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“One night we woke up to gun shots, and before I knew what was happening, a bullet had come through to the bedroom,” shared Ranganathan who explained that the Communists were firing at the house of the Estate Manager, a Scotsman, which was just next to his. “These near death experiences are hard to forget, but it made us so much the stronger having lived through them.”
“When I was studying my diploma, I also worked as a full time special needs teacher at a training centre. It was there that I observed the many learning inconsistencies caused by other aspects, such as dysfunctional familial systems and the lack of resources.”
“Inclusion is not a chair in the classroom. It is about empowering the collaboration between typical and A typical individuals,” said Charman who stressed that for this to happen, programmes that create and instill awareness is key to a better understanding of one another.
"It is only reasonable that all children are given the opportunity to start at the same point; because a fair race is one where all runners start off at the same starting line and finish at the same finishing line."
“How much of what we’ve learned in school is relevant to the real-world?” quizzed Pua who highlighted that there is much deliberation on how much of what is learnt in school actually makes a difference in real-life. “This is not a trick question, go ahead Google it!”
Ward-Jackson’s satirical account gives a profound insight into the inner workings of running a plantation; and the tremendous mental, physical and emotional demands that a planter shoulders in ensuring that the plantation under his care yields. The 21st century planter is an embodiment of his 1920s counterpart; but more.
“One afternoon, I rode past the Manager’s bungalow. The next day I was summoned, only to be told that in future, I would need to get off my bike and push it past the house, lest I wake Ma’am who was having her forty winks,” shared Awell. He went on to clarify that whilst the Mat Salleh bosses expected very strict compliance, they were generous with their knowledge and fair in their remuneration. “This played a crucial role in moulding me to become a resolute and resilient Planter.”
“I remember very vividly my childhood days, playing with the other children under the whitewashed verandah of our bungalow,” said Gopala who added that his father’s supervisory position in the plantation meant access to huge compounds and assistance from drivers and domestic help. “One can get use to the fame and grandiose of life on a plantation,” jests Gopala.
“The communities in East Malaysia are very tight-knit and there are no cultural barriers between people,” shared Wong who lauds that people are generally very accepting of one another. “This can be positive if it’s well-managed, and a negative if it is not.”
As holistic care and education continue to play critical and pivotal roles in young children’s lives, lifelong learning and healthy development, early childhood care and education (ECCE) received global recognition in 1990 when it was introduced as an integral part of basic education at the UNESCO World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand, whose declaration affirmed that ‘learning begins at birth’.