Saturday 13 April 2013

Foot in Mouth Disease

I think Anon ( re: posting April 7, 2013), or should I say, "you of all people" should beware - and be more precise about accusations of   'intellectual dishonesty',  'anti-Chinese bias' and of an educator objecting 'to the acquisition of knowledge'.

Incredibly, you derived all these from the posting of  " A Sighting"!  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-sighting.html .   I shan't insult the intelligence of my other readers by explaining the actual content of that posting.

But in the light of your petulant outburst I do need to demolish your allegations about my blog.  So let's expose your illiteracy, your vacuous interpretation and the insinuating mischief within.

We can start with paragraph two and your opinion of  "the great strides taken by the malay community"  in Singapore.  Clearly you attribute such  great strides to the fact they live under a Chinese-controlled  government in a Chinese majority (75%)  society - whose 'tolerance' and grooming are crucial to the Malays'  progress - a kind of progress as defined by the Singapore government.

Is this your contention?  If it is, it only confirms my view about some people's arrogance......  If it isn't, why make the link with my alleged  "anti-Chinese bias"?

Fourth paragraph:  How condescending of you to affirm that "the treatment muslims receive in singapore/malaysia is far more even-handed compared to what they receive in France/UK ".  If you had said that to a Brit in UK  ( just change the religion and the country)  they would say,  " Why not, it's our bloody country, mate!"  As for your 'aside' in the last paragraph about foreign languages in Britain, it's so laughable that a Brit would justifiably exclaim,  "What a tosser" !

I am bemused at your ignorance and gumption - especially as you present yourself  as some sort of cosmopolitan who had spent a ' substantial  period '  in London.  I recall that nursery rhyme  "Pussy cat, pussy cat where have you been,  I've been to London   to see the Queen".  So where has this pussy cat / tom cat been in London?  The British Museum?  The National Art Gallery?  Harrods?  Marks and Spencers?  Hamleys? Ministry of Sound London? Soho?

Fifth Paragraph:  Excuse me?  What is the connection between my ability to tolerate living in UK and my so-called  feeling of oppression  "by the Chinese in asia"?  Where is the  "intellectual dishonesty"? Are you aware of the correct use of this phrase?

 In the first place I do not merely 'tolerate' living in UK.  It is my husband's country and though it has its warts  ( which I often write about in my postings ), I respect and appreciate its ways and culture without turning into a 'kacang lupakan kulit'  (the pea forgetting its pod)  or a Bounty Bar or a Banana!  Secondly,  in my part of the world, my spouse speaks just enough Malay, Hokkien and Hindi and respects the culture of all people who call themselves Malaysians and Singaporeans.

No one race can make me feel, as you put it, "oppressed".  I take issue with and I write about injustice, mistreatment, prejudice, bigotry, self-righteousness, arrogance and most of all double standards in any society.  Check on the labels on my blog and eat your words!

In Singapore, as a teacher (I don't like the pompous word  'educator'), I had the privilege of teaching in a Malay medium secondary school  (Yusof Ishak Secondary School) and later in an English medium school  (Jurong Secondary School).  Both were "integrated schools".  YISS was "integrated"  ( notice how I use inverted commas for the word  integrated)  with the English medium, JSS with the Chinese medium.  I found myself having to play the role of intermediary between the two opposing mediums and at some and most of the time as a guardian/bouncer for my Malay medium kids in YISS for 10 years and for the English medium kids ( of all races)  in JSS for two years.

The crowning glory of my career in Singapore was when I was shunted side ways to Anglo-Chinese Junior College.
Read my exciting one-month experience in that pukka Missionary Sixth Form College. http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2012/04/x-factor.html and   http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2012/05/acjc-finale.html

And to add grist to the mill - I spared no effort in challenging the self-satisfied arrogance of  some of my mainly Malay colleagues in USM in the early 1990s.  Their brand of prejudice in tolerating and keeping a white American drunkard while giving a brown-skinned woman the short end of the stick, told me I had better get out of that education business at least!

In fact, I found much more joy and knowledge and meaningful experience working with the English working class in Leicester.  Read:  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2010/11/some-good-people.html

Paragraph Three only displays how wet you are behind the ears or, if you're older than I reckon, how immature and puerile you are despite the age.  Malays, especially, wherever they are in the Malay Archipelago, should learn a third language (other than their mother tongue and English) like Mandarin, Arabic or another European language like  French or Italian.  For instance, Ariff, my great-nephew in a KL secondary school  is studying Mandarin as a third language.  Malays must not be like the frog in that poem "Bangau oh Bangau".  Read   http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-digression.html

While Twitter, the internet and blogosphere have widened the net for expression and discussion, at times they have also opened the door for ignorance and cowardice and especially the absence of accountability.  It is like "Kera di beri Bunga"  (giving a flower to a monkey)  or "Casting Pearls before Swine".

