In his latest attempt to make an impact as Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who is also Deputy Prime Minister announced that History is to be made a compulsory pass subject. For those who are not familiar with the Malaysian examination system, the Minister speaks of the SPM examination, the equivalent of the UK O’ levels. When I took this paper – usually we take it at 17 (Fifth Form) – one had to pass Bahasa Malaysia (Malay Language) in order to obtain a general certificate. A while ago, the Minister spoke of making English a compulsory pass subject. I have yet to see it materialise although I could be wrong. The matter was never brought up again after some weeks of debate and media publicity.

And now the good Ministry/er would like to make History compulsory as well as a core subject in primary schools. While I can’t say that I fully support or oppose this decision, I do feel that the Ministry of Education needs to take a more well-thought out and planned route when making changes on this level. Already we have had too many amendments to our education system in the last ten or so years. This is one area that should not be taken lightly as it deals with the future of the young people who will go on to serve the nation in any and every way possible. If anything, I’d like to implore that the Ministry considers a more new and fresh approach to teaching rather than revamping the structure and making things compulsory in order to get students to learn. What is the point if they have awful teachers? It is merely a short-term solution which may end up backfiring upon us.

When was the last time any of these Ministers did a spot check on a school and attended a class? When was the last time they sat down and listened (not just hear) what students say about textbooks and teachers? Or are they contented with just forming policies in the comfort of their air-conditioned offices, basing their ideas on comments or suggestions from Ministers who have little to no experience teaching (or have last taught years ago)? (A bunch of horse tack, if you ask me.)

A few letters intrigued me – those talking about things like how history has been rewritten from one perspective, others on how teachers need to make it more interesting and so forth. I had my own brief brush with the topic and needless to say, one way that worked for me was deemed “controversial” to my employer but at the end of the day, it got the students to enjoy and more importantly, learn something. That is more important…that they learn.

Dear Editor,

The words written by the author in this letter (link here) have never rung clearer. When I had the pleasure of teaching Sociology a few years ago, I was shocked to discover that a lot of students were historically-challenged (to be politically correct). I had one tell me that the Holocaust occurred in the 1920s and another mention that they didn’t even know what the Holocaust was all about or the big deal about it. It was at that point that I became not just a teacher of sociological theories and ideas but one of history.

I must be clear on one thing – while there are a lot of passionate teachers out there, sometimes we are held back by old school ideas on what is appropriate for use in the classroom and what isn’t.

I used many incidents in world history to expose and teach students about sociological terms and theories such as deviant behaviour, group culture, racism, ageism, social structure and so forth. These included video documentaries and movies. Later, I was approached by my superior who was concerned that by me showing my students such videos and films, I could open up a can of worms and risk incurring complaints from students. I understood her reasons and had to reassure her that it would not be the case as I have had many students approached me telling me about how they have enjoyed the class, that I made these theories more “real” and applicable, and the fact that the wool over their eyes have been lifted. I watch them grow into individuals who love and enjoy learning, who are stimulated into being passionate about knowledge and self-improvement from that knowledge.

I look at them and then at my own journey – my history lessons were always the same. We would read from the textbooks, be tested based on how well we memorized dates and even went to the extent of highlighting huge portions of the textbook in rainbow colours. I was lucky to have a father who loves wartime history and amassed a huge collection of documentaries, ranging from those on WW2 to more general knowledge-based ones like those on the Hajj or the Vatican. Later as an adult, I was lucky to have a partner who was and still is a History buff. His knowledge of French history shocked me to the core. While I had spent a good six years minimum trying to remember and spit out dates with events, he had no problems doing them same with the history of an empire that spans a few hundred years. While I struggled with the names of a handful of Malaysian leaders, he had no problems telling me the order of the kings and presidents of France. This difference boiled down to one fact – he wasn’t schooled in the same manner as I was. It is thanks to people like him and my parents that I have a renewed love for History today.

It is clear – our students step into the learning area filled with the passion and thirst for knowledge. It is up to us educators and parents to keep that flame alive. We should not fear or hide our past mistakes as a race, country, community and group by colouring or silencing them but instead recognize and accept that these mistakes help us grow not just as people but as a community and country.

When the Premier of Malaysia announced that maternity leave would be stretched from 60 to 90 days for government servants, one particular letter made it to the papers a few days later. This individual highlighted some examples of discrimination against singletons in the workforce and while I can sympathize, I wasn’t all that impressed when that same person asked for an equivalent number of leave for dating (s/he made it sound as if one was shopping around for a hot tub cover)!

… If pregnant women can get maternity leave, why can’t the Government then also give 60-day “dating leave” for single people? …

Evidently, there are people out there who think that maternity leave is used by women to lounge around, shake their legs…all while getting paid. Never mind that it is always hardly the case, that the same single women later go on to marry and feel that they have been “singled out” (don’t mind the pun) as pregnant women or married women with young children.

Honestly, is it a pregnant woman’s fault when a singleton ends up having to pick up the pieces during maternity leave? When that same singleton is asked to handle more than they can take without due compensation? In fact, it isn’t. Pregnant women face problems of their own at the workplace. Many companies try to get away without having to pay for maternity leave by overworking pregnant women in hopes that they would leave before they can claim maternity leave. Others make life miserable for such a woman by loading her with work or impossible assignments upon her return from maternity leave. I know of many such cases in Singapore and I am sure that there are some in Malaysia as well. It was only recently, after the announcement of extended maternity leave, that women started coming forward with stories of companies mistreating pregnant employees.

Can we still say that single employees are right to pin the blame on their pregnant colleagues? I hope not. I shared my thoughts on the matter with the Star and the letter appeared today. Below is the full, unedited version.

The letter “Don’t single us out only when in need” left me feeling quite disappointed and sad to know that in this day and age, there are people who are still ignorant of why maternity leave exists.

Maternity leave is important as women need time to cope with breastfeeding, the care of a newborn, adjusting both physically and emotionally, and so forth. Some women have more difficult pregnancies than others with problems like morning sickness, gestational diabetes, bleeding, so forth. Carrying a baby – a human being – to full term is not an easy task or for the faint of heart. I find it shocking that an equation to dating is drawn! For a lot of women out there, can we truly say that our dating days are the same as having a baby? I doubt so.

If single people or married individuals are being singled out to handle tasks unfairly, they should take it up with their management and the Ministry of Manpower, not blame other married colleagues. Poor leave coverage is clearly a management problem and if someone has to shoulder the extra burden, the compensation should be made to that person. Again this falls under the jurisdiction and care of the company. For far too long, many Malaysian companies have forced individuals to work overtime or take on additional work without pay or time off. What is the Ministry doing about such organizations?

By complaining about these benefits that supposedly are for a group of people, the author run the risk of it backfiring. What if in the future, this person goes on to have children? Would they appreciate being forced to work away from home constantly, being forced to return to work immediately after having a child?

One thing is obvious – this single person definitely have no idea what it takes to have a child, much less, maintain a family.