I was reading the Straits Times a few days back about the state our Malay ITE dropouts which is alarming.
I don’t have the exact figure, but the article didn’t seem encouraging enough.
I would have thought the success rates of Malays students would have been better with the times.
Now the ‘gahmen’ even are willing to fork out money monthly just for Malay students not to drop out of school
How pathetic can we get!
It’s the crutch mentality I’ve been raving about, and I believe such incentives should only be given for those who really justifies their place via their grades, and not just offering to any and all Malay students.
The report also entails the usual issues of Malays horrible passing rates in schools, and the broken homes in the Malay community which leads to the recent spates of young parent(s) whose profile are usually lowly educated dropouts who are ignorant deadbeats, and I believe they’re taking out their frustration on their child, which turns into homicide.
I was told that our Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim wept when he heard of the plight of such cases, and the growing number of dysfunctional Malay families.
To me there’s nothing more ‘malu’ (embarassing) than reading such tragic cases in the papers, and most of the time it involves the Malays.
I’ve no doubt that the increasing Malays student dropouts, and the terrible crimes is a result of sociological problem that many Malays dysfunctional families has.
It is said there are some 7,000 plus dysfunctional Malay families in Singapore, and I began to wonder what is the root of the problem itself. How do we the Malays as a whole counter such a sociological issue when we ourselves are in self-denial.
It is true, you could say as a race, even me, we’re very ‘lepak’ (laid back) than the rest of our race counterparts, and our expectations as a general consciousness ain’t that high as the other ethnic group.
I believe our intentions and expectations do play a crucial role in the conscious representation of our race as a whole, and the only way I believe we can help the Malays is by helping ourself first.
This reminds me of my own personal journey in life.
I have seven uncles, and as much as I love them, being they’re family and blood, all but one of them are deadbeats.
One of my uncle however really excelled in school. Whenever I visited him in the village, or when he came over to Singapore to visit my mum during his school holidays, he would always be pining over his hand-me-down school textbooks.
As for the rest of my uncles, they’re more content with idling around; well they never completed school and are dropouts.
To see someone who is so motivated, in a way it inspired me too back then when I was just a kid.
My uncle helped himself out of poverty, and paved his way to success.
By helping himself, he helped me too along the way, inadvertently of course.
With that I began to:
question,
wondered,
changed,
and emulated.
Personally, poverty knows poverty, and I started in life on the other end of the financial spectrum which was harsh.
So I’ve grown up not taking things for granted ever.
I found out that the only way out of poverty is education and hard work. And that’s the only way I believe the Malays can rise, and solve the sociological problems we’re having.
What is your take on the issue at hand, feel free to contribute in the comment box.
For me, when it comes to this situation. I think its better to think of oneself better than labels. Its annoying to be labelled. And if you don’t want to get that stigma, its best to either ignore it or do the best not to be labelled.
I think it all boils down to niat, if you have the intention to improve yourself, that’s all you should focus on. Everything else is not important. And not to let other people get you down.
Sesetengah mak bapak pun salah. Serahkan2 bulat2 pendidikan moral to de teachrs/ustazahs/ustazs. Yang ada parents pulak beri religious educatn macam Taliban. End up anak follow blindly or rebel.
Ther is dis neighbr of mine. He & wife too strict. Dipendekkan crita end up the son yg dulunya ‘decent’ dah jadi havoc. The daughtr yg dulunya tak brtudung now wears 2dong tapi prangai in public mcm sial. Nampak sah kes ‘pakai tudong sebab mak paksa’. Btw bro wher u gt the pic of minah tudong wth bf on bike fr? Mcm in m’sia ja..bt dari blakang nampak de gal mcm hot ah! Lol teruja aku!
I agree with the education+ hardwork- labelling, seriously…
I’m just wondering. Perhaps one of the causes of Malays having laid back attitude is because they do not mix socially with the other races. I seldom see Malay children in groups of kids playing at the playgrounds. Or Malay students in groups of school students after school. Malay children seem to prefer to not mix socially with other races. Why do Malay children not want to socialize and with other races? I think it would be good for them to mix with children of other races so that they can learn to be competitive and ambitious. That would help them as they grow into young adults to face the real world.
