The General Elections and My Early Schooldays

 

Introduction

I have neglected this column as I got entangled with one assignment after another. I always thought I could manage to get one article a month. The guilt of not having penned my thoughts was overwhelming –so much so that I sacrificed this afternoon on Saturday, 12^th May,  to complete the task!

The General Elections (13th) in Malaysia are over after having waited almost a year for the final announcement. My Chinese friends invited my wife and me to a dinner that night, 5^th May,  and to drop over at one of my friend’s house to watch the results. We had done the same during the previous elections. Anyway the night dragged rather slowly as we got irritated with the numerous ‘empty talk’ between the results which were too slow to come in? After all the anxiety, it looks like there is much more to tackle with the incumbent government not getting the two-thirds majority they were seeking.

As I trot along with my daily chores and tasks, I am reminded of my adolescent days and how the elections were. Much has changed and I am not sure if they are for the better.

Imperium

When I was at my daughter’s place some two years ago, boredom drove me to read an unlikely book entitled ‘IMPERIUM’. This was one of the three books written by Robert Harris, a fictional –historical novel about the life of a famous Roman lawyer and senator, Cicero. The reading was not easy in the beginning but I got hooked on finishing the book within three days, a remarkable feat by any measure, as most times these days, I tend to forget one character after another as I move through the pages leading to the frustration of having to flip back and forth trying to get the picture in order. This remarkable politician, orator and ‘manipulator’ of Roman politics reminds me of a similar state of affairs of current political climate of the free world. Harris tells of the young Tiro , the personal secretary of Cicero, who appears to reflect on the great man. The successful prosecution of corrupt politician (Verres) and the amassing of wealth while he took on the job of governor of Sicily are classic reminders of many politicians in power of today! The climax, at least to me, is the way Cicero is involved in back-room dealings that would eventually lead him to be elected as a consul.

Democracy and Political Aspirations

The Americans elect a President and then form the cabinet. In most Asian democracy the people vote in a party and then pick their chief executive through the elected party. The latter method has its own advantages but does not appear to reflect directly on people’s choice. The mandate to rule has followed much like in the ancient Greek and Roman days where the head of state is endowed with enormous power. The ruses and dealings described in the book by Robert Harris is not very different from what is happening today except that the conduits to reach the people on the ground is much more sophisticated with electronic media prevailing as an insurmountable force.

The asymmetry in knowledge of the political system and the implications of electing a representative remain a point of contention and is often exploited to garner support during times of elections. The one-man-one –vote rule has been questioned especially when the voter is  illiterate and down-trodden, easily influenced by simple talk and rewards. When we discuss leadership, the charismatic leader should have little role today ,compared to one who is willing to lead by consensus. But during elections, charisma and oratory skills appeal to the audience and can alter opinions in selecting a leader.

Campaigns bring people together for a common purpose; to hear their point of view and why they should be selected. Some do it well as I noticed in one state where a power point presentation of the ‘state of the union’ was shared. ‘What have we achieved over the last five years?’ That was educative as good governance and effective management of the state  led to surplus funds that could be used to improve the citizen’s life. The speaker likened the chief of the state to a responsible manager who was running a company for the people. The transparency of the accounts and justification for the various decisions made was a welcome shift from the usual “if I am elected I shall do……’ stance.

Reflections on the years gone by………

The ALLIANCE party led by the first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman was in power when I got the opportunity to go for an election rally at the Coronation Part in Malacca. I was probably 14 years of age but I knew about the election system and how the Labour Party and later the Socialist Front Party were putting up a fight against the ruling Alliance. They were supposed to represent the workers and the union likened to the working class revolutionaries of Western countries and the colonised countries like India, South Africa and Australia. Information officers used the becha (trishaw) and cars mounted with loud speakers announcing when and where the rallies were to be held. Prominent speakers I heard were the young Lee Kuan Yew (1963) campaigning for his People’s Action Party, PAP. This was after Malaysia had become a union with Singapore , Sabah and Sarawak joining the Federation of Malaya. The stage in the field (Coronation Park) was a lorry with its retaining side boards dismounted. The party logo was the backdrop and a gasoline run motor illuminated the numerous fluorescent lights on the stage.

The cunning Lee would provoke the audience and challenge anyone to debate with him. A member of the audience did come up the stage but was quietly removed by the policeman assigned to watch over as ‘the intended speaker did not have a permit’. Lee went on to tease about the slow growth of Malacca. The first Municipality flats built in town took more than several years. I remember Lee repeatedly referring to this particular construction, urging the listeners to come to Singapore and learn how to build flats rapidly!

