Looking back and moving forward: Social work in the new Malaysia

The MASW was set up in 1973
almost half a century ago

By Jim T W Lim and Zaharom Nain**

SOCIAL WORK in Malaysia, we will argue in this paper, unfortunately, has not been accorded much credit, even credibility, for many years up until arguably perhaps today. Indeed, since it was formally and legally established in March 1973, and despite its membership of many international agencies, the Malaysian Association of Social Workers (MASW) and its members, and the profession itself, do not appear to be as well understood by the Malaysian public – and possibly even by the government – compared to more “established” professions, like nursing and physiotherapy. It is as if the problems that social workers attempt to resolve are seen either as unresolvable or too petty to entertain.

In this paper, we critically examine this scenario. It is, we argue, a sad scenario that needs to be addressed urgently by the state (government). Malaysia is part of a global system sharing similar socio-economic structures and institutions all of whom result in social problems of varying complexities as each nation in the system seeks to “progress” and maintain their own social sustainability against the pace of rapid development.

Our paper is made up of three parts. In Part I, we provide a “mapping” of social work in Malaysia, outlining its history, development, possible misconceptions, and contemporary concerns and directions. We ask here: Is there really “buy-in” by the various stakeholders? And if there isn’t, why not?

In Part II, we (re)introduce the almost forgotten, yet admirable, Vision 2020, tabled by Tun Mahathir in 1991, during his first stint as Malaysia’s Prime Minister. More specifically, we focus on just one of the nine challenges, the challenge to create a “caring society” by 2020. Using this as our go-to goal for social work – and looking at specific areas, e.g. children with disabilities, community foster families, safeguarding and protection of children, including bullying and drug addiction and elderly support and care – we examine and evaluate if there is sufficient professional and official concern and support for social work in contemporary Malaysia, and perhaps more suitably, ask if there has been sufficient political will. Our explicit aim here is to highlight these issues and to suggest better attention through “mainstreaming many of those services” as this may be a way to bring about equal justice to the victims, sufferers as well as improved services for the vulnerable sections of the community. Otherwise, they will always be marginalised in terms of any service uptake in a diminished resource pool.

This leads us to Part III, where we map out directions for the future, suggest types of developments which have been successful in neighbouring and international countries. Here we will also outline what would be the ethos and institutional support needed for social work to be provided professionally, for all Malaysians who may need such services.

• This is an abstract for a paper presented at the MASW-JKM-ISM international Social Work Symposium 2019, Kuala Lumpur, 27-28 April. Read here. Jim TW Lim (read more about him here) was a former Director of Social Services (UK). Zaharom Nain is Professor of Media and Communication Studies at the University of Nottingham in Malaysia.

Read the complete paper below (about 4,000 words):

1. Introduction

Good afternoon, colleagues. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to present what we may call a “think paper”, designed to provoke, to challenge and, hopefully, to suggest some ways forward for the profession of social work in Malaysia.

Our paper begins with the proposition that social work in this country has been woefully “stuck in the middle ages” (to borrow a phrase). We contend that its practice throughout the country remains mostly unseen and unheard – and unappreciated – despite the fact that there are at least nine higher education institutions producing graduates “fittingly” for this profession that is still widely unrecognised amongst the public. Is this an academic study, then, one of choice? Especially when there are few and far between opportunities in pursuance of a worthwhile career?

But, as always, perhaps it is pertinent to start from the beginning.

Zulkarnain and Zarina (2014), in a rather bland and descriptive chapter titled “Social work in Malaysia”, begin with the observation that [1]:

A few decades ago, the majority of the Malaysian public had never actually heard of the term ”social work”. The most familiar terms were for the welfare department, community, and voluntary work (gotong royong), which are closely knitted and often used interchangeably. 

What is evident is that, the situation has hardly changed. Indeed, as the authors themselves state towards the end of their chapter (ibid.), 

Social work as a profession is still relatively unknown to the public. Many still see it as welfare-related work (giving charity and dole-out by ministers’ wives), or volunteer work (gotong royong). There is a paradox among the policymakers; while they are concerned with the affairs of social issues in the country and see the need for social work programmes, there exists a certain vagueness of understanding of what social work education and practice really entails.