Afwan, rasa-rasanya, pelajaran dan kerja keras bukan sahaja solusi untuk membangunkan sesebuah masyarakat daripada lingkaran masalah sosiologi. Ramai anak melayu kita yang berpelajaran tinggi, sehingga ke menara gading, tetapi masih mengagungkan budaya kuning, masih jahil dari segi akhlak, serta kerap menunjukkan sifat riak, kononnya mereka berpelajaran lantas tergolong dalam kasta paling atas masyarakat Melayu.
Jangan kita terus terbuai dengan paradigma bahawa setiap golongan masyarakat melayu yang bermasalah itu datangnya dari mereka yang berpendapatan rendah, yang tidak mempunyai kelulusan kertas, atau tidak berpangkat Prof, Dr, Cikgu dan sebagainya. Kita perlu akur, masyarakat melayu secara itlak, sedang menghadapi keretakan sosial yang semakin ketara.
Banyak lagi ‘avenues’ yang mampu diceburi untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini. Seperti contoh, saya memilih untuk berkecimpung didalam dunia seni dikir barat, dan menggunakannya sebagai wadah untuk menyatukan umat dari semua lapisan masyarakat. Pendekatan secara holistik yang menggabungkan pelbagai kesenian seperti penulisan, paluan, tarian dan nyanyian memaksa kami bekerjasama untuk menjayakan sebuah persembahan. Bayangkan, didalam sebuah kumpulan, ada cikgu sekolah, mahasiswa, bapa, matrep, ex-convict dan sebagainya duduk sebaris.
Tentunya, ini adalah satu cara skala kecil yang dapat dilakukan. Tak kisahlah kesenian apapun. Hip hop, boria, tarian ataupun seperti saya, dikir barat.
Ada banyak lagi pendekatan yang mampu dilakukan. Antara nak buat ke tak nak. Kuasa ker tak kuasa. Kita nih bangsa yang suka menyalahkan orang lain tanpa menyalahkan diri sendiri. Ibarat lagu ‘bangau oh bangau’. Moga-moga ramai yang akan menyahut cabaran ini untuk mengubahkan haluan masyarakat kita sendiri. Kalau tak Melayu yang selesaikan masalah Melayu, siapa lagi? Wassalam. =)
PS: senang-senang, jenguk ler website yang telah saya sertakan. Kalau ingin berkolaborasi, silakan, saya sedia bekerjasama. Kecil tapak tangan, nyiru ditadahkan.
the root cause is..i am sorry to say..is lelaki. man who failed himself will fail his family.
lelaki yg gagal menjalan kan tanggung jawab mendidik, membimbing, meneraju dalam keluarga penyebab unggul runtuh nya sebuah institusi keluarga. anak anak lalaki kita wajib di didik menjadi pemimpin, imam dalam keluarga. ramai lelaki, suami hari ini gagal menjadi contoh baik. gagal kerana hidup tiada landasan iman. i am sad to say this.
not to solely blaming the men..women too is playing the parts of breaking the system, but why the women failed themselves? because it is again..due to men have failed their responsibilities..
pathetic tau..baca sok kaba sampai malas saya nak baca..abt this single parent woman who said..”kalau saya berkerja, siapa yg nak jaga 5 org anak-anak saya* abih buat anak dia pandai dahtu sampai lima tu..
bodoh sangat ker jadi perempuan samapi kena tipu dengan lelaki sampai bolih 5 x buat anak anak haram?* i can only assumed that she is mentally retardard and that she been taken advantage of by some..man/men?
the solution to all these problem is…kita wajib kembali & mencari jalan lurus..jalan lurus hanya ada dalam Islam. kita wajib berhijrah, kembali fitri.
*pardon me for writing in malay sha*
Maaf ya makchique,
Tapi saya rasa saya kurang setuju bahawa it’s just the men who have failed.
