I have purchased Interlok last week to see what the fuss is all about and completed my reading yesterday night. I personally believe that the issue plaguing the Malay literature text Interlok should not have been brought up in the first place, owing to the fact that the novel was written and published some 4 decades ago. I am utterly perplexed on why the MIC is throwing a tantrum on the issue in question that should have been put to bed long ago.
Individuals and organisations that oppose the novel to be made as a school text book are ignorant of the fact that the word pariah used is of paramount importance in the context of the novel. Mala Rajagopal, who boasts herself as a teacher of Malay language and History in her letter to The Star (Jan 17 2011 issue, N40), is of the opinion that the book will encourage learners to use the crude term rampantly. She also, in the subsequent passage, superficially pointed out that Interlok has failed to increase the learner’s knowledge, instill social values and above all uplift their self-esteem and self-worth as an individual.
It was a terribly irresponsible and false opinion from her as an educator. It implied that she took the novel at face value and utterly failed to discover the hidden theme of racial unity subtly accentuated throughout the novel. She also failed to acknowledge that as an educator, she assume the heavy responsibility to engage her students in intellectual in-class discussions on wide range of topics pertaining to the novel, such as the etymology of the term used, its widespread social ramifications to the past and current generations, etc. Only from these productive discussions, students are provoked to think creatively and critically. In other words, they should be encouraged to think within the bounds of logic and reason (rational) and not allow themselves to be emotionally swayed by lax, tempting opinions of individuals or organisations who intend to deceive the general public just to gain political mileage. Besides, via the literature texts analysed, a teacher is responsible in educating the students on how to use such derogatory words appropriately.
It also saddens me to read the following opinion from Mala, who is such a respectable member of the society and who also undoubtly plays an important role in educating the future leaders of our motherland. She, with such an admirable brevity, wrote that it is a shame that despite times have changed and much progress taken place we still insist that these young children revisit this particular aspect of the past. I, however, beg to differ. It is not a shame that children are encouraged to visit the dark side of history and benefited from it, but, it is indeed a shame if they are not given the adequate opportunity to do so just because someone without the full comprehension of the situation fears that it is detrimental to them. Being a History teacher herself, I am sure she will agree that history is bound to repeat itself as I am always reminded by my naggy History teacher and the subject textbook of that mundane but true italicised sentence. But how sure are we that the young Malaysian generation, particularly the Indian community, will not repeat that abhorring caste practices if they are deprived of indispensable historical knowledge of the issue in question, which I reckon can only be gained from literature texts such as Interlok ? Like the famous Malay proverb says tepuk dada tanya selera.
Just because something is controversial does not necessarily mean that we should refrain from discussing it and relating it to our younger generation. Like it or not, Interlok is there to stay and let us not be easily influenced by emotions when dealing with this issue.
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