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Cuma satu keputusan itu, sudah cukup untuk menimbulkan persoalan.

1 Malaysia: Favouring the poor

SEPT 16— We have lived with the concept of 1 Malaysia since its initiation on September 16, 2010. The idea of 1 Malaysia was instilled in an effort to unite Malaysians from all races. But really, have we asked ourselves what is 1 Malaysia? What defines 1 Malaysia? I myself can never really answer this practically, referring to current situations in Malaysia. Is 1 Malaysia about multiracial Malaysians being able to sit down and eat nasi lemak, yong tau foo or tosai together? Or is it about us visiting the open houses of our friends from other races during their festivals? One can interpret 1 Malaysia that way but is that the only 1 Malaysia that we want?

Since her inception, people have been talking about unity and harmony in Malaysia. The phrase “although we are multiracial, we can still sit together harmoniously and united” is not new to us. We are told to be thankful for the Malaysia that we have. Indeed, we are. It is just that the concern here is what are the directions of 1 Malaysia? What is expected of us, the citizens, to compliment our 1 Malaysia concept? More importantly, what is expected from the government to walk the 1 Malaysia talk? Although the government managed to publicise 1 Malaysia successfully to every Malaysian, I am afraid they have yet to explain their directions in accommodating the concept.

Government policies especially during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s time were said to favour the Malays and the Bumiputera Malaysians. I myself am one of the beneficiaries to such policies and I am thankful to the government. Without those policies it will be almost impossible for me to afford a place in a reputable university in United Kingdom. I believe many of us, Bumiputera Malaysians, too feel the same and are thankful. The policies enforced during the era of Dr Mahathir were to help the majority of the poor and at that time, it helped improve the lot of the Bumiputeras. Indeed, the majority of the poor were Bumiputera Malaysians.

From such policies the number of middle-class Bumiputeras increased and their socio-economic background improved too. However, in the spirit of 1 Malaysia, this question needs to be asked: what about our fellow Malaysians of other races who are financially restricted too? Not all non-Bumiputera Malaysians are well off and not all Bumiputera Malaysians are impecunious.

When I was in school I have good and close Chinese and Indian friends. We studied and “lepak-ed” together. Alhamdulillah, when our SPM result came out we did well in and scored distinctions. We talked about what we wanted to do after SPM and started applying for various courses. While I got offers from a matriculation college and a public university, some of them were only offered Sixth Form education, not even a place in our public universities. May I remind you that these friends of mine do not come from silk-stocking families. They, like me, could not afford to pay for private universities, which left them no choice but to continue in Form Six. On the other hand, we have too in Malaysia the Malays and Bumiputera Malaysians who are rich enough to afford private education but were offered places in our public universities. This situation leaves the system abused by some people in power, reaping the benefit provided in the name of being a Bumiputera while those who really need the support do not get it.

I praised a few of my Malay friends who despite being Bumiputeras refused to apply for government scholarships. When asked why, they simply said the scholarships are to help the poor and they can afford to pay, so why should they apply for something not theirs in the first place? Hence from there I realised that it is our responsibility as citizens not to abuse the assistance we are getting from government policies. Yet at the same time, it is the function of our government to introduce policies to best help Malaysians who are in need regardless of race, religion or whatever differences we have.

Poverty is colour blind is a reality anywhere in the world, not only in Malaysia. It is a problem affecting people from any race and any religion. A policy such as the NEP did help a majority of Bumiputeras, giving us a break by assisting us financially and giving us hope to achieve better lives. Yet, there are people who abuse and use their Bumiputera status for their own personal advantage.

Hence, now under the concept of 1 Malaysia, this is the right moment and time for the government to rethink and redesign government policies to really include the poor non-Bumiputera Malaysians too. If our policies can be designed to help the poor regardless of their race, I believe everyone who is qualified can benefit. However the government needs to be clear and firm in such a decision to reformulate its administration in favour of the poor over the Bumiputera status. If this can be done, it will be a new transformation and direction for our 1 Malaysia concept. After all, if this is achieved, the poor among the Bumiputeras can still gain while giving the same fair chance to the impoverished non-Bumiputera Malaysians too.