Teringatkan pulak mak saya, yang akan selalu mengomel to my brother “kau tu lelaki, betulkan diri sikit. Nanti dah besar, kahwin, macam mana nak jadi imam?” or to me for that matter “nak cari laki, cari yang betul-betul. Ada agama, tahu sembahyang, baca quran” and yada yada the list goes on. Benar, Islam meletakkan tanggungjawab memimpin keluarga ke atas bahu kaum lelaki.
But mackhique, as you said, “ramai lelaki, suami hari ini gagal menjadi contoh baik.” Abih macamana, does that mean this ruins all chances for single ladies to have a happily blessed marriage life sehingga hayat dikandung badan?
No what… Not fair what… The girls also must prepare themselves, more so now than ever, if really benar bahawa lelaki sekarang gagal menunjukkan contoh yang baik. I think it is regardless of whether you are a lady or man. Kedua-kedua ada peranan, malah, kerana perubahan zaman semakin mencabar, we have have to play the other gender’s role.
Tapi saya setuju, kita harus kembali mencari jalan yang lurus, walaupun ke perit mana pun. At least we try, we cuba.
Wallahualam.
salam & thank you to Spectic Minah
for commenting on my comment *lol*
Minah adik ku
‘FAIR’ is just not happening in real life. Tell me, if it is fair for women to have multiple functions? Of that a father and a mother, when men failed to assume their responsibilies as father/man/leader of the house, providing and protecting his family?
Listen to your mom, if happiness is what you’re looking for, but no one can guarantee that will happened, you have to make it happened for yourself. Start with the righteous man. My old man used to tell me, lihat lah lelaki pd solat nya, judge a man by his solah.
21 years down the road, I realized how true he is. Harta, kita bolih cari, iman & taqwa tak bolih di jual beli. Rosak iman=hilang taqwa=runtuh diri=runtuh keluarga=runtuh masyarakat=runtuh lah Negara.
We, women have to work extra hard at keeping the family intact. Tell me if that is fair? But we women always do our best, we make it right for the men, and who make things right for us? nobody, no one. just us. do you think that is fair? what is fair? but why are we doing it? it is bcos for the love of the family, our children, we took upon that responsibility when the men hv failed themselve. bukan suatu tugas mudah bagi wanita, tanggunjawab keluarga ada lah hak mutlak kedua dua pihak, tapi apa yg banyak kita lihat pd hari ini, tugas ini semua di pikul oleh kaum wanita. kemana pergi lelaki-lelaki yg beriman?
Bear in mind, there’s no such thing as live happily ever after in life, don’t listen to fairy tales, we parent should stop telling and reading those non sense to our children. Man, start being a man, like wise, woman should stick to womanly role. Kita jangan melangar fitrah, nak switch role whatever non sense, tu semua punya kerosakan diri=keluarga=masyrakat=Negara.
Terima kasih lah yer! Pada uncla sha yg dah bagi kami peluang utk bagi pendapat.
Saya mohon maaf jika terkasar bahasa.
@Gaylord..
Did u do a survey on Malay kids? Where did u get those facts? And why are u spying on kids at playground? I don’t think the Malay kids need help.. U do.
echo your views.. whoever that person is, he/she is not right..
nice post btw but saddening…
Sha,
Relax, please. You invited for my take and said feel free to contribute, and I did so.
I did not say that I did a survey etc. I do not spy on kids at playgrounds. And I do not need help as you implied.
Relax; do not be so defensive as I did not write anything offensive or negative.
Do read my earlier comments again. Without malice.
By the way Sha who’s commenting in this entry, is different from me, Uncle Sha, the blog owner and author of this entry.
Just wanna clear things up, so as there’s no confusion.
Thanks for the clarification UncleSha.
Merry Xmas to one and all.
