malaysian education – Over A Cuppa Tea

Most of you should probably know by now that I’m rather known for my fiery and serious articles. My big bro Calvin used to tell people that sometimes, my writing left people stunned and reading my words sometimes made people feeel as if they were slapped on both of sides of their cheeks.

Claire thought I was well into my 30s or maybe 40s while Smallkucing sheepishly told me that she thought that I was a plump lady who was also well into her 30s. Thank God a certain Submerryn thought that I am somewhat a personification of a horny fairy. That was actually a compliment, considering that she actually thought that I’m a passionate and romantic woman.

Chrisau on the other hand, thought I was an Indian lady who’s way older than him while a good handful of others thought that I am a man, all just because I slammed women at times.

I wasn’t offended. No worries. It’s amusing. It’s all because of my writing, isn’t it? LOL…most would agree that I sounded very opinionated in my writings, and I hardly show the fun side of me.

Perhaps, most of you are not privileged enough to know that Cleffairy does have a wild and fun side. If you were to tell my school or friends that I am a serious, no-nonsense person, they would probably laughed their head off at your statement, because in truth, I was never a serious person when I was in school. Tell them that I’m a fiery person, they would probably stare at you in disbelief. I was all smile and no frown back then. It is just too bad that along the way, I had to grow up… perhaps a little bit before time as life is nothing but a bitch to me as soon as I left school. I was introduced to many nasty and ugly way of life, and I had to be nasty to survive.

I did many crazy things when I was in school, especially when I was in my honeymoon year. You know, Form 4. Form 4 was literally honeymoon year. It was fun, and I looked forward to go to school every day back then. I did many unthinkable things. Apart from playing football with my ‘boyfriends’ and swimming in the sea in the evening after school, I did many crazy things in the classrooms as well. The classrooms were not spared from witnessing my youthful antics.

I’m not quite sure if you people know what is Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, but to cut the long story short, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is a famous Bollywood movie that sent many of us Malaysian youngsters into Bollywood fever. It hit everywhere back then, including the shore of my school.

One of the unthinkable thing that I did was danced to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai on the table during recess time just because a friend challenged me to it. Yes… I did… I did danced on the table during recess time, and the best part was, a bunch of other rascals joined me and we danced while singing Kuch Kuch Hota Hai on the top of our lungs. Within minutes, the classroom was turned into a mushy Bollywood scene.

Trust me… it was kinda fun attempting to dance like Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol back then. And it is rather amazing that though none of us were Indian whose mother’s tongue was Hindi, we did sang the bloody song with a horrifying accuracy. I bet Shah Rukh Khan would have beamed with approval if he saw our antics. It was indeed a miracle that the table survived us.

I can scarcely believe that I actually did dance on the table with a bunch of boys who happened to be my best friends, and I escaped the wrath of my short, bald headmaster alive. Yea! Alive… unscathed at that as well. LOL…we were not punished for our antics. Incredible, isn’t it? There was no casualties, instead, we get to bring the sweet memories home with us, and it’s ours to keep.

My teachers, as well as the headmaster, were rather sporting. Some passed by the classroom and did nothing. Instead, they just laughed at our antics and waited for us to sing and dance til the song ended and told us that recess would be over soon, and we ought to come down from the table.

Recalling those times, I wonder… how many teachers these days would let the students have their own classroom fun? I think…the possibility is zero. I’ve always felt that school teachers these days are rather rigid and too exam oriented that they forgot that school is supposed to be fun, and full of youthful exuberance. Headmasters and headmistress…on the other hands, would be worried sick for their students and overall school performance.

It is sad, isn’t it? Brats these days don’t get the crazy fun the brats in my time did. It is just sad that school is no longer place to learn and to grow up. Instead, it became a place where you sit and stare at the blackboard while trying hard to memorize whatever the teacher told you to memorize.

Anyway, I’m not in the mood for serious discussion today. It’s Sunday, and so here I am sharing the song that I danced to 9 years ago. It’s been ages, and almost a decade, but it’s still fresh in my memory.