Another speaker of the opposition much sought after was D.R. Seenivasagam. This imminent English educated lawyer from Ipoh was the leader of the People’s Progressive Party.  He spoke English with an authoritative voice raising social issues that should be improved and perfected. Later, when I was in the varsity, I had the opportunity to listen to these pundits during the ‘GREAT DEBATE’ sessions.

The Municipality of Malacca would hold its own elections to choose the Mayor and Councillors and again the opposition would be very vocal about affairs of the day. Hasnul Hadi, an opposition leader  drew huge crowds when he was vying for the Mayor’s post, but this did not translate to winning the election.

Revolution or Evolution

Last Friday , a group of nursing students were looking for a room in the Clinical Skills Unit which they could use for practising a play they were intending to put up for Nurses Day on 12^th May 2013. When I was trying to facilitate them in getting a room, I asked them what the theme was. They replied that it was ‘the revolution of nursing’. I was surprised that the nurses had revolted at some point in time!

I explored further if they knew more about the history of nursing but the reply, in unison, was Florence Nightingale who had started off life as lady of some good measure. I then spent some time asking them to further explore the subject and think of ‘evolution of the nursing profession’ rather than revolution. History of Medicine makes a lot of sense if we had some time to savour this aspect before contending with the commercialization of medicine.

My Many Firsts.

This small encounter made me reflect what I consider, now history. Again in my formative years they were many firsts. They impacted on our lives . They were the beginning of many more developments which we now take for granted.

The Cathay theatre was completed around 1963 opposite the old bus station before the bridge over the Malacca River which leads to the present Hang Tuah Road. The latter was known as Buovana Vista Road then (of good view). The first movie screened was Rockabye Baby starring Jerry Lewis (the comedian). We could only afford the 65 sen third class ticket. This comedy was good for a laugh and worth all 65 sen.  As we cane out of the theatre at about 7 pm there was a lorry distributing free bottled drinks. This was the first time I was exposed to SEVEN-UP, a lemonade drink. Prior to that we only knew of F&N drinks which came in larger bottles and the local production by LONG CHAN.

If you walked down the opposite side of the CATHAY theatre towards Wolferston Road where the Capital theatre was sited, what is now Bunga Raya Road, there is a busy junction. It was here that the first traffic light was sited. Amazingly it drew a huge crown over the next few weeks (as it only worked at night in the beginning). People just stood there watching the lights change from green to red to amber!

My first bicycle was purchased from a pawn shop for 28 ringgit. Though it was a second hand bicycle, it was in immaculate condition. The pride in keeping it  cannot be described  in words. The first week was spent cleaning the mud guards at least daily and giving it a good wash  weekly,  polishing the steel rim of the wheels  became  ritualistic. The more comments you got from your school mates that your bicycle looks  ‘fantastic’ the more you polished it till my father said that I could not purchase Brasso for the next three months! Although the most popular brand was Raleigh, my Robin Hood soon caught up with the adolescents. What appealed to us more was that it was made in England. I remember that you could not ride the bicycle without lights operated using a dynamo which was in contact with the moving wheel. This was a novel idea as the dynamo used to last forever. This earth was kept ‘green’ then  as there was no need for batteries and there was no need to dispose off ‘exhausted battery’. After 1962 there was police statement that all bicycles were to bear an illuminated red reflector at the back. This was on top of the non-illuminated reflector that came with the bicycle. This meant we had to go to the bicycle shop to buy a bulb and case with some electric wire. It did not cost more than 40 seen then. Failure to comply resulted in a fine of 20 ringgit. Bicycle thefts were far and few. This was because all bicycles were locked when left in public places. Moreover, you could not sell your bicycle unless you produced a sales-purchase paper.

Game for anything

The other day, as I was returning from my evening walk, I caught the sight of two Punjabi children, sons of a neighbour known to me. I had not seen them for awhile but they quickly recognised me acknowledging my presence. One was 6 and the other 8 years. They were playing with a football. I engaged them by asking them to kick the ball to me. The younger one was so enthusiastic that he started chatting wanting to be the best soccer player in the world. Just then I wanted to test my own skills and if they were still there and if the joints will be kind to me. To my surprise I could lift the ball off, with my toes so as teach them how to catch it without letting it slip off. I showed them how to perform a ‘dead stop’ when the ball came rolling towards them  and how to use both feet focussing on the position of the ball on the field as it approached rather than attempting to move the body so as to stop it with the dominant foot. They kids  got so engaged that they did not hear the Indonesian maid beckoning them to return home as the sun was already setting.

