Raise your hand – stop child abuse now!

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Announcement on 23 Sep 2011.

ARE THERE 100,000 PEOPLE WHO CARE ENOUGH TO STOP CHILD ABUSE?

DID YOU KNOW THAT AN AVERAGE OF 7 CHILDREN IN MALAYSIA suffered abuse every day in 2008, and these were only the reported cases? Many more experience abuse in silence and behind closed doors. Like all children, they too have a right to a happy childhood, free of abuse. Abuse robs a child of their health, development and dignity. It can also leave invisible scars on children, their families and society that last lifetimes, if not generations.

UNICEF has started a nationwide movement called “Get on Board” to provide the public with the information, insight and resources to stop child abuse. This knowledge will empower everyone to protect the children in our families and communities. Let us show our children that at least a 100,000 of us care. The more people who raise their hand to be counted, the stronger the campaign becomes to deter an abuser from hurting a child.

You can become a Campaigner for Children by hopping on our bus, and rallying others to join us on our journey to end child abuse in Malaysia.

Get on Board and help us spread the word to stop child abuse today! What will you do today that is more important?

Let’s unite against abuse.

Study in the US: Messiah College

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Announcement; College/University on 19 Sep 2011.

INTERNATIONAL ADMISSIONS COUNSELOR CINDY BLOUNT OF MESSIAH COLLEGE hopes to meet with homeschoolers (high school age) who wish to explore tertiary Christian education in the US. Parents and students may also raise any questions regarding admissions requirement, types of schools, financial aid, etc. Feel free to pass the word around to homeschoolers and students from learning centers..

Date: Wednesday Sept 21 2011
Time: 10am-12pm
Place: Mosaic Community Studio
2nd floor Centrepoint, Bandar Utama

[Download map to Mosaic Studio here]

IMPORTANT:
Please contact Lim Yuet Khim for further information.
Email or call to confirm attendance at:
ykhimchoo@yahoo.com or sms 012-3001348.

Messiah College is a Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, located in Grantham, Pennsylvania. The College is committed to an embracing evangelical spirit rooted in the Anabaptist, Pietist and Wesleyan traditions of the Christian Church. Its mission is to educate men and women toward maturity of intellect, character and Christian faith in preparation for lives of service, leadership and reconciliation in church and society.

15 key facts about homeschooled kids in college

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: College/University on 17 Sep 2011.

IN RECENT YEARS, HOMESCHOOLING HAS SEEN A RISE IN POPULARITY, with more and more parents deciding to educate their children not at a traditional school but at home, typically with a parent as instructor. But just like traditional classrooms, homeschool doesn’t last forever, and homeschooled students at some point will have to get ready to move on to college. Things are easier for homeschooled college students today, but in the past, these students were plagued by difficult admissions, culture shock, and more. Now, homeschool students often enjoy easier admission, better college performance, and even the opportunity to enter college with several credits already earned. Read on, and you’ll find out more about what the homeschool college student experience is like today.

1. HOMESCHOOLERS OFTEN ENTER COLLEGE WITH MORE CREDIT

Homeschooled students are able to work at their own pace, and as a result, students have the freedom to move significantly faster than those in a traditional classroom. Michael Cogan, a researcher at the University of St. Thomas, discovered that homeschool students typically earn more college credits before their freshman year than traditional students, with 14.7 credits for homeschoolers, and 6.0 for traditional students. Earning college credit before freshman year can save thousands of dollars and shave time off of a degree. The 14.7 average credits for homeschoolers represent a full semester of freshman year, which is typically 12-15 credit hours.

2. HOMESCHOOL STUDENTS DO BETTER ON THE SAT AND ACT

Perhaps benefiting from personalized test prep, homeschool students typically score higher on standardized college admissions tests. The homeschool average for the ACT was 22.5 in 2003, compared with the national average of 20.8. The SAT was no different, with a homeschool average of 1092 in 2002, and a national average of 1020. ACT and SAT scores are very important for college admissions and even financial aid, so doing well on these tests is vital to a great college experience.

3. HOMESCHOOL GPAS ARE CONSISTENTLY HIGHER

As a homeschooled student, you work on a flexible schedule. Young children may rely greatly on their parents for scheduling and instruction, but high schoolers typically become more autonomous in their studies, learning key skills for success as independent students in college. Research indicates that this time spent learning how to study independently pays off, as homeschoolers typically have higher GPAs than the rest of their class. Homeschool freshmen have higher GPAs in their first semester at college, with 3.37 GPAs for homeschoolers, and 3.08 for the rest. This trend continues with an overall freshman GPA of 3.41 vs. 3.12, and senior GPAs of 3.46 vs. 3.16, indicating that homeschoolers are better prepared for college.

