Books, schools and diversity

A friend recently asked me to recommend a few Malay storybooks for his 8-year-old daughter.

Apparently, the young girl whose mother tongue is not Malay, was struggling to keep up with lessons and classmates at a national primary school.

Hoping his daughter would improve her language skills and at the same time try, to fit in with her majority Malay-speaking classmates, my friend ended up ordering every single book on my list.

A few days later, I received a text message from him. He expressed disappointment over the content of the books I suggested. I was completely surprised by what he had to say.

“Dear Fa, thanks for your book suggestions. I must say, the syllable division guides in the books make them very easy to read.

“However, I do feel a little sad that the Malay books do not reflect our Malaysian society. I wish my daughter could see herself in the Malaysian storybooks she reads. Unfortunately, there is no diversity in the characters,” my friend told me.

Rich Malay folklore

I smiled as I read the text message. Though I understood what he was trying to say, I had to disagree with him.

You see, when I was growing up, I was an avid reader of Malay books. All the books I read had the least connection to me and my life as a middle-class Indian girl from Penang.

When I was in primary school, I read the tales of Pak Pandir, Pak Kadok, Si Luncai, Lebai Malang and other Malaysian fables.

In my teenage years, I began reading novels written by Khadijah Hashim, A Samad Said and Shahnon Ahmad – my favourites were “Badai Semalam” and “Ranjau “Sepanjang Jalan.

The books I read had Malay characters and made many references to Malay culture. Yet, I was not affected by not seeing myself reflected in the books I read.

In fact, it never occurred to me that the books I read should be related in any way to the reality I lived in.

The books I read gave me insights into human nature and relationships. It showed me how people cope with different obstacles and crises.

It also broadened my knowledge of the world around me. But most of all, the books stimulated my imagination and induced my love for stories.

There were no Indian girl characters in any of the books I read, but I still enjoyed reading them, nonetheless.

Of course, it would have been exciting to read stories that are so close to home and find characters that reminded me of the people I knew in real life.

However, I doubt my self-esteem would have improved simply because I saw myself in the stories I read.

Reading itself improves self-esteem. Reading itself is the key.

I reached out to my friend and started a conversation with him. I explained that good books are like mirrors and windows – some children need mirrors to see reflections of themselves in the books they read while all children need windows to see the world through the pages of the books they read.

I agreed that books should celebrate diversity – however, books that do not do so are still valuable. After all, a good book is a good book.

‘A good book is a good book’

And a good book should not be ignored simply because it doesn’t represent every race in our country. As long as a book represents humanity, readers should be able to find something of themselves in it — no matter the racial background of the characters.

My friend went quiet for a while before breaking the silence.

“Anyway, I should tell you that I am seriously considering transferring my daughter out of national school.

“With most subjects being taught in Malay, she is really struggling to catch up. But my only worry is, she will not be able to mingle with other students of different races in her new school. There won’t be diversity,” he told me.

I cracked a laugh and decided to tease my dear friend. I asked him if he thought Malaysian kids of different races were only schooling at national schools.

He raised his nonexistent eyebrows, clearly missing my sarcasm.

I told him that many people make similar mistakes when they talk about diversity in Malaysian schools.

Be it a national school, vernacular school, private school or international school – as long as it is a good school, there will definitely be students of different races and backgrounds to mingle and bond with.

In fact, more Malaysian students of different races enrol on non-national schools every year.

“Whichever school your daughter goes to, she will have friends of different races and she can still learn the Malay language,” I assured him.

“So, you are saying…,” my friend paused for a while before continuing. “A good book is a good book. And a good school is a good school?”

I nodded.

"Even without diversity, a good book is a good book and a good school is a good school." - Mkini

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FA ABDUL is a multi-award-winning playwright and director in the local performing arts scene, a published author, television scriptwriter, media trainer and mother. Her ultimate mission in life is to live out of a small suitcase.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.