On 21st November 2012, two days after the announcement of UPSR or Primary School Evaluation Test results, an open letter appeared in a local Chinese daily, the Sin Chew (attached above).
It was written in Mandarin, so I am doing a loose translation into English. Read on because it could be about you and your child………
A student in a primary school in Johore became disillusioned when his teacher accidentally omitted his name in the school’s list of top scorers for this year’s UPSR. Due to the teacher’s mistake, the poor boy ran and hid in a corner of the school hall to cry his heart out. After all the crying had been done, he realized how silly he had been. He then ran happily home to inform his parents of his results.
How will his parents reward him for scoring 5A’s? That is not my concern. Rather, my concern is this – what will happen if he did not get 5A’s? Will his parents comfort him or his teachers encourage him to do better next time? What about those who did not even get an A at all? Should we just dismiss or forget them?
Some time ago, when the government proposed to do away with all the public examinations, everyone was so happy. Hooray, no more examinations, no more pressures, no more comparisons!
But each time the results of a public examination were out, the Education Department, the school heads, the teachers, the parents – practically everyone in the community rejoiced and put the top scorers on high pedestal. Come on, admit it, we still cling to A’s as a benchmark to evaluate our children’s academic performances. This practice had been so deeply ingrained into our psyche.
A….A….A….this is how our education system had become today. From the moment our children first started to learn, we were rooting for them to get A’s. We have been conditioning our children to believe that without A’s, they are nothing and without A’s, there is no future for them. In short, A’s is everything.
In reality, we are turning public examinations into a mental torture for our children. There are many parents who claimed they are very open-minded, that they do not mind if their children did not score straight A’s. “If you could not score A’s, then at least score B’s!”
If a child could not get an A no matter how hard he had tried, how many parents will genuinely and gently sit down to comfort him? And say words like, “Never mind, you have done your best, the most important thing is you have learnt something.” Or give him warmth hugs and say, “Don’t give up, the road ahead is still long, just put in more efforts!” Really, how many of us can be that generous with our children in the face of failure?
If your child did not score A’s, do not lose heart. All is not lost yet.
There was a student who always got the 23rd position in class. But people around her like her friends or relatives are very ambitious. She only aims to be a kindergarten teacher and a loving mother one day. So what did her parents do? They got her a home tutor, the one-to-one type. This made her very nervous and her grades dropped even further – she got the 33rd position. Alarm by this regression, her parents immediately terminated the home tutor’s service and left their daughter to study at her own pace.
One day, after the school examinations was over, the counseling teacher called on the student’s mother. What did this teacher told the mother?
In one of the examination papers, there was a question of who the most ideal student is and what are the qualities that you find most admirable in that student?
Most of her classmates chose her. What were their reasons?
She was helpful, trustworthy, even-tempered, friendly, jovial, compassionate and smart – she possessed all the qualities other students secretly wished they have too. They loved to have her as their class monitor too.
“Although she is a moderate student, but she is highly regarded by her peers,” the teacher told the mother.
See, your child do not have to have A’s to shine. Having desirable attitudes is far more meaningful than just having him doing well in his studies.
Do you agree with this open letter?
Getting A’s at a young age is going to be stressful for the rest of the school years if parental pressure is there to insist on maintaining the lead. You should only encourage your kids to perform well within their natural abilities. Some kids mature late others early. Pushing the former is disastrous. All that glitters is not gold, hence the early A’s may not be able to continue to perform at a tertiary education, Sad to say, these A’s is used as a trophy by parents to run unhealthy competition among their peers. Poor Kids/.
A good and happy childhood is a pre-requisite for a happier adult life. How many children have lost their childhood through this pressure cooker!
When there is nothing to improve, life will be very dull and unhappy. Not all children will be suitable for tertiary education and sometimes, a skilled tradesman is a better option. some medical graduates changed their professional to artists and concert pianists because of parental pressure to study medicine.
Encourage your kids to do well naturally and if they fail to make the grade then there is room for improvement and counselling Each step upwards is a steady one and it will maintain its momentum pass university studies.
