By Ravinder Singh

The Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) rightly highlighted the need for cross-cultural education in schools. However he is wrong to say that it must be emphasised in the school curriculum. He is quoted to have said: “It cannot be simply done through rhetorical speeches or debates, but should be implemented in a direct assimilation through the education system.”

His own speech sounds rhetorical because there can never be any “cross-culture” assimilation through any curriculum. It is only a perception and a very wrong one, that cross-cultural relations among Malaysians are broken because the curriculum did not place this subject on the timetable right from kindergarten.

Cross-culture education is a behavioural matter, not an academic matter.

Obviously, the DPM does not know that there are important things that children learn in ways other than through the formal curriculum because actions speak louder than words.

You can tell a child a hundred times about the importance of respecting another’s culture. You can make cross-culture an examination subject like moral education. Children could score As. But when a teacher or school head tells non-Muslim students to go eat in the school toilets during Ramadan, or ‘balik Cina, balik India’ or that they may drink urine during the fasting month as the school canteen is closed, cross-cultural education is destroyed in a flash. So no amount of cross-cultural education in the curriculum will achieve what daily practices can.

If the DPM is serious as he seems to be, then the first step is to deal very strictly with racism and bigotry in schools. Remove teachers who have acted un-religiously towards non-Muslim children and do the same with any non-Muslim teacher acting in a similar fashion towards Muslim children.

Take a leaf from the Pai Chee case where the head teacher was moved out of the school immediately even before any investigation had begun. It was not necessary to find out what actually happened before action was taken. Just a report by a teacher was good enough to move the authorities into action. On the other hand, what action was taken against the teachers who said “balik Cina, balik India”; “eat in toilets”; “drink urine”? None that we heard of, so were their comments just swept under the carpet?

Be humble to admit that in the first place, it is racism and bigotry among teachers and others in the education system that destroyed cross-culture respect and understanding among children of different cultures and religions. There was no such issue in schools of the 50s and 60s. Keep on denying this, and you can forget talking about cross-culture education.

Just remember that actions speak louder than words.

So long as those in the education system spew words of discrimination, hatred and disrespect against those not of their kind, so too will the gap between the different cultures keep widening. No curriculum in the world can undo the damage then.

There is an old Chinese saying that wars and diseases are caused by the mouth.

So, if there is honesty to re-build cross-cultural respect and tolerance, start where it matters. Remove all racist and bigoted teachers from our schools, regardless of race or religion and disband the Biro Tata Negara.

An unidentified officer of the Education Ministry, talking of the Pai Chee case, is reported to have said, “Kita cakap soal pentadbiran. Sebagai penjawat awam, anda tertakluk kepada perintah am penjawat awam. Sesiapa yang didapati melanggar akan dibawa ke jawatankuasa tatatertib.”

Is bigotry by civil servants a breach of their code of conduct or not, or does the “Perintah Am” (general rule) allow them to use their personal religious beliefs to berate and belittle others in the course of discharging their official duties? Does the “Perintah Am” apply only to a certain section of the civil service or to all, irrespective of race and religion?

Ravinder Singh is an FMT reader.

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