JANUARY 3 — What a way to usher 2020. Amidst the fireworks and all, the Minister of Education Dr Mazlee Malik was the first Cabinet Minister to be advised to resign. M is for Mazlee, it so seems.
But how did Dr Mazlee Malik, who is extremely personable and friendly, lose his immunity to remain as the Minister of Education ? Some would attribute it to the controversy over Khat or Jawi. Others would swear that it was due to the shift to the “black shoes”, where all Primary school students were urged to wear.
Others may yet aver that it was Dr Mazlee Malik’s lack of courage to take on the Chinese education congress (Dong Jiao Zhong) head-on, indeed, Non government organizations that were seeking the middle ground. Four pages of Khat or Jawi, which were optional anyway, should not have been the trigger to end the ministerial career of Dr Mazlee Malik.
There are other reasons. All of which plausible but none of them definitive. First and foremost, there has been a seismic shift in the importance of education since the very beginning of Tanah Melayu or even Malaya.
Contrary to popular perception, that Malays do not care about the education of their children, the fact is they do. They care a whole damned lot. This is why Malays never ceases to amaze people by sending their children to Arabic, Islamic even Christisans missionary and lately Chinese vernacular schools.
Cast a stone, one is bound to hit a Malay who either has a Diploma, Degree, MA or even PhD. In Ampang Puteri Hospital, which is manages by KPH Holdings, the roster of Malay specialists —- note specialists, not General Practitioners —- tend to be filled to the brim with names such as Datuk Dr Abdullah or Tan Sri Dr Munirah or Amina. Either way, Malays do care deeply about education.
This is why the likes of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed himself wanted to be both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education when he was sworn in as the 7th Prime Minister. He knows then, as he knows how, education was the key to winning the Malays over, and if the Malays can be won over, then the ethnic Chinese and Indians, not excluding other races in Sabah and Sarawak, who are even more ferocious about good education, would just as easily be made to swoon to Tun Dr Mahathir too.
For the lack of better word, education makes or breaks Malaysia. On May 9 2018, when voters had their volte farce against Barisan National, one of the reasons, although rarely mentioned, was the edict of Rosmah Najib to compel children of all ages in Malaysia to watch the production of his step child Riza Aziz in Hollywood (based as it was on alleged 1MDB money).
What was the name of the movie ? Well, it was “Wolves of Wolf Street”. The latter had scenes depicting stock brokers snorting cocaine, indulging in openly displayed sexual debauchery, and ostentatious show of uber-wealth made from penny stocks.
Dr Mazlee Malik left precisely because he has focused too much on “making education fun,” when all Malaysians were way too concerned on how to make “education work”. In European Union, for example, research has shown that within 2030, which is 10 years from now, 30 per cent of the current jobs would be permanently lost. Elsewhere research has shown that 85 per cent of the jobs of the next decade have yet to be created. Granted these two statistics alone, the Ministry of Education, especially the Minister, should not have been going around the schools, encouraging young students to have more fun. They should be told to read, think, and work hard, based on what is available online and offline, to get their basics right. In this vein, it is perhaps apt that Malaysia, under Pakatan Harapan, has had to start 2020 with the goal to get the basics and essence of modern education right, with or without a Tiger Mom watching at the side.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
