Growing up in Singapore ...

".... we had to bear the scorn and barbs of the Chinese superiority complex and it irritates me when C. L. Sharma in her/his article "Ethnicity, Communal Relations and Education in Malaysia" (1979) described post-independence Malays as being "imbued with the 'we are the masters now' attitude which encourages them to display arrogance in their behaviour". This academic should be more objective and realise that Malays do not have a monopoly on arrogance." - Language Ding Dong by Anak si-Hamid

Chinese supremacy? Anak si-Hamid taught me at Jurong Secondary School. I remember short skirts and mini-compo. She came into Sec 3F in 1976 and played the Beatles' She's Leaving Home, except that we didn't know what it was at first. Take down the lyrics, kids, and write a composition based on the song.

Many of us 15-year olds fell in love with the English language that day.

The "scorn and barbs" in her little posting "Language Ding Dong" here (which was prompted by my own posting here, I'm proud to state) were still there when I was growing up in Singapore. Lessons in life, well learnt.

p.s. There is a book in Growing up in Singapore. I can see it. Not exactly like Wan Hulaimi's GUiT, but there's a great book in the making, nonetheless. Keen publishers, pls contact me.

Updates 16/12, 3 pm:
Related to my article, Ganesh sent me this piece The Charade of Meritocracy by Michael Barr.

Excerpt:

".......the playing field is hardly level. In fact, Singapore's system of promotion disguises and even facilitates tremendous biases against women, the poor and non-Chinese."

Click here to read the piece.