He started his article by connecting Tamil schools with gangsterism . Than relating , poor education system of tamil schools lead to born of young Indian gangsters . Cool . He continued with by stating , not much can be achieved by learning tamil . He ask , all Tamil schools should be closed down , and all children should enrolled in National school. Later he suggest a solution to teach Tamil in National School .
How dare he can say all that , Tamil schools are image of Indians , the pride of each ethnic depends on their language , ........ Don't worry , i wont argue that same old hypocrite sentences . Let we talk in wider and more rational manner in discussing the fate of Tamil Schools .
Back to his point , Tamil schools born place for Indian gangsters because they can't cope up in secondary school . OK i admit that, if we now in the year before 1999 . Can't you see , Tamil schools transformed into a place which produce dozens straight 7A's students . Especially after year 2000 . Ya i admit , still there some drop outs , but not serious as he said . Compare and see , in UPSR nowadays , Indian students from tamil schools getting Straight 7As are far more than the Indian student who get straight 5As in National Schools . He questioned the parents who neglect the future of their child by sending them to tamil school . Recent facts showing that , more and more Indian parents sending their child to tamil schools . Because they know which is good for their child .
"I studied in a national school and learnt to read, write and communicate in Tamil without much problem although my mother tongue is Malayaalam. Isn't that enough?"(Part of his article) , My answer will be , not enough at all . Why ? with just read and communicate in Tamil can make him feel and do all this :
Culture -
Culture covers many aspects , few attributes which make a culture pride is , Litereture(Sastera) , holly song(tevarem) , historical facts( ramayanem , etc ) , prayers ( saraswathy poojei ) , adat resam( this in malay , i don't know how to mention it in english) and many more . A student in a tamil school will be thought in all this things indirectly though the Tamil school's teachers and culture . It is the way of life in Tamil schools . This atmosphere not possible at all for Indian students in National schools . A student can't feel non of this , by just knowing read and communicate in Tamil .
Entertainment -
Do you think and believe , a good song or movie only can be produced with in depth knowledge of that language ? For me yes , for example , tamil nadu's songs more superior in quality compare to tamil songs from any other part of the world . Why ? beside , music technology and good voice , lyrics of a song play the vital part in a song . If you notice each song is a quality poem . A poem will be manipulated with different words , music technology , and good voice to produce a famous and hit song . Even to sing a hip hop or rap song like our Yogi b or chacrasonic , we need a good lyrics and accurate pronunciation to come out with this kind songs . Do you think , with just read and communicate in Tamil , can make us do all this things properly ? If you think yes , Yogi b and chacrasinoc will be our last export of rapers to Tamil Nadu , lol .
I can go ahead and write whole day , but it is hard to explain this sophisticated things , even the facts above i tried my best to explain with my not well verse engilsh .
Back to simple facts . Im not Tamil school crony until neglect national unity . One school for all , only possible if :
- No one have hidden agenda for the survival for their own language .
- The government fair to all languages .
- Everybody believe and given chance to believe that they are true Malaysians , and not so called Malaysians .
NOTE : i invited the owner of the "Close Down All Tamil Schools" article to read and comment , lets wait and see .
32 comments:
there is no future for language based schools in malaysia, may it be Tamil or Mandarin.
the truth :
yab true , but one school for all only possible after Malaysian citizens especially politicians mentally prepared to accept true concept of Bangsa Malaysia .
savadi post...tamil school rattam khothiketha??? good x2!
i am amused by the way Mr.balan linked tamilschool students with increase of crime rate among malaysian indians.
amused by the way ppl think .....
amused by how ppl see things now days...
amused by the mentality " blame everything else expect me" for my failure...
well... there is always a limit for 'blame games'
And this post about closing down tamil schools wich comes from a fellow malaysin indian brother is what i tag as WAY PASS THE LIMIT....
p/s: i am from SRJK (Tamil) port dickson.
kindly refer to http://schoolstamil.blogspot.com for some VALID facts about tamil schools in malaysia before we choose to close what remains for our future generation.
Dear Dr. Punithan,
I referred to your blog http://schoolstamil.blogspot.com and i could only find facts proving that Tamil schools are becoming more and more irrelevant to the Malaysian government and Indian community. If you compare Tamil schools with Chinese schools, the standard of education, competitiveness and facilities between both are worlds apart. Do you hear Chinamen and Malays sending their kids to SRJK(T)s?
Its about time the younger ones start mingling with the other races as this will help forge unity, as well as putting young Indians on the same playing field as others thus they can better evaluate themselves and be more competitive. So National schools play an important role here.
Firstly, your blog is not easy on the eyes, suggest that you change the background colour.
If you would have read properly, the article was written in 2000 and I was republishing to see if there are any change happened or if I am wrong after 8 years. Please note that Malaysiakini edited the article, quite a number of other points were ommited.
I accept your invitation to comment on good faith. Thanks for the opportunity.
Gangsterism
I can't, NOW, find any hard evidence to prove that gangsterism linked to Tamil Schools but for sure the situation has not changed for long and from my experience, it has been quite true as I had lived in 6 different estates to start with.Most who end up in gangsterism are drop outs from Tamil Schools.