In the spirit of Sunday morning, let’s sing along. Come now, don’t be shy. 😛

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

--FEMALE--
Aah, aah aah aah

--MALE--
Tum paas aaye, yun muskuraaye - 2
You came close, smiled like this
Tumne na jaane kya sapne dikhaaye
You don't know what dreams you showed me
Tum paas aaye, yun muskuraaye
You came close, smiled like this
Tumne na jaane kya sapne dikhaaye
You don't know what dreams you showed me
Ab to mera dil jaage na sota hai
Now my heart is neither awake nor asleep
Kya karoon haaye, kuch kuch hota hai - 2
What can I do, oh, something is happening

--FEMALE--
Tum paas aaye, yun muskuraaye
You came close, smiled like this
Tumne na jaane kya sapne dikhaaye
You don't know what dreams you showed me
Ab to mera dil jaage na sota hai
Now my heart is neither awake nor asleep
Kya karoon haaye, kuch kuch hota hai - 2
What can I do, oh, something is happening

--MALE--
Na jaane kaisa ehsaas hai
I don't know what experience this is
Bujhti nahin hai kya pyaas hai
It doesn't get quenched, what thirst this is

--FEMALE--
Kya nasha is pyaar ka
What intoxication of love
Mujhpe sanam chhaane laga
Has spread upon me, sweetheart

--MALE--
Koi na jaane kyoon chain khota hai
No one knows why our peace gets lost
Kya karoon haaye, kuch kuch hota hai
What can I do, oh, something is happening

--FEMALE--
Kya karoon haaye, kuch kuch hota hai
What can I do, oh, something is happening

Hey, eh

--MALE--
Mmm, mmm

--FEMALE--
Aa aa aa aa, aa

--BOTH--
Aa aa aa aa

--FEMALE--
Kya rang laayi meri dua
What color my prayer has brought
Yeh ishq jaane kaise hua
I don't know how this love happened
Bechainiyon mein chain
In this restlessness
Na jaane kyoon aane laga
I don't know why peace has started to come

--MALE--
Tanhaai mein dil yaadein sanjota hai
In loneliness my heart sorts through memories
Kya karoon haaye, kuch kuch hota hai
What can I do, oh, something is happening

--FEMALE--
Kya karoon haaye, kuch kuch hota hai
What can I do, oh, something is happening

--MALE--
Tum paas aaye, yun muskuraaye
You came close, smiled like this
Tumne na jaane kya sapne dikhaaye
You don't know what dreams you showed me

--FEMALE--
Tum paas aaye, yun muskuraaye
You came close, smiled like this
Tumne na jaane kya sapne dikhaaye
You don't know what dreams you showed me

--MALE--
Ab to mera dil jaage na sota hai
Now my heart is neither awake nor asleep
Kya karoon haaye, kuch kuch hota hai
What can I do, oh, something is happening

--FEMALE--
Kya karoon haaye, kuch kuch hota hai
What can I do, oh, something is happening

Cleffairy: Live life as if there’s no tomorrow, for you only live once.

The education system in Malaysia is totally screwed up. There’s no joke about that. For those who are not parents yet will never understand the frustration that they are having when their children are forced to endure an education system where academical achievement is highly appreciated and more valued.

The kids who couldn’t catch up with the academical based education system or still in their ‘exploration’ stage where they want to experience and experiment with what’s going on around them are considered retarded and incapable of learning anything at all, and they are suggested to go to ‘special’ school because the ‘educators’ thought that are a nuisance and merely impeding others from advancing.

As of late, I get to experience first hand seeing nasty and kiasu attitude displayed by people who have the cheek who called themselves educators. This shocked me to death. I had not realized that Malaysian education system is so damn screwed up. Not just mildly screwed up, but badly screwed up. Bloody and nasty at that!

There’s this kindergarten in KL, and they are using Fungates system where learning are supposed to be fun and not stressful. The system are supposed to allowed children to learn while playing, and yet the kindergarten ‘teachers’ and the bloody principal are doing the exact opposite, which is rushing off with the syllabus even with children who are first timer in kindergarten.

