Whether
scholarships are a right or privilege, might it also be a mirror that reflects
societal unfairness? Or could it be something more sinister, a slide by
seemingly bright lights into a black hole of nothing?
I was never a recipient of any
scholarship. It could be just my luck.
I was never poor enough for
relatives and strangers to tap their innermost conscience and fund my way
through university. I was also not brilliant enough for the government to be
ridiculed in denying me a fully-sponsored tuition and stress-free college
years. And most certainly, I was not "connected" enough to think it’s my inherent
privilege to lord a scholarship over others who were definitely more deserving.
Being neither poor, brilliant
nor connected certainly puts me in a little square.
Looking back, that square was
not really a bad deal. My parents could thankfully afford my public
university’s fees, even when they were mere government servants. I had brains
which were lazy out of habit but functioned rather well in distressing moments,
enough for me to scrape through the Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia and read
law in University of Malaya. And for not having the right connections, I have
the passport to be whatever I want without nosy Parkers having a say or stake
in what I am today.
Regardless, I have much to
thank my parents for. They made it a point to educate my siblings and I on the
value of education, and yet to similarly impress upon us that they do not have
the means for us to find that brighter future in some metropolitan capital.
We grew up believing that while everything was ours to achieve, no one owed us anything.
So while I may have grown up in an area which supposedly sees RM10 as having the
same value of 10 sen (according to a very helpful primary school teacher of
mine), I knew the path I had to chart after SPM. It was not one of those
foreign matriculation programmes where students would eventually study abroad.
It was also not opting for short-cuts which would cost a bomb but gets you
nowhere in today’s choked world of degrees and inflated egos. It was the plain
and simple STPM.
My parents also knew when to
put their foot down, especially during those trying moments of peer pressure.
At a time when one thinks that the world is his or hers to conquer, it was
difficult to accept that conversations of distant lands and greener pastures
didn’t include me. As childhood friends and familiar faces moved away to
further their studies, I remained rooted. Any trekking of unknown frontiers
became a daily journey along the Federal Highway, leaving behind my secondary
school for my dad’s alma mater in Petaling Jaya. While my friends grew
accustomed to the changing seasons, I got used to wearing turquoise knee-length
skirts instead of faded pinafores.
Life went on and despite some
bumpy ride along the way, I found my qualifications. But perhaps, not many parents
will share what mine has taught. Perhaps youths will not consider the choices
I made.
I came across a parent who was
seeking funding for his children’s studies. At the start of our conversation, the
father spoke on his ailments and unemployment status. He spoke little about his
children’s scholastic achievements and only when questioned admitted that his children
had yet to complete their diplomas at a private institution of higher learning.
Given this fact, I suggested he consider financing their diplomas with
a study loan as the scholarship concerned only catered for undergraduates. He
must not have welcomed those words for he responded rather tersely, "No, loans
have to be repaid. I want scholarship for my children!".
To strengthen his plea or
argument (depending on how you’ll look at it - personally, I’m in favour of the
latter), he went on to paint a dire outcome for his children. It was alleged
that his children are already not having proper meals as we spoke. Without
financial assistance, his children would have to drop out of their studies. In a
last-minute attempt to justify his appeal, he mentioned the name of the private
college at which his children are studying. And here’s the cruncher – he asked
whether I knew how expensive it was to study at that private college.
He rattled on a few other
"mitigating" reasons but none reached my ears. My brain was instead
considering the million thoughts running amok
after that particular question, each lost between notions of what’s right,
wrong and fair. I could possibly understand his desperation, the act of parents
wanting the best for their children. Which parent wouldn’t? However, I wonder
if that noble protective mechanism was somewhat desecrated by selfish
individuals or destroyed by financially unsound decisions.
Just as I believe that it was
not justified for the Federal Government to stop giving scholarships to
outstanding students even when the average Malaysian tightens his belt to
survive, it is also morally unsound in certain circumstances to demand
scholarships (or the idea that someone else must be compelled to fund for it)
as a right. Take the aforementioned father for instance. Unless his children
have effectively hoodwinked him, he would have known at the point of admission,
the costs involved for a diploma. We’re not even talking about degrees here. More
horrifying than the thought of paying through the nose for a child’s education
in a private institution is this - the unemployed man has more than one kid in
that same private college!
Though private learning
institutions are free to decide on their fees, no matter how exorbitant it is
to swallow, the ultimate decision lies with the parent(s) and youths in
question. Would they be able to fund their way for the entire course? And if
they know they couldn’t or run into risks much later, are there other options
or emergency measures which they can consider? Honestly, one could always
choose a lesser-branded private institution if public universities stifle their
style of keeping up with the Joneses.
Just as parents should be realistic in
matching what they want for their kids against what is really left in their
bank accounts, the children must also realise that their world will not end if
they don’t get to enter the same college as their friends. Maturity is often an
expensive lesson but having said that, why the need to unnecessarily drag your
family members through the swamps of bankruptcy?
Scholarships are not ropes to
pull irresponsible individuals out from follies of their making. They are
ladders which deserving students may climb for access to better opportunities. While
we could argue endlessly on whether scholarships are a matter of privilege or
right, let’s stop and look at it from another angle. For every scholarship
given and received, it is a commitment by a party to see that another gets the
financial backing to pursue a brighter future. It is also undoubtedly an
obligation for the latter to excel and repay the trust others had in him or
her.
It should not be, at any time, a tool that creates individuals with a
misguided sense of entitlement.
I think that is fair.
