WANTED: Someone to restore Arteri and give it 2nd life. Interested? Email: mail.sharonchin.com
This is purely fictional:
“Finally, our fight caught the media’s attention, Deputy Education Minister Datuk Wee Ka Siong has come to see us, our actions can be viewed in YouTube. Cool. We are the SMKSK rockstars.
The ‘victim’ is a science stream student, we are the filthy-faulty-frantic delinquents from the art stream. This unfortunate incident happened because of his arrogance. The belittling eyes and the pompous tongue of his – they were maddening.
I appreciate our Serdang assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, who tried to abate this disciplinary problem using stern measures, but it would never suffice. We cannot be pacified by force, what we really want is justice and integrity!
Why is the school abandoning its art stream students? Why is my Akaun (account subject) teacher not teaching? Why is my Seni (art) teacher so clueless about Latiff Mohiddin’s Pago-Pago?
Art stream students are prejudiced against, as the bad students, the idiots, or the punks. When we have teachers who are irresponsible, who do not care about us, can you blame us for not following their lessons?
We have been labeled as ‘nuisance’ because of who we are. From our addiction to computer graphics, to our ambition of becoming the next top motor racers, to our predilection for untrimmed hair and untucked school uniform.
The cyber-cafes, mamaks and the many road bumps in Serdang bear our footprints, witnessing our coming of age in this New Village. Yes, we are loyal Serdangites in spite of our rebellion, and we are dissimilar to those ‘smart students’ who never bother about Serdang. They move to cities or migrate overseas as soon as they get a chance to leave Serdang, disowning this local identity.
How ironic is it, that by choosing to stay on, by being part of this history, by making such a cultural impact, we remain a pain in the neck. If we are such a nuisance, all the school ever did is to punish and preach. Why aren’t we educated yet?
That fight was our struggle, an outcry against the school’s negligence and the fallacious perception of students belonging to the art stream. We proudly proclaim this sullied reputation as a manifesto against the current education system in SMKSK that has failed to acknowledge the importance of a humane education, and not one that is based on the demarcation between the science and art.
Hereby too, we admit our atrocious behaviour and apologise to the victim, Tee.”
– SMKSK Fighters
This fiction is factual.
~
Tan Zi Hao is currently completing his studies at a local university. Working primarily with the community in Serdang (known presently as Seri Kembangan), he runs a young people’s drama collective Logamaya (http://aoa-logamaya.blogspot.com/) and a children art education project Projek Semai (http://projeksemai.blogspot.com/).
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Hey Zi Hao,
I really get this article man. I’ve been on both sides of the divide, oscillating between arts and sciences in the course of my education. Arts has always been and will always be the unwanted part of society. Frowned upon, blamed, neglected and cast aside.
When I was teaching at a secondary school, I got into trouble for telling my students that it’s ok to wear their uniform the way they want to, as long as they’re asserting their individuality and not conforming to a “cool” look. The science-ish students went crazy with piercings and untucked shirts. The artsy students, calm and cool (as always), asserted their individuality with rainboow-coloured wristbands and sharpy-scribbled messages on their shoes (“no war” and “we didn’t start the fire”).
The science students got off lightly and were simply told to remove their stupid piercings and tuck in their shirts but the art students got into trouble for wearing their conscience on their sleeves..or shoes. I was told to teach them nothing else but History and Social Studies.
The school didn’t seem to realise the differing maturity in the way the students reacted to increased freedom.
And I couldn’t make them.
Cool visual. This is what Embong should paint next.
Hey Zi Hao:
I love this post! I love this sentiment in particular:
“The cyber-cafes, mamaks and the many road bumps in Serdang bear our footprints, witnessing our coming of age in this New Village. Yes, we are loyal Serdangites in spite of our rebellion, and we are dissimilar to those ’smart students’ who never bother about Serdang. They move to cities or migrate overseas as soon as they get a chance to leave Serdang, disowning this local identity.”
Love of the here can nary be seen as a rejection of progress / modernity / global plugged-in-ness; hatred of the here just another expression of “gotta hide my past where people don’t have big cars / don’t know how to drink wine / eat cheese”.