There is a saying that goes like this: You are part of your culture if you can speak your mother tongue. I agree with this idea. I was touched when I read today's news about a 7 year old British girl in a vernacular chinese school in Penang. Somewhere out there in the world, people who are of different races from us actually acknowledge and place emphasis on Mandarin, our mother tongue (second language and foreign language for some). It's such a stupid thing to think that children will become so Kiasu when they're Chinese educated. I myself don't come from a Chinese school, but from a national school. Therefore I can't say for sure how the system is like in Chinese schools. Well first of all, let's not label them as Chinese schools because every school has got different administration system. They are called Chinese schools simply because the name of the schools are in Chinese. And majority of the students and teachers are Chinese. And Chinese subject is taught.
You see, since our ancestral times, education is a major part of our life. Hence every child is taught in a very strict and disciplined manner to achieve success set by the school, teachers and also parents. This determination is misinterpreted as a Kiasu attitude by most of the 'Bananas' nowadays. What they are lacking is social skills and self expression, that's all.
A leaf that drops far from a tree will still be a leaf from the same tree. Though other people may be good at some aspects of life, we musn't cast aside our own people and culture which we are rooted from.
*A blonde hair can fool people, but not the iris*
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