Finally here's my "Aside ".  I often refer to the proverb  "What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander".  At 69, I still have use of what my favourite detective Hercule Poirot described as 'the grey matter', and I can't help but conclude that this Anon is the Gander whose sense of superiority is irked by what he reads in AsH.  So he  fabricates what he reads to brand  AsH as anti-Chinese - a very devious and sly ploy.   Alas, he botched it and has instead been hoisted by his own petard!

Now, that is dishonesty and it carries no whiff of intellectuality!  




   



15 comments:

mekyam said...

salam dear AsH!

i can't decide whether to first say "i wish you and yr housemate well with your annual pindah-randah to kl" or to say "that should teach you to overestimate your laughable undereducated self!" to that Anon gagging on his own foot.

i think i'll just settle for thanking you for putting this silly grin on my face!

*hugs and kisses, AsH - hope you're all rested from your journey. always a pleasure and an education reading you.*

Hamizan Hamzah said...

Honestly... madam, I would love to have you over for tea.

catharsis said...

if my leg wasn't in a cast i would find it hard to fight the urge to stand up and clap. *grin*

anak si-hamid said...

Salam to you my dear Mekyam,

How are you getting on in the cold?

Well, we're settled fine because we have just had our first bite of the petai! Thank you for the kind thoughts and support.

I like your word 'undereducated'. To me most people are just well instructed to follow a template of learning and knowledge - a cut and paste mentality. They have not been taught or encouraged to think. It doesn't bode well for the future.

You take care of yourself and shall 'see'you anon.

anak si-hamid said...

Thank you Hamizan Hamzah,

What a lovely way of expressing your support. Thank you from a WOW ( weary old witch).

anak si-hamid said...

Thank you cast-iron catharsis.

What on earth have you been up to be a castaway !!! ha ha.

Good to see you but I'll have to cast off now.

Uncle ZT said...

Salam, Auntie AsH!

After a bad Monday morning meeting, reading your article has brought smiles (still smiling while writing this) to me. Well written! Excellently titled!

Siti Nor Zarina said...

wOw!!!! Hand, Foot & Mouth disease so I reckon that "Anon" is a Cow.....Mooo Mooo here & Mooo Mooo there. LOL!!!

Anonymous said...

Ah ..auntie, I would have learned Mandarin if only it was a melodic and pleasant sounding language. I know its great for business etc. all the buzz about China in the present world.I do enjoy their kungfu movies and Art though. But the language just do not appeal to me. On the other hand I speak 2 other Romance/Latin languages fluently and I enjoy their literature tremendously. I have to say -they do make a difference in this world. Hope there's no Anti-Chinese Bias there :)

catharsis said...

Salam Ash

My knee insisted on misbehaving - the tempurung popped out. being degil, i continued going to work for 2 weeks before realizing that the bengkak was as stubborn as i and insisted on existence. doctors put me in a cast and alas i have officially become an outcast! looking forward to physio so that i can walk like a normal human being again instead of a zombie with a limpy spell cast on it! p.s. your petai reference made me hungry for some sambal udang petai *nyum*

anak si-hamid said...

Uncle ZT,

Am so glad to help you get over Monday morning meeting blues.

Thank you very much for the bouquets.

anak si-hamid said...

My dear Zarina,

Thank you.

We shall have to sing that song you brought up about mooing here and there - at our fence - over plates of your yummy food.

anak si-hamid said...

Anonymous April 15,

Thank you for your reflective comment.

I don't think we should have to apologise for our choice of languages.

We should not be utilitarian in what we choose to study. Money does not make the world go round for most people.

I envy your ability to read and write two Romance/Latin languages!

anak si-hamid said...

Oh dear, oh dear, Catharsis.

I hope you will not go on living up to your name where health and mobility is concerned.

It all sounds pretty drastic - maybe sambal petai udang may do the trick.

Hope you recover quickly and take a trip to Castille??

Anonymous said...

I have one question to ask this 'anon' person. Why 'Anon' ? Put a name to your opinion ! Or shall I give you one ? 'Yellow Coward' !


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