‘THE PERFECT PLACE TO LEARN DIVERSITY’
Children can mingle with multiracial, multicultural peers, say graduates
GRADUATES of national schools fully support the move to get more non-Malay children to enrol in national schools.
They believe that national schools are the perfect place for children to learn about diversity, acceptance and life skills, and as such, the capabilities of such
schools should not be underestimated.
Tan Suet Wei, 28, attended two Chinese primary schools and later entered SMK Seri Hartamas in Kuala Lumpur before pursuing her law degree in Wales.
Now a commercial lawyer with a Malaysian conglomerate, she said while academic success might be a personal factor, soft skills that were important for the real world could be picked up in national schools.
“National schools are a melting pot of cultures.
“If you cannot learn to mix with others from a different culture, it’s unlikely you’ll become a flexible person when you enter the real world as a working adult,” said Tan.
National schools, she said, were a good opportunity for children to mingle with others of different c u l t u r a l b a c kgrounds.
“I want kids to adopt the Malaysian culture, not orang
putih culture.
“Also, children who are well-off can learn from their less fortunate peers, and vice versa.
“This helps develop empathy,” said Tan, adding that she would send her children to national schools.
She was commenting on the
New Straits Times’ Leader article, which had called for greater nonMalay pupils enrolment in national schools, but to retain the different school types.
The article came about following Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s proposal to revisit the Vision School concept to house national and vernacular schools within a single campus to promote racial integration.
For Hurriyah Kamaruzzaman, a corporate planner at a publiclisted company, her experiences during secondary school not only taught her how to shoulder responsibility (especially since she was a prefect), build character and develop real-world skill sets, but also allowed in-depth interaction with fellow students from different cultures.