Yet we all bled the same

DC Comics Mr Freeze

Rocky’s “1 Sekolah Untuk Semua” had me clicking the link to sign the petition on something I truly believed in.

My enthusiasm however froze soild as soon as I read the opening remark in Bahasa Malaysia on the whole thrust of the petition and I closed the link with some disgust and sadness.

The whole bit of “us and them” was none too subtle and far too brutish for a petition that is supposed to unite the children (sons and daughters) of Malaysia.

It is somewhat racists to be putting the blame (all and sundry) on the vernacular schools for the listed ills.

The presumptions made here are far too generalized to be correct, and smacks instead of a certain vindictive feelings and emotions rather than sound, factual judgment.

I do wonder as to why the English write-up is far gentler in its language.

Perhaps that bit should hold more prominence for something so noble in principle.

Yes, we do need a single, unified, schooling system and, like many others, I sincerely do not believe the current one is good for the country’s future.

Talks of creating an English mainstream worry me more as it would only create yet another strata in the educational hierarchy of our children.

We need these like we need a tumor in our brain cells.

For the national schools to fulfill what its moniker conveys, it has to be able to draw every parent to think: “my children will benefit from going to so and so school”.

Right now, rightly or wrongly, there is the perception that some (not all, okay) vernacular schools are better at producing high scoring students while national schools (again, not all) suffer from the (some not so ill-conceived) notion that they are essentialy Malay/Islamic centric establishments.

Nothing wrong with the second percept except for the much sullied reputation of the religion courtesy of the many deviants in its followers.

Gone is the thrust that Islam propagates the intense gathering of knowledge, replaced instead with presumptions of backwardness and whatevernot else.

If we can turn national schools into the epicenter of excellence (in all sense of the word – studies, arts, sports ), then there is no real reason for some parents to feel as though they are sending their children on the road to failure by enrolling them at national schools.

In the meantime and until it discards such racist presumptions, count me out from “1 Sekolah Untuk Semua”.

(Read:
"I don't make way for gorillas."
"Ah, yes, but I do." )