INTERCONNECTIONS

I cannot help but to put my thought on the the case of Ranveer Singh, a fifth former in the school in Batu Gajah. The principal of the school ordered him to shave off his facial hair. When his father appealed, the principal did not even want entertain him, and asked him to transfer to another school if he is not happy (The Star, Jan 13, 2005).

I cannot but wonder why such an issue ever arose in the first place. When we were in school in the seventies to the early eighties, we did not have such a problem. We had traditional Sikhs (full turban, complete with facial hair and all), moderate Sikhs (much simpler turbans) and modern Sikhs (without turbans). We had no problem, our teachers had no problems, our headmaster surely did not have a problem. They respected the religious beliefs. More importantly, we did not thought of our friends and Sikhs - just friends. The school saw them as students - not Sikhs. We had good times and till today, I still keep in touch with my Sikh friends. We did however had a discipline teacher who walked round the school with a pair of scissors and was prepard to snip off the hair of any student whose hair was longer then stipulated in the school guidelines. Yes there were guidelines. They were fair and did not infringe on religious beliefs.

What happened over time? When did discipline guidelines got downgraded to such personal interpretation? Clearly the Ministry of Education's decision to allow Ranveer Singh to maintain his facial hair overrides the principal of the school's decision. Over time, aren't suppose to be a more integrated society, much stronger spirit of muhibbah?

It seems we are still not there yet. If I may add my two-sen worth, we have even taken a step back. From primary schools, the Vision Schools needed to be created. Why the need now? Parties have acknowledged that in local universities the racial divide is greater, from hostels to tutorial room interactions.

Then again, could it be just this particular headmaster? If so why? How can we remedy this?

More importantly, what will be our children learn and what will they be?

KV