National schools and National unity

This post is in response to some of the comments from my previous post on primary schools in Malaysia. I specifically want to address the notion that vernacular schools such as the SRJK(C) and SRJK(T) necessarily leads to less national unity (or more national disunity). This is probably going to be a longish post and slightly controversial. But I want to address this question by sharing some of my own experiences in a national school setting and how those experiences didn't exactly enhance my 'desire' for greater national unity. So please be patient and reserve your judgement until you've finished reading the entire post.

I attended La Salle PJ primary and secondary in the late eighties and I was there for 6 years of primary school and 3 years of secondary school before leaving to go to Singapore on an Asean scholarship (after Form 3). There was a good mixture of races at both the primary and secondary levels as is commonly the case in most national schools in PJ (Assunta, Sri Aman, Sultan Abdul Samad, Bukit Bintang, just to name a few).

At the primary school level, I mixed around with all the kids, regardless of race. I was probably closer to a few Chinese and Indian kids since many of them lived in the same area in PJ and our parents got to know each other. My brother was pretty close to our neighbors' kids, 3 Malay boys who went to La Salle, one of whom he's still in touch with fairly regularly. (We used to play sepak takraw and badminton together but I was usually left out because I lacked 'sporting prowess', to put it euphemistically). Issues of race didn't feature prominently at that age although we were always aware that there were differences between the races. The differences, by and large, just weren't salient enough at that age.

These differences were to become much more salient at the secondary level.

What I distinctly remember about the transition from the primary to the secondary level is that while the racial profile of the students didn't change sigificantly, the profile of the Malay students certainly did.

Many of the smart Malay kids at the primary level left the system at the secondary level for a variety of reasons. Some went to on to study at the prestigious MCKK (which is open only to Malay students, as far as I know) or other boarding schools which were open mostly to Malays only or they went overseas, usually to boarding schools in the UK (either on government scholarships or father/mother sponsorship or a mixture of both) and elsewhere.

Most of my Chinese and Indian friends who went to primary school with me also went on to secondary school with me. So any ties that I might have had with my Malay friends who had the opportunity to study elsewhere at the secondary level was severed and I was left mostly with the friends I was familiar with i.e. the Chinese and the Indians.

(My neighbor, who went on to become a director and chairman of a few listed companies, soon moved away to a bigger house and his sons left La Salle PJ at different stages at the secondary level)

My interaction with the Malay students at the secondary level can be largely divided into three typologies.

Firstly, the few remaining Malay students who were mostly middle class, spoke a substantial amount of English at home, and for some reason or other, chose not to leave the secondary school system in PJ for greener pastures elsewhere. I got along fairly well with this group given the similarities in background and interests and I had respect for them for their diligence and hardworking attitude. They performed well academically but were never in the top 10 or top 20 in the cohort rankings (out of about 350 or so in a cohort). The top 10 or 20 students were almost invariably Chinese or Indian students. (And I can say with some level of confidence that this was also commonly the case in many schools in PJ)

Secondly, the substantial group of Malay kids who were from the poorer parts of PJ (close to Taman Medan), clearly didn't speak much English at home (or elsewhere, for that matter) and performed so dismally in class that they often bore the brunt of our jokes when the exam marks were read out. (To illustrate this point, I still clearly remember the names of two consistently unperforming students, Hishamuddin and Nazri, who were happy if they obtained a mark above 40 for any exam. Their average was somewhere between 20 and 30 marks out of 100)

Thirdly, a significant minority of Malay kids who were from the asrama schools. They were mostly not from Selangor or from urban areas but were brought in from 'outstation'. They stayed in asramas (or hostels) which were 100% Malay, were very religious and were probably the most racist group of Malays out of the three groups I've classified. Some of my experiences with this group was so disturbing that I still remember the name and face of one of them - Syamsul - who used to spout hatred and stinging indictments on the non-Malays especially the Chinese. He would openly address the Chinese students with perjoratives (Cina makan babi and such) and would often instigate other Malay students not to join the non-Malays in any activities. He would often use religious language and justifications to slander the non-Malays. My suspicion is that a lot of this hate was probably encouraged, if not taught, by some of the residential advisors or 'ustazs' in these asramas.

