One of my ex-secondary schoolmate who didn’t go to chinese school blamed her parents for not sending her there, and as a result she is unable to read and write Chinese – a disadvantage she sees.

This is the main reason I want my children to go to a Chinese school. No matter how much we can teach them, we cannot teach them the language without using daily.

I have an advantage of Chinese, and I am sort of safe in the recent re-org. I’m quite confident one of the job is mine as it takes care of the China region.

Tough decision, right?

Very tough. And I have to decide by next year.

It was midnight, after everyone fell asleep, I cried in the living room, frantically trying to search for a book (can’t remember what book was it, must be some homework). It must be the end of holiday, next day was a new school day. I cried and cried and cried, looked up and down and every corner. Prayed in front of the teh-chu-kong, hoped for some miracles. That was in my primary school age.

I did very well in school, knows to be a ‘good girl’, top student. But in S4 and S5, I did very badly. I was canned so many times and my parents were called to school.

Unfortunately, in those days, parents also supported canning. After my dad saw the teachers, when we reached home, I was asked to kneel down in fron of the ancestor’s altar, and I was canned further. I was even asked to carry a basket to ‘sell-laziness’ on the eve of CNY – to punish (humiliate) me for my laziness in not completing my homework.

I was scared of school. I didn’t have friends in school. Literally NONE. I only started to make friends in high school and uni. See what the old canning school days done to me?

Whether I am going to send my children to schools that can them? I think that is hard to be avoided – unfortunately the system is like this now!!! I would like to know which Chinese schoold do not can children, I’d definitely go for it!

Oh Gosh Suzette, sounds like you had a hard time in school but you turned out alright so maybe thats all that matters. Yes, I would also like to know a Chinese school that do not cane little children or a National school that is less lepak. Choosing between the two is like choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea. Sigh. Still cannot decide.

You are shocked by that girl but I am more shocked by the action of the class teacher who caned you for something you did not do!

Are you one of the gangsters? Haha.

Some of the stories you have told are so scary. I’m so grateful that my daughter, son and I have the opportunity to be a part of a school system that actually cares about the children they are caring for.

Thank you for sharing what it was like for you. I will think about what you have been through for a long time.

Take care

Hello Jane, thank you for dropping by my blog. FYI parents here in Malaysia have a choice to send their children to either a national school (where most subjects are taught in Malay) or a Chinese/Tamil school where pupils have a chance to learn their mother tongue. The Chinese schools are better academically as compared to the national schools but they do use scare tactics as a form of discipline. So parents here are in a dilemma as we have to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. The education system here is still very exam oriented and puts a lot of pressure on the kids to acheive academic excellence.

I don’t remember being lazy to do homework but yes, I used to get up in the nick of time. Sometimes when the bus arrived, I would still be struggling to get dressed.

I most certainly agree with you. Serious offences requires more serious punishment but not minor ones. I remember reading on a blog that one boy forgot to bring his exercise book so he confessed and suggested to the teacher that he do his work on a piece of paper but he was beaten up anyway. Sigh.

Oh No! Sometimes when a child cry something snaps in the caregiver and they beat the child to shut them up. Thats the fearful thing about having maids too. Eh, you know where that guy is now anot, I go and beat him up for you. Lol!

Ooh lucky you!

So, will you send your child to one of those “Canning is mandatory” schools when the time comes?