One of my nephews was recently murdered, by, your guess is right, a group of Tamil School drop outs. (this happened recently and not in 2000 when the article was written, therefore doesnt influence the original article)
Value of Tamil Education
While the beauty of the language cannot be denied (although being a malayalee) , the fact is, it does not have much economic value in this country. We talk about poverty among Indians all the time and how education is important to uplift the socio-economic condition of the community. However, being Tamil educated does not help the majority. It may lead to some becoming teachers, professors and even DJs but the numbers are insufficient to the extend the Indian can fall back on their Tamil Language skills to survive.
National School & Tamil
Yes, close all Tamil Schools and have Tamil taught and made compulsory in National Schools.
TG : How dare he can say all that , Tamil schools are image of Indians , the pride of each ethnic depends on their language , ........ Don't worry , i wont argue that same old hypocrite sentences . Let we talk in wider and more rational manner in discussing the fate of Tamil Schools .
BK : Thanks for not emulating vijayakant or vijay with some chest-thumping punch dialoque, you nearly did, ha..ha..
TG : Back to his point , Tamil schools born place for Indian gangsters because they can't cope up in secondary school . OK i admit that, if we now in the year before 1999 . Can't you see , Tamil schools transformed into a place which produce dozens straight 7A's students . Especially after year 2000 . Ya i admit , still there some drop outs , but not serious as he said . Compare and see , in UPSR nowadays , Indian students from tamil schools getting Straight 7As are far more than the Indian student who get straight 5As in National Schools . He questioned the parents who neglect the future of their child by sending them to tamil school .
BK : Agreed, but it's not the 7As from Tamil School that matters. What is the precentage of ex-Tamil School students that achieve the same rate of success in the secondary schools?
TG : Recent facts showing that , more and more Indian parents sending their child to tamil schools . Because they know which is good for their child .
BK : I would like to believe that more and more parents are sending their children to Tamil Schools are mainly because of the Islamization of National School. Again this is from my personal experience.
TG : "I studied in a national school and learnt to read, write and communicate in Tamil without much problem although my mother tongue is Malayaalam. Isn't that enough?"(Part of his article) , My answer will be , not enough at all . Why ? with just read and communicate in Tamil can make him feel and do all this :
Culture -
Culture covers many aspects , few attributes which make a culture pride is , Litereture(Sastera) , holly song(tevarem) , historical facts( ramayanem , etc ) , prayers ( saraswathy poojei ) , adat resam( this in malay , i don't know how to mention it in english) and many more . A student in a tamil school will be thought in all this things indirectly though the Tamil school's teachers and culture . It is the way of life in Tamil schools . This atmosphere not possible at all for Indian students in National schools . A student can't feel non of this , by just knowing read and communicate in Tamil .
BK : Agreed in a way but see my comments at the end .
BK: Agree your comments on songs, poetry and music. I am a great fan of ARR, Valee and Vairamuthu.
TG : Back to simple facts . Im not Tamil school crony until neglect national unity . One school for all , only possible if :
No one have hidden agenda for the survival for their own language .
The government fair to all languages .
Everybody believe and given chance to believe that they are true Malaysians , and not so called Malaysians .
BK : I think your are contradicting yourselves here. Now you are agreeing with me that one national schools is possible with some conditions. That was exactly my point.
BK : On your comments on culture, entertaintment etc, I agree that this must be taught at young age. Unfortunately, they (poojas etc) are not effective I think,if you look at case of gangsterism. We get emotional and violent easily. Hindraf is another case to point.
BK: Is is not as if this (one school for all) is never practised,in fact it has been proven to be effective in Singapore where there are no Tamil Schools. I often think that they (singaporean Tamils) speak better Tamil and have better shows, both on TV and Radio. I also do not see them as being culturally inferior. What say you..
We are not asking for a assimilation program here.With adequate numbers, we should be able to teach whatever required in a primary national schools. As I have suggested in my article , do away with insignificant subjects and given more time Tamil language, culture etc to be taught.
Anyway, economically, Tamillians has known to be superior whereever they are except for maybe in Malaysia. I cannot validate but I think only Malaysia has Tamil Schools outside India. What does that tell you..
I am all for Bangsa Malaysia with each community retaining their culture, language and identity.
Please also do not forget to read my other articles on Hinduism, Temples & Hindraf in my blog. I welcome comments and brickbats.
Regards
http://balankumarpremakumaran.blogspot.com/
to dr.punithan shan:
"And this post about closing down tamil schools wich comes from a fellow malaysin indian brother is what i tag as WAY PASS THE LIMIT...."
who you referring to ? townguy(me) or bala ?
if me , pls read the post carefully , im not blaming tamil schools , im praising tamil schools , and state that , one school for all possible with few conditions , for the good of national unity .
to thetruth:
ya true , but why there is "the standard of education, competitiveness and facilities between both are worlds apart"
in my point of view , it is domino effect , Chinese economy superiority , make their school standards better than others .
how? chinise rich , so? chinise love thier schools more than others . How quality of education increase ? rich chinese build own school , buy own material of education from china , uptodate facilities . they send thier kids more to chiniese school rather than other school since before indipendence . But how many of us , donate for tamil schools ? im not talking about few ringgits . Chinese schools students competitiveness still good in secondry school becuase , it is thier nature , always hard work , i been see many chinise students fail to master malay , worse than our indian students , yet they get good marks in other subject , simply because they hard working . There are many chinise students dropouts , who end up being gangster , not like our local indian gangser but , gangster who realy can make money , ALONG BUKIT BERUNTUNG , lol . Why they can be a rich gangster and get away from law of the country , simply because , again they hard working in watever they do , and got money backup from their own community .
