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Ability to sing Negaraku or no, losing patience is no excuse
Published:  Sep 27, 2013 9:43 AM
Updated: 9:09 AM

YOURSAY ‘How is it that during my school days in the 50s and 60s, no principals ever told me to 'balik Cina' or 'balik India'?

Another teacher tells students to 'balik Cina, India'

your say Geronimo: Losing patience with the students is no excuse. How is it that during my school days in the 50s and 60s, no assistant principals or any educators in the school ever told me to 'balik Cina' or 'balik India'?

Why is it that such a thing is happening so rampantly now. Over to you, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Doc: Give a few days and I am confident that Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan will go down to SMK Engku Husain and make a statement that no racism was involved when the assistant principal of that school told the students to leave if they do not like Malaysia.

In fact, non-Malays have being doing so, taking along their talent and money to other countries and excelling there.

But what is hard to understand is that these same Umno fellows will later ask the non-Malays to come back to Malaysia under the ludicrous scheme called Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd (Talent Corp).

JustAMalaysian: I can understand it if a year one primary school pupil does not know the Negaraku. For a secondary school pupil not to know how to sing the Negaraku, that is a different matter.

In this case, it is the school's responsibility to teach it to the pupil. Something must have gone wrong somewhere. And for a secondary pupil not to respect the Negaraku when it is being played or sung, the pupil must be an idiot.

Whatever it is, it is not right for anybody to tell another person to "balik (return to) Cina, India or Indonesia" for whatever wrong the person may have done.

Kanasai: I am 62-years-old. Then the education system was in English and only the national language subject was taught in Bahasa Malaysia. We had no problem singing the Negaraku.

Today the education system is in Bahasa Malaysia and the kids cannot sing the Negaraku? I find it hard to believe and understand.

Is the education system today is so bad that even a song cannot be taught properly? Now I understand why we need to spend RM20 million for a National Education Blueprint and the type of minister we have considers it acceptable .

Fair&Just: Even Batu MP Tian Chua is having his days in court over a sedition charge , why isn't this so-called assistant principal being charged with sedition?

Young students are humans too and with wide exposure to globalisation nowadays, they know about fairness and justice and could well be very dissatisfied and unhappy over the different levels of playing field in Bolehland.

Respect is earned and not forced.

Fair and Open: There has never been a teacher being sacked or demoted for uttering racial slurs. In fact, promotion is in store for them.

The Najib government will not address and solve this issue as with many other issues as they thrive on the divide-and-rule system.

We will perpetually be a third world nation and watch others that were once apartheid, war-torn or poor overtake us.

Louis: First and foremost, is it an offence for not being able to sing the national anthem? To cane a student for failing to do so, the teacher has exceeded his bounds of duty.

For whatever reasons, the teacher has no excuse to ask any student to 'Balik China or India'. If the authority does not come down hard on this case, definitely there will be more to come.

Bumiasli: The actions taken against such teachers in the past were so light that the others do not fear repeating the mistake. Perhaps a 24-hour transfer out or a demotion would be more effective to make them respect all races.

And remember, if all Indians ‘balik' India and all Chinese ‘balik' China, can the Malays alone survive in this country?

Mohamad Abdul Malik: The teacher should not have said what he said. But we must also remember that some of the students arrogantly refused to sing despite being warned and caned. How do you deal with this attitude? Clearly they lack patriotism towards the nation.

Instead of blaming the education system and teachers, Malaysiakini readers should at least teach their own children to be patriotic. Or is it that they too lack patriotism towards the nation. Children pick this up at an early age. I would say, like father like son.

Ferdtan: Mohamad Abdul Malik, so by not singing national anthem is not patriotic but being racist is?

Yes, children may pick up bad habits from an early age but an adult assistant school principal too can have bad habit of calling Malaysians to get out of the country.

So you still think we should support the racist teacher? You say the non-Malay children are like father like son; so what is the teacher like?

No Malay leader, including those from PAS and PKR, with the exception of Umno, have ever called the non-Malays to go back to their country of ‘origin/ancestor' (‘origin' is the wrong word to use as most of us are born here).

So from whom the assistant principal learns such hatred from? Umno leaders, of course. So to quote from you; the teacher who should know better is like ‘Umno father like daughter'.

This time it is no excuse, there are too many such racist cases to forgive. She must be sacked - even if she apologises.

Awang Top: "However, whether Malay, Chinese or Indian, everyone is Malaysian. This remark should not have been uttered. Therefore I will ask the assistant principal to apologise to students at the assembly," Abdul Ghafar Kunchi Mohd was quoted as saying.

At least the headmaster is more reasonable in this case.

Seno: Headmaster, students do not understand BM? Try again, say something more clever. In the 60s, every Monday morning my whole school would sing the school song and the Negaraku.

Some naughty fellows might have whispered a funny remark and a few, upon hearing it, would try so hard not to laugh until their body shook and their faces turned red. Cane these fellows!

The same evening you could see them playing their hearts out for the school against another team or at the sidelines giving vocal support. Even up till today, the school still has a place in their hearts. Why?

Nothing is forced upon them. By the way, the school was a multiracial establishment at that time.

Anonymous #58458950: It is sad that in schools such racist remarks are made when they should be catalysts in advocating racial harmony. I doubt anyone has any problems with the national anthem and there are no reason to disrespect it.

Hopeful123: Sometime back, maybe last year, a female Chinese executive in Singapore commented on the noisy Malay wedding that was arranged in the void deck of her block.

She posted it on Facebook that it is not amazing to see Malay marriages breaking  up soon after as they tend to have cheap and noisy weddings.

Of course, it went viral and you know what? She lost her job despite her apology and got a severe warning for posting the message. That is how strict Singapore is on such racial and religious matters.

Strangely some Malay Singaporeans were sympathetic towards her following the severe punishment.

In Malaysia, you get promoted for insulting other races, especially the Chinese and Indians.

Oriole: If students fail to perform, schools need to ask what can be done to ensure that they can.

In this case, if they did not know the lyrics of the national anthem surely the best option would have been to keep them in after school to ensure that they got extra help in learning them.

You would be surprised how quickly they learn when given such conditions.

But to cane a person and then to tell the person to go back to some unknown ancestral past is an ill-judged and uneducated method. Such methods only teach a young person to hate his own country.

Teachers and schools need to employ their creativity and imagination here. Stop this abuse and racism now.


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