Tertiary institution is a great leveler in academic performance. It relies on intelligence, constant work, understanding and application. Not all straight A’s students graduate with Doctoral degrees but many B’s still get there.
In life,getting an “A” is not as important as the process or attempts to get one.
I dont’ know if it was because both my parents were teachers, but there was always pressure to get no.1 in the form and score straight A’s.
So I did. I was the top student in my school, and I also scored straight A’s in SRP and SPM.
Wanted to be a doctor, but ended up being an accountant. Even that didn’t last long because I was unhappy with what I did.
After 10 years of working, I finally found the vocation I love and everyday doesn’t even feel like work anymore because I’m very happy with what I do now.
My main point is that parents must inculcate positive values in their children so that they can contribute positively to society.
My children are not top students nor will I force them to be like what I was. I only want them to be civic-minded, polite and kind.
As long as they can express themselves eloquently and not be bad at math, I think I’ve done my part in bringing them up properly.
One problem is that we seldom know enough our children’s natural abilities – whatever talents they have might emerge early or only during late adulthood. It’s doubtful that Einstein’s parents had any inkling that their son would become a scientific genius.
Another problem is that we don’t really know the validity of our school’s
ranking schemes : are As awarded for spitting out facts correctly or for imaginative/creative ideas or a bit of both.
Underlying such problems are issues concerning pedagogy – besides the science and art of teaching/learning they involve the quality of teachers and other socio-economic factors. In many countries, politics get involved as well.
Regarding the pressure to achieve, the results vary: I know someone who came from a riches-to-rags family and the pressure cooker was indeed enormous – so enormous that a younger brother had a mental breakdown, a sister dropped out of school, etc. But this cousin himself became a noted hematologist and professor of a reputable Australian university. Three of his other brothers are university graduates, and a younger sister a lecturer at a local tertiary institution.
Personally, I was given free reign as a kid, to the extent that I dropped out of school before I decided to take my overseas Cambridge cert after all. I eventually became a teacher and later went overseas for basic and advance degrees. Having taught high school and college kids, etc., my belief is that there are no bad students.
Only ineffective teachers.
The problem with Malaysian parents and education system is that we are placing far too much emphasize on getting good grades rather than character building.
Most parents want their children to become surgeons, doctors, lawyers, engineers or accountants. Only these jobs are considered successful and noble. Anything less is shameful and the child considered a failure.
They don’t care if their children grew up to be self-centered, selfish or spoilt as long as they excelled in their studies. Bad manners okay but must pass exams with flying colors!
There are parents too who want their children to become what they themselves failed to become. Being a professional also means you can earn more money and bring a good name to the family. This is so true for Chinese families.
So and so’s son is a doctor or so and so’s daughter is a lawyer is a common comparison when older parents sat down together to have a chat. If your child is a desk clerk, supermarket cashier or bus driver, then your parent’s mouth will be sealed in silence because they have nothing to brag about.
Some parents started their children very early on the rat race. The children, some as young as four, were put into expensive kindergartens and tuition classes. Some even attend two to three tuition classes a day, especially if they are going to sit for public exams like UPSR.
Children were made to memorize and regurgitate facts in schools, thus many got straight A’s without really knowing what they have learnt. Facts in, facts out. That is why many got into universities but they could not complete their courses – they were too spoon-fed to cope with university education.
For those who could not stand the pressure, they might suffer nervous breakdown, become mad or depress, run away from home or even attempt suicide.
Many years ago, there was a young man who used to dress in dirty and smelly rags, has unkempt hair and nails, wander aimlessly along Hugh Low bridge but he could write beautiful sentences on the walls. Some people said he was a university drop-out and his family had disowned him for this reason. Anyone from Ipoh saw and remember this unfortunate youth?
We also got to read about how some students took their own lives when they could not get good results? Some hung themselves from the ceiling and others took paraquat. This is common among the Indian community. Sad, huh?
I think most Malaysian children are deprieved of an innocent and joyful childhood, thanks to their “kiasu” parents.
