Equality, Justice and Atticus Finch

Equality. A topic Malaysians are familiar with, but many would say they rarely experience. It may be said we do not have a choice, all humans are different, unique in looks and behaviour and intelligence and therefore not equal. I concur. I feel we need it even, this inequality. It weeds out the bums from the hardworking, sieves the brave from the meek and the leaders from the followers. Like an ant colony, it creates structure in our world with the workers, the leaders, the kings, children, teachers and lawyers and miners and ... in short, inequality by nature ensures everyone has their place and in that we are all equal. We all have our task, a life to lead and see through to the end. But in this post I am not talking about God-created inequalities but of man-made ones.

This inequality, perhaps it can be said, is a worldwide plague. Yet it’s a disease hard to cure for we ourselves fuel its spread, and every time it seems the plaque, in some form or another, is close to being eradicated, we humans find a way to help it grow again, for our own selfish reasons. We all do it, some in small ways while others blatant for they are wrapped snug with the knowledge they have the money or majority. We differentiate the colour of skin, height, material possessions, political preference, size, religion, culture, gender, country of origin, clan, race, age...an endless list. There will always be someone happy to add to that list, for these man-made inequalities are turned into fodder for bias, prejudice and stereotype which in turn creates chaos and hurt, resulting in unequal rights being accorded.

Malaysia, it would seem to me right now, is chronically ill, infected with inequalities in varying doses. Ugly words are uttered in the news each day – religious tension, racial bias, money politics, political persecution, cronyism and others. Our nation's political scenario, for example, has become a free-for-all mud fight, during a wrestling match, held in a boxing ring. It's below the belt, dirty and if you believe in everything you're told, it would seem everyone has their hand in the cookie jar. And while some accusations are so nonsensical even B-Grade scriptwriters keep away from such lines, some are disturbing, especially when it concerns inequalities influencing our country’s governance. Those are downright scary.

But I was recently reminded by a friend of a book, one of my favourite. One that I have read so many times, it’s all I can do to keep the pages from falling into pieces. It is a book as relevant today as it was the day it was first published, as it was during the period of which it was written. I have vowed that my children will be given a copy of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee to read as soon as they know how and it is my humble opinion all parents should do the same.

But this post is not a book review. I want to quote a speech from said marvellous book. Written of a time when whites and blacks do not eat at the same table, the book, in part, tells of a white lawyer, Atticus Finch (my hero), who defends a black man accused of raping a white girl. And in his closing statement, as he pleads for justice for his client, that the jury does not let prejudice and bias get in the way of common sense, he said this:

“Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the Yankees and the distaff side of the Executive branch in Washington are fond of hurling at us. There is a tendency in this year of grace, 1935, for certain people to use this phrase out of context, to satisfy all conditions. The most ridiculous example I can think of is that the people who run public education promote the stupid and idle along with the industrious – because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind will suffer terrible feelings of inferiority. We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe – some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they’re born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others – some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men.
But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal – there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honourable court which you serve. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal...Gentlemen, a court is no better than each man of you sitting before me on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up...,”

Atticus, we hope things have not changed since 1935. And while Malaysia no longer uses the jury system, the folds of Atticus’s speech can be extended to include judge and lawyers too and I think one does not have to be American to appreciate what he says. He speaks of an ideal every citizen of every nation demands from the justice system in their country. In Malaysia, we demand it not just from our courts, but Inquiries and Royal Commissions that have been taking place for when justice and equality are the same, truth prevails. Fingers crossed.

- We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light- Plato

I spy with my lil' eyes, something beginning with...M

As in 'Moron cycling in the middle of a busy street with his back towards traffic'!

Yes, nothing surprising, got up late and was on the cusp of being late for work and so was not in the mood for any delays.

Yet rounding the corner, there he was. In the middle of the road, cycling at a speed only matched by crawling babies, at the very point where traffic from Old Klang Road was merging with motorists (like me) coming out of OUG.

Was he on a suicide mission?

