Copycats from Chinese Schools? Umm...You Decide!

For many years now, I have admired Prof Emeritus Khoo Kay Kim's depth of knowledge about world history in general and Malayan's in particular.

His recent contention about Chinese schools producing copycats was not entirely incorrect. His was however made off-the-mark when he failed to take into contextual account that these copycats when later exposed to non-Malaysian-centric post secondary education and training became creative if not brilliant professionals and scholars. (The Singapore government can testify to this. No and unbelieveable? Think again!)

I know of a guy who sent his two children to Chinese schools starting in the mid-1980's
in spite of the displeasures of and reprimands from his (the guy's) parents. Almost 25 years later both the children became pretty successful professionals in their own rights. One is now a lawyer- turned-banker earning an annual 6-figures salary and the other a medical professional expected to nett an equivalent annual earnings running very close to 7-figures!

Tell me, Professor, if copycats can command these levels of earnings in their early-30's, then I shall definitely champion the calls to all Malaysian parents to have their offsprings turned into
Chinese schools-made copycats! No, I mean it! It will be worth their whiles, you bet!

On the other hand and in all fairness to the Professor's, I must admit that when I was moonlighting as a local college lecturer leading a group of 3+0 final year final semester 'BBA Honours' students in the late-90's/early-2000's, most of my students from the Chinese schools stream were true to form passive-learners and copycats. They yearned to have me produced notes for them each session.

No, I refused to and I was quite steadfast in this stance.

Instead, I got them to form study groups and produce their collective notes and reports for class presentations. At first, I found a lot of 'cut-and-paste' efforts. When I dished out very low-grades, they subsequently became quite original in their completed assignments and term papers submitted - all just within half a semester's time!

They were very adaptive if not resilient. Oh yeah, creativity was very evident
too.

Going to Chinese vernacular schools may not be too bad an idea - provided you know how to guide your children eventually in and towards the "home runs"!