On Saturda I lecture , a course on multicultural education at Kolej Dika. During this course we learn to teach children about their own culture and the culture of otherS. They are taught to know and respect theie own culture and that of others. At the end of the day they are taught 1 We are all different yet we are all the same. 2 We are all the children of god. 3 We must be fair and equal to others. 4 We must give others equal opportunities. Some of the students comment that though we may teach them these in preschool years but their families, friends and teacher swill teach them to be bias, prejudice and to be racist. My answer to them is that young children have a soft heart. They have a soft soil and as such when we sow the seeds at this tender age very often they grow into their personality. Our job is to sow the needs and not unduly worry about the future. As educators we are to sow the seed and not be philosophers by questioning, why and how. If we do that then nobody will sow the seeds. Today our country is at the crossroad with regards to race relations. I personally feel a 3 month national service course will not achieve integration, neither a slogan of 1Malaysia and neither having one school for all our children. Our children should be taught multicultural education at a young age especially at preschool. At the same time the leaders, parents, teachers, politicians, must be fair, equal and colour blind. We should not teach discrimination, biasness or be prejudice. In the words of Martin Luther King "Either we learn to live together as brothers and sisters or we will all perish together." God bless Malaysia and save our children. God bless. Mohan
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 07:11:59 +0000