CHAMPION AGAIN AFTER 5 SEASONS
The Red Devil has returned !
Manchester United beat Barcelona 2 - 1 (Aggregate 4 - 3) in the Europa League knock-out round Last 16 Play Off 2nd legs at Old Trafford to enter the proper Last 16 knock out round.
GLORY GLORY MANCHESTER UNITED
I put up this article excerpted from Newswave in REAL PEOPLE and another article in my previous posting in this blog which made me realise the extend of 'chauvinistic' of many superiority complex Chinese parents and Malaysian Chinese in general with the near similarity that my daughter was facing for nearly 6 years in a SRJKC till I took the bold step to transfer her to a SK during the 1st term of Std 6, 10 months before her UPSR at the end of that year. Imaging the trauma, disapointment and anger of the SK school's HM to 'forcibly' accept her in the school.
And my niece commented about this after she read the articles I have shared with her;
Reading these articles reminded me of my nightmare then. Almost everyday I have to see through my eldest son finish his homework up till 12 am or 1 am. He was slow in writing Chinese, at times I have to help him with his homework so we could go to sleep before 1am. I have to wake up at 530 am, wake him at 6 am, send him to school at 630 am. Sometimes I have to take nap in my car during lunch break as I was so exhausted.
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“My Mommy Say I Cannot Friend You” My SRJK(C) School Experience As Someone Who “Wasn’t Smart Enough”
Excerpted from Newswave in REAL PEOPLE by Anonymous.
Chinese schools in Malaysia have always had the reputation of taking the top spot in discipline and education among all the primary schools. They are known for being strict, having packed schedules, giving mountains of homework, but also producing very booksmart students.
My parents wanted to send me to a Chinese primary school so that I could at least learn the basics of the language as they were both English educated. I was quite ahead of my class in kindergarten, so it didn’t seem like I would have trouble adapting to the Chinese school system. We were very wrong.
I didn’t like going to school
As an only child, I was very close to my parents and was very comfortable at home so naturally, I had a bit of trouble being away from my parents and spending a whole day in a big stoic building where everyone was speaking a language I could barely understand.
I had many days of crying at the school gates and refusing to go in, and if I made it into the school, I’d refuse to enter the classroom. Looking back now, I think I had some sort of anxiety and attachment issue, being away from my parents was immensely stressful for me. Back then however, I was just pegged as a troublesome kid who threw tantrums.
Despite all this, I did pretty well in my studies. Once you managed to get me to sit down in the classroom, I was a good student. This led me to getting good grades and being put in one of the top classes in Standard 2. This is where it really began to go downhill.
Don’t put this in my resume, but I don’t work well under pressure
Being in that class was paralysing. From the first day itself we were told that there were expectations on us and that we were meant to be the best of the crop. The teacher made it very clear that there would be no slacking or falling behind. We were 8.
As I sat in that classroom listening to all of the rules and how we were expected to perform, the pressure began to build and I felt myself shrink away in fear. I began to overthink and was very worried. It seemed like too much to handle, my anxious little 8 year old brain couldn’t take it.
The amount of homework we had was insane, and as my parents didn’t know mandarin, I struggled with it a lot. My peers breezed through it all and that made me embarrassed – I didn’t dare to ask for help from the teacher because it seemed like I was the only stupid one who couldn’t keep up.
I always got into trouble for not finishing my homework and was called out in front of the whole class for it. My grades began to drop drastically, I was the black sheep of the class.
The Tiger Mums didn’t want me near their children
The parents in my school were very controlling of their children’s lives. My classmates had strict schedules, grades they had to maintain, and in this case, peers they weren’t allowed to befriend.
I wasn’t a troublemaker. I was never rude, didn’t act out and misbehave – I just wasn’t good with schoolwork. For some reason, that translated into me being a bad influence.
It seemed that bad grades were the end of the world for some of my classmates. The day after we got our exam results back, a classmate of mine came to school with a large red hand mark on her face as her mother had slapped her for getting lower than 95 on a Science paper.
One morning when I got to my desk, I heard my deskmate’s mum tell her daughter not to sit so close to me and to not talk to me, as if I had some sort of contagious disease. The other mums gave me cold stares and whispered to their children as I walked past.
I felt excluded from games and afterschool activities, I realised that a majority of the class was avoiding me. There was even one classmate who explicitly told me,
“我妈咪讲我不可以跟你好“
(“My mommy said I cannot be friends with you”)
I had a small but precious support group
This went on for my entire primary school life, constant judgement and being outcasted. I did however have a small group of friends who were not like that. We had recess together and even joined a speech and drama class(which was in English) every week after school.
Untitled Design
There were a few teachers who lost their patience with me, getting very angry and scolding me in front of the whole class when I didn’t do well in my exams.
One even accused me of losing my homework book on purpose and didn’t allow me to participate in class for weeks because of it. When it turned out that he was the one who misplaced it, he returned it to me without apologising.
But there were also some really great teachers who were supportive and encouraging. I sought refuge in the counselling room where I was given a quiet space to complete my homework and receive one-on-one guidance from the teacher in charge.
It was a difficult period, but it paid off.