“most Malaysian children are deprived of an innocent and joyful childhood,”
That was what Rousseau deplored in his work “Emile” centuries ago, Ipohgal. Further, reading without reflection was condemned by Confucius, who influenced many educationists throughout the next two thousand years.
I used to give free tuition during the 1960s/70s, but was surprised to see a tuition culture – one based on profits for the tutors – taking over what we would’ve deemed to be a normal school life.
I mentioned about pedagogy and the quality of teachers. Part of the reason for rote learning was the almost total absence of good teacher-preparation in our schools today. Good teachers ought to be well-rounded individuals themselves so that they could provide a holistic education. Unfortunately, such people are rare whether in education or other fields. Carl Sagan had lamented this fact, noting that US society was unlikely to find a Bertrand Russell – though we might add that Sagan himself was one such person.
Yes Larry, tuition is big business in Malaysia now. Blame it on the parents and teachers.
Parents because they wanted their kids to score straight A’s and teachers because many could earn more by giving tuition than their mere salaries paid by the government. Of course not all teachers are also tuition teachers.
There was a teacher in my daughter’s class who loved to say something like this, “This is all for today’s lessons, come to my house for tuition and I’ll give you more tips! Needless to say, many flock to her house after school for more lessons.
Ah, demand and supply…. pure economics!
Like what bkho said, some people did not practice what they were trained as.
My brother-in-law’s university mate later became a Taoist priest (Nam Moh Lou) just like his father. He was trained as a chartered accountant.
A yong tau foo shop along Jalan Bendahara in Ipoh was run by a guy who was an engineer graduated from England. He preferred to be a cook cum hawker.
I am sure there are many other similar cases that we have not heard of. People do what they like to do later, after their parents are no longer around to disapprove them …..
University courses in Medicine, Law, Engineering, Dentisty, traditionally takes in high scorers in the pre-university exams. This prerequisite in turn generate many robots who excel in exams. Some of them are not emotionally suitable for medicine nor have the maturity to appreciate what the profession is all about. Unfortunately, parents think that Doctors make money, especially in Malaysia, seeing 80 patients a day. There is another altruistic aspect of medicine which is not recognized. In the US, I believe Medicine is a post-graduate degree whilst in Commonwealth countries, it is still an undergraduate course. There was a movement started in the early 1990s to make the medical course a post-graduate one and applicants were interviewed and those with the correct attitude were taken. I was in such a committee to make recommendations to the universities about selecting candidates for Medicine. This is to correct a significant number of students who went for the course for the wrong reasons, ie. just because they had the high qualifying exam marks.or their parents told them so. Of course, mature aged students do better in Medicine and any university course.
Where there is demand, there will be suppliers. Can’t blame the the vendors selling their wares when the demand is so good.
In ACS Ipoh, during the 1950s, there was a young man who rode on a bicycle, an expensive one, and wore a beret (green one?). He used to cycle up and down ACS during school hours and everybody assumed that he was nuts. He seemed to be highly intelligent and I wondered what happened to him.
Here is a challenge for all you teachers For example, in Malaysia,f I tendered $10 to the cashier after buying $2.75 worth of goods, I immediately looked at the numbers, and mentally calculate the change due to me, $7.25. When I did my first shopping in Australia, the cashier got out $7.25 from the till and she would say, $2.75, put a 5c coin in my hand and say $2.80, 20 c coin and say $3.00, then 2x $1 notes saying $4, $5 and finally a $5.00 note saying $10.. Is there a different method of teaching maths? With multiplication, I learned in Malaysia ny memorizing times table but the kids in school now arrive at the answer by adding the numbers repeatedly. The digital versus analog approaches, which is better and more superior? Over to you, Mr Teacher.
Hi IpohBornKid,
Completely with you. Makes me wonder why some people are studying medicine when their hearts are not into it; all because they got straight A’s and their parents told them to do so! Scary!
Ipohgal,
This is a subject that’s close to my heart. Not making good grades in secondary school does not necessarily mean that kids are losers. The importance Asian parents place on their children’s education certainly does cause most of them to strive for excellence in school, but even in Asia there must be those who for some reason are not motivated in their teens.