So ,for me , what primary school a student from not a big issue, but how we , the community support a school determine the quality , competitiveness and facility of that school .
Yet , i always agree for the importance of one school for all for the unity of Malaysia ,which obey some basic condition as i mentioned .
to Balan :
thanks you very much for the respect , accept my invitation , and being very much professional .
my reply comment on few points:
Gangsterism
i still can't accept , many tamil school drop out ending up being gangster . i have seen many indians , who school drop outs , finish school/education life before other students who continue their education to higher level , starting up their own business .
How that possible ,when we busy going school . the droputs , going to learn some work , like bike repairing , lorry cleaner , work in besi buruk . when we students studying in university , this drop outs already start their own business with their previous experience . by the time we come out of university , they already establish their business , and we still looking for job . There are some drop out end up forming low class , in a society by ending up as gangster , because of they societies pressure , poorty . now you can see , being a gangster , not mainly because tamil school education , but , other environmental , and social fact leads to this problem .
Value of Tamil Education
In tamil school , Tamil is one of the subject , don't mistakenly understand , tamil school only teach tamil . Nowadays , tamil school teaching few subjects in english . there is good future for tamil school students . im from tamil school , and my little brother now studying in tamil school , i compare his UPSR question paper , and by neighbor daughter's UPSR question paper , the stands are the same , even most of the questions in mathematics and science are the same . Hence there is no big standard difference between national school and tamil school.
At last , i write this whole long comment to defend the tamil schools in present and past . BUT for future, as i always say, i always support the idea of one school for all , for the unity of this country , with some conditions .
Thanks for the comments , and happy blogging and commenting .
Chinese schools may have the financial backing of the rich, but you dont have to be rich to study in a Chinese school. I think it would be brilliant if all the SJK(T) students had chosen Chinese schools instead, in fact, they'll probably be better equipped for the future, BUT, the question of racial unity will still be an issue.
Furthermore, there are alternatives like sports schools, vocasional schools(secondary) which Indians can also opt for.
the truth:
do you have any bad memory with tamil school? lol . why hate tamil school soo much ? you can't event see any goodness in tamil schools?
Since early i can notice , your aim is to close tamil schools . Now u backing chinese schools . If one school for all mean , no chinese school in this country either .
Why should we send students to chinese school . Why do you can think in such way to improve tamil schools or one school for all .
Man you look too down at tamil schools , and capability of indians in this country to improve tamil schools ,sad .
pls , no hard feelings my friend.
@townguy:
hello, i was just replying to ur comments on chinese schools, and i dont hate Tamil schools, theres nothing you and i can do about the dire state of Tamil schools in Malaysia under the current rulling regime, so why waste time and money trying to rebuild something when quality education is already available in other forms? You can always attend Tamil classes elsewhere or under POL in schools.
Indians in Malaysia shud try picking up another language, how many of you can speak Punjabi? Do you know tht now more bayees Tamil literate thn before? and the number will keep on increasing. Get out of tht Tamil nutshell and learn more. +1 to National schools.
If there are any suggestion to close down Tamil schools... We should not allow them...
but if they suggest to make Tamil as compulsory subject for Malaysian Tamil students, then I will agree...
What I'm trying to tell you is we must defend our language, if Tamil schools really a problem to Malaysian then it should close down but with condition that Tamil made compulsory to all Tamil students....
currently, most of the Tamil students not going to Tamil schools not because they don't love the Tamil language but they don't like the schools surrounding mainly because lack of basic facilities...
Rather than close down Tamil schools, hope the government allocate sufficient credit to the the schools...
I don't mind the schools closed as long as the Tamil language survives.... Even myself not from Tamil, but i learnt Tamil by my own.... sometimes my friends tease my that 'your thaimozhi' is Telugu, I reply them that you must be proud when other people learning your language and label it as their own 'Thaimozhi'...
I also realise that in Malaysian majority Indians is from Tamil community, so i need to learn Tamil to be an example to them.... Some Tamils proud to speak English and Malay rather than their mother tongue... They must change this attitude...
let me give you an example, Singapore government made Tamil as compulsory subject to all Tamils there, they also give additional salaries to the teachers that able to teach Tamil... Tamil is one of their national language...
I'm not blaming any party politics here....
But how about Malaysia??
Did our Indian leaders in government side made such suggestion in parliament???
They wont do it because they are in parliament mainly because of their own political agendas....
VALGA TAMIL MOZHI, VALGA MALAYSIAN INDIAN..!!
Vanakkam,
To brother townguy,
I was referring to Mr. balan's post
A reply for Brother balan's post:
Refer : http://schoolstamil.blogspot.com/2008/11/tamil-schools-to-stay-on.html
( sorry guys, the post kind of too long so i linked it)
Brother balan, u highlighted some UGLY but TRUE facts about our situation.
But i still wonder why you choose to link it with tamil schools solely?
YES, i agree we do have our cons. But does that mean we have to give away the GIFT ( malaysia is the only country besides india where tamil schools still survive)
I choose to call for pest controllers rather then burning down the building.....
who are the so called pest controllers?
its you, me and many others who choose to sit down and look in to the issue.
what can we do?
as u mentioned, the prob a raise when they set foot in sec schools.
can we find atleast 10 students each to guide ?
sounds silly? well, its always depends how we choose to see it...
