Malaysia Malaysia

My cousin sister, Kit Ying (if you noticed my previous entry, you will know who is she), applied to be a teacher here in Malaysia. She just graduated from high school and with her public examinations results, she started applying for this and that. I went through that as well, but mine was more easy as I have actually fixed my mind on Actuarial Science. She have not made up her mind, therefore applying here and there and see what's the best possible outcome.

After applying to be admitted to be a teacher, the government body replied her. In the reply, they sort of ask applicants to pick the subject(s) they are interested to teach. They even set groupings for the subjects.

My cousin wanted to teach Mandarin and Mathematics. These two subjects are her strongest amongst all. But, the groupings require those interested in teaching Mandarin to have music background, or at least capable of teaching music lessons. Besides that, teaching Maths will need to be able to teach Malay.

The problem is, those who are interested in teaching Mandarin normally come from Ipoh. In Ipoh, music classes are not as common as in Kuala Lumpur or Subang Jaya (where I live). Therefore, people with music background are uncommon.

Ipoh also tends to be more 'Chinese', if you get what I mean. Most Chinese despise Malays, so do the Indians despise them Malays. Therefore, they normally avoid studying that subject, as the language used in schools are more of English and Mandarin. Malay is just another core subject like Maths.

With these two problems, Ipoh people who are interested in teaching Mandarin will eventually lose interest. Yes, you may blame them for being racist, if that's what you call them, but then again, who else in Malaysia are willing to teach Mandarin? I would say, almost 70% of teachers teaching Mandarin come from Ipoh. Ipoh's population consist mainly of Chinese, therefore interest in teaching Mandarin will be generally higher, don't you think so?

Don't you think the government should harness these invaluable resources? The job of being a teacher isn't very appealing nowadays, am I not right? With all these factors, don't you think that the government should cater to these people's needs?

I think that the government should abolish this 'grouping thing' in the education system if they want to improve the education system. To add salt to wound, the government recently complain why so few people want to teach Mandarin.

Irony? Or worst, dumb?

Besides that, how often do you see a Malay excel in Mathematics? Not that I want to be racist, but it is the TRUTH. If the government continue to be like that, the future for education in Malaysia will end up... KINDERGARDEN LEVEL!!

Okay, I am exaggerating, but you get the idea.

Sigh, why is my country like that?