First timer that I’m referring to are those little children who barely turn 4 yet. First year in kindergarten. Some are still in diapers, vocabulary are limited, and still wailing for their mummies and daddies when they are left in the care of those teachers. These children’s communication skill is of course quite terrible. They will fight over toys, cry when they feel like it, pee in their pants and so the list would go on and on. These ‘teachers’ coaxed the children during the first day of orientation, but apparently their ‘kind’, ‘loving’ and ‘passionate about children’ motto seems to have expiry date, as at the second day of school, children are expected to already know how to hold the pencil or already know how to do colouring, and they are no longer expected to run around, mingle or even yell wail for their mom and dad. They are also expected to answer to their given names when sometimes, these kids do not even know what their names are as they go by petnames at home.

Now, I must say, this kind of expectation is quite high for children who haven’t even turn 4 years old yet. Some parents do not teach their little ‘babies’ at home. They prefer to send their children to kindergarten when they reach kindergarten age and let the teachers teach their children the basics. This certain kindergarten, however expects the children that have been sent to them to know every goddamn basic.

What the hell is all this all about? I thought it’s teacher’s job to teach these little children those basics like how to hold the pencil and do colouring and stuff. Why the hell are they just standing in front and do lecturing? What happened to the good old guiding children how to use pencil by holding their hands? Something is very, very wrong here. I am not a kindergarten teacher, however, I think it is not right to just rush off with the syllabus without letting the children get used to their environment and know the basics. I also know it’s bloody wrong to treat 3 1/3 years old children like primary school children. These children are not trained in the field of communication. They are supposed to be taught how to behave with their peers. These children cannot be expected to have social skills of those who went for finishing school. They are children. they probably only sticked to their parents and immediate relative in their 3 1/2 years of life. How are they supposed to know they are not supposed to share things or not throw tantrums when they couldn’t get what they want? Teachers are supposed to teach them not expect them to behave like some 12 years old kids.

Education are just another form of lucrative business these days, especially the kindergarten business. The fees are goddamn expensive. Everything involves money. One year, one could spend an average of more than Rm5k for their kids kindergarten and daycare program. But it aggravates me to see that some kindergarten teachers expected to have an easy job when they deal with first time students. When they come across children who are handful, they get very pissed off and couldn’t wait to toss them aside and expel them and never to see them again. Children who have ADHD (Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) or refused to listen and follow their instruction because he/she do not respond well to bloody strangers that they only know for 2-3 days are considered retarded, and incapable of learning and of course, they would do anything to get the child off the kindergarten compound as soon as possible because they refused to spend time and effort to get these children’s attention and educate them.

I had known that Malaysian education system is very screwed up, but I did not realize that it’s extremely screwed to the point where even in kindergarten, the children are not allowed to be active, slow learner or even mediocre. They must not be different at all cost, or they will be labeled retarded, uncontrollable and is not capable of learning at all. They must excel and expected to be the Jack of all trade even on their first week of kindergarten, or else, they will be expel, because the kindergarten have a name to live up to.

I would not believe all this if I did not see such things with my very own two eyes. The principal of the kindergarten is not nurturing despite of having extensive training in early education. All she seems to do is ” This kid ADHD ah? Eh, retard la, stupid, dunno how to listen, cannot sit still, always running around, hard to teach, expel la! So mafan, like down syndrome nia. Must faster expel, if not, we susah nia.” and “This kid cry too much ah? Put her in one room alone la, nonid to care oredi” as well as “This kid hard to deal with, ask the parents to send him elsewhere.I don’t want obnoxious brat in my school”.

I’ve come to a conclusion that even the kindergarten are just another form of business now. If teachers refused to teach and nurture the younger generation and only care bout their savings account, what will become to our country, actually? I dare not think of the answer.

Cleffairy: If I have the chance to tell these kind of teachers and principal off, I would tell her to go and screw her own asshole inside out for refusing to teach and expel children who are hyper and challenging.These kind of ‘educators’ are ruining the good name of loving and nurturing teachers all around.

Dancing on the table…

Even the kindergarten are screwed up now…