Every single problem has multiple simple solutions....
thank you,
Punithan Shan
http://indiansmalaysia.blogspot.com
http://indiansmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/11/survival-of-tamil-schools-are-we_12.html
Dear Friends,
Townguy nice post.
To:Vasan
"Seal The Tamil Schools With A Condition
If there are any suggestion to close down Tamil schools, I will be the first to agree." - From Vasantharao Appalasamy.
But over here u state that "If there are any suggestion to close down Tamil schools... We should not allow them..." WHY are you so fickle brother?
"I'm not blaming any party politics here....
But how about Malaysia??
Did our Indian leaders in government side made such suggestion in parliament???
They wont do it because they are in parliament mainly because of their own political agendas...." BRO why the opposition parliment members cant voice out is it? Is not their work is it? Not in their jurisdiction is it? So what political agenda are the opposition parliment mebers are up to? U expect the 3 parliment member from MIC to do everything but the opposition Indian MP's just say that is wrong this is wrong??? HUH Bro wake up MAN.
Its is so clear that u are pro opposition without a clear mind to fight for the Indians? Just because ur dad and uncle cant get the MP seat the BN guys are all bad? Come on? U are going to be a teacher. This is not supposed to be your attitude.
ANYWAY, people like Vasan will have a clear mind when he writes and is sure of what is he talking, rather than just hitting at the goverment.
I am writing this comment for arguments sake.
Why do we really need to learn Tamil ? Is it because it is our "Thaimozhi" ? How do you define "Thai mozhi" ? For your information, both my wife and I was born in Malaysia and I guess my children's "Thainaadu" will be Malaysia since their mother was born here, not Tamilnadu. Due to this, don't you think the "Thaimozhi" should also be BM instead of Tamil ? And then, what is the benefit of learning Tamil ? I am not writing this because I hate Tamil language. Can anyone enlighten me on the terms of "Thainaadu" and "Thai mozhi", please ?
to vasantarao:
Thanks for the comment ,
to dr.punithan shan:
Thanks for the comment and your clarification , sorry for the misunderstanding .
to nudist:
im totaly agree with you about your argument regarding political party and Indian MPs .
to murthi:
Im really proud of you sir . You think and talk like true MALAYSIAN . your argument about "Thainaadu" and "Thai mozhi" absolutely correct .
We assume , all Indians think like you , and send their children to malay school . Tamil schools will vanish from Malaysia , never mind , because tamil not our thai mozhi anymore because we Indians mature enough to think as true Malaysian , and adopt Malay as our thai mozhi.
BUT...
IS the majority of citizens of this country , who is Malay and chinese can think in the same way as u think?. Terms like "Bumiputra" n "non-bumiputra" always there to make us feel as second class citizen of this country , both that term stoping us(indians) from having this sense of belonging to this country .
We indian , just 7.4%(minority) in this country , no point we change and think as real Malaysian , the change should come from the MAJORITY , they should drive us towards true Bangsa Malaysia . Not just talk and make us change , but they not change and stick with thier "Bumiputra" and "nonbumiputra" .
In future we hope , we can accept and practice your kind of thinking, when TRUE MALAYSIANS are born . NO selfish , NO arrogance , NO misunderstandings ....
Dr.Punithan ....grow up please! Not all Tamil school dropouts will end up like you.Look at the bigger picture doc !
townguy, we dont need a sense of belonging to this country. Learn English, speak English, study hard and leave this pathetic country. By being fluent in Tamil, the only foreign place you can gain language advantage is in Tamil Nadu India. Improve your English, learn Mandarin, Arabic, French, Spanish, German or even maybe Thai. Its time to find a new home people, pls wake up.
Indians in malaysia should now work towards a smooth and successful migration away from this junk nation.
to kpc:
townguy , bro in think you in wrong place , talking wrong things .
We here arguing about creating true Malaysians , brave mans job.
We not interested in your run away from this country idea.
Pls , we talking about tamil here , its not mean , we wont learn other languages and improve our life, don't misunderstand this article and the comments .
Last but not least , thanks for your comment .
Yes, i am fleeing this junkyard. And im doing it for my children's sake, and the incoming generation. Im just looking for pastures new, thts all. And to be able to do so without much hurdles, one has to gain some proper education first, and by the looks of it, Tamil schools are far from capable of offering such things. It doesnt sound nice, but this is a FACT. Malaysia is well on route to become somthing like Rwanda and DR Congo, where civil wars are an ongoing thing. Here in Malaysia, we are at the beginning, it will be a matter of time before things become uglier.
But its OK, all the 'brave' ones can stay back. Afterall, UMNO needs someone to bully all the time, and this is the perfect opportunity for all the 'brave' ones such as yourself, to put all those Tamil hero bravery mimicking to the ultimate test.
I would rather be treated as a 2nd class citizen elsewhere, thn to be a 3rd class malaysian, my country of birth. Its disgraceful.
As they say, "LOVE YOUR COUNTRY AS MUCH AS YOUR COUNTRY LOVES YOU"
to kpc again:
people like you running away to other countries in the name of Doctors , Engineers , IT professionals ,etc etc ... Why doing like that ? for the future of the family ,Totaly Selfish . if every one think like you , than who will think about the community/country ?
