THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

Mariah, My Teen Bride 97
he did was in the interest of the British colonial masters. He was responsible
for looking into Malay education and syllabi. But after returning
from a visit of schools in Indonesia, instead of upgrading Malay education,
he recommended that it be reduced by one level, below Standard V. Why?
So that “Malay pupils don’t forget to till farms.” With his suggestion,
vegetable farms sprouted in schools throughout the country. After his trip
to the Philippines, he came up with the bright idea of teaching students
the art of weaving baskets from bamboo. Thus, a class to teach basketry
was introduced at the Sultan Idris Training College for teachers.
These destructive recommendations were no surprise. Did the British
not sink two ships laden with our books (in the early 19 th century), so
that their lamps would burn brighter, while ours would dim in sharp
contrast? Similarly, Malay treasures were transported to England for socalled
‘safekeeping’. With no significant link to our past, how could we
Malays, as a race, take creative and constructive steps towards our
future? The British felt insecure; should a Malay intelligentsia emerge,
their grip on Malaya would be threatened. Furthermore, they much desired
a politically ignorant Malay community. If Mr Winstedt was indeed a
sincere educationist with pure intentions, why did he not propose a more
scientific and technical syllabus for Malay schools?
In the 1930s, Malay children’s opportunities to enter English schools
were extremely slim. The number of Malays in English schools in the
Federated Malay States barely reached 15 per cent. According to Dr
Philip Loh Fook Seng, who researched pre-World War II Malay education
policy, in 1913 Malay community leaders had demanded English schools
in Lenggong and Krian in Perak, but were turned down. In 1916, another
group of Malays requested an English medium class be introduced in the
Kelang Malay School. The Selangor Resident then agreed to the request,
but after three months of implementation in 1917, it was closed down
under the orders of the Chief Secretary to the Federated Malay States. It
was obvious that the British did not wish to see Malay children advance
and thrive with English-medium education. 1
A week before my move to the School of Agriculture in Serdang to
assume my new teaching assignment in 1933, I went to Temoh Station
to visit Haji Ibrahim, the village headman, who had kindly ‘adopted’ me.
He was one of the many village headmen who had openly welcomed me
into their homes whenever I happened to visit their area, especially after
I had been out in the sun inspecting farms and schools. He was a jovial
and fun sort of person.
During this last visit, he asked me out of the blue, “Are you not
interested in settling down? With someone from this area?” Jokingly, I
replied, “With whom?” “You just give me the word and I will look around
for you. There are some very modern girls in Teluk Anson (now Teluk
Intan). You just point out the girl to me. I will do everything else.”