He drew pictures of the animals he observed. Although he wasn't very happy that it didn't look exactly like them, he decided that the teacher would be wise enough to know.
The day finally came when it was time to go to school. He was up early and eagerly got dressed. His mum fussed over him as all mothers do, and his dad watched the fuss as all fathers do. Finally, Ahmad climbed up behind his father on the family's trusty Honda Cub and they were off to the great adventure called “school” at Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Sungai Liku!
When he arrived at school, he noticed many mums and dads coaxing their children to go into the classroom. As his father ushered him to his classroom, Ahmad noticed that there were many kids screaming and weeping and clinging on to their mothers skirts. Ahmad couldn't understand what all the commotion was about. Wasn't school such a wonderful place where you could find out everything you ever wanted to know about the world?
Ahmad settled down at his assigned desk, still bewildered by the weeping commotion around him. His father asked if he would be all right and Ahmad said yes. With a final goodbye, Ahmad's father left Ahmad to the good graces of the young teacher in charge of the class. The teacher smiled at him, one of the few children who wasn't kicking up a fuss in the classroom.
Ahmad sat at his desk, waiting for the commotion to die down and the teacher to start teaching. The teacher was still calling for the children to calm down and sit. Bored, Ahmad looked around and saw another boy who looked equally bewildered sitting nearby. He grinned at the lad who smiled back and introduced himself.
They spent some time chatting until the class finally settled down into some semblance of order. Ahmad was still chatting with his new friend when he heard the smack of the teacher's ruler on the teacher's desk It was the first time he had heard the harsh, cracking sound and it certainly caught his attention! He quickly turned around to face the front of the class.
“Murid-murid semua, sila pandang ke depan!” called the teacher, “Nama saya Cikgu Norliza!” She turned around to write her name on the blackboard.
FINALLY, the teacher was going to start teaching! But what was this language she was speaking?! It was different from the Negeri dialect he spoke at home! He could catch most of it if he concentrated enough, but he didn't feel comfortable that he couldn't grasp everything she said right away – how was he going to learn anything if half of his concentration was spent on deciphering the language?!
And what was the meaning of those markings she was scratching out on the board?!
To be continued...
I am looking forward to the the continuation.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't expected it end so abruptly.
hahaha! :)
Looking Forward too!!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteNice build up!.. at first I tot the story was referring to me... plunging into the bushes to catch a glimpse of a frog and all...
One Science teacher did manage to answer all my burning questions about science... and he made such a difference in my life... , lets all hope the protagonists gets someone like my guru!
"Racial polarisation in the country is not caused by the country's vernacular school system but more by the government political, education and economic discriminative policies." - an educationist said today.
ReplyDeleteThe prime minister and all the Umno ministers will never admit that polarisation arises more out of the race-based policies and privileges one race gets over another.
Similarly, there are other areas of our daily lives where terminologies used have made us view certain practices as privileges rather than sacrifices. For instance, the bumi discount for houses.
The total sale value to the developer is still the same. It is just that the non-malay buyer is likely to be required to pay for some of the discount given to the malays.
But the longer the NEP policies continue and the greater the vehemence with which Umno politicians issue threats, terminologies will change and more people will talk about these practices or policies in words that may not sound as pleasing to the ears of the beneficiaries.
Obviously, at that point we shall probably see a new round of discriminations and disagreements. Unfortunately, as long as only weak people take on leadership roles within Umno, threats will continue, NEP policies will be sustained and corruption will prevail.
That unfortunately is the legacy we have as Malaysians.
The basic building blocks of unity, whether you are uniting different ethnic groups in a country or trying to re-engineer a corporation of differing cultural values, are the same.
The principal parties have to be treated as equals - nor special privileges no favours that would favour one group over another. Any privilege that is given should be given to all on the same basis - for example, special privilege given to the financially poor regardless of race or ethnic origin.
It is only on this equitable footing that you can foster true nationalism and build lasting unity, since each component group will have the same stake in the nation and has equal likelihood in reaping the rewards or suffering the consequences.
My recommendation to the government, not simply as a businessman but also based on pragmatism, is not to waste any more taxpayer ringgit on nationalism programmes until it has established the pre-conditions for its success.
What is sad is that, after almost five decades of independence, we have been unable in Malaysia, to bring globally-vision leaders to the forefront - leaders who can see beyond racial boundaries to recognise the immense sociological and economic potential that can benefit all Malaysians.
Bodoh punya melayu babi……….
ReplyDeleteBaik balik ke tanah melayu la. We are natives of Sabah and Sarawak land - buat apa kamu punya orang datang sini menjajah kita oh?
Kita tak suka kamu orang datang sini mengorek sumber petroleum tanah kita - this Sabah and Sarawak land not belongs to your malays.
Get out from Sabah and Sarawak la!
Bodoh melayu babi!
My school in the 50s and 60s when terms like bumis and non-bumis did not exist.
ReplyDeleteBack then, there was a kind of kindred among school children then that does not exist today. We were racially different but we were all equal in every other way. Nobody was - special.
Today when a non-malay student goes to school, he has already been told over and over again by his parents that, "You will have to do superlatively in order to get into a local university."
The child comes back having done creditably well, and doesn't get the university course of his choice. But his malay classmate, with worse marks than him, gets more than he asked for.
All these double standards and retrogressive policies were put in place by our selfish politicians whose aim, rather than uplifting the malays, was to perpetually stay in power for their own good.
The end result is a new generation of Malaysians who are not united in the least.
The first thing to be done towards a real Bangsa Malaysia is to pull down all divisions that categorise us along racial and religious lines.
All, irrespective of race and religion, must be subjected to a truly merit-based system in every sphere of Malaysian life.
All political parties that exploit any form of religion should be banned.
miya
ReplyDeleteif you have any issue with any political situation in this country, please present your case with valid arguments.
If you really feel so strongly about the east malaysia issues, why don't you start a petition to secede from malaysia, instead of unnecessarily farting your POOPINIONS here?
your stinking empty racist rhetoric only makes you sound like a F.U.C.K.E.R. (you probably are one anyway...)