Maybe he simply did not care or, and this I strongly suspect, it was his little private joke to get back at not being able to own a car. I can imagine behind his serene little smile, he was thinking "HAHAHAHAHA, think you all are so great huh, with your shiny little cars, while people like me must cycle everywhere...see now I make you late for work. What you want to move into the left lane? Oops, I must cycle really slowly now, guess you have to wait."

Or perhaps he was making a point that Malaysian roads lack suitable pedestrian and cycling lanes. Hey in which case, the man's got a point.

English - BM - BM - English

So it's back to Bahasa Malaysia. Sigh. While it is great news that our government decided to, finally, focus more time and attention to the teaching of English, I feel as though the little flame of hope in my mind has been snuffed out.

I taught English for a few months at a popular Primary girl's school in PJ, following my Form 6 stint back in 2001/2002.

The school at the time was known for churning out gals with high English proficiency, or so I thought.

What I encountered was this:

1) Of the four classes I taught (standard four), there were students, not merely from the two weaker classes, that DID NOT know English. When I say did not know, I mean they could not say "Excuse me Ms Darshini, may I go to the toilet?".

I had to mark exam papers written in complete and utter gibberish...eg "Ping pong paing kolam, gety ..."

I actually thought the poor child was trying to write in telugu/tamil or some other language or dialect but calm as can be, the other senior English teachers set me straight. No, I was told, the girl merely does not know English, so she writes any word that comes to her head.

The disconcerting part, she may not know what she was writing about, but clearly in her head, she had an idea, for her "essay" had paragraphs and punctuation marks.

Another student would copy down the question as her answer in the hope she alone figured out my trick.

2) I was teaching English in BM - Fill in the blanks, class isi tempat kosong.

3) I was asked, "Excuse me Ms Darshini, what is is-land?" I had written island.

4) Only one girl in the whole standard four had read Harry Potter. One. Forget Enid Blyton.

5) UPSR essay questions consisted of a string of pictures (normally no more than four) with words underneath as a guide. Eg - picture: Boy crying near stairs. Words under picture: Boy-fell-stairs-cry. There was no "begin the story with On my holiday..., or "Tell us in 100 words what you did during the school holidays" or others essays that I remembered having to do as homework when I was in primary school.

When I tried to spice things up, by including an additional box with a question mark in it with the instructions "create your own ending", I was told I could not do so. Because the students would not know how to answer the essay. Because parents would bang the door down seeking my blood. Okay I exaggerate, parents won't ask for my blood, just an explanation as to why I decided to challenge the "syllabus" and dare their daughters to think out of the box.

Standard four???? Two years away from UPSR and they could not ask to go to the toilet? They could not string a sentence together? They needed pictures and words to help them. They could not even be asked to write just one sentence on their own? And all this from an urban primary school, then what was it like in rural schools?

Perhaps I am just one person, not even a teacher for one-full year but these are my suggestions - make English compulsory. If one does not pass English in any standard or form, they do not progress to the next level. Do the same for BM if you (the government) fear students will lose interest in the national language.

Baby steps - Start with Standard one. The longer children are allowed to go up the education ladder without mastering English, the bigger the divide would get and the harder it would be for them to catch up.

Mastering English and mastering Science in English are two different things. I know because in Form 6, I was asked to take an Australian Chemistry Quiz, in English of course, and it was not easy, despite having a good command of both Chemistry and English at the time. Ensure then that while the subjects are being taught in BM, students are also taught English terminologies to aid them in University later on.

Make them read read read! In Primary school, we were allowed to go to the school library and borrow books at any time, English and BM ones, and the student with the highest number of book reviews submitted each month would win a prize.

I understand the argument the sudden introduction of Maths and Science in English made it hard for students to cope (true) but I fail to see where this erodes the love and proficiency for our national language, if there is equal emphasis paid towards the development of both languages. Parents should instead be made to see what an advantage it would be for their child to be able to converse in more than one language fluently and how this can be used as a selling point for his/her career advancement in the future, not just here but internationally. Children can see more things, meet more people, learn more, experience more. It is not a burden if done right.