As Malaysia celebrates its crowning achievement of the past - Merdeka the recent jarring news of criminal activities by students at its elite residential schools give a glimpse of a much different future.

Amid news of beatings, bullying, and gangsterism at these institutions, one question keeps recurring: Where are the headmasters?

These schools are the repository of the Malay community's best and brightest, yet we hardly hear from these adults entrusted as custodians of this precious asset.

If I were in charge, I would immediately suspend the headmaster, the senior assistant, and the entire board of trustees of these schools. They have obviously failed. I would instead send someone new to take over with the specific mandate of restoring discipline and academic rigor.

He or she would have full authority to deal with the students and their parents, as well as with the teachers. In another words, the new principal would be a dictator, with a specific five-year mandate of achieving academic excellence. If successful, the reward would be a generous bonus. That ought to be incentive enough.

The opportunity to mould and guide the brightest young minds is one of the most fulfilling and rewarding. There would be many eager takers.

Since the Education Ministry's record in appointing the heads of these schools has been abysmal, I would hire an outside 'head hunting' firm to select the best candidates without regard to race, nationality or citizenship.

Foreign talent

Limiting the headship of these schools to Malays only as is the present policy has resulted in the current catastrophe. It is time to open up the process.

If we cannot find local talent, then recruit from abroad. These bright young minds are too precious to be wasted under the tutelage and care of incompetent locals.

This new academic head would need full and total authority to deal effectively with the inevitable whining and complaints from the myriads of Tan Sris, Datuks, and assorted self-styled 'big shots' who would be impacted by the headmasters' decisions and actions.

Indeed such pompous parents and politicians are the bane of headmasters. And they are only too pleased to do the bidding of these influential personalities.

There was a time in the not too distant past when the principals of these leading schools were men and women of stature.

I could not imagine Khir Johari, minister of education in the1960s, riding rough shot over Victoria Institution's GED Lewis or the Malay College's NJ Ryan.

Today the headmasters of these once proud institutions are consumed with ingratiating themselves not only to the lowest bureaucrat at the ministry, but also to any parent or politician with even a hint of influence.

Ever wonder why these schools have gone downhill?

This decline is manifested in many ways. A decade ago when I visited leading American campuses, I could count on meeting 'old boys' and 'old girls' from these elite Malaysian schools. Not today.

Recently when the government opened up Mara residential schools to non-Malays, there were few takers. To me this was not a surprise, but it was to Malay leaders.

This reflected the collective judgment of non-Malays on the nation's supposedly elite schools. They are 'elite' only in the minds of insular Malays.

The best advice I can give my nieces and nephews (and others) in Malaysia is that they should not send their children to these residential schools. I am pleased that increasingly, many are heeding my words. And after this latest slate of bad news, many more would be similarly inclined.

Expensive schools

The sad part is that these residential schools are expensive. They consume more than their fair share of the nation's resources, to the detriment of the rest of the system. They also get the best students all rigorously selected and the best teachers. Yet the collective performance of these schools has been disappointing.

In my book, An Education System Worthy of Malaysia , I enumerated the many flaws in the system: administration, curriculum, and student selection. They are obvious, and the rot is deep and pervasive.

The solutions too are equally obvious, and could be instituted immediately. There is no need for the formation of a yet another high-level committee at the ministry, remote from the problems.

Indeed the ministry is very much part of the problem. It would take a seismic change in attitude among its officials for them to become part of the solution. And I do not see that coming. These schools need to be liberated from the stranglehold of the ministry's micro management.

When I entered Malay College of Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) for my Sixth Form in 1961, I thought I would be entering a world of academic excellence and intense competition. Alas, I soon discovered that Malay College needed me more than I needed it.

MCKK students had done atrociously in the Sixth Form entrance examination the previous year, and that without the likes of me there would not have been a Sixth Form at Malay College that year.

Nonetheless I was grateful for and benefitted immensely from MCKK's superior facilities and excellent teachers.

To its credit, MCKK learned its lesson fast. The following year, the entering class in Form One was rigorously selected strictly on merit. Of the over 100 new students, I could recollect only about three who must have been selected on other than that criterion.

One was the son of the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong. As a prefect supervising that class, I was totally impressed by these bright youngsters. It was also very obvious how far out of place academically those three poor souls were in such a select pack.

This highly impressive and very illustrious class later produced among others, the first Malaysian CEO of Shell Malaysia.

Uncommitted headmasters

The first few Malay headmasters at MCKK were obsessed in maintaining this academic excellence. They were out to prove that they were just as capable as expatriates, and they succeeded wonderfully.

Alas their successors were content on resting on their laurels, and coasting. Or worse, busy lobbying to be the next Undersecretary for Procurement at the ministry. One was so successful in his influence peddling that he ended up being headmaster for only a few months, just enough to add a seemingly impressive entry on his resume.

There was minimal professional or personal commitment from these latter day educators. They did not consider being custodian of the most precious asset of the Malay community challenging enough. They did not see the splendid opportunity to do immense good for their own people. These educators were oblivious of their legacy.

It is this pervasive culture of mediocrity afflicting the residential schools today indeed the entire government that must first be eradicated.

The rot is deep and ingrained, and could only be corrected by bringing in fresh new talent from the outside. Not surprisingly, this simple insight is lost on those currently mired in the problems.