Your grandparents came to this country , after two generation you running away to another country ,after two generation, your child's generation will run away to another country from the country which you going now.. totaly "lalang".
The country which will receive you as their citizen are really lucky ....lol
"people like you running away to other countries in the name of Doctors , Engineers , IT professionals ,etc etc ... Why doing like that ? for the future of the family ,Totaly Selfish"
Well, there you go, this ive got to say is a typical Indian mentality. This proves tht an average Indian refuses to help for the betterment other Indians.And who says people leave Malaysia to work as doctors and enginners overseas? Do you have any idea how much nurses earn in Gulf states, how much teachers earn in the UK and NZ? And there, everywalk of occupation is well appreciated.
And this is the best:
"
Your grandparents came to this country , after two generation you running away to another country"
If my great great grandparents were to ever get a glimpse of current malaysia, they would have sincerely regretted agreeing to come here. Dont forget that your great grandparents probably did the same, they had a country call India, but they left India for a better life overseas, so how different is this from wht im planning to do? This shows the selfishness in YOU and not me, because you are afraid to make another change, and since you know that you not capable of doing anything, you tend to expect others to be just like you, and when others have a successful migration, typical Indians like you will be cursing from the back.
I do not want my children whom are good in their studies and often obtain excellent results, to stand aside and let their less qualified counterparts to be given university and college placings.
Its simple, either you see it or you dont.
KPC... YOU ARE A LOST CAUSE! PLS PACK AND LEAVE RIGHT AWAY MY FRIEND.
Tamil schools, sacrificial lambs of a political agenda
Of late, discourses on the nature and development of Indian community in Malaysia have invariably touched on the issue of Tamil schools in the country. One view is that Tamil schools given the poor performance of students, their lack of modern facilities, their location in the interior and others are hindering the progress of the Indian community.
Adherents of this view feel strongly that Tamil schools should be gradually phased out in the coming years. Another view examines the schools' system form a cultural and emotional point of view.
It is argued that since Tamil is rich in meaning and ideas; some even go the extent of saying that learning and understanding Tamil might unlock answers for future problems!
The above two positions on the future of Tamil and Tamil schools is untenable for a number of reasons. The first view that regards Tamil schools as the source of the problems is a very simplistic and naive one to say the least.
Tamil schools themselves do not constitute a cause rather their existence is the effect of how the Indian community has developed over the years. In other words, the state of Tamil schools and their poor performance is nothing but a reflection of the political, social and economic position of the Indian community.
Today, if the community is developed and self-sustaining, the Tamil schools' system would have been quite dynamic, something like the Chinese schools. But because the community is poor and deprived in many ways, the Tamil school system has also suffered as a consequence.
Nationality right
This particular approach rather than examining the political economy of the Tamil educational system, tends to focus merely on those effects that have been caused by the interplay of larger societal forces.
Apart from basic theoretical flaws, this approach tends to underestimate the political dangers in pursuing this kind of reasoning.
Calling for termination of Tamil schools not only deprives the Indian community of its nationality right to learn and speak the language but also undermines the deep emotional and cultural attachment the community has for the language.
Such attachment is no different from what the Chinese, Malays and other nationalities have for their respective languages. The question here: why should Indians alone be told to sacrifice their language and their school system?
Beyond this, the proponents of this view do not have any scientific basis for the rejection of the Tamil school system. It is merely an assertion among some sections of the middle and upper middle class who have a simplistic understanding of the plight of the Indian community. Some of them do not even the speak the language and are even shy to admit that they are Tamils in the first place.
The real issue is something else; the colossal failure on their part not to acknowledge the real problems faced by Indians having their roots in the racial policy of divide and rule.
Insane exaltation
The other popular argument is the way the language is very often exalted to a point of insanity. While Tamils should be proud of their language, there is not reason to deny the importance of other languages as well.
Pursuing the kind of argument to its extreme only makes a mockery of the Tamil language. Tamil is no different from other languages in terms of its historical greatness. But beyond this, it is merely a mother tongue to millions of Tamils around the world.
While nobody should deny Tamils the right to learn and speak their mother tongue, the language itself is not superior or inferior to other languages. Like others, it has grown and developed in its various aspects as result of the interaction of various people in the world.
To say that the language has a secret that is waiting to be unlocked actually contributes to nothing but merely to highlight chauvinism on the part of some members of the community.
For the Indian community in Malaysia, Tamil language constitutes an integral part of its existence and identity. No sane member of the community would want to part with this right, immaterial of the costs of sustenance.
Real problem
Rather than blaming the language and its school system, we should first find out why the community and its school system has suffered over the years. Is it because of the inaction on the part of the government or is it because on the inability on the part of the Indian elite to provide the kind of representation for the community over the years?
There is really nothing wrong with the language or the Tamil school system. The real problem lies in the nature and manner of the un-development of the Indian community over the last 43 years or so.
The non-interest shown by the government in addressing the fundamental problems of the community is the real reason why
Indians have become marginalised in the country.
The Tamil school system is one particular aspect of this marginalisation and there are others. Unless and until comprehensive
policies are devised to deal with the whole range of issues, groups and communities without the power of numbers would have a dim prospect of progress in the country.
