The hairy scary rules of Chinese schools

Spotted on page 8 of The SUN today:-

DONG ZONG (United Chinese School Committees Association) president Yap Sin Tien said the education policy is not totally to blame for the weakening of Chinese primary school committees.

Some school committees have given up some of their rights and allowed themselves to be marginalised either because they are not properly organised or due to the bias of the people running the show, the Chinese press reported.

Speaking at the launch of the Chinese school committee awareness campaign in Kajang, Yap said school committees have a vital role to play as the community has entrusted them with the task of ensuring Chinese schools will keep abreast of the times to be relevant.

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The recent tussle between Dong Jiao Zong and the Federation of Chinese School Headmasters made headlines in the local papers and caused much embarrassment as well as deep concern among the Chinese community at large.

Thus, when I saw the above newsbite, I was instantly reminded of the myriad of problems affecting the running of these schools. It has always been and probably will continue to be, an uphill battle all the way for the Chinese community in Malaysia to hold on to their right to educate their kids in Chinese vernacular schools.

On top of that, they had to find ways and means to sustain such schools and ensure their survival based on their ability to continue to maintain the kind of high enrolment rate which we have been seeing in recent years, not just from the Chinese community but increasingly from other communities as well.

But I guess a lot of parents knew it in their hearts that the surge in popularity of Chinese schools is actually a manifestation of the rejection of national schools for various reasons. I would go so far as to say that it is not so much that Chinese vernacular education in Malaysia is superior to other forms of education, just that they are winning hands down by default.

Chinese schools are steeped in traditions that are so out-dated, one example which is manifestly ridiculous but still practised in this 21st century is the "hair ruling".

In most, if not all Chinese primary schools, the general rule is that girls must keep their hair no longer than the top of their shirt collar and they are not allowed to use hairclips or hairbands to keep their fringes away from their face. Which means, they must cut their front fringe short, above the eyebrows. So generally, the girls will have only 2 available choice of hairstyles, the bob (or "mushroom cut") or the boy's style ("7-up cut").

The boys in general all sport the same kind of crew-cut, what every kid knows to tell the barber to give him the "No. 1" (almost shorn bald) or "No. 2" (the 1 cm) cut.

I remembered very well when I was in Australia last year and one Australian shopkeeper mistook J for a boy because of her "7-up" hairstyle. When I corrected the lady, she expressed surprise and questioned me on why I gave my poor girl such an awfully boyish hairstyle. I explained that it was the school rule and before I could explain further, her quick response was, "What kind of a blardy rule is that? Hey Mike! See what they do to girls in Malaysian schools!"

*Sigh* I had to tell them that it only happens in Chinese-type schools and then I had to explain further why we have different types of schools in Malaysia. I couldn't explain why the Chinese school rules have such a "hairy" ruling though, except that it has always been that way. Maybe something to do with school discipline. I could sense that it was a pretty lame excuse to her.

The point I want to make here is this.

Is it still relevant in this day and age to keep to such a rigid hair rule in Chinese schools?

I really don't see the relevance at all. In fact, truth be told, I totally hated this rule. It's so "communist". And if the national schools didn't suck so much, I wouldn't enrol my kids in Chinese schools. That's the truth. And I suppose this is also true for the non-Chinese parents who put their kids in Chinese schools.

I hope to see the day when Dong Jiao Zong will realise that they too need to keep abreast of the times, lest they themselves become irrelevant.