I would never defend the American educational system overall against those of Singapore, Korea and Japan, those that I know something about,, (although I do feel that they lack sufficient emphasis on the social sciences).. American schools are locally financed and controlled, Some, usually located in upper class districts, and therefore serving wealthier and better educated families, are as good as any in the world. However, in many, particularly those in poorer areas, financial support is lacking, the buildings have deteriorate ted, , the teachers are poorly paid, and the standards are low. But there is one aspect of the American system that makes up for many of its faults: continuing education. Here. the opportunity to get a good education is never closed off.
In my own case, I had a terrible secondary school record. I was bright enough to have skipped fourth grade, but by the time I was in ninth, I was just waiting to turn 16 so that I could quit school. As I look back on it now, I was probably bored, but whatever the cause, I would never have made it out of high school were it not for football. My love of that game motivated me enough to earn the minimum grades necessary to remain eligible to play. After high school, I joined the Army, and after I was discharged, worked construction for a year to earn the money go back and marry the Korean lady who became the mother of my children.
When we came back to Florida, my mother impressed on me the importance of getting an education so that I could support my wife and future family as I would want to do. So, with some misgivings I enrolled in St. Petersburg Junior College.
That was the easy part. All you needed to enter were a high school degree and a heartbeat. What it took to stay there was a different matter. At that time SPJC was one of the most highly rated junior colleges in the country. They quickly separated those who were serious from those who weren’t with some very rigorous “flunk out” courses. The toughest of these was freshman English composition. I only know one person who claims to have earned an A in that course. He’s a professional writer, but I’m still not sure I believe him.:-) But If you made it through, you came out knowing how to write a proper sentence and an effective paragraph. I sweated blood to earn a C in that class, but it was the most valuable in my college career. Also memorable were a Humanities course that gave me a grounding in western civilization from the Greeks to the modern day, a political science course taught by a retired Admiral who was the executive officer on the USS Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack, and who commanded the USS Missouri when the peace treaty with Japan was signed aboard her. His passion about our system of government and the citizen’s obligation to understand and support it, have stayed with me ever since. And there was the basic economics course taught by a man whose enthusiasm for the subject led me to make it the focus of the rest of my college studies.
Thanks to SPJC, I became so enamored of education that I consistently made the dean’s list there, at the University to which I transferred for the final two years of my BA, and the one where I earned my MBA. (In Florida, a graduate from an accredited junior college is automatically eligible to enroll an any state university.) My point in all this is that if I had not had the opportunity to get back to school in my twenties, I would have ended up as a construction foreman rather than as an international marketing manager. The money would probably have been about the same, but I would never have had the opportunity to experience cultures around the world and to make the friends I have in them.
My wife, Rohanah, had a similar experience. Coming from a Malay family in which no one had ever received a higher education, she was also unmotivated in secondary school. When I met her, she was a shop girl with only O levels from the Singapore school she attended, and not good ones at that. Of course there is nothing wrong with employment in a department store, it’s good honest work. But ‘Ana was capable of much more.
When she came to the U.S., she took a General Educational Development course which, thanks to her Singapore education, allowed her to earn a High School GED certificate in about six months. (In Florida, anyone can enroll in GED, regardless of his previous level of education.) Then she went to a junior college, transferred to a university after she graduated, and wound up with a Registered Nursing degree. Now she cares for folks with Down’s Syndrome. Without the American continuing education system, her talents and concern for the handicapped would have been lost.
I’m aware that continuing education is not available to the same extent in Asia, That creates enormous pressure on students to excel early in life, but parents should bear in mind that some people find themselves later than do others. I believe that if you make your kids proud of who they are, and teach them that if they can look back and say honestly “I did my best,” there is no shame in failure, because no one can do more than that, The result is then beyond their control. If they approach life with that attitude, they will eventually find something they are good at, and be successful. But if they are made to feel that they are a failure and a disappointment to their parents, it’s unlikely that they will ever do well.