So, where did that leave me?

In an environment where 'national unity' is supposed to be strengthened, I was faced with a situation where:

(1) The few good Malays (group 1) were consistently and significant outperformed by the non-Malays
(2) A large majority of Malays (group 2) couldn't speak decent English and had trouble passing exams on a consistent basis
(3) A significant minority of Malays (group 3) were being taught in their asramas or were in an environment where it was encouraged to denigrate non-Malays for religious and other reasons

Is this the national unity that some of our political leaders are talking about when they mention how vernacular schools are creating national disunity and how enrolment in national schools will lead to more national unity?

But still, I wouldn't necessarily call myself an ethnic extremist. I didn't and still wouldn't go around spouting ethnic extremisms and resort to public name calling and denigration. Till now, I always make an effort to get to know more Malay friends and to try to understand their culture, religion, background and struggles.

My experience up to the secondary level was such that I associated, to put it honestly, Malays with religious extremism and academic underperformance.

Things didn't get any better in Singapore given the smaller % and number of Malays in the country and an even smaller % and number in the schools which I went to. In a class of 40+ students in Raffles Institution, there were no Malay (or Indian) students. In a class of about 20 in Raffles Junior College, there was only 1 Indian student.

There was only 1 Malay Asean scholar in my batch (She's probably one of the smartest people I know and she later went to Oxford to read law and is currently a lawyer in one of the biggest practices in the world). The other interactions I had with Malays was on the sports field and in Malay class.

It was only at the university level when I re-encoutered Malay friends who were bright, articulate and diligent. There was (and still is) a large Malaysian contingent at the London School of Economics (LSE) and there were a number of outstanding Malays there (who shall remain nameless since they are or will be in positions of prominence and probably wouldn't want to be associated with me) whom I got to know.

I also visited Cambridge and Oxford on a regular basis and it was there that I got to know more Malay students including arguably one of the most articulate and smartest Malaysians whom I personally know - Adlan Benan Omar. I mention him in name only because he's relatively well known, especially among the Malay elite in Malaysia. I was told that he had memorized the Malaysian constitution by the time he was 13. He studied History in Cambridge and if you had an opportunity to engage him on an intellectual level, I'm sure you'd be blown away. (And he's pretty funny too!)

For all the criticism directed him (fairly and unfairly), Khairy Jamaluddin, that famous or infamous graduate of Oxford (Tony's alma mater) is tremendously sharp in his thinking, creative in his methods and as articulate as they come.

The number of smart and intelligent Malays whom I got to know (or know about) in Englad are just too numerous to mention so I won't. My time in the UK reversed some of the negative memories of my secondary school days.

When I returned to Malaysia from the UK, the workplace and the public space also afforded my many opportunity to interact with many Maly professionals whom I have utmost respect for. All of my Malay colleages in the Boston Consulting Group, KL, were top notch people, graduates of great universities and tremendously creative, bright and inspiring. Many of my Malay friends in PROMUDA, an association with young professionals are among the smartest and brightest in Malaysia.

My point is this - the fact that I went to a national school didn't really help me personally to get along with, not to mention, respect other races, primarily the Malays. I would probably only have gotten the desired interaction if people Adlan Benan Omar or Khairy Jamaluddin went to and stayed in the national school system.

Where did Adlan Benan Omar go to school at the secondary level? MCKK.

Where did Khairy Jamaluddin go to school at the secondary level? UWC in Singapore (only one of his stops since his father was a Malaysian diplomat).

