Living in a different country means you face a different culture. Living in a different culture would require one to change their habit. Welcome to London where half the population may not be local Brits but a diversity of people from Europe, America and Asia. Working in UK made us realised how ‘shy’/ ‘quiet’ Asian people are. While the Westerners talk much about anything during a conversation, Asians just sat at a corner and listen. There is very little of contribution to the group conversation (I do note that there a limited number of Asian that could blend into the group conversation though).
Some of my friends complained of their colleagues, “The people here only knew how to talk but there is not substance”. Then they added “If they are back in Kuala Lumpur, my ex-manager would ‘fark’ them for talking too much”.
Sadly, most of the Asians had difficulty in adapting what I – Bob the Blogger would term “Conversational Attitude”. Some of the people I’ve meet continue to live in the past rather than at the present. I am not saying I could blend in well. I too had my problems considering the way we Malaysians were brought up.
Unlike Malaysian education system, people here are encouraged to talk and ask questions since young. Parents and teachers encouraged young kids to ask… even if the question sounds stupid. A teacher from LSE once said “There is no such thing as stupid question. The only stupid question is when you ask none”. I couldn’t agree more.
But people in Malaysia were brought up in a very different system. It is an education system that instills discipline among young students but at the expense of addressing the enquiring mind. Imagine a school where you do not ask questions but only listens/ you sit when you are told to and you are not encourage to debate with your teacher. In other words, forget about curiosity and asking question. It is all about putting in information into the brain.
Alas – the system adopted yesterday produced mixed results today.
At best the product of yesteryears education produces young ‘citizen’ with successful career …
A successful Malaysian businessman as depicted by Lat
But there are some that end up not what as we had expect…
Mat Rempit on the loose...
Or maybe this…
The infamous Ah Beng/ 'Si Ham Chai' (Cockles Boy) attempting to be cool
Okay, maybe I went too far on blaming the education system. I agree that the product above wasn’t the fault of the education system alone. There are other factors to consider. But I would still hold on to the fact that the way Malaysians are taught had resulted lost of the very essence of ‘Conversational Attitude’.
Take the following snippets of my younger year’s memory as examples:
‘Why can’t you shut up’?
I remember when I was 8 in Junior School. While the teacher was teaching, a classmate of mine raised up his hand and asked some question about the subject taught. You guess it right! The teacher replied “Could you shut up”? The teacher could have answered, “Yes you are right, but maybe we could discuss another time or after class because time is almost up for this session”. Noooo… the teacher got to show who the boss in the class is. The student must be disciplined and the teacher is always right!
‘I don’t understand’
Once (forgot how old I was) in class the teacher asked if there any question. Another classmate of mine raised his hand – he was a slow learner to start of with. The teacher walked over to him and said ‘Why are you so stupid? Can’t you understand anything”? – I guess no one wants to ask any question thereafter.
‘Jual satu sen pun tak ada orang beli’
This one happened to me. I had the passion for art (but not a very good one though). Nevertheless, I had always looked forward for art class until this eventful day. That day, we were asked by our art teacher, Mrs Lee to weave a craft mat using…I forgot what. But the important thing is, I was struggling and when Mrs Lee came to me and saw my pathetic artwork she said something really encouraging “Jual satu sen pun tak ada orang beli (Even if you sell for 1 cent, no one is going to buy)”. With her ‘encouragement’ – my heart melts and never enjoy art class the way I used to like. Anyway, Mrs Lee, I just want to say ‘Thank You for your encouragement!’
Nah!
Unfortunately, most of the teachers had the lack of passion to teach or are just a bunch of lazy ass. But I don’t blame them. I mean if you put yourselves in their shoes, their pathetic pay do not compensate any further effort. So why take the trouble to answer or encourage an ‘enquiring’ mind of a young when you could have gone home watch TV or take a part time direct selling job to boost your income? Of course, not all the teachers are described above because I personally knew some really good teachers who encourage us to pursue our knowledge further beyond the classroom (Mrs Lee is not one of them in the list)
What I am trying to say is, because we are taught that asking question would reflect our stupidity and that we just need to shut up and listen, most of the people today fail to acquire the ability to control a conversation or to debate upon what we had in our mind. I guess unless we cultivate the young to build an enquiring mind, I could only imagine the next generation being as reserved as the last generation. - Yes, I am blaming the past but I am working at present to make a better future.
The above represents my memories which built upon to the conclusion of this article and may not represent the view of the general. If you don’t like it, I couldn't care less.
Bob's Kitchen - recipe for lazy people...