4. HOMESCHOOLED STUDENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO ATTEND COLLEGE

Homeschooled students seem to be more likely to participate in college-level education. As reported by the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, more than 74% of home educated adults between 18-24 have taken college level courses. This rate is much higher than the general US population, which comes in at 46% for the same age range.

5. HOMESCHOOLERS ARE EVERYWHERE

Patrick Henry College is one college that specifically caters to the homeschool population, but homeschoolers are increasingly accepted in a wide variety of colleges and universities. In fact, homeschoolers are now in over 900 different colleges and universities, many of them with rigorous admissions. Some of these colleges include Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, and Rice University.

6. HOMESCHOOLED STUDENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO GRADUATE

Making it to college is one thing, but actually sticking around and graduating is another. Students who have homeschooled will typically do better than other students, with a slightly higher retention rate, at 88.6% vs 87.6% for traditional students. Graduation rates show a higher disparity between homeschoolers and the national average, with 66.7% of homeschooled students graduating, compared to 57.5%.

7. SOME COLLEGES ACTIVELY RECRUIT HOMESCHOOLERS

Homeschool students have proven themselves to be so outstanding that several colleges have begun to actively recruit them. Boston University, Nyack College, and Dartmouth are among them, with a Dartmouth College admissions officer recognizing, “The applications [from homeschoolers] I’ve come across are outstanding. Homeschoolers have a distinct advantage because of the individualized instruction they have received.”

8. HOMESCHOOLED STUDENTS ARE VERY LIKELY TO SUCCEED IN COLLEGE

Research and probability indicates that homeschooled students typically do very well in college, not just academically, but socially as well. Skills learned in homeschooling translate very well to the college campus, with strong self-discipline and motivation. Colleges recognize this advantage, including Brown University representative Joyce Reed, who shares, “These kids are the epitome of Brown students.” She believes they make a good fit with the university because “they’ve learned to be self-directed, they take risks, they face challenges with total fervor, and they don’t back off.”

9. HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPTS ARE OFTEN NOT REQUIRED FOR COLLEGE ADMISSIONS

Although traditional students will typically be expected to submit their high school transcript, homeschooled students usually do not need one, submitting other information instead. Sixty-eight percent of US universities will accept parent-prepared transcripts. Others will take portfolios, with letters of recommendation, ACT or SAT test scores, essays, and more, allowing homeschooled applicants flexibility in admissions.

10. HOMESCHOOLERS CAN PLAY COLLEGE SPORTS

As long as they meet standardized guidelines, homeschooled athletes can be awarded freshman eligibility to participate in college level sports. The number of homeschooled students participating in sports is growing as well, with up to 10 each year in 1988-1993, and as many as 75 students in the late 90s. Homeschool waiver applicants are typically approved, and in the 1998-1999 school year all applicants in Divisions I and II were approved, indicating not only an increased interest in college sports from homeschoolers, but an excellent openness in participation.

You can read the rest of the article “15 Key Facts” here.

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This article was posted by Carol Brown

Surviving the Ethos Debate Camp

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Extra-curricular Activities on 22 Aug 2011.

 15-year old homeschooler Joshua Kam was one of the participants at the Ethos Debate Camp in Singapore, organised by US-based Ethos Publications. Joshua was one happy camper when the grueling 5-day event was over. Here’s his report.

IN EARLY JUNE MY MOM AND I ATTENDED THE ETHOS DEBATE CAMP in Singapore and loved it – every gruelling, chaotic, kan-cheong, hilarious moment! It was an intense five-day camp that stretched both the limits of my cognitive stamina and the weary nib of my 2b pencil. But here I am, nearly two months later, reviewing my old notes from that week, and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

The camp was run by a group of Americans from the Ethos group, a Christian organization that emphasizes critical thinking coupled with sound, reasonable faith. So it is a Christian debate workshop to teach kids (in this case, homeschoolers) the basics of good debating. And that, I must say, was a badly needed foundation for many of us – myself included!

My mom and I arrived at the camp (held in a church) on the 6th of June. There were about sixty people in all, counting facilitators, students, and parents, who were encouraged to stay in and learn with the kids. After registration and a little bit of mingling, Tim Snyder who was one of the teachers got the older half of the camp together and off we went!