That reminds me of my early life at school. Our school days were never complete unless we were also involved in the sports arena. Although I have played almost all field games I only managed to play for my house and not for my school. I remember very vividly when Mr Tan Tiek Kok was trying to select a junior rugby team I went for several practice sessions. My small build did not let me take  on the role of full backs but I was particularly quick at being a scrum-half. After four sessions came the selection of 19 students. I was quite sure I would be selected but Mr Tan overlooked me. That pained me. A stocky guy, Reddy, who had been selected to be the full back, asked why I was not selected. Mr. Tan replied that I was rather thin and may get hurt-. I was shattered.

Athletics used to be held during the mid term and all school children had to participate. Although I had run the 100 m  (110 yards) for the school invitation team , I did not make much progress in that area and thought I could develop more stamina and go for the 400 m ( they were referred as 440 yards). Some practice runs before the finals (of 8 students) improved my confidence. Almost all were about my standard. So I wanted some tips to get within the first three . The athletic teacher said I had to develop my own strategy if I was to win. I had no idea what it meant. Observing the A division students run, I noticed that the winner had increased his speed by the turn of the second round (of e two rounds of the school running track). That would be the last 100 meters or so. I adopted a similar strategy as our B division race was just after the A division. We set off well after the gun went and I sped off the main pack increasing my speed after the first round, only to realise I had started to speed much too early leaving me with another 200 meters to cover. I was exhausted by the time I had covered 300 meters and my eyes swelled with tears as I saw three of the pack behind me ,overtake me. I struggled to finish the race in fourth position and went home in despondence without a medal.

I needed strength for javelin, so I dropped that; pole vault left me in the pit without as much so as even lift myself off the pole, hit my knees when I tried the hurdles and did not make it far with long jump as I lacked height. But I had not tried high jump. I got myself into the last eight and began some practice jumps. The straddle was in fashion but the fall was broken on sand and not cushion.  That was a bit painful. Initially , I did not have much hope but as they kept raising the bar I became better. It appeared to be all in my mind! I had to ‘hype myself’ and then, each time I approached the bar I got confused as to which foot I should take off with. This led to my failure eventually. Again I landed with a fourth place. I did no cry as this was a new event and I had achieved something.

When I was in Form 1 I enrolled in gymnastics and went to the sessions weekly.  My Chong taught us kiddies the rudiments of jumping, rolling, standing upside-down on our heads and various other moves. There were no parallel bars and high swings though as the school could only get enough funds for floor exercises. The enthusiasm was not sustained as I dropped out after a year.

I liked soccer and field hockey. All classes had to form teams and to encourage maximum participation the school organised inter-class competitions when I was in Form 2. That brought us all onto the field almost every Saturday in the third term. My class won the inter-class competition. The sports classes were always after hours and that meant coming back to school at 4.00pm. The high point of these afternoon sessions was the idle chatter we got involved after the games till late evening. The conversation ranged from, if anyone had ‘The Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ by D.J. Lawrence to the why my volley ball playing faulted. We discussed how soft ball appears like rounders and why the game lost its appeal after Mr. Pond, the American Peace Corps teacher left the school to go back to the United States.

Growing up in Malacca and attending the Tranquerah English School (primary) and the Gajah Berang English School (secondary) was fun and educative. The interactions with the dedicated teachers impacted on our lives. The holistic approach inculcating basic education, teaching debating skills and introducing a degree of sportsmanship was appreciated by all. The opportunities to excel in any field were huge and many exploited it. The loyalty one had for our school was tremendous.

Conclusion

The world has changed with climate change and environmental pollution affecting health and life. The politicians draw the fate of their citizens through both good and bad policies. Elections come and go and hopefully good citizenry and responsible governance will reign. Our early education in 1960s and 1970s prepared us to meet challenges and prepare for the hard crash, if and when they come. We learnt to live without race issues and discrimination. My Chinese and Indian friends were not only my buddies but also my soul mates.  We were exposed to good leadership and healthy habits.  Face to face communication was the order of the day as television only came so much later and hand phones were not heard of. Only the rich homes had telephones in their homes. Many of the current leaders have had a different kind of education and that would certainly influence how they make decisions and draw policies. We hope they will draw on the wisdom of the many senior citizens to craft good laws and regulations to continue to sustain this country harmoniously.

Sivalingam

12 May 2013