BTW, I’ve noticed that a lot of Asian people do not distinguish between “educated'” and “smart” or “intelligent.” As in “My son so smart. He only make A’s.” I believe that they are entirely different characteristics. I have often met people who have a lot of one, and very little of the other.
I’d like to hear what you and your readers have to say about what I’ve written. Is it too far from the Asian point of view?
Tom, thank you for sharing your views. One examination does not necessarily mean a complete assessment of the student. Continual assessment including the ability to improve is far more important. The world has shrunk and education has crossed all national boundaries. Good exam marks can get you to a university but does not guarantee you a university degree. Until we stop a single exam as a measure of suitability, adaptability and attitude, and choose, a better system, the university will choked with high A’s scorers and nothing more. It also deprives B’s from entering university. Unless the Asian parents realize their folly, nothing will change. A good education system is reflected by its scholars who excel in arts and science and lead the world in the number of Nobel prize winners.
When I was teaching at the University, I was given the task of teaching mature aged students and those who flunk. The former group always do well because their motivation to get an education is to better themselves. The latter group either has a lack of English comprehension or unable to grasp the subject matter (mainly due to rote learning in the past). Some of these students were Colombo Plan students with straight A’s but they still do not do well. However, with a bit of coaching on how to approach the subject matter and the understanding of the subject matter and its application, they all passed their subject. There are many examples of Malaysians going overseas to study because they were unable to get into Form VI or university. They did well overseas as they matured.
Tom, great posting. You – like IpohBornKid – got it right, I think, on all fronts. People do mature at different ages, and yes, the US’s democratic approach to education is definitely superior to most other countries. Many of my former high school students went to American community colleges not because of easier admissions, but because they were less expensive. After two years, they would then enter four-year colleges. They’re now doing very well in Malaysia in a number of professions.
A community-financed school system allows more flexibility in school curricula. We might perhaps call it education with regional characteristics. Its drawbacks include, as you noted, the dependence of school districts on community wealth. Inner-city schools are often the worst hit: I’ve seen schools with broken panes even during winter months, and many didn’t have the kind of facilities – from school fields to science labs – enjoyed by the better known and more often suburban schools. There are also right-wing attacks on the school systems, disguised as ways to upgrade k-12 schools, but aimed solely at promoting mostly corporate-run charter schools.
As for colleges, some are now belly up, partly due to the sluggish national economy which means not merely lower state and local taxes, but also less federal grants. Again, I feel there have been attempts to change the mission of most colleges which aims at providing not only trained professionals, but also well-rounded individuals. I remember one newly-appointed college president who referred to education as a “product”: many college heads are now hired not as educators, but as fund-raisers. American colleges are still effective institutions, but that’s due mostly to great teachers and less to the college system.
I might talk about a holistic education later.
Tom, thanks for sharing both your wife’s and your own experiences in pursuing advance education.
You know, I used to regret very much for not being able to go to university but not anymore.
I came from a very poor family and dad simply could not afford to send me for further education. Forget about going overseas. To lessen his burden, I went to work straight away after leaving school and attend night classes. I knew this is not the best arrangement, but I have not much options.
Now, thanks to Internet, I found there are so much knowledge to be learnt that I do not have to attend university. You have to take a few lifetime to learn everything on the net.
My problem now is time which for me, unfortunately, is limited.
Ipohgal, when you think of great literary figures like Chaucer, Shakespeare, or Dickens, the one thing they had in common was a lack of college education. Yet their works were studied by many who got their doctorates writing about those three geniuses. In the fine arts, people like Monet or Renoir or Cezanne either didn’t go to college or dropped out as quickly as they could – they could not tolerate the stultifying atmosphere of the typical academia. In the East, we’ve the great Su Dongpo who studied briefly at a village school but was mostly privately tutored by his mother. The modern Qi Baishi was self-taught, yet his paintings were widely loved and one was recently auctioned off at 65.5 million USD.