To call for the termination of the Tamil school system would really mean playing into the hands of racists who have been long arguing that the vernacular system in the country is the main reason for the lack of national integration.
As we are more than aware, the real reason for the lack of racial integration in the country is the racial policy of the BN regime that refuses to acknowledge the equality of all races in the country
The above article is a comment by Prof Ramasamy ...in a way i agree with him ...and in another way i disagree ..he is an opposition Politician afterall.A point to ponder my friends.
nOTE: Town guy ...i know it is your blog and i respect the contents..just wanna point out that its not gentle on the eyes.if possible i suggest you change the template .thank you for the space !
Shalom
to kpc:
pls be focused , im only talking about people like you , not the Indian community in whole .
People like you run away to other country , than sound like other country citizen , and forget about suffer of the indian community in the country you native from .
i happy with many professionals go overseas and be in high position , get good salary , yet , they will not will forget their native , and the community he origin from, always be there to support local inidains from outside , how happen when Malaysian Indian all around the world run protest against Malaysain government from the country they staying currently.
ok let assume we accept your way . Sir/you fortunate enough to get good education and find work in overseas ,
how about local indians who not fortunate enough as you sir? are you want let them die here , if you kind indian who will help local indains after you setel in overseas , than i accept all your arguments with no question .
So don't try to manipulate my comment , and confuse your self.
Thanks for the comment .
to knight templer:
thanks for your suggestion , appreciate it , actually im working on it .
The English language established a socio-economic class hegemony centred in the commercial capital Colombo, that has remained largely unchanged from colonial times. On the other hand, the continuing transfer of surplus money, knowledge and skills from the rural periphery to the mercantile centre led to rural underdevelopment and exploitation, and its inevitable consequences: impoverishment, unemployment, and a marginalised angry, frustrated, militant youth, impatient for the fruits of the affluence being flaunted by the privileged minority in the mercantile centre, Colombo.
The rate of this transfer of surplus to Colombo was highest from the Tamil population in the North, for causes attributable, not to the Sinhalese, but the Tamils themselves. Asian cultures place high value on education. The conversion of material surplus into intellectual capital is an established tradition in these cultures. Governor Colebrook has made pointed reference to the extremely poor quality of both government and Dutch and British missionary education in the South, in the Sinhalese areas. On the other hand, he is full of praise for the endeavours of the American missionaries in the North, where he had noted creditable proficiency in mathematics, English and other branches of useful knowledge. Colebrook goes on to say: "As the northern districts of the island are chiefly indebted to these missionaries for the progress of education, the benefits of which are already experienced, it is but just to recommend that they should receive all the encouragement from the government, to which their exertions and exemplary conduct have entitled them".
These differentials in the quality of modern education offered to the Sinhalese and Tamil population continued from colonial times, so that immediately before independence, according to the survey of H. W. Howes who was appointed as Director of Education by the D. S. Senanayake government, the large majority of schools able to offer a good modern education served less than 7% of the population in the North. These Grade A schools are those which provided a good education and modern knowledge, with English as the medium of instruction.
In a market economy, surplus money, knowledge and skills relative to local needs will by and large, flow to wherever more money can be earned and made, and where there are more things to buy in the way of goods and services. Inevitably, over the past 100 years, the well educated offspring of the Tamil middle-class of the North migrated to the commercial centre Colombo, thus transferring, in the form of intellectual capital, a substantial part of the material surplus created by the Tamil peasantry, fisherfolk, merchant class etc. in northern Sri Lanka.
In Colombo, they joined their Sinhalese and Muslim counterparts from other regions of the country to make money, invest money, and become an influential and privileged constituency in the Anglophile sub-culture of Colombo. The official language was English which, from colonial times to the present, has remained the medium of instruction and the lingua franca of the ruling political, bureaucratic, professional nexus has remained the 'Open Sesame' to the wealth and privileges that could be acquired in the Ali Baba's cave of Colombo from the colonial to the contemporary period.
In a modernising trading economy, that cannot be changed by the mere adoption of Sinhalese, Tamil and Arabic as official languages. Even of the Grade A schools outside the North, the large majority were clustered round Tamil minority, although they constituted less than 8% of the population, had access to a total of over 90% of the Grade A schools, with English as the medium of instruction.
The fact that the chief beneficiaries amongst the Tamils belonged to the privileged Brahmin and Vellala castes was the source of significant long term socio-economic distortions for Tamil people of the North and East. On the other hand, the rural Sinhalese, the Muslims of the East, and the Indian Tamil plantation workers of Indian descent, who constitute over 80 percent of the population of the country, came to be almost totally deprived of the benefit of Grade A education and access to English.
It is this intellectual inheritance nurtured in educational privileges perpetuated from colonial times, that has been perverted into the racist myth that the northern Tamils perform better in the educational process because of a superior racial intellectual inheritance, compared to the Sinhalese and Muslims. It is this same myth that has been politically exploited by the linguistically privileged Tamil leaders living in Colombo, to foster the grievance amongst the Tamil intelligentsia, particlarly the youth, that the increase in the number of Sinhalese relative to the Tamils, who enter the higher education process and professions, is due to discrimination by the Sinhalese.