The first and second days were mainly instructive sessions. The teachers Luke Juday, Josiah McPeak, and Tim Snyder, taught us the basics of policy debate – how a standard tournament works, the art of critical thinking and developing smooth, eloquent speeches. My Mom and I remember how easily half of our notebooks got swallowed up in a combination of notes, questions, and reminders. We certainly learned a lot.

We soon found out that we’d only be studying policy debate in this camp. Policy debates are arguments over what should be done in a given situation (e.g. should the government arrange peace talks between Israel and Palestine? Or, should Malaysia make an alliance with the Czech Republic?).

The instructors then explained to us about the four stock issues that needed dealing with to make a logical plan-of-action in a policy debate. In layman’s terms, this means that your argument has to answer four crucial questions to make sense:

1. Topicality: Is this proposal/argument relevant to the discussion –are you really dealing with the issue?
2. Significance: Do the benefits of your proposal outweigh its costs?
3. Solvency: Is this proposal even plausible?
4. Inherency: Will this plan help us, or end up being the same if we had maintained status quo?

If you can defend your proposal clearly in all these areas, then you have a solid argument. I admit this is just a small sample of what our lively company discussed since I’ve barely scratched the surface. But I am sure you have a rough idea what we did there!

This intense, comprehensive crash-course was followed by opportunities for us to put those newly acquired skills into action. Throughout our last three sessions we prepared and practiced to debate the colourful controversies of Singaporean politics. Our topic was, ‘Singapore needs major changes in its electoral system.’

Already somewhat restless after two days at our desk, we were finally set free to hone our clumsy blades by battling against one another. Being Malaysian put me at a disadvantage as I had to research lots to make a decent case for either side of the debate. I think this explains why I lost two out of three rounds of debate in the final tournament that was held on the last day. But once I got over the mild ignominy of this loss, I left the camp feeling quite satisfied with myself.
To be honest, this was one of the most rigorous camps I’d ever been to. There’s some homework involved, and the debate rounds can be awfully stressful. But if you are willing to work hard, think on your feet, and do not mind researching late into the night on any given topic, I strongly, strongly recommend you attend the Ethos Debate Camp when it comes around next year!

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About the writer: Josh is a fifteen year old homeschooler who likes cookies, good books and tearjerker movies. He counts Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy among his favourites books. He is also the current President of our own Junior Public Speaking Club KL/PJ which meets once a month in PJ.

The socialization of indifference

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Book Review on 17 Aug 2011.

TALK TO ANY SCHOOLTEACHER and pretty soon you’ll hear how kids today are so difficult to teach. Sometimes it’s the issue of discipline, but mostly it’s about how disinterested they are in learning. “They just don’t care,” said a secondary school teacher to me once. “Nothing in school really interests them – all they want are tips to pass exams.”

So universal is this lament, the solution to disengaged students is practically the Holy Grail of education reform. Indeed, in his book Beyond the Classroom, Dr Laurence Steinberg offers a summary of data that confirms a large number of teens place school low on their list of priorities, with up to 40% just going through the motions in class. A third admitted to inattentiveness, mind-wandering and lack of interest, while another third said there’s nothing much worth learning, that they got by goofing off and fooling around.

When Beyond the Classroom was published in 1996, research led Dr Steinberg to declare that alienation of youngsters from learning was becoming ‘chronic.’ It appears others share his bleak outlook as well.

What has happened in the last decades to make students view school as a nuisance? Why has the value of learning – and doing well in school – taken such a beating? What can we do about it? Dr Steinberg offers a different perspective by arguing that we first have to pay attention to factors outside the classroom that influence attitudes, behavior, and performance in school:

“No curricular overhaul, no instructional innovation, no change in school organization, no toughening of standards, no rethinking of teacher training or compensation will succeed if students do not come to school interested in, and committed to, learning.”

In one study, foreign-born Asian teens outperformed native-born Americans on virtually every factor correlated with school success. Even American-born teens whose parents were foreign-born outscored those whose parents were native-born Americans. However the more they were Americanized, the less committed these immigrants were to doing well in school. Here’s the rub: assimilation into American culture by new immigrants showed declining education achievement and mental health with each successive generation. It was observed that contemporary US society pulled students away from school and drew them toward social and recreational pursuits instead.

There is something in the environment in and outside school that pours scorn on learning and Dr Steinberg calls it the socialization of indifference. I believe the package of traits common among American youths – academic indifference and disengagement – is increasingly present here in Malaysia. I once explained to a colleague that one reason our kids were homeschooled was we wanted to be their primary influence, and not their peers. As everyone knows, what’s happening in our school isn’t a pretty sight, I said. “Yes, but they won’t get to socialize with others their age and miss learning what’s good from their friends too,” he replied.