Let me give you another example of an up and coming young man in the Malaysian political scene. His name is Nik Nazmi, an articulate and bright young man who graduated with a law degree from King's College in London and is currently active in opposition politics. You can read about his at this blog. He is an alumnus of La Salle PJ, like myself (except a few years younger) and was obviously an exceptional student. Where did he go after that? You guessed it - MCKK.

Let me state another point for further food for thought.

In all humility, I would probably say that most Chinese (or non-Malay) students who went to the national school system at the secondary level (and this would be almost all Chinese with the exception of those who attend the Chinese independent schools) would probably not have had the opportunity to interact with as many outstanding Malays as I've had, during my university and post university days.

How do you think they would feel about their secondary school and post secondary school experience in regards to 'national unity'?

Furthermore, consider this: I wasn't personally 'hurt' by many of the affirmative action policies in Malaysia. I managed to obtain a scholarship to study in some of the top schools in Singapore. I was lucky enough that my parents had saved enough to afford my an education in two great schools in the UK. I was lucky enough to obtain a couple of scholarships to pursue my PhD here in the US.

What about other middle class Chinese and Indian students who didn't have these opportunities? What would they have said when their Malay friends in secondary school went on to obtain government scholarships and places in desired subjects in public universities even as they were left by the wayside or forced to take less desired subjects at the public universities or go to the private colleges where again there is little interaction with other Malay students?

I distinctly remember the experience of bumping into a former La Sallian when I was back from my summer holidays while studying at the LSE. I was with two of my ASEAN scholar friends from La Salle at Stephen's corner, a mamak place in OUG just off Old Klang Road. (One friend was one year my senior at LSE, the other was studying medicine in Australia)

I can't remember the name of the former La Sallian but I still remember his face and what he said to us. In secondary school, he was slightly chubby, had a clean cut face and was very well behaved and quiet in class and was a diligent student. He was a good student but not a brilliant one. He would consistently rank in the top half of our class (between 10 to 20 in a class of 40) and would periodically crack the top 10. When we saw him sitting at a nearby table (this was 5 or 6 years after we had left La Salle in Form 3), we could hardly recognize him. His face was gaunt and thin and he looked as if he'd smoked too many cigarettes and had too many late nights. He looked at us with some level of recognition and we said hi and exchanged pleasantries. We asked him what he was doing and he told us that he was working in sales. (Keep in mind that the three of us were still in university at this time) I was slightly shocked since I assumed that he would be either a public university or a private college at this stage of his life (we all remembered him as a good student).

Then he said something to us that I remember to this day. He said, "Not everyone is lucky enough to go to university, like you guys".

I wonder to this day whether he was more bitter towards people like me and my two Asean scholar friends whose parents could afford to send us to universities overseas or towards the government for giving other people the chance to attend university despite them not doing as well as he did in school.

(In case it wasn't clear, the former La Sallian is a Chinese)

To end this post, I'd just like to use my own personal story to show that the notion that we can 'restore' national unity by abolishing Chinese and Tamil type primary schools is a myth that deserves to be debunked. I'm all for strengthening the national school system - improving the quality of teachers, making them less Islamic, better teaching of Pupil's Own Language (POL) and so forth. But unless many of the other entrenched institutions in this country (such as elite all Malay or almost all Malay secondary schools and boarding schools, inequalities in the allocation of scholarships and university places, and so on) are addressed concurrently with the issue of Chinese and Indian primary schools, we are being unfair in placing all or most of the blame on Chinese and Indian primary schools as the main cause for national disunity.

I'm sure many of our readers have their own personal anecdotes to share as well, perhaps from other cities or states (Kota Bahru, Batu Pahat, Penang), some negative, some positive.

I'm especially interested to know the views of our Malay readers who have either gone to all Malay schools boarding schools such as MCKK or to national secondary schools with a significant number of non-Malay students (mostly in urban areas) or even to the asramas (is hatred towards non-Malays something that is inculcated) since these are views which people such as myself (and many of our readers) are unfamiliar with. Let the comments begin!