Schools and Nation-building (Part 1)

Racial integration among university graduates is said to be an alarming concern of racial harmony in Malaysia. It was indeed true that the segregation of students according to ethnic groups has been happening in public and private universities. The Minister of Higher Education has also highlighted the issue when he spoke about the "Khidmat Masyarakat" (Community Service) programme.

I would viewed that the severity of the issue at the tertiary institutions as merely the consequences of failure in the education system to address the nation-building and racial integration agenda. University students spent on average 12-13 years of education before stepping into universities. Therefore addressing the issue at tertiary level might not yield such an effective outcome as compared to tackling the issue from the root of it, which is the primary and secondary education.

Observing from the current scenario in the country seems to have swayed into a contradicting direction. The national schools were predominantly Malays while the Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools were almost exclusively Chinese and Indians respectively. Students from the three major ethnic groups in Malaysia do not seem to have the opportunity to interact and understand each other. Without doubt, the segregation of 12-13 years will eventually continue at the tertiary level. It would be a little over-optimistic if the integration could done within merely 3-4 years after so many years of segregation. Therefore, in long-run, the country as a whole will have to bear the consequences of racial segregation in the society.

If the country is serious in combating the problem, the major effort should be channelled to the primary and secondary education instead of tertiary to rectify the issue. Thorough revamp of the education system is much needed as the current primary education by nature is racially segregated. How could an education system driven by mother-tongues produced students with tolerance towards racial harmony? After all, education is said as an investment that will only yield its return from the subsequent generation.

P/S: This article is not against mother-tongue education. Further elaboration on the role of mother-tongues and national schools will followed in the subsequent article.

Penang or Yangon?

Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak or better known as KOMTAR, is the unique symbol of Penang. The majestic building is the tallest building in Penang, which housed the Chief Minister's office and other government departments. KOMTAR was also one of the earliest shopping complex in the state and currently still remains as the hub of public transportation in the island-state.

KOMTAR was built in the mid-80s and remains as one of the tourist attraction in Penang. However, KOMTAR today reflected the image of Yangon rather than George Town. One can easily mistaken that they might have went to Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, instead of Penang.

Level 2 and Level 3 of the complex was crowded with Myanmarese shops - selling Myanmar foods and handicrafts with loud-banging Myanmarese music. Walking along the corridor of the complex, one could easily identify foreign workers, which at times even outnumbered the locals. This leave many Malaysians, particularly Penangites, felt rather unsafe. This kept many wondering why Myanmar workers could obtain license to operate business in Malaysia. What does the authority has to say about this?

To make the matter worse, most of these shops were selling foods and drinks. The processing and cooking of food was done in shoplots with no proper ventilation and piped water. How can this happened in a fast developing country? It looks like the management of the once-prestigious building of Penang have no idea how to deal with these Third-World-Migrant-Workers. The municipal council and local government agencies, which all have offices in KOMTAR, seems to be also unable to tackle the problem.

Perhaps the Chief Minister should also seriously look into this issue as all these nonsenses are happening just a few floors below his office!