There’s a good reason why Dr Steinberg termed school disengagement an adolescent malaise. “Whoever walks with wise people will be wise, but whoever associates with fools will suffer,” says a proverb in the Bible. If a child spends an average of 6 hours in a class of 40 kids 5 days a week, it’s going to add up to a lot of foolishness in a a year. And that’s not counting the number of hours spent on tuition with more kids every week. (Plus the number of hours immersed in recreational media and hanging out with friends online and off ).

When everything around you is about dumbing down and just getting by, it’s hard to see education and self-mastery as worthy pursuits. When apathy to learning is perpetrated by the friends your kids socialize with and in the media they consume, good luck if you think all this is not going to make a dent on your son or daughter.

By educating our children at home, homeschoolers are standing up to the insidious socialization of indifference. I know it’s not a decision to be taken lightly. But given the current depressing statistical findings and the educational alternatives available, I am convinced homeschooling is the way to go.

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This post is the third in a series on Laurence Steinberg’s book, Beyond the Classroom. Read the previous posts here:
The Glorification of Stupidity
Another shot at school reform

Malaysian history textbooks too narrow, say our youths

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Malaysian History on 10 Aug 2011.

Homeschooler Elliot who was a participant at the KemSMS (Kempen Sejarah Malaysia Sebenar) Youth History Syllabus Revision Project gives a first-person account of the recently concluded event (read the previous post).

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“I AM IMPRESSED” said Dato’ Haji Thasleem Mohd Ibrahim Al-Haj, looking at our faces across the tables. “Why? Because it is a Saturday.”

We laughed. He continued on to belabour the fact that few youths these days would be willing to give up their precious Saturdays to participate in an educational review board, much less for a subject like History.

My school-going friends have always given the perception that history was a class recognized for its sleep-inducing powers. I can’t really say how I learnt history – there were no textbooks, just an endless row of historical fiction and ‘Did You Know?’ style encyclopaedias. It was never boring. That being said, I’ll be the first to admit that my history is sketchy. It was only last month that I acknowledged, with great shame and embarrassment, that I had been confusing the Napoleonic Wars with World War One. How does that even happen!? But I digress.

We were reviewing the national history syllabus for Form 1 to Form 5. The opinions of the fourteen of us (five home-educated, eight or nine national school-goers, from age fifteen to twenty) would be heard by a panel, and then submitted to the government along with other recommendations. We each had a textbook to cover, and we were to describe each chapter, as well as to look for bias and skewed facts. Then we were to present our own ideals for each Form.

So we did that. The main problems we found were that the scopes of the textbooks were too narrow. They were not engagingly written, and sometimes dwelled too much on a certain race or religion. Herodotus, the father of history, was only mentioned as an aside. Data was lacking, for instance, on the Portuguese and Dutch colonies in Malaysia, but there were chapters on end devoted to the British. Not enough had been done to recognise the multiracial background of Malaysia. There was also a dearth of world history in the syllabus.

One of the panel members described how her niece could not recognise the name Marco Polo, with shocked murmurs of consolation from the audience. Another talked about how the syllabus has been politicized, attempting to push the spirit of patriotism down school children’s throats. No, we agreed, history is not meant to teach patriotism. Patriotism will happen naturally if one is happy with his or her country. Trying to force a person to love something only sows discontent. A person who chooses to be patriotic has so much greater the worth to a nation than that of a person told to be patriotic.

Yet another described how the syllabus has developed an ‘ethnocentric and theocentric’ view that doesn’t teach students how to think or engage. Shouldn’t we learn instead about the growth of human thought – the development of democracy and science? Throughout all this, I had the feeling that the problems we were discussing for this single subject applied towards the entire system.

There should always be a striving to constantly challenge, to question. The ability to think, like iron, can only be refined through constant pounding and a red-hot flame.

When we ended, much was said about how young we all were, how outstanding we were, and how they’d like to see more of us in the future. Joshua, who’s fifteen, was told that he had a great life awaiting him. Phrases like ‘maturity of thought’ were bandied about. We all grinned and nudged each other.

Photos:

Top (L-R): Dato’ Haji Thasleem Mohd Ibrahim Al-Haj, KemSMS Chairman; Dr Helen Ting, Committee Member; En Bakar Sulaiman, Committee Member
Bottom (From 3rd left): The 5 homeschoolers

To learn more about the Campaign for a Truly Malaysian History, go here.