Most of us would agree that Einstein was perhaps the greatest scientist that ever lived, and he wasn’t even accepted by any university. He did enroll at a polytechnic, but often skipped classes and thus barely qualified for his diploma. Then there’s that inventor Edison, who was thought to be so dull that he was taken out of school and taught at home. Both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs gave up college to thrill mankind with their innovative products.
Knowledge is most important in today’s world, but as you say that could be readily accessed through the internet. What you couldn’t find there you could get through books. Certainly college experience is something to be savored, but it’s not a must to achieve great things or to become a knowledgeable, wise person. And as I implied before, every so often, the best in a person is inculcated not through formal education, but through the informal education given by our parents or guardians. They made you, just as you’re doing right now for your lucky kids.
Hi Larry,
Yes, it’s finally proven that one doesn’t have to walk the corridors of colleges and universities to excel in life.
Home schooling is becoming more and more available….you can study all you want in your own living room and at your own pace.
The whole world is just in front of us at a click of the mouse….and isn’t that exciting?
Dear Larry & Ipohgal, let us not go to the extreme and discard tertiary education. Opportunity, financial resources and intelligence are the pre-requisites to get a tertiary education. Many good candidates missed out because of money and opportunity, but they inherently had the potential ability to learn, comprehend and critic information. University education perhaps can assist you in the digestion of information and to question and determine the truth of the hypothesis. Without one, you are only slightly disadvantaged in the beginning but as the mind matures, (you need to be street-wise about information), the ability to excel only takes a little bit longer. And the one most important ingredient driving the mental development of a person is “MOTIVATION”. My Grandfather did not attend school formally yet, his Chinese writings and scripts were just as good as the teachers then.. Einstein was a university dropout and many a great successful business people did not have a formal education. Hence, having a formal education is necessarily but not essential.
Hi IpohBornKid,
No, I am not ruling out the need for tertiary education at all. Yes, we still need our colleges and universities around. I would love to see my children go to such institutions one day and come out with proper paper qualifications to help them get ahead in life.
I am only referring to those of us like myself who had missed out the opportunity earlier in life due to family poverty or unfair goverment policies. My dad could not pay for my fees and even when my grades are much better than some, I was not accepted because of my race, you know what I mean? And it is not easy to get a scholarship or loan in those days.
To make up for what I have missed out, I now rely the net to learn as much as I can. I think Larry would have understand and agree too.
Yes, Ipohgal, that’s what I mean too – the ability to be knowledgeable and to prosper without tertiary education does not mean a rejection of such education. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have ended my teaching days – and given up my pension – for tertiary studies! I do often emphasize, however, that much could be done through self-improvement, and the lives of many great man AND women show that ultimately, it’s this passion for learning that made them thus. I’m sure you too, would agree with this, Ipohbornkid.
Thanks Larry! 🙂
Ipohgal, Larry and IpohBornKid,
First of all, let me point our that Ipohgal is a fine example of what high intelligence, an inquiring mind and a love of learning can do, regardless of it’s opportunity for advanced formal education. And you two guys demonstrate the benefits that formal education can provide.The three of you make this blog a joy to participate in.
On this subject, I think that you are not far apart. Let me see if I can provide a perspective to which you can all subscribe. I’ll do that by relating a story I heard quite long ago:
In The United States, during the days of segregation in the South, a kid was born in an impoverished sharecropper family. In his earliest days, he received virtually no formal education, but by the time he was a teen, he had begun earning his own living. He started by collecting junk from farms and houses in the area, reconditioning anything he could, then selling all of it wherever he could find a buyer. At first he carried everything he found in a sack on his back, but as time went by, he was able to save enough to buy a mule and wagon. That he used to continue his junk collection. He also began to pick up garbage from houses in the town and dispose of it for a monthly fee. Still later he bought and sold local properties, and made intelligent investments, financing mostly poor folks who had good ideas, but who could not find money elsewhere.By the time he reached middle age, he was well to do, owned a comfortable home, and drove his new pickup truck to the bank each week to make a deposit.
The banker, who had never been willing to lend him a dime, but who had followed his progress for years, stopped him one day after he had made his weekly deposit.
