Recently, there were many remarks made on Malaysian education system from politicians to historian as reported in Malaysiakini. Yes, we are still struggling to find our identity! Nevertheless, some said our education was gambled for the benefits of political agenda. I tend see it differently, as part and parcel of the process towards building a single nation.

Fair enough, nobody can change their origin, skin color or outlook. But, we can change our thoughts, the way we think and eventually leads to the way we react.

I guess when I decided to write this article, I am ready to be called as 'disgraceful' or 'kurang ajar' by my own ethnic when I say 'I support the abolishment of vernacular schools'. I am a Malaysian with Chinese parentage. I was born and grew up here. In fact, I went to national school since my elementary study (primary school) and I liked to visit my Cikgu's open house during Hari Raya ('Cikgu' means teacher in Malay language or 'Bahasa Malaysia'). I loved to eat their cookies, 'satay', 'ketupat' and of course getting the 'duit raya'(token sums of money). I still remember, there was once I fell sick in school and my Cikgu sent me home with his own car. He took care of me like his own children. I was then offered a place in a boarding school owing to my flying colors result in national examination. Yes, it was an elite school whereby we had the best group of teachers, five meals a day were served on time in the dining hall, laundry service was fixed and taken good care of. Despite the fact that I belonged to the 10% of non-Bumiputeras there, I got the support and earned the respect from all the people in our community ranging from dedicated teachers, dear friends, lovely seniors/juniors and caring wardens. We were like a one big happy family.

I am coming forward to describe the above purely to share my experience living harmoniously with other ethics. I am the product of national school. Today, I can mingle easily with anyone. To interact and join in the conversation with our fellow Malaysians and/or even foreigners is never a problem. I speak fluently both Bahasa Malaysia and English, and I am working in an international organization. I encourage 'speak-up' yet I corrected those folks who had misunderstanding about others by making a sweeping sentence. It serves no right to speak and judge an ethnic based on certain individual and bound to ignorance. Ignorance is poison and never a bliss! It is definitely an unfair price to charge! 

To change means to get to know each other better! How? It has to start from young, as young as possible. If you wish to see Malaysian nations are born, then they have to be built as early as possible. School is definitely the place to mould the thoughts whereby most kids will start accumulating their pride and prejudice.

We have no doubts on the contribution of vernacular schools. Yes, they existed at the correct timing to fill the missing piece in our education system whereby Mandarin and Tamil are taught exclusively in these schools. I do understand, the vernacular schools are not merely teaching mother-tongues but also blend it the cultural values to be passed on. Yet, it is also time for us to revamp and repackage our education system to be based on meritocracy and providing an equal chance for everybody to learn what they love. If I were to have a chance to draft a proposal for Malaysian Education Ministry, below are what I am going to suggest.

1. Start with a few schools in every state to implement the Malaysian National School (MaNaS) System (By the way, 'Manas' means 'Mind' in Sanskrit). Start enrollment open to all Malaysians based on meritocracy. For elementary school, a simple test can be adopted for entry. For secondary school, it can be made based on their national examination result. If MaNas proves us as the best package for Malaysians and successful, increase the number. If my hypothesis is correct, then vernacular schools will eventually die off under natural selection and nobody will cry about it anymore.

2. MaNaS schools should be fully funded by government. Scholarships can be made available for bright students based on meritocracy. Highly experienced teachers are picked to run it. These are part of marketing strategy, also the plus point for parents to send their kids to MaNaS. Education Ministry has to be creative to encourage and support the parents whom believe in creating successful nations.

3. All the mother-tongue languages, cultural values and religious subjects are made available and all the students have an equal opportunity to learn the subjects they are passionate about.

4. Bahasa Malaysia and English are made compulsory to all students and passing these two subjects are deemed necessary to move on to next grade. However, each student is encouraged to take up an additional languages e.g. Japanese, Arabic, Mandarin, Tamil based on their own interest.

5. Mathematics and Science must be taught in English. The reason being is most common technical terms used in the world is English. Why are we wasting our time to create and build our own jargons that in the end, nobody cares to put them in good use. Is this simply a national ego? I am a strong believer of mastering English gives us a competitive edge living in global era. With English proficiency, it also builds the confidence in the students and encourages them to speak out. I hope our future generations are not handicapped and being side lined due to English proficiency constraint.

6. Public speaking should be made compulsory as one of the subjects in MaNaS. Most of today's students are lacked of soft skills. Interviewers' feedback that our graduates are passive. Shouldn't we address this to close the gap?

7. Analytical skill is equally important. Education is not one way ticket, always spoon feeding the students. It can be made more interesting for these students to trigger their thinking process. Always asking why is a good start and listen to their answers. Specifically in teaching Mathematics and Science subjects, it should always begin with asking why.

8. The co-curriculum shall also incorporate activities that involves leadership, team work or provoking thoughts. It can be involvement in strategy games, treasure hunts or even debate.

This is not a mere pipe-dream, we can make this happen together. Share your thoughts, criticize my suggestions and I believe as we go through this, we are soon on the way to create a Malaysian National School or MaNaS that everybody is proud to enter.

Help me to help our young generations!

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