Hey Uncle Sha, sorry man for getting people confuse on our names. I will go by this name now. Gaylord I hold no grudge against u but your views are flawed. Can u seriously say that Chinese or Indian kids will go out of their way to befriend Malay kids? Seriously? What u say about the Malay kids mirrors the attitude of the other races. I just think its human nature to stick with your own kind heck even animals do that. As for the laid back attitude it’s a personal choice. The only disease Science can never cure is laziness. U have lazy Malay, Chinese and Indian people. Don’t blame the race, blame humanity.
hmmmm… nice topic to ponder on… a few days ago… i had a talk with one of my chinese frens and talking to her about how malays and chinese behave… she give me examples of how to a chinese “face” value is very important to a chinese… to the xtent tt they have to have the best and will lose face if they lose out… i didnt really get her meaning until i was eating outside a few days ago and was sitting next to this chinese family…. welll.. nothing unusual in their discussion… BUT there was one sentence tt makes me sit up n really listen… when i overheard the son telling the father… “Pa, i think after i finishd NS, i muz further my studies already… u r right… i can really see the others looking dwn on me already when i told them i didnt get to the university….”… n well… it juz gt me thinking….
i guess thats explain the vast differences in the population of the chinese and malays in higher education… For one.. the malays like u have mentioned… are kinda of laid back…. which is kinda sad cos the propelling motivation in pursuing higher eduction seems to be lacking for them unlike the chinese population whom i believes the reason why they r so adamant to pursue further is “face value” and not losing out to others… well.. which is sad and at the same time a gd thing… cos at least there’s a propelling factor that is pushing them forward for higher achievements… even if the interest is not there…
Well…although as times goes by i can see tt more malays are much more motivate to pursue higher education… bt at the same time i can see that the grp tt they mixes with mostly consists of chinese… maybe i m wrong… bt most of the time.. it seems to be tt way….
I guess the only way one can hope tt the younger malay generations be more motivated is to start frm young….
bt at the same time too… if everyone arounds you are all graduates… wats there left for the lowly skilled workers…. – time to called in the foreign workers??? :P n causing the influx of foreign workers… sometimes i wonder who to blame for the influx of foreign workers when the locals are all busy chasing for a highly paid and highly ranked jobs….
i dun knw.. there seems to be lots of qns on my mind…. :P
Salams all,
Coincidentally, I am taking a couple of minutes break from writing an ‘article’ on this, when I stumbled upon your website Uncle Sha. For the past few days, I’ve been conducting interviews with academics, social activists, friends, families with regards to this issue.
I must say – the longer and deeper I dwell into this, the more complex it gets. And of course, I let cynicism get the better of me.
There’s been a lot of blame game, finger pointing and talk about how little the malay leaders/organisations are tackling this issue, not doing enough etc. Regardless of how lousy or well they have done, the numerous amount of programs being launched, PERSONALLY, I feel that that the change has to come from within the individual. Sure, it helps to have external help – be it motivation, support financially and emotionally. But at the end of the day, one has got to WANT THE CHANGE. Simply, for the betterment of their lives and the people around them. Also, I feel the lack of sprituality – and I just don’t mean being religious – is one of the contributing factors to these problems.
This is just my 20 sen worth of thoughts.
So, what do you all think? Whose responsibility does it become when the Malays are overpresented in a bad light?
t the social media e.g. has to play a part by airing more educational shows instead of those overseas drama series. i’m sick of watching show with broken families and they are such a waste of resources. we have seen and read enough. now show us how we could be a good citizen. if you see malaysia tv shows now, they have begun airing documentary shows in english and less entertainment now. ministers please walk the talk. malays we really don’t have much time. previously we need to compete with chinese and indians for jobs…now its foreign talent who is skilled e.g. nurses and technicians…so wake up, get some skill and quit watching those uneducational shows …
Hi…
I think there is sthg wrong in the educational systems.
They are focusing on producing ‘robots’ and ‘machines’ to generate income for the country.
I am not saying that generation the government’s economics is no good. Just, it kills the human inside.
I think drop outs exist in all races. Immigration of high profile chinese and indians could have made their races look more enticing than the Malay population.When the ambitious Chinese/Indians and non ambitious chinese/indians get together,there is a possibility for more inter-racial motivation.
I think we ought to scrutinize such news than to accept them the way the media portrays.