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!  

   

Chante, Chante Pour Moi

Sing, Sing For Me






It is self-indulgent and sometimes futile to ruminate too much on the past. But when you have been a teacher for over 20 years it is difficult not to recall the thousands of lives you have touched. I have been a Che'gu (Mr or Miss Teacher) for 7 years and a Miss Hamid for 2 years and a very short spell as Mrs. B in Singapore. I put on my Che'gu's hat again in Brunei for 6 1/2 years training teachers at Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Teachers' Training College. My last stint was at USM Penang when I became Puan Maznoor teaching Spoken English/Pronunciation and Critical Reading and Writing.
The latter was a subject after my own heart and I knew I gave my students a hard time. I believe that young minds can be pushed to the limit - it is just a matter of how. Above all, I felt very privileged that I was given the opportunity to stretch their minds and though they found it frustrating at times, they met the challenge and I am very proud of them.
When I left in 1993, they gave me a parting gift of a little booklet - a token of their appreciation - which contained the illustrations I have posted here. I was very, very touched and I have kept this booklet with me despite the many house-moves we have made.
I wonder what they are doing now. I hope the authorities have recognised and rewarded their capacity for serious thinking and dogged enthusiasm for hard work.





And here's a little illlustration from me for old times' sake.
Once again thank you.

From AsH's Stockpile

I'm at it again. When you reach my age there's no end of 'junk' to clear up. This has been my usual pattern whenever I come back to Leicester. Although some of my best bits have migrated to KL there are still lots of mucky treasures to look over with nostalgic affection.
When I was teaching English Language at USM Penang in the early 1990s I met and taught a variety of students. Most of them were fresh 'A' Level 'graduates' and quite a handful were mature students, mainly teachers doing an Education Degree.Most wonderful of all, they were a bagful of Malaysians - of Malaysian Chinese, Indians, Malays, Eurasians and bumiputras from Sarawak and Sabah. It was a privilege for me to teach them. It was a 2-way process because I learned much from them as well.
My saddest experience was when one of my students-a teacher and a father of two- came into my room for a talk. With tears in his eyes he described a fracas he had with his lecturer, a local Professor. This academic had a habit of coming late for lectures and departing early or sometimes not turning up at all. In my parlez - from years of teaching - we would classify this pendidek(educator) as a kaki ponteng or raja tuang (rabid skiver). This student of mine had reminded this academic (not rudely, according to the former) that there was still 15 mins to go. All this Professor had to say to punish and reduce this teacher to a heap of tears was - " Awak ingat ya - siapa mentimun, siapa durian" (You had better remember this - who is the durian and who's the cucumber) - a threat, an ominous one by someone powerful. SPOKEN LIKE A TYPICAL COWARD FROM MALAY FEUDAL TIMES. Despite all the expensive education heaped on this Malay Professor, it has all been a waste I reckon. "Seperti kera di beri bunga." (like giving a flower to a gibbon).
My advice to my mature student when he asked for one? Through gritted teeth I had to counsel him to apologise to this Panglima Pendidek (The Warrior-Educator).

Me no speakee Engleesh

Most of my students were too scared to speak in English even during tutorials especially these 3 Malay girls from Malaya. Strangely enough the undergrads from Sabah and Sarawak were far more proficient in written and spoken English notwithstanding their racial background! (In fact my blind reflexologist in KL who comes from Sarawak was more confident in speaking English than some of those undergrads in USM). As for my 3 Malay girls, I called them over to my room and asked why they refused to participate in tutorial discussions. Their answer was to be expected. They were embarrassed in case people laughed at their lack of proficiency. They were often mocked by their fellow-Malay mates and teachers for being orang putih celup (an Uncle Tom), for reneging on their language and culture. Haven't I heard that before, many, many times? Seperti katak dibawah tempurung (like the frog under the coconut shell). Well, after spending 1-2 hours/week discussing various topics in English in my room, my three lasses, after a month or so began to take part actively during tutorials. I could see them stumbling-but with much courage and dignity-'not to disappear'. Their classmates were happy for them and their triumph over their handicap was one of the best memories I have of teaching in USM.
Oh, there are many other stories from these students of mine who were doing my course of HEK 201. I gave them a copy of this poem by Pablo Neruda, which I thought summarised some of their challenges and agonies.Please click on the text to get a better read. It's worth looking at and I apologise for my stumbling undignified technology. Just being "my same old lazy self".
A snippet from the last stanza:
But when I call upon my dashing being,
out comes the same old lazy self,
and so I never know just who I am,
Nor how many I am; nor who we will be being.
I would like to be able to touch a bell
and call up my real self, the only me,
because if I really need my proper self,
I must not allow myself to disappear.