“I just wanted to complement you,” he said, “For someone with your background, to have accomplished what you have is really commendable.”
“Yes,” the black man replied. “I’m proud of what I’ve done. But just think what I could have accomplished if I’d had a good education.”
Hi Tom,
Thanks for your inspiring story. 🙂
“But just think what I could have accomplished if I’d had a good education.”
This sentence can also be used to describe my father. Although he only had six years of primary school education, his writings in Chinese can put many university graduates to shame.
He also has a very creative mind when it comes to mechanical works. It was the Japanese occupation that cut short his training to be a mechanic but throughout the years, he managed to design and invented some tools to help made life easier.
For example, he had designed and made the tools needed in his scissors sharpening business. He even designed and made a very big oven for his sister who needed it in her baking business.
I could imagine what else he could come up with had he got more education…
“…what I could have accomplished if I’d had a good education.””
Well, Tom, GENERALLY the black man would be right: however, the correctness also depends on almost impossible caveats such as “all things equal (I would’ve done much better IF I’d a good education).”
Can all things be equal? Would time spent in lecture-rooms necessarily be better than hands-on learning at the workplace? If he were to study under a strict, authoritarian college setting, would that be “good” education? Would he then, despite himself, be molded by such a college to become a dogmatic person? Would the education he gets at tertiary levels be “good” irrespective of the quality of instruction, the kind of college he attends, the external circumstances (regional, national, international, etc) at the time of his attendance? If so, how much better? And so on and so forth.
Is it possible that the black man might find it easier to get around doing his productive work because society tends to be more sympathetic to underdogs? Could his college degree turn off KKK-type people who might frustrate him just to ensure that he knows his place? Conversely, could he – himself – develop superior airs that would alienate his potential employers/clients, etc? I know some readers might think I’m nitpicking, but really I’m not. What I’m trying to imply is that GENERALLY the black man would be right, but not always and college education – even a good one – might not work out the same way for everybody.
Since life itself is full of uncertainties, a college education is certainly an asset and advisable for most folks. It IS nice to for us to think what the black man might do with a college education, but that’s all to it – speculation. Would Tan Lark Sye, the founder of Nanyang University (Nanyang Technical University of Singapore) become as rich as he was and contributed so much to Singaporean society if he’d gone to college? Could the great Singaporean philanthropist Tan Kah Kee be Tan Kah Kee if he’d college education? What if Lim Goh Tong – the Malaysian tycoon – had gone to study at MU? For all we know such people might become even richer and made even more contributions to society if they’d go to college. But I doubt it.
Go to college, but if for some reason we cannot – well, it’s not the end of the world. There many other routes to a successful life.
Sometimes I correct typos because there might be young readers who visit blogs to improve their English. So here goes:
I wrote:
> such people might become even richer and made even more contributions to society if they’d go to college. <
Should be "Such people might have become richer and made even more contributions to society if they’d gone to college."
I often disregard more obvious ones such as an extra "to" as in "It IS nice to for us to think."
Hi Larry,
I think, given the present standard of English in Malaysia today, its okay to have some mistakes here and there – grammar and spelling wise, as long as we are willing to learn from our mistakes. I too, am making mistakes all the time! 🙂
Your English is so good, a proof of ACS’s product, oops, I mean once a upon a time, not the present, of course! 🙂
Yes, Ipohgal, the old days – and standards – are gone, perhaps forever. Normally I don’t bother at all, but as I said some of your readers might be youngsters looking to improve their English by visiting blogs like this one (I do detect lots of errors in articles here, but then more would, and should, be expected from old-timers like me and Tom Parsons).
I normally don’t make more than a couple of errors even in lengthy articles, but nowadays my eyesight has deteriorated dramatically. So, unless I carefully proofread what I’d written, which requires more time than I can afford, typos will appear. If this could happen to me, who – because of poverty, hahaha – used to teach English and proofread professional journals, magazine articles, etc, it can certainly happen to anyone.
As Tom says, you’re really gracious! 🙂
Thank you Larry!
