Ravindran - my long lost friend

One of the happiest moments in my life was finding my best friend from primary school R. Ravindran. Writing about our friendship is equivalent to writing a Masters dissertation. There is so much to write about us and I just do not know where to start. We are best friends right from Year 1, although we were missing from each others life for almost 30 years. All the other friends whom I met during my life journey remained as close friends or ordinary friends.
I cannot remember as to when and how our friendship started. I think it started when both of us were playing after school while waiting for our transport. Then, there was another evening where Ravindran's father brought a camera and took a few shots of us. I cannot remember anything else other than these two events in the first year.
We were always together for the rest of our primary school days. We waited for each other in the school. We sat next to each other in the classroom. During recess we sat together and shared our food. When, we were in Year 6, he checks out my daily horoscope through the Indian calendar. I copy his homework most of the time. Our exam marks were also more or less similar. Those days were really beautiful.
Our friendship somehow faded during the secondary school years. I do not know the cause but I spent the final years of my schooling life alone.
After SPM I kept tab of Ravindran. That is how I came to know that he is in University Malaya through another friend, Anand Jude Anthony. It was a rainy evening in 1985. I was unemployed at that point of time.  I was in Minerva Book Store at Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman when I bumped into Anand. I asked him about Ravindran and also obtained his address. We exchanged a few letters but somehow lost contact again. In the subsequent years I was very busy with my career and studies. Later I got married and was also actively involved in an NGO. I did not try to locate him again, as I had lost contact with all my old friends. Moreover, the information and communication technology such as the internet, hand phones and computers were in infancy stage. They were also very expensive. 
My search started again in 2006 when I went to Sekolah Tunku Mahmud to fetch my nephew. My nephew was in the same classroom that we studied in Year 2. That rekindled my old memories. I started looking for him again by asking people who are from Lambak Estate.  I tried to find out from the ex-students association. I searched for his details in the internet. But all proved futile.
In November 2008, while spending my holidays in KL, I came very close in finding him. I managed to get his Kluang address, a heading from his website, his occupation and his phone number through a website. But it was stated that he is in a shipping company. I started wondering what a chemical engineer is doing in a shipping company. I tried to access his website but failed. I tried calling the number but it was not listed. I sent an email but did not receive any reply. I gave up although I knew it’s him. In the subsequent months I was busy with my tuition center.
One day in mid 2009, I received an email from Zam-Zam saying that he is in touch with Ravindran. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. We subsequently exchanged few e-mails and had a lengthy chat before meeting up on 23 August 2009 at Pelita Nasi Kandar in Jalan Ampang. We chatted for about 3 hours. Both of us have transformed tremendously over the years. Later somewhere in November he dropped by at my office. Now we are hoping to meet for dinner in KL. We hope to meet up regularly from hereon.
Ravindran is now a Director of a shipping company.

SPM students allowed to sit for 12 papers

The Education Minister YB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin recently announced that from the year 2010 students who sit for their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia are allowed to take a maximum of twelve subjects reversing his earlier decision in June allowing only ten subjects. This is to prevent the students from placing too much importance on getting as many A’s as possible.

The earlier ruling has an adverse effect on Tamil and Chinese students especially from the science stream who wish to sit for the Tamil, Mandarin or Tamil Literature paper. They have to take 6 core subjects which include Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mathematics, Moral, History and Science. In addition, they are forced to take Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Additional Mathematics. Together they add up to ten subjects. So, they are left with no choice but to drop Tamil, Tamil Literature or Mandarin. This will result with no qualified teachers in future to teach Tamil or Mandarin in both national and national type schools. How will the Ministry of Education address this issue? Or, is it part of a bigger plan to implement the single stream system.

We must note here that the level of mastery of literature shows the level of language proficiency of a person. Did the Minister make a right decision by prohibiting someone from mastering a language? Well, he owes us an explanation.

In a blink of an eye, the human race has gone from the industrial era to knowledge era, in which knowledge and information are the keys to opportunity and advancement. To acquire knowledge we must master languages. Our vocabulary should be large. One of the most important qualities of successful leaders is an ability to express thoughts and knowledge. Human resource experts confirm that people with large vocabularies-those who are able to speak clearly and concisely, using simple as well as descriptive words-are best at accomplishing goals. The fewer the words, the fewer the ideas, the narrower the thinking, the less power in people’s minds.

All students must be proficient in at least four languages including Bahasa Malaysia, English, mother tongue and an additional language of their choice. Sounds crazy? Maybe yes, for the traditional thinkers. They may say that students will be burdened with too many subjects, or students will have no time to focus on other subjects or the prominence of the national language will diminish and so on. But for the creative thinkers, this is an interesting idea. They’ll look at all the benefits of being proficient in an additional language in a globalized world.

Just imagine what will happen if Proton announces today that they have made the ultimate car and any further improvement is impossible. Therefore all research and development will cease with immediate effect. Successful people will always think about ways to improve their quality. Absolute perfection is unattainable. This means there is always room for improvement. Likewise our leaders must find ways to keep improving the education system and create knowledgeable students for the nation to progress into the next era. For this to materialize our leaders should not have backward regressive thinking but forward, progressive thinking.

What harm can it do to the nation if a student sits for twenty papers? If the student can cope, then he or she should not be stopped. According to UCLA’s Brain Research Institute, the human brain’s potential to create, store and learn may be virtually unlimited. We could without any difficulty learn up to forty languages. Therefore, no one has the right to deny knowledge to anyone. After all, the student is responsible for his or her future.

The Batu Kawan Member of Parliament, Dr. P. Ramasamy intended to propose an emergency motion on this issue in the Parliament. But, we cannot expect much as the chances are that it would have been rejected by the Speaker citing it is not urgent. We have seen this happening all the time.

However, the Minister’s decision to reverse his earlier decision is very heartening. He has listened to the voices of the Non-Governmental Organizations and gave consideration for their views. We have to be grateful and thank them for their unity and persistence. They have shown solidarity by putting aside their differences and ideologies for the sake of the language and community.