I often hear people complain about the liberal education system in the United States. Some say it's completely unnecessary, while some people (like me) prefer the privilege to explore and "hunt" for new areas that might be of interest. Perhaps it's cultural thing, growing up in a strict Asian culture which emphasizes on Math and memorizing, I have to admit that my education background has only given me the extraordinary ability to regurgitate large facts accurately. Maybe, that's why I applied to Oxford in the first place. I consider Oxford's special "Masala"(spice) of Inquiry Courses as the only education that is able to satiate my thirst to understand why I am even in college in the first place. For once, I wanted to know what and why am I learning something.
Last fall, I took sociology as a random class to fit my HAP requirement. I had no idea what sociology was about. To be honest, Google was my only reference to it's real meaning. It took me a while to get use to the reading load assigned by Professor Gordon. Nevertheless, it was never a problem. I enjoyed reading those reading assignments. They seemed realistic and practical. While my higher level math classes made no sense to me, sociology not only made sense but also challenged it. Of course, everyone thinks differently.
It was in this class that I watched a video titled "Brown Eye Blue Eye" by Jane Elliot. A teacher trying to educate her third-graders a lesson on racial discrimination. A simple but powerful video. ( Watch it )
Jane Elliot's extraordinary desire to make a difference was more than a classroom lesson. It was a reminder that each person can make a change if they wanted to. Since then, I've always been a big fan of small differences that goes a long way rather than big differences that make huge headlines. I had a vision to conduct the same classroom lesson in a Malaysian classroom setting, and with the support of my teacher (Mr Oo), Professor Gordon, Leadershape family and Jane Elliot herself, I had my first class lesson today.
I had to admit the road for this project was really rough. Being a picky big time dreamer, I had big plans for this idea. I wanted to target every secondary school in my state to be my specimen. Unfortunately, time did not permit and many school authority dismissed the idea saying it may be too provocative or unnecessary. Finally, I shrunk my target to a single class of 20 students.
The full detailed observation, methodology and discussion is here
I realized two important things today. How universal the theme discrimination really is. 30 years ago, the only famous discrimination was racial segregation. Today, we have gender, socioeconomic status and even sexuality discrimination prevalent among us. Makes you wonder, as we "progress", is discrimination really being eradicated or perhaps increasing with the materialistic differences we observe? Perhaps discrimination has always been part and parcel of the society and only now it's gaining the much deserved attention.
Funny thing is, we are all defined by discrimination. In fact, the term "discrimination" itself is different to each and every one of us. I noticed in class today how my theme of racial discrimination evolved to include sexism and bumiputera status (Malaysian racial debate). Let me ask you this, what is the first thing that hits you when I tell you the word "discrimination", is it fair me to assume that your first thought has to one extent shaped your memory and personality today. If it's true, then we have a long way to go in making a difference to eliminate discrimination. If no, then I stand corrected.
All my life, I've lived as a minority. From the the only Indian in my high school to the only current Malaysian at Oxford. Things has been both amazing and ugly for me. What keeps me going the thought that I represent something big. At Oxford, I consider myself the spokesperson for entire 29 million Malaysian population. It's no surprise I never fail to talk about Malaysia. The feeling of being a part of something bigger than you is a unlimited mana (energy source) that keeps you going no matter what. My advice, find your energy source and hold on to it. Believe it or not, this source is going to make you do things you never thought you would have done.
You know what else is a growing energy source of the future?
Change
