Gerakan president Dr Lim Keng Yaik stirred up a debate on the position of religious studies in Malaysian "national" schools, and whether he did say there had been an "over-emphasis" of religion there, causing certain communities to opt for other type of schools.
It's not surprising that his defence as reported in the NST May 4, 2005 was that he was "wrongly quoted" when certain newspapers reported that Lim had asked that religious matters be kept our of national schools to attract more non-Malays.
He said he was trying to convince non-Malay parents to send their children to national schools by explaining what the Cabinet had discussed.
Dr Lim said his own parents had enrolled him in St Michael's Institution in Ipoh although it was a missionary school, as they appreciated the high standard of teaching there. "There was no over-emphasis on religion at the school although it was a mission school."
Another report on the same page 2 in the NST headlined PM: Issue should have been discussed in Cabinet, quoted Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as saying that such matters were best discussed in Cabinet or within the Barisan Nasional framework, and not released for public consumption.
Since we are not privy to Cabinet discussions, Desiderata's opinion is that Dr Lim was giving his thoughts on a subject that indeed was a topic of national concern, and might have been a factor in non-Malays' parents' choice of where to send their children for education.
I would wish that the present religious classes for Muslims could continue at national schools. The only "omission" is no arrangements for non-Muslims to also attend classes for other religious faiths. Maybe the government should train teachers in multi-faith disciplines so that non-Muslims can be taught all the basic tenets of the Major religions prevailing in Malaysia, including Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.
My belief is that all religions teach mankind to be better human beings and advance its civilization processs. If thou are a Muslim, Christian,or Buddhist, just be a Good Muslim, Christian or Buddhist, respectively.
4 comments:
Hi Sepet:
Good to hear from you again bsuy with thy film buddies, eh?
Yes, all all are od-fearing Malaysians, and there is enough inborn goodwill whcih will shine forth and guide us everyday.(IF only our national leaders and politicians would behave themselves and unnecessarily stir up troubled waters...). Let's all give thanks to God, however we perceive Him to be, for a Peaceful&Properous Malaysia.
Ooops in 2nd para: We are all GOD-fearing people...
Schools have to re-vamped!
What's the use of schools if not for dessimiting information?
Schools should give appropriate lessons and children should be given proper lessons. Draft proper curriculum and let it be the same for all schools.
Individual schools can then choose few additional courses to reflect the need of any particular society or groups.
Medium of instruction mesti bahasa malaysia! Ini kan negara Malaysia, bukan negara inggeris.
Mamat:
Agree with your earlier points --about adapting the curriculum and selective courses to meet the needs of various groups; may I add, also in keeping with changing times.
But on the language to be used as the medium of instruction, I beg to differ. Any language is just the MEDIUM, or TOOL, the important thing is get the content acroos, and ensure maximum absorbtion by the students. Yes, Malay as our National Language has a role to play; most Msians accept this. But we also must recognise this is the Era of the Global Village, and the Internet and Tech Age ... the marketplace dictates we compete or die ... so let's equip ourselves adequately with the language(s) that give us an edge ... if it's English, so be it. Maybe 10 years hence, it may be German, then let's study German. If 30 years hence it's the Eskimo who rules supreme in international relations, and politics and business and trade worldwide, we have to teach the future generations the Eskimo lingo! If I have the time, I'll even learn Urdu or Greek ... but reality bites!
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