Indeed, to elaborate, social work in Malaysia is currently represented in the main platforms. That is to say, the majority of practitioners work in the Department of Social Welfare (Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat), now under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Services. These personnel are followed by hospital-based welfare officers, while the rest of social workers work in civil society organisations (CSOs). There are allied and related occupations in the criminal justice systems and within religious societies/charities serving their particular communities.

Unlike most western countries where family and child care law feature more prominently and social workers’ intervention often influence case outcomes, Malaysia’s family law for Muslims (who make up 60% of the Malaysian population) is largely governed by the Shari’a courts and the civil courts mainly handle such cases for the minority non-Muslim communities. Given this situation, it is not surprising that social work does not feature prominently as a recognised profession nor social workers as recognised professionals.

The Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM) social work “workforce” assesses and dispenses a whole range of assistance to individuals and families. It is commonly reported that many of the kind of assistance available is often not easily publicised and hence, uptake and publicity is through individual initiatives by the social workers.

Just as medical social workers (working from hospitals), undertake their functions strictly within that hospital’s policies (some hospitals, mainly private ones, are known to assess financial circumstances regarding ability to pay for treatment), the CSO-based workforce would operate within the organisation’s main operational service delivery arrangements. 

Likewise, within Malaysia’s criminal justice system, there are staff who perform various duties of probation monitors or parole enforcers, divided between juvenile and adult categories. 

Allied social work occupations may also be found in correctional and training establishments and the many large Government run children’s homes. As a consequence, many people frequently misconceive the social work function with counselling. This may well explain the lack of impetus in defining precisely what is social work and its potential benefits to the communities and to the institutions and agencies in Malaysia.

2. So, what do we have?

Principally, what we have is a range of tasks and activities which closely resemble the “social work function”, but so far have not been fully recognised. Such recognition, we contend, is crucial not so much for formality’s sake, but to ensure that the occupation is formally recognised and legalised. This would go a long way towards protecting the rights and interests of the public, while at the same time, upholding and maintaining the quality competency standards of social workers, like other professions in the service of the public.

Now, evidently, the whole idea and practice of care, protection, nurturing and support for sections of the Malaysian community is not highly regarded. They are, instead, widely seen as activities not for professionals but rather for families; and this usually means women and housewives. There is, thus, of course gender bias.

Since independence in 1957, Malaya – and, later in 1963, Malaysia – quite rightly prioritised its economic development, focusing on its abundant natural resources, later on industrialisation, and now supplementing all that with the service, tourism and other professional industries.

In the rush towards developed status, it would seem that the country’s duty of care for its vulnerable, aside from education, health and child care, has been left largely to community and voluntary efforts. Thus far, these efforts, quite often have had to be shouldered by religious organisations and CSOs.

The Alliance and later the expanded Barisan Nasional (BN) government for the past 60 years evidently saw its role as only intervening for those with the highest need and, perhaps, those who could command huge public concern. There was seemingly little or no thought given to the idea of universality in social or welfare benefits and care.

We would therefore argue, given this scenario that, despite the formation of the Malaysian Association of Social Workers (MASW), almost half a century ago, in 1973 and the setting up of a social work academic programme in 1975, that there is still much to be done.

Indeed, at this stage – and in this first part of the paper – we would argue that there has not been enough “buy-in” by the various stakeholders and communities in contemporary Malaysia, leaving social work and social workers still very much unappreciated, unrecognised and unattractive in a very real sense – as a profession by wider society and as a viable area of study by potential students.

3. So, where can we go from here?

In 1991, during his first stint as Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, announced his Vision 2020. It captured the imagination of the Malaysian public and the “Vision” was widely discussed, if not adopted, in similar developing countries. Of the nine challenges the nation needed to overcome in order to become “developed”, the challenge to become a Caring Society is instructive and of concern in this part of our discussion.

After he stepped down from his stint as PM in 2003, his Vision clearly took a backseat under both Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and later, the now internationally famous (for the wrong reasons) Najib Abdul Razak. 

But since Mahathir has returned as PM, perhaps it is time to revisit one component of Vision 2020, the creating a Caring Society component, even if 2020 is just around the corner. We believe that the concept of a Caring Society should – and will