The myth of persecution of Tamils by the Sinhalese, because of Tamil racial superiority, propagated by the Anglophile Tamil leaders in Colombo, has been the basis for Pirubakaran's fascist ideological indoctrination of the Tamil youth of Jaffna. The consequences are not dissimilar to Adolf Hitler's Nazi indoctrination of German youth with the myth of Aryan superiority over the Jews and the rest of Europe. The Indian Tamil plantation workers, the Muslims of the East, and the vast majority of the Sinhalese and the Tamils have been manipulated into ethnic racist confrontation, through the machinations of these Anglophile Tamil leaders in collusion with their Sinhalese and Muslim counterparts.
The national revival movement initiated by Anagarika Dharmapala and C. W. W. Kannangara's education reforms, fostered a realization of the extent of their cultural and economic deprivation amongst the Sinhala swabasha intelligentsia. The cause of that deprivation was cultural and economic exploitation, which were the two faces of one coin, namely English linguistic hegemony. It was this Sinhala swabasha intelligentsia that generated the political force that carried S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike to power in 1956.
The Sinhalese political leadership exploited the justifiable grievances arising from the exclusion of the vernacular educated masses from upward social mobility, by the retention of English as the state language even after independence. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Phillip Gunewardene roused the exploited and the deprived Sinhala vernacular constituency, with the promise to replace English with Sinhala as the official language, in order to emancipate the vernacular constituency from their economic and cultural enslavement in the chains of English linguistic hegemony.
On the other hand, the Tamil swabasha intelligentsia in the North and East never received the kind of leadership that the Sinhala swabasha intelligentsia had received. Upto 1956, the Tamil leadership in the South had agitated for equality in power sharing, the fifty-fifty demand of the Tamil Congress, within the Sinhalese-Tamil-Muslim Anglophile oligarchy of the South. The leaders of the Tamil migrants to the South and several generations of their descendants, aggravated the socio-economic deprivation in the North consequent to their migration by giving priority to consolidating Tamil political and economic power and the prosperity of their kith and kin in the South, leaving the vernacular Tamil population of the North and East to their own devices.
Prime Minister, Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike's claim that the Tamils are one of the most privileged minorities in the world, (Mr. Gunaseela Vitanage, The Island, 22 August) needs no qualification where these Tamils of Colombo are concerned. These Tamil migrants who prospered in the South not only deprived the vernacular Tamils of the North and East of the surplus product of their labour, but also usurped the political power of the latter to further the privileges and interests of the English educated Tamils of the South. On the other hand, the vernacular Tamils and Muslims, like the vernacular Sinhalese, have become amongst the most under-privileged people in the world, exploited and controlled economically, culturally and politically by a leadership led by the privileged Anglophile class consisting of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims.
The success of SWRD Bandaranaike's SLFP in overthrowing the UNP which had become the creature of the Anglophile elite of Colombo, made SJV Chelvanayakam realize the potential for linguistic exploitation of the Tamil vernacular constituency to bolster the waning power of the Tamil Anglophile elite of Colombo. The Tamil leaders, all of whom were rooted in the South, resorted to chauvinistic politics in order to prevent English being replaced by Sinhalese. In this endeavour, they were helped by the Anglophile Sinhalese constituency.
To their credit, the intellectual and political leadership of the vernacular Sinhalese intelligentsia, democratically endorsed by the latter, have never resorted to anti-Tamil racist ideology to elevate the status of the under-privileged Sinhalese. It is the elitist Anglophile leaders, both capitalist and socialist, who have tried to camouflage their ulterior intention to retain English as the State language by identifying the demand to replace English with Sinhala as chauvinistic and racist. They ignore and deride the real achievements that accrued from the adoption of Sinhala as the State language.
In the MEP government of 1956, Phillip Gunewardene and TB Illangaratne were two politicians who did try to restructure the rural economy and increase rural capital accumulation and investment by the introduction of rural banking, rural communication, and rural commerce and rural land reform. But this would not have been possible without the adoption of Sinhala as a state language.
An objective review of the changes that have occurred in the Sri Lankan economy will reveal that the catalyst for the entrepeneurism that Gunewardene and Illangaratne were instrumental in generating in the South, was the use of Sinhala as an official language. It led to a huge growth in the informal economy. It was this growth in the informal economy that provided the surplus and the incentives for the exponential growth in competent professional, technical and skilled human resources within the rural mass. These human resources were under-utilized until the market economy of the 1980's was introduced.
The growth rates of the 1980's would never have been achieved but for the huge expansion in the rural infra-structure and its informal economy generated in the 1950's and early 1960's. The informal economy could have developed and grown to become the basis of a Jathika Arthikaya, inspired by a Jathika Chinthanaya, in interaction with the modernising formal economy.
However, the ideological straitjacket of the socialist economy of the 1970's, and the moral idiocy of the neo-colonialist market economy of the 1980's have subverted the development of such a Jathika Arthikaya. Another reason for the subversion is the failure of the ruling Anglophile establishment to impart a knowledge of English to the Swabasha educated intelligentsia. Swabasha education and Sinhala as the official language have been made the excuse for the failure. But can it be seriously argued that an education in the English medium could have been made available to even a substantial fraction of the population leave alone the majority, with the resources that were available, at anytime?
