Examine reasons why parents opt for vernacular schools

Many people have lately been making adverse comments about vernacular schools.

Most of these people point their fingers at the multi-stream school system as the cause of racial polarisation in the country.

It is an indisputable fact that racial polarisation is serious and getting worse. Is the school system the root cause of this sad situation?

Is the Chinese school the reason why 90% of Chinese children go to Chinese primary schools? Why does the Baba community also send their children to Chinese schools where the children face rather hard times as they don’t speak Chinese at home?

The Babas cannot be accused of trying to preserve their Chinese cultural heritage, as theirs is the dondang sayang and keroncong. Besides the Babas, the kampong Chinese in Kelantan have also stopped sending their children to national schools.

I am a Chinese from a Malay kampung in Kelantan. I cannot trace who my first ancestor who came from China was. It could be six or seven generations ago.

All I know is that my great-grandfather was born here. My father went to a Malay school and he used to read the Utusan Melayu in Jawi.

Unlike many of my cousins, I was sent to a Chinese school. I had much difficulty mastering the Chinese language as both my parents did not know the language.

I excelled in Malay. I did not sit for the Chinese language papers in the LCE or MCE and really angered my Chinese teachers.

Instead of Chinese, I opted for the Bahasa Malaysia papers meant for Malay students. I strolled through both exams and came out with a distinction in Bahasa Malaysia.

That was in the 1960s when the non-Malay students did only the National Language papers or Bahasa Kebangsaan. I had no problem with the Malay language, and I have no problem with mixing around thanks to my growing up among my kampung friends.

I am proud to say that I consider myself very Malay-friendly. The Chinese school I went through did not make me a racist.

In fact, many among the Chinese educationists consider me and my kind in Kelantan as not really Chinese.

Despite all the problems we face in Chinese schools, practically all our children are now attending Chinese schools.

Our children are facing the same problems handling the Chinese language besides the subtle rejection from the Chinese educationists.

Why do we want to subject our children to all these?

I sent all my children to Chinese schools because I don’t want any of them to grow up with the idea that they are not born equal to some others.

I don’t want them to grow up with bitterness that the world can be so unfair.

One of my children was chosen to be the head prefect in her school; would she be chosen if she were in a national school?

To all those who blame the school for the serious state of racial divide we have now, please use some sense and try to figure out why people like me and the Babas also support the Chinese schools.

MAKYONG,

Ipoh.

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