Silent School

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In Malaysia, I studied in a Chinese government school from the age of 7 to 12 before going to a private high school.

Despite the shift from a government school to a private school. Their teaching methods were quite similar. Although the private school was slightly more relaxed in terms of teaching and homework, but the teachers I had were still strict and most of them came from teaching at government schools.

Since young, we were taught to be silent in class. There should be no noise when the teacher is speaking, no noise when we were assigned work to do. Even during the small breaks between classes when we wait for the next teacher to come, we were expected to be quiet.

In primary school, my teachers had what we called a 'rotan', which means rattan. Those things you use to make baskets, except they were used to punish us. Whoever was too noisy would be called out and receive a hit or two on their palms. A couple of times, my teacher threw chalks or dusters at my friends who were talking when she was writing on the board.

Being silent seemed like the core of education. If you were noisy, you were categorised as the troublesome one. If you were quiet, you were a good kid and your silence would be praised during parents teachers meetings.

When I came to Melbourne, I had a complete culture shock because we were calling lecturers by their first names instead of Mrs. or Miss or Mr. and my lecturer told the class that we had to speak up at least once in the semester. We were encouraged to discuss ideas and all of our opinions were valued. It took time but slowly, I warmed up and started to participate in discussions. I began to feel more confident and unafraid to voice out my thoughts. It felt different, but a good kind of different.

Even though life as a student may seem harsh in Malaysia, it taught me how to be a better listener. It showed me that it is important to listen when someone is speaking. It's amazing and shocking how such a small thing like silence can be viewed so differently in two cultures.

Comments

  1. GeorgiaAugust 26, 2018 at 8:07 PM

    Wow, it's so interesting how two different places can value something like silence so differently. It's great to see how you find the value of it within yourself in this piece.

    ReplyDelete

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