The democratically endorsed political and intellectual leadership of the Tamils have adopted an openly linguist-racist ideological position. They have used linguist racist political ideology openly to indoctrinate the poverty stricken mass of the Tamil people of the North and the East with an ethnic racist political ideology of Eelam, which they then used to blackmail Sinhalese political leaders, in an attempt to establish Tamil minority hegemony in the democratic political system of the Sri Lankan state. It is the Tamil political leadership, not the Sinhalese, who must bear the responsibility for making their youth the easy prey of Tamil fascist indoctrination from South India.
The inevitable cycle of ethnic violence between the Sinhalese and Tamils set in motion by a Tamil leadership with primary loyalties to the Tamil people of the South, further the latter's power struggle for political and material privileges in the South, whilst bringing death, destruction and misery to the people of the North and East. The guilt for this should be apportioned equally to the greed of the ruling Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim Anglophile oligarchy, of which the SLFP and the UNP are two sides of the same coin. Their objective is the well-being of the oligarchy of the English educated political, bureaucratic, professional nexus of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. Pirubakaran and his 'Boys' are, like
Wijeweera and the JVP, the creations and the victims of the machinations of this oligarchy.
The Sinhala Buddhist people have been made the scape-goat for the crimes of this Anglophile oligarchy of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. The counterfeit coin with which the Tamil leaders of the South try to pay for their shameful exploitation of the Tamils in the North and the East to increase their power and wealth in the South is Sinhalese chauvinism.
Pirubakaran and the 'Boys' were indoctrinated with racist Tamil ideology by the TULF to serve the interests of the Tamils in the South. But the Boys soon came to realize that they were mere pawns in the power moves of the Tamils of the South. That is why Pirubakaran has not shown chauvinistic bias where the murder of politicians is concerned: he has eliminated many more Tamil politicians than Sinhalese politicians.
Prabhakaran and the LTTE, like the JVP leadership has seen through the power game of the Tamil political leaders of the South and their collusion with the Sinhalese and Muslim political leaders. He is ruthlessly sacrificing the under-privileged Tamils of the North to destroy this power base in the South. The racist indoctrination initiated by the Tamil leaders of the South has turned the LTTE into a fascist killing machine, just as Marxist indoctrination turned the JVP into a fascist killing machine, not unlike that of Pol Pot and the Khemer Rouge.
The LTTE has to be seen to be the creature not of Sinhalese chauvinism, but of cynical betrayal by the privileged Tamils who have become part of the Southern ruling Anglophile oligarchy. Pirubakaran is making the Tamils of the North and East aware of the role played by the Tamil politicians of the South, just as Wijeweera exposed the hollowness of the UNP and the SLFP.
That may be why the TULF of Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, expatriate Tamils and the intellectual hirelings of the Ethnic Study Centre and other NGO's have to use Chandrika Kumaratunga as their cats-paw, to continue to consolidate the political power and wealth of the Tamil elite domiciled in the South.
The mass of the Tamils in the South should shed the blinkers of racist Tamil politics and take a hard look at the road to isolation from both the Sinhala and the Tamil masses into which the moral idiocy of their political leaders is taking them. They can take a lesson from the estate Tamils, and the Muslims, who have begun to realize that without the good-will of the poor Sinhala masses, horse-deals with the discredited rootless Anglophile political - professional - bureaucratic nexus, UNP or SLFP, can only lead to endless killing fields for Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims alike
@ Townguy
IS the majority of citizens of this country , who is Malay and chinese can think in the same way as u think?. Terms like "Bumiputra" n "non-bumiputra" always there to make us feel as second class citizen of this country , both that term stoping us(indians) from having this sense of belonging to this country .
Is it just because others don't change, we also don't change. Why don't we be the first one to go for change. My perception is all the races has the same thinking and do not trust each other. We should learn to trust each other and understand that having Tamil school is not relevant anymore. Let us adopt this as our country and try to excel in BM and English. For those who wants to learn Tamil let them find their way, the same way others are making effort to learn french, spanish, german etc.
By abolishing all vernacular schools, the government can also save money and channel into other good causes.
I see alot of people commenting on Barrack Obama's presidential victory and I wonder whether US provides funds for establishing African schools there.
@townguy
Manipulate your words? I feel sorry for you, if i were to be successful overseas, i'll definitely look back at Malaysia and help those interested to leave this dumpsite. The problem is, Indians like you will help cripple others' effort to leave and succeed in life. Have you heard of the Indian ketam story? Like tht la.
If you wanna stay in Malaysia and show ur 'gutti' or 'bravery', please go ahead with all means, no one is stopping, because some of us(yes minority) are interested in the welfare of our future generation.
In fact you like to talk about heritage so much, if your grandparents were interested in it, they wouldnt have left India in the first place. They left India to seek better life, and thts exactly wht some of us will be doing.
Theres no point arguing with you anymore as i can clearly see you do not have a stand. When the time comes thn u and the others will remember these exact words. In the mean time, i would encourage Indians to send their children to 'Sekolah Kebangsaans'.
to kpc and all the commentators :
Thanks for the participation , the who agree with this article , thanks you very much , and the who does not agree with this artcle , im actually happy to argue with you all , getting new idea for next post , get new in formations , more rational thinking , and etc .
There been some misunderstanding , because you not understand what i trying to say , or im not understand what you trying explain to me . Any way , this article been a good place to share our view .
Special thanks for kpc , your argument , give me more motivation to be successful person in the future .
Looking for all of your comments in my upcoming post . Thanks again , to all of you .
Post a Comment