SINGLE-STREAM EDUCATION: Sports can be a great unifier

2009/11/04

DINA RIZAL, Chairman Kelab Sukan Sports Unite Puchong

A GOOD debate has begun on the single-stream education system, which must continue in a healthy and productive manner and will, I hope, conclude with strong political will in favour of it for the sake of our children and our nation.

There are many merits to a single-stream education system. Enough has been said about it.

Politicians must put the nation above self-interest. Look at the big picture and cast away the legacies created by our colonial masters.

It is ironic that after 52 years of independence, we are still communal and territorial and less nationalistic.

We seek solace in the comfort zone and discard wisdom and courage.

We score political points by being communal heroes and have less interest in winning true respect as a patriot, irrespective of race, colour and creed.

We live from day to day and don't bother about the future. There is no denying polarisation is evident in schools and institutions of higher learning.

We claim we are united but let's search our conscience and ask ourselves: Are we more united now compared with the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s?



My work in SportsUnite over the last six years has inspired me.

We have never wavered in our focus on promoting unity through sports, with multiracial participation being a pre-requirement at all our events. We are never short of support from children and parents of different races.

Sometimes, the response is overwhelming.

Our biggest inspiration is to see children having a great time playing with their new friends and enjoying sports with parents cheering them on.

Parents continue to encourage us to do more when they see their children having fun.

I reflect back on my school and university days in the 1950s to 1970s, where we athletes ate from the same plate, drank from the same bottle and roughed it out in sports training camps in the same bunk bed.

We were brothers but of different colours.

A healthy body builds a healthy mind. Sports promotes good values, such as character, discipline, self-confidence, teamwork, dedication, respect, sportsmanship, leadership and most of all, patriotism.

I ask myself then if our children can play together, why can't they study together?

It's not an insurmountable task to develop a single-stream education system where the mother tongue of each race is given a place.

Children with multilingual skills boost spirit of unity, have good market value, are more productive and employable in the public and private sectors.

It's wonderful to see children communicate in each other's mother tongue. Communication, touch and interaction build lasting bonds.

The single-stream education syllabus could look at a number of issues to improve integration:

- Cultural studies in schools where each race is taught the cultural values of the other with a view to learning to appreciate and respect them.

- More play time and interaction in schools where teams are formed on a multiracial platform.

- Schools fix their own dates to celebrate each race's festive occasion, that is, Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Dayak festivals.

- Build a sense of patriotic pride at Monday morning assemblies with Negaraku, 1Ma-laysia theme song, school song and Rukun Negara and avoid religious recitals.

All parents must be reassured that the single-stream education system will not make their children less Malay, less Chinese or less Indian but, on the contrary, richer because they could appreciate their own race and values while respecting their friends' cultural values.

Tolerance is not a word to be used any more. It's a negative word. I hate it. Let's learn to respect, appreciate, trust and understand each other. This is the only way we can move forward in the spirit of 1Malaysia.