To support KemSMS, add your name to the online petition here.

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About the writer: Elliot Tan who was educated at home practically all his life is currently doing his foundation year in Business in KDU.
 
 

Homeschoolers add to Malaysian history debate

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Malaysian History on 6 Aug 2011.

Just in case people still think homeschoolers are totally out of touch with the ‘real’ world, here’s a peek at what some of our own kids are doing to further the review of Malaysian history textbooks. Thanks Bee Leng and Swee Bin for the heads up!
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ON SATURDAY 6 AUGUST, our own former homeschoolers Elliot, Ron, Ii Ern, Joshua, Jian Eu, and Jian Lin were among youths represented in a review of Malaysian history books conducted before KemSMS committee members and chairman Dato’ Haji Thasleem Mohd Ibrahim Al-Haj.

KemSMS stands for Kempen Sejarah Malaysia Sebenar, or Campaign for A Truly Malaysian History. The interviews which began on June 28 saw youths offering views and suggestions on history textbooks for Malaysian secondary school, and what they thought should be taught. Students were divided into teams to review textbooks presently used in Forms 1 to 5.

KemSMS was launched on May 15 in Petaling Jaya, comprising concerned parents, retired educators, scholars and representatives of several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including Sisters in Islam founder Zainah Anwar; Universiti Malaya law lecturer Assoc. Prof. Dr Azmi Sharom; and history textbook writer Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi. Representatives from ALIRAN, Tamil Foundation Malaysia, KOMAS, National Interlok Action Team (NIAT), Centre for Policy Initiatives (CPI), Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) and Malaysia Hindu Sangam are also represented in the 22-member group.

“KemSMS is planning to undertake detailed studies of the major problems and shortcomings in the existing syllabus and text books,” said Dr Lim Teck Ghee who is also KemSMS campaign spokesperson. “Our efforts in the long run are not only aimed at policy reform, but also to raise public awareness of the importance of fair, just and honest history that is inclusive of the contributions of all races and cultures in the country,” said Lim.

Photos:
Top L – KemSMS committee members; Top C – KemSMS Chairman Dato’ Haji Thasleem Mohd Ibrahim Al-Haj in yellow; Top R – Ii-Ern; Bottom L – Elliot; Bottom C – Joshua; Bottom R – Ron and Jian Eu (with mike)

To support KemSMS, add your name to the online petition here.

More about the Campaign here.

More photos from the review session, go to Swee Bin’s Facebook here.

Kam’s talking about homeschool

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: schooling on 4 Aug 2011.

Writer – Director Kam Raslan’s latest piece in Talking Edge is out. If you are a reader of The Edge business weekly, you will be familiar with Kam’s column (Options pullout) which purports to be replies to real letters in his mailbox. It’s consistently clever and always tongue-in-cheek, and this time he trains his wit on homeschooling while taking yet another swipe at the country’s education system.

Dear Kam,
Who do I need to talk to if I want to home-school my children?
Full-on Mum

As far as I know, I don’t think you have to talk to anyone if you want to home-school your children. I might well be wrong but I think nobody will notice if your children don’t ever go to school. All you probably have to do is not send them to school.

I’m not really sure if home schooling is a good or bad thing. On the one hand, you will probably give your children a better education at home than they would get at a local school, but on the other, going to school is about more than just studying. It’s also about a child becoming independent and learning how to interact with other people. You probably can’t teach “people skills”; it’s something children need to find out for themselves. School is also about learning how to deal with authority. I’ve met so many people who first sensed that something was not quite right with the country when they realised that what they were being told at school was utter rubbish.

Perhaps I’m not entitled to venture an opinion because I did not go to school in Malaysia. I went to school in Britain and although I had the best education that money could buy, I still failed all my exams. Somehow I managed to learn how to read and write and I also learnt how to finish the sentence, “I cannot hand in my homework because …” in many exciting and creative ways. I did my A Levels in a tutorial college where classrooms only had five students. If any style of education could have squeezed a result out of me, it should have been this. I took two years to study for my A Levels and I still managed to fail them all, and by very convincing margins.

(You can read the rest on his website)

I thought it might be good to read what you have to say about Kam’s comment that school is also “about a child becoming independent and learning how to interact with other people. You probably can’t teach “people skills”; it’s something children need to find out for themselves. School is also about learning how to deal with authority.”  He’s got his tongue firmly planted in cheek as usual, but the bit on interaction and authority should make for an interesting discussion.

