Of PMR and Prejudice

I was discussing with Munggay about the current issue concerning the government's bid to scrap UPSR and PMR examination. I've been reading a lot about this on the dailies, where most people are against this move. It's too drastic, too radical.. Is it?

I don't really agree about scrapping UPSR since it will evaluate students on what they have learnt in primary school, most of which is basic knowledge for a human being to live. PMR on the other hand, deserve to go down the drain. Why?

Well, based on my non-scientifical studies and observation, PMR is merely a mechanism to decide wether a student should go to a science or arts stream. In this case, bright kids go to science while those less fortunate ones are put in arts stream. This simple method has led to the creation of public mindset that art students are frankly, stupid and thus led to people labeling arts stream as a last resort, as a very dangerous sector to venture into compared to the holy and mighty science.

I doesn't stop there though. When these students graduate, the same prejudice haunts them and their families. How many students out there who have a strong ambition in arts stream who had to relinquish their dreams and had to venture into a science stream that they are not interested in? All of that just because people say that engineers and doctors get better paychecks. Hello.. how about lawyers and accountants? Don't these folks makes bazillion too?


I consider myself fortunate to have parents who support my dream and allowed me to do what I wanted to do. Thank you Mak and Abah. I ventured into journalism because I love being a busybody and nosey. Haha.. Not really. Though I admit, being a journalist does not allow you to the luxuries of driving a Ferrari or owning a mansion in Bukit Tunku, it is still a very powerful field.. You'll never know how powerful media can really be. Media can start a war and it can end one. It can glorify a person and destroy his life a few day later..

Scrap PMR, and let a new generation of Malaysians who are not afraid to do arts roam free. Lets create Malaysians youth who are more aware of the social conditions of the world instead of youth who are too busy with their social night life to be aware of what is happening around them. Sometimes Wawasan 2020 saddens me. Though because of it Malaysia is now a great economical force in the region, it somehow forces us to strive too much for physical progress (tallest this, biggest that) and tent to lose touch on more important things such as social, education and public wellfare.

Somehow, the thought of it all reminds me of M. Nasir's song, Anak-Anak Kita..

Anak-anak kitakah yang memikul beban
Kesilapan kita
Hingga dia tak kenal
Budaya canggung bangsa sendiri

Selamatkan anak kita
Dari padang jerangkap samar
Selamatkan anak kita
Orde baru politikus usang

Jaga-jaga anak kita
Jangan sampai jadi hamba
Jaga-jaga anak kita
Kita ini orang merdeka

50 years of Malaysia.. What could be a better birthday present than a change?

Labels: Malaysia