Although I struggled a lot in primary school, I contribute a lot of who I am as a person now to that experience of mine. The strict regime and way they taught us gave me a leg up when I eventually went to a national secondary school.
I was very good at Mathematics and the workload seemed like nothing. I was also very good with time management and juggling multiple co-curricular activities.
Though there was a lot of stress and pressure which I feel is a bit much for a young child, I look back at it fondly and appreciate the positives that I got out of it.
Would you send your kids to a Chinese school ?
Excerpted from Newswave in REAL PEOPLE
I Was Bullied In An SRJK Chinese School Because I Was A Banana
Posted On January 9, 2021 Lee Chow Ping
Story by Carmen Tan
“You’re not Chinese. Nobody wants you,” mocked the cruel voice through the toilet door.
“Let me out! Please!” I begged.
“No. Go and flush yourself down the toilet bowl.”
I was in Standard 1. I had been enrolled, against my wishes, in a famous SRJK(C) school in the Klang Valley.
Early on, I had trouble making friends. One day, a group of my girl classmates invited me to go to the school toilet with them.
Bursting with glee at the thought of being friends at last, I followed them… and they trapped me in a cubicle.
I pleaded to be let out, but they refused, hurling insults at me through the shut toilet door. I’m a banana. I’m not Chinese enough. I’m a failure.
Well, they were right about the banana part. And because of this, my classmates took my pocket money.
I speak English as a first language at home. My values are western, and I enjoy western pop culture.
So what? you ask.
So a lot of things, to the teachers in my Chinese school.
For one, I am most comfortable speaking English. Eventually, my class teacher got fed up. So, she decided that any one of my classmates could take all my money if they caught me speaking English.
My classmates would trick me into saying English words so they could pinch my cash, and when I did not fall for it, they would take my money by force.
For years, I lost my daily pocket money like this. I could not tell my parents, as they did not believe me. In fact, they would punish me further for “lying” or “exaggerating”.
Throughout my years in Chinese school, I was never allowed to forget that I am a banana.
It was firmly embedded in my head that I was different.
My teachers and classmates constantly reminded me that I was less than.
They would tell me that I was a shame to my parents, to my country, to the Chinese race. I would be better off dead. I had no future in life.
As far as I can remember, I was the only banana in my circle. I am sure there were more in my school, I just didn’t get to know them.
However, I do remember this Eurasian girl—half white, half Chinese. She had light brown hair and Caucasian features, and I remember my peers disliking her for it, calling her names.
I do wonder if she received the same type of treatment as me.
I was caned daily.
For speaking English. For failing to achieve desired grades. For making mistakes. For speaking in class. All sorts of things.
Getting canned and screamed at became such a normal part of my day. And since the teacher couldn’t cane me into becoming a ‘better’ student, they sent me from class to class to tell them, “I am a shame to my parents. I am a lazy good-for-nothing. I am a useless girl.”
Eventually, I had to go to the staff office to recite those lines, or to the headmistress’ office.
The other staff would ignore me, but the headmistress caned me once.
Once in Standard 2, I desperately needed to use the bathroom.
I asked my teacher for permission, but my maths teacher refused. Instead, she forced me to solve an equation on the board first.
When I got it wrong repeatedly, she screamed at me and caned me until I wet myself in front of the whole class.
After that happened, she screamed at me again and caned me some more, then sent me outside to stand under the sun until I dried off.
Up until that point, I was consistently scoring 80 — 100 marks in maths.
But after that incident, I have never been good at maths.
My class teacher from Standard 4 to 6 used to impress upon me how useless, worthless, lazy, and stupid I was.
She also got a kick out of telling me to die so that my parents will not have to waste their money raising me.
This was in addition to caning in front of the whole class.
Twice a week after school, I would go to her house for tuition class, during which she would cane me further.
She would burn incense, blare chants from Buddhist sutras while yelling at me as I sat there trying to complete my exercise sheets.
“You’re a disgrace! Repent! Learn some shame!” she would scream. And when I made more mistakes, she would cane me some more.
Once, I corrected her English, and she whisked out her kitchen knife, lecturing me about respecting my elders and teachers.
My English teacher in Standard 5 and 6 was the only reprieve I had.
English class was the only class where I escaped the cane, because I thrived at English.
Of all my teachers, this English teacher’s face has left the most lasting impact on me, because she always looked at me sadly.
In Standard 6, she picked me to join a writing competition.
It was one of the proudest and happiest moments of my young life!
Actually, my poor performance was because English is my first language and I had trouble understanding the lessons in Chinese.
When I enrolled, I could not string together a single sentence in Mandarin.
Naturally, this caused plenty of stress. Coupled with all the verbal and physical abuse, it was no wonder I couldn’t score As.
However, I miraculously scored straight As in UPSR.
Today, I am an academic. I hold a master’s degree.
I also know 5 languages and 4 dialects, proving that I am actually good with languages.
I only wish that I could experience Chinese—both the language and culture—in a gentler environment.
Both my parents were English-educated.
Hence, they could not help me with any of my school work.
However, they wanted my sibling and I to “go back to our roots”.
They also figured that learning an extra language won’t hurt, as mastering Mandarin would mean more opportunities.