The glorification of stupidity

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Book Review on 2 Aug 2011.

Laurence Steinberg’s Beyond the Classroom offers a very disturbing look at the state of education in US schools. I think we can agree with the author that before we start fixing school, we ought to think about forces outside the classroom that’s contributing to the decline of student achievement. He lists three, but we’ll look at the first.
Top on the list is what is termed the glorification of stupidity. We’re living in an age where foolishness is the defining characteristic trait of our heroes and it’s having a profound but unhealthy impact on our kids. Think Wayne’s World, Dumb and Dumber, Beavis and Butt-head, TV’s long-running series The Simpsons, to name a few. What is it about stupidity that fascinates us and our adolescent children in particular?

Dr Steinberg does not say that students have become less intelligent, but that they have become less interested in being educated than they were in previous generations. While he does not offer hard data, he believes the widespread popularity of these characters at a time when intellectual achievement is especially low does not appear to be a mere coincidence. “Never before have so many lead characters been defined by their lack of knowledge, their disdain for education, and their limited intellectual abilities. And never before have characters like this served as role models for so many young people,” he adds.

Bart Simpson’s dysfunctional family and lazy, ignorant dad Homer may be a bag of laughs, but the joke’s on us when we ignore the message these characters send, that stupidity is, uhm, kewl? You can say the same for the animated series South Park (which the author does not name), with its crude language and dark humour. South Park was written for adults, but it has a massive following among teens who are outside its intended audience , and you’ll be hard pressed to find a teen who doesn’t know Kenny and his maladjusted antisocial friends.

Perhaps you might be wondering if I’m making too much of an American issue (“Hey, Malaysian students doing well, what. Look at the number of straight A students in our SPM!”) It’s very simple – I believe there is a great commonality to human ill. With wealth and a growing middle-class, come the same kind of problems confronting the first world and pretty soon we too will have to pay the social cost of unrestrained capitalism, rapid urbanization, and the loss of a moral centre. Sure, go ahead and reform school, but it will go nowhere if everything outside the classroom undermines it.

Dr Steinberg’s book is a view from the frontlines. The broader issue of schooling has lessons for those of us who want to do better at homeschooling our own kids, so it’s important to understand what we are up against. Please note that homeschooling is not about isolating our kids. It’s insulating them with habits of heart and mind so they can tell the difference between what’s good, and what’s crude and rude. And isn’t that one of the things education seeks to accomplish?

Next post:
The socialization of indifference.

I marched for a better Malaysia

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Social awareness on 25 Jul 2011.

On 9 July, 19-year old Elliot marched at the Bersih 2.0 rally together with us his parents, along with thousands of like-minded Malaysians. It was an eventful and dramatic experience that will stay with us for a long time. I asked Elliot to rush out a brief account for a publication, but since it wasn’t used, I’m posting it here instead.

I HAVE NEVER FELT PROUDER OF MY COUNTRY than I did on the 9th of July, 2011. It was together with my family, and thousands of people of different races, religions, ages, and languages that I realized how much Malaysia means to me. A democratic government is a representation of its people, placed there by the people’s choice. Voting is an important right for any person – it is how they influence the country they live in. It is how they choose leaders who want what is best for the people. Why shouldn’t there then be clean and fair elections?

A demonstration happens because people love their country – because there is no better way for them to express their feelings. If other avenues of expression have been curtailed, the easiest way to show solidarity with an ideal is out there on the streets, shoulder to shoulder with their fellow man.

There were tens of thousands of people, showing their displeasure against injustice, standing on common ground. The Bersih rally was epic. I shouted, I marched. I felt an almost profound love for my neighbours. I held my head high. People sang and smiled. When the water cannons sprayed and the tear gas fired, it didn’t matter so much, really, because we were together. The noise was tremendous, and the air was filled with a riotous joy. We were all in the same boat. When it rained, we laughed, and marched and walked.

I have been alive for less than half of this country’s existence – I’m not even twenty. I’m a Chinese who doesn’t speak Chinese, a Malaysian who knows little Malay. But this is my country, and I love it.

I love it because I have hope, because I have faith that this country can become a better place. Change does not come easily, but I think that Bersih has shown that there are people who want it, and I believe that change will happen. That is why I stood in the rain on the 9th of July, and I would gladly do so again.

Photo: Ex-homeschooler and college student Elliot in un-Bersih blue with a friend from our church (in cap and shades), in front of Menara Maybank