You know what, sometimes I feel nervous and doubtful about what I wrote here but then, I thought, I have to write anyway or else…..I will wither away. So, do forgive me for any errors I might have commit in the past, now and in future, okay?
Larry D,
Yes, there are all kinds of ways that our black man’s higher education might have led to unfortunate results. He might have been accepted into a Master’s degree program, and been killed in a car wreck while traveling to his new school. Worse, he might have entered politics and become a Republican congressman, He could even have continued on in school and become an MBA. 🙂 Believe me, I am the last person who who would say that the future can be predicted with certainty. And remember it was the black man, not me, who said that he could have accomplished more with a good education. I’m copping out by claiming that I’m just the reporter. ::-)
Nor do I think that those who don’t have the opportunity for higher education cannot be successful. My lifelong roll model, my grandfather, left school when he was twelve, and went to work for a railroad as a messenger. Thirty Seven years later, he retired as a general superintendent on that railroad, and simultaneously, the general manager of one of its subsidiary lines. Of course in today’s world, only entrepreneurs, inventors, professional athletes and entertainers can have great success without a degree.
Finally, I would not in any way undervalue non-academic education. I have a friend who has at various times earned a living as a musician, a writer, a painter and a calligrapher. He learned all of those skills without formal instruction, simply by observing and doing. In my own case, I earned a full four year economics degree in only ten short years by attending classes for a semester, and then working as a marine construction foreman for a year, As a foreman, I supervised a crew of four in the operation of a crane barge, a tugboat, a deck engine, a high powered pump, and assorted power and hand tools.. As I did that, I came to realize that what I had learned and was learning was just as challenging as what I was learning in school.
But despite the uncertainties of life and the accomplishments of the gifted few, it remains the case that for most, a good education is .the surest path to success.
>a good education is .the surest path to success.<
I think all of us can agree on that, Tom, and this point is related to my comment about a holistic education. Thousands of years ago, the idea of a "wen-wu chien chai" – a person with good mental and physical training or perhaps a scholar who was also excellent at martial arts was the ideal for all Chinese. Nearly 2,000 years later, this concept emerged in Europe as the "renaissance man", though in this case it was more of a man with a wide variety of knowledge, without the sword-bearing part (probably due to Christian influence – the Greeks treasured physical development as well). A holistic education, I think, should involve not merely the arts and the sciences, but also, in addition, their practical as well as theoretical aspects. This emphasis on hands-on experience to supplement theory is recognized by most universities and professions when students had to fulfill certain internship requirements. However, there are also people who, for various reasons, cannot attend college and had to do the practical part first, hoping to improve themselves by constantly hitting the books and attending seminars/lectures (and, today, utilizing the internet). Thomas Edison was one such person.
However, as you imply, people like Edison are among the "gifted few." Thus the "surest path to success" is still college. I agree totally with this assertion, and it's one reason why, I think, that COLLEGE IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR THE MEDIOCRE, FOR THE LESS MOTIVATED, than for those who have the drive and energy and intelligence to succeed in whatever field they're attempting. Since the vast majority of us are not so driven, not so persistent like Edison who said that "genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration", and perhaps not so intelligent and, yes, lucky, college is still the best route to success. This does not mean that ALL college people are less intelligent, driven, etc., but that the majority of those who succeed without college must have such positive traits.
Thanks for sharing this Ipohgal. i was busy lately and do not have much time on the internet. I would like to comment that this is how our education system has became. On the day of the UPSR result released date, I read upon a mummy update in Facebook. She said disappointed. I asked her why. She said her daughter got 4As instead of 6As. I was really dumbfounded. She kept saying that her daughter has not tried her best. Our kids nowadays are pressured with the number of As that they should bring home after every exam. The education now is stressing the children too much. Some are studying for the sake of sitting the exam, and do not really know what they are learning about. I recently found a homeschooling group. They offered a creative and interactive way to educate our children. Unfortunately our government do not approve homeschooling for normal kids, and most of them are doing it quietly 😦
This letter is for that mommy and I hope she will read it. 🙂