The Magic of Education

A sound education system is the basic requirement to nurture good citizens who can contribute to the nation.

Up to the early 70s Malaysia had a fairly good education system and our school leaving certificate was accepted for entry into overseas universities.

Then the education policy changed and English was relegated to a minor role and the mission schools were slowly absorbed into the national-type school system with many religious brothers and sisters being replaced as the school heads.

Under the various Education Ministers, the quality of students and even local graduates has deteriorated to such a low standard that many graduates cannot even write simple sentences in English, which is now considered of paramount importance in the world of business.

My experience indicates that Lee Kuan Yew is right. We need to provide education to ALL citizens to the best of their ability in order for the nation to progress.

I came from a rather poor family and often there was not enough food. Fortunately, the education department provided free schooling for the whole family. At the time, the head of the state education department was a Eurasian who had a Malay mother but he was brought up as a Christian.

I managed to complete my Sixth Form and then obtained a scholarship to study in the UK. To win the scholarship, I had to compete with many others and the selection included a month-long course at the Outward Bound School.

During the 4 years overseas, I saved and managed to buy an old VW after 2 years and I also used to send some money home each month as I realized the importance of helping my two younger brothers to finish secondary school. One obtained his HSC and the other the MCE.
Both of them studied and passed the LLB when they were adults.

I did not excel in the course but I did graduate and returned to serve the sponsor for six years. During a discussion with the General Manager, he was asked why the company bothered to send people on scholarships.
He replied that all that was needed from a returnee was one good idea and the company would reap back all the monies spent on the scholarships.
To the company it was not an altruistic motive but a commercial decision. Therefore Malaysia too should strive more to leverage more on our human resources.

My own family has definitely seen tremendous improvements within just one generation but I believe many families that have followed the Sacrifice for Education route have also seen similar changes.

My parents did not own neither a house nor a car. In fact, I can remember the few times the sewing machine got repossessed.

All this is not to boast about my family’s achievements. I think I could have done better with my degree but that is another story.

People who live in Johor have some advantages. We can hear some visionary insight in speeches given by people like LKY. What is refreshing is that they do not paint a rosy picture where there is none. The Singapore thrust now is to develop ALL the brainpower so that everyone can contribute.

All those who cannot finish university will be trained so that industry can make use of them and no one will be a burden to society.

Unfortunately for Malaysia our policies have tended to drive away our best talents as too much politics has hampered the delivery of good governance.
After the horses have bolted the stables, we try and entice them back with some stale carrots. A few return but find the environment just too unsatisfactory.

I read the story about Olivia Lum, the founder of Hyflux in Singapore. She is a Malaysian who was brought up by her grandmother so I guess she also comes from a poor background. Well she survived in Singapore and worked for a while before starting Hyflux.

So what you may ask? If she had started Hyflux in Malaysia, our GDP could have increased by RM600m per annum and perhaps 300 jobs would have been created.

It is necessary to struggle for anyone to improve. The world does not owe us a free lunch and I think Malaysia has already provided free lunches for too many persons for too long.

Just look at that Malay graduate on the Star front page.
Don’t you think she will remember her achievement for the rest of her life?



photo: Class of 1966 SMI, Ipoh. A bumper crop of doctors, engineers and scientists. I was the only non-Chinese in the class.