Satu Je??
The O Level results are out, and I was hoping to celebrate another Malay victory. But alas, our success in the PSLE was not to be repeated. It was ok if there were 10 top Malay students for the 2007 O level exams. But when I looked at the MOE website, and realised that there was only ONE top Malay student, my jaw dropped.
Top Secondary 4 Malay Student
| Name / Gender | Grades | Mother Tongue | School | |
1 |
Nurul Azizah Bte Johari / F | 8 A1s1 A2 | Higher Malay | Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) |
Satu Je?!??! Oi! Melayu?! Apa ni?!?! Wake up boleh tak!??
Do you know how many Indian top students there are this year? An ethnic group that makes up a mere 3-5% of our 4 million citizens??! 10! There were a freaking 10 top Indian students, and all we can cough up is SATU JE??!?!
And you know what?!? Out of all the top 17 Chinese students, one came from my alma mater, which is a sense of pride as well as rubbing in salt to the wound when I realised his mother tongue language which he was tested for.
17 |
James Chin En Wai / M 陈恩伟 |
9 A1s | Higher Malay | Xinmin Secondary School |
Eh! Cina pon bleh dapat A1 dalam Higher Malay tau! Cina k! Dari skolah Cina bukit macam Xinmin tau! Mana nak letak muka ah anak2 Melayu??? Mana?!?
It is in times like this my sense of Malayness wanes. I simply do not know what has come into our people. Apparently, we have also registered a 5% dip in exam passes from PSLE to A Levels in 2006. 5%! And that’s a large dip. The other races apparently had built up on the 2005 performance and did better in 2006. But noooooo, we had to slack! And our gap with the other races have never been wider apart.
I don’t know why our community gets so much negative limelight. It seems that after we achieved history in the PSLE last year, anything seemed possible. I don’t know why I’m saying this as if I had anything to do with the little girl getting near perfect aggregates. But I feel a sense of pride when one of us do us proud like that. And then, here we are, well below ground zero, and we realise that PSLE means nothing if you can’t perform in the O levels.
Sometimes, such news is disheartening. I do not want our community to be labelled stupid-er. And I’m sure that most of us are quite intelligent. So please people! Let’s stop with the slacking and actually achieve something in this life.
okayyyyyyyy…. i dont see the pt of racial figures. what is the purpose? o show tt malay is lagging? for what purpose? motivatn, put down, or to tell them that no matter how hard they try, other races are advancing as fast as they try to catch up. so they’ll end up lagging anyway.
i guess whats impt is relative improvement. not comparitive statistics.
just my two cents worth.
You’re right. The article should not be comparing between races, but within races. I think comparing a community versus the other adds more wood to the fire of racial discontentment. The idea that one race is being marginalised over the other just seems more apparent when such articles or government gazetted press releases are made.
what is the value behind comparing achievements?
a) to be competitive and ensuring that we stay ahead (if possible)
b) to feed pride and ego
c) to achieve standard
Question: How do these standards defined? Who define them? What race, are we competing in? Did we start on the same starting line? Are we even playing on the same track?
Why are we comparing again?
Comparing brings value when one uses it as an introspection tool to improve self. Note, INTROspection, not comparing with others. We need to teach our young to set their own standard, based on their own capabilities, and not to be pressured to achieve standards set by others! Only then, the responsibility to improve and strive becomes innate and self-driven.
What value are we teaching the young?
When you compare your grades with others, you want to find out who is the smartest with that little hope that you might be it. I don’t know. I work that way. I like to know. Because I feel that if I can outperform my friend who to me is damn smart, than I’ve finally arrived and I get more confident with every exam.
Comparing with others work both ways. It’s a thin line between being snobbish and being hungry. Truth is, snobs are often hungrier. But snobs also fail to value what’s more important when putting value to quality in life. Some grade, or what you do for yourself or for others that makes you a better person?
You’ve got a big point too. Before we start competing with others, we should challenge ourselves. But these “races” weren’t invented by us. And we sure can’t seem to withdraw from it either!
So what do we do now?
i dont believe in comparing grades, cos when you do, you’ll get depressed adn theres the effecr on self esteem. whats important, i feel,is gauging your own pace of improvement. in doesnt matter if someone else got higher than you in class. what matters is how much you have advanced.
comparing should be just means to find out if u are lagging or not, and whether you should continue what you are doing, get help and stuff.