As such, we were forced through the SRJK (C) system.
I did not have a say in this.
Around Standard 3, I begged to be sent to a different school, but my mum convinced me that changing school would mean losing all my friends and never making new ones.
I was determined not to lose my single close friend at the time, so I obliged and stayed on.
But who am I kidding? Leaving wasn’t really an option.
And hence continued the saga.
I am still processing the trauma today.
Those six years in Chinese school cemented that I will never be Chinese enough. As a result, I leaned hard into the English language.
Up till today, I have never touched any Chinese media or Chinese pop culture.
I simply don’t want anything to do with the Chinese culture anymore.
Maybe many many years in the future, I would unlearn my hate and bitterness, and approach the Chinese culture again.
Maybe.
My takeaway from my Chinese school experience is that a lot of Chinese people grow up in social bubbles.
Quite often, their world views are narrow, fixed on one ‘best’ way to get things done.
Throughout my six years there, the teachers and students knew only one means to education: rote memorization, straight-A results, and using physical pain to shame and push the children into “success”.
Not to forget all the propaganda: Calls to always remember your alma mater—the SRJK(C) school, likened to a firm but loving mother. Be grateful to her. Support her financially. Chinese people are a superior race, as evidenced by our grades.
Not to forget that Malaysian Chinese tend to have a victim complex, and this was drilled into us in Chinese school: The government and other races do not like us Chinese, and they are all against Chinese education.
The solution is that Chinese schools need to fund themselves, and thus the students are exploited, going door-to-door, bugging every relative and friend, begging for donations.
Failing to collect a certain amount of donations earned me more caning. I failed every single time.
No doubt there is beauty in Chinese culture, but they are only available to the insiders, not an outsider like me.
Differences were not tolerated. Maybe my experience was unique, and it is possible to have a perfectly enjoyable SRJK(C) experience as a banana, but that was not what happened to me.
Until today, I feel like a stranger in my own home. The government labels me a “pendatang,” whereas my teachers and peers in school, as well as my Chinese-educated relatives full-on rejected me for being “not Chinese enough”.
Sometimes, I look at Chinese culture and feel like a tourist.
Sometimes, I watch documentaries about what is supposed to be my own culture and wonder what it would feel like to have a sense of belonging and pride in family history and cultural roots.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics was probably the first time I felt proud to be Chinese.
I saw people who looked like me achieve great feats in an international arena.
Nevertheless, it was a distant feeling. It was a far-fetched identity I could not claim.
Since then, I’ve visited China a few times, but I feel no connection to my ancestral motherland.
It’s been 4 generations since my ancestors left China, so that is not my home. Malaysia is.
In my work, I sometimes encounter archival text on early Malayan Chinese.
While I’ve read some terrible accounts proving that classism was rampant even back then, sometimes religion succeeds in binding people together, like the Feast of St. Anne’s at St. Anne’s church in Bukit Mertajam.
The feast of St. Anne is an annual event that spans 10 days and usually attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over the world.
Every year, people of diverse races, ethnicities, and language unite to celebrate. Those are interesting intersections of unity to me.
Language greatly divides Chinese-educated and English-educated Malaysian Chinese.
Of course, each has its benefits. As a banana, I have greater, earlier, and far easier access to a larger Western pool of academic resources.
Naturally, my perspectives will differ from Chinese-educated folks who have access to a completely different pool of resources and maybe only encounter new perspectives at the university level.
Nonetheless, I observe that because of these differing vantage points, there is conflict between Malaysian Chinese across the language divide.
For example, Chinese-educated individuals tend to have Confucian values ingrained in them, which are collectivist in nature. Everybody has a role to play, which is also why gender roles are a norm in traditional Chinese households. The role of the children is to serve their elders, even if this means sacrificing their own sense of self, dreams, and ambitions.
On the other hand, bananas are more individualistic. That’s why non-conforming bananas usually have an easier time than their Chinese-ed counterparts.
In other words, to the Chinese-ed, the family is the smallest unit, whereas the bananas view the individual as the smallest unit.
This would subconsciously affect one’s attitude about money, career, life partner, etc.
I sincerely hope that SRJK(C) schools are different now.
(My comment : Don't think so it would be different !)
I think more students would have thrived and lived far healthier childhoods if schools could accept “being different” as new learning opportunities, rather than punishing children for being who they are.
Being a banana is who I am now, and who I was as a kid. Just because I speak English, enjoy western pop culture, or hold values associated with the west does not make me a failure in life.
It does not mean that I have failed my parents, my ancestors, nor my country.
I just wish my teachers knew that.
(My comment: Don't think so, because many are just good in talking 'for the sake of Chinese education' but not willing to sacrify in their dedication, patience and the genuine love to teach the children especially 'the bananas' and other slow learners of Chinese Language).
P/S: Bananas don't mean they have degraded their parents, ancestors and race. Bananas still at least know how to speak and understand their own dialect and mandarin even to write some Chinese characters and their name in Chinese. Beside they know to write and speak eloquently several international languages. They are members of INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES. They showcase what HUMANITY is all about rather than the narrow path of excessive self interest of a particular race.
