The Sun
Down 2 Earth by Terence Fernandez
To cut a long story short, I started attending classes the following day after she apologised.
I still remember her words: “Cikgu minta maaf kalau Terence tersinggung. Cikgu tak sengaja.” (“I apologise if I had hurt your feelings. It was unintentional.”)
This episode occurred 20 years ago. Looking back, I would never equate that teacher to a racist. I will not repeat what she said but it was not a slur. She was perhaps guilty of going overboard with light-hearted banter with the wrong crowd and in the wrong forum – although the truth of the matter is that the Indian community has always been the butt of jokes though some of it is through the own doing of its leaders. (But that’s another story.)
In any case the words my ex-teacher said are nothing compared to the words that were allegedly spewed out by two headmasters in Johor and Kedah. They were the language of racists and for the government to pussyfoot around taking action is endorsing the festering racism that is prevalent in our institutions from kindergarten to university.
Such educators must be removed from public service, sent for rehabilitation and only then assimilated back into society. Transfers are not an option as it just gives them another avenue to spread their dogma of hate and intolerance – be it among schoolchildren or impressionable adults in the education department.
Spreading hate is a seditious offence, especially when we are trying to teach the next generation about co-dependence. This is why these two “educators” from Kulai and Bukit Selambau must be made an example of; their anti-social behaviour is contradictory to nation building. If the government is truly serious in inculcating the 1Malaysia spirit in Malaysians, then mere sloganeering is insufficient. Such elements must be dealt with by using the full might of the law.
We do not know how much damage had been done to the students of these two schools; and these are incidents that we know of. God only knows what else is going on in other schools.
These two headmasters had betrayed the trust placed in them as educators. But what is frightening is that the comments were not jokes. The headmasters meant what they said.
At one time the government was concerned that religious schools were breeding extremists. Now it seems that national schools are also being sullied by those entrusted to mould the future generation on the tenets of the Rukun Negara.
It would be wise to keep a close eye on these schools – yes, even the vernacular ones – to ensure we don’t end up with a generation of bigots, racists and chauvinists. We already have more than our fair share to deal with now.
But here’s food for thought: Are these school heads to be entirely blamed? Perhaps they were emboldened by their leaders and superiors who had publicly made similar statements, some to the extent of articulating them with pointy tools.
Terence is convinced that many Malaysians subscribe to the 1Malaysia principle, but they are the silent majority. Feedback: terence@ thesundaily.com
Down 2 Earth by Terence Fernandez
I REMEMBER walking out of class during a Geography lesson when I was in Form Six when the teacher made a light-hearted joke about Indians. Everyone laughed except me and I boycotted her class for two weeks – basically playing truant for one to two periods a day, spending that time in the canteen or library.
It was far from exemplary conduct of the deputy head prefect, but I wanted to prove a point – as foolish and foolhardy as it may have seemed, seeing that I didn’t do too well in the Geography paper in my STPM.
In any case, the teacher one day bumped into me at the canteen and asked why I had been avoiding her class. Apparently, she already knew the reason as my classmates – my Malay classmates to be precise, had spoken up for me. They explained her folly, with one of them even telling the teacher that she had gone overboard making disparaging remarks and that she should apologise to me if she wanted me back in class. Another classmate also cautioned her that if the principal were to catch me loitering around school during classes, he would demand an explanation from me and my answer to the principal would not be beneficial to her.
It was far from exemplary conduct of the deputy head prefect, but I wanted to prove a point – as foolish and foolhardy as it may have seemed, seeing that I didn’t do too well in the Geography paper in my STPM.
In any case, the teacher one day bumped into me at the canteen and asked why I had been avoiding her class. Apparently, she already knew the reason as my classmates – my Malay classmates to be precise, had spoken up for me. They explained her folly, with one of them even telling the teacher that she had gone overboard making disparaging remarks and that she should apologise to me if she wanted me back in class. Another classmate also cautioned her that if the principal were to catch me loitering around school during classes, he would demand an explanation from me and my answer to the principal would not be beneficial to her.
To cut a long story short, I started attending classes the following day after she apologised.
I still remember her words: “Cikgu minta maaf kalau Terence tersinggung. Cikgu tak sengaja.” (“I apologise if I had hurt your feelings. It was unintentional.”)
This episode occurred 20 years ago. Looking back, I would never equate that teacher to a racist. I will not repeat what she said but it was not a slur. She was perhaps guilty of going overboard with light-hearted banter with the wrong crowd and in the wrong forum – although the truth of the matter is that the Indian community has always been the butt of jokes though some of it is through the own doing of its leaders. (But that’s another story.)
In any case the words my ex-teacher said are nothing compared to the words that were allegedly spewed out by two headmasters in Johor and Kedah. They were the language of racists and for the government to pussyfoot around taking action is endorsing the festering racism that is prevalent in our institutions from kindergarten to university.
Such educators must be removed from public service, sent for rehabilitation and only then assimilated back into society. Transfers are not an option as it just gives them another avenue to spread their dogma of hate and intolerance – be it among schoolchildren or impressionable adults in the education department.
Spreading hate is a seditious offence, especially when we are trying to teach the next generation about co-dependence. This is why these two “educators” from Kulai and Bukit Selambau must be made an example of; their anti-social behaviour is contradictory to nation building. If the government is truly serious in inculcating the 1Malaysia spirit in Malaysians, then mere sloganeering is insufficient. Such elements must be dealt with by using the full might of the law.
We do not know how much damage had been done to the students of these two schools; and these are incidents that we know of. God only knows what else is going on in other schools.
These two headmasters had betrayed the trust placed in them as educators. But what is frightening is that the comments were not jokes. The headmasters meant what they said.
At one time the government was concerned that religious schools were breeding extremists. Now it seems that national schools are also being sullied by those entrusted to mould the future generation on the tenets of the Rukun Negara.
It would be wise to keep a close eye on these schools – yes, even the vernacular ones – to ensure we don’t end up with a generation of bigots, racists and chauvinists. We already have more than our fair share to deal with now.
But here’s food for thought: Are these school heads to be entirely blamed? Perhaps they were emboldened by their leaders and superiors who had publicly made similar statements, some to the extent of articulating them with pointy tools.
Terence is convinced that many Malaysians subscribe to the 1Malaysia principle, but they are the silent majority. Feedback: terence@ thesundaily.com
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