This article came out in TheMalaysianInsider here as well.

Salam ;)

Teaching in Malaysia - Why is Teaching not a dream job in Malaysia

JUNE 14 — We realise that we live in a capitalistic world. The same goes for Malaysia. Where almost everything is judged according to its monetary value. If asked, not many will say they are doing or studying what they want because they love it. Instead, they are studying topics or subjects that can give them the assurance of a good life in the future. And in a capitalistic society, a good life is commonly measured according to its monetary value and worldly possessions.

I am a simple youth, studying to become a teacher as how both of my parents did in their time. However, if you were to ask me, how can we make teaching a dream job in Malaysia? The answer is simple. Raise teachers’ wages. Add up the monetary value of this profession and give extra bonus for teachers. If this is done, the reputation of this profession will rise too, thus making it the dream job of many students.

However, please do not misunderstand my statement. I do not mean to ask the government to raise the income of more than 300, 000 teachers in Malaysia. Even now the government is already spending most of its revenue on education. What I meant was to successfully raise the income and give bonus to good teachers. In short, favour meritocracy in the teaching profession and reward the teachers who are teaching wonderfully despite of their age.

The teaching profession has always favoured seniority. As time passes, teachers will definitely get more salary. The percentage to be promoted too will get higher as the teacher grows older. This, however, does not attract the youths, especially those who are motivated and willing to go the extra mile. What is the point of doing extra work when you know you are not reaping any benefit? Well, you still need to wait between three and five years before getting the ‘eligible’ status to move up on the income ladder.

Hence, the youths with potential are deterred by this situation. So, to prevent this, the teaching profession should favour meritocracy over seniority to provide good, motivated and passionate young teachers the chance to be promoted too. If this is the reality, then this profession will be like a competition. A competition between teachers to be better than others in their teaching style, thus producing more good and able teachers who are committed to be the best. This will also prevent the kind of teachers who prefer to be ‘content’ and ‘stagnant’ in doing their jobs from getting a higher status. Such teachers cannot and should not have a bright future in our education system.

Then the question arises, how do we know if the teacher is doing a wonderful job? Please do not misunderstand a wonderful job with a score of multiple As. If this is the case, then we are not in any way helping our education system. I have experienced incidences where teachers are rewarded according to their final class results. More As will get them more bonus.

Oftentimes, such a system will either neglect the less-capable students in the scoring exam or lead to a conspiracy between teachers and students. How? It is easy. The teacher can always provide the students with a glimpse of what is to come in their big examination. After all, the teachers themselves set the questions. This will provide leverage for teachers who are elected to become a member of the board who set the questions.

When I was in school, we had a few teachers who were members of such a board and their classes always scored good marks in examinations. So I realised measuring academic excellence should involve more than just a score of straight As.

Thus measuring whether a teacher has done a good job should not only include academic achievements but also students’ development of soft-skills, intercultural understanding and their value of the world we live in. So that we will realise our existence in this world is not to gather more worldly possessions but instead to appreciate our family, friends, the individuals who surround us, nature and also ourselves more.

In short, it is for us to make good of the life that we have.

This is not an easy topic to debate. It is a matter of the future of Malaysia. Almost everything lies in education. A good country must have an excellent education system to be good. This article is also not a criticism of senior teachers.

As taught by my parents, I have always respected the importance of senior teachers and their experience as well as the need for them to guide young teachers by sharing their invaluable lessons with us.

However, let our education system be one of a kind, where not only seniority is valued but meritocracy is also celebrated indistinctively.

* Mohd Faiez Mohd Ali reads The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

(For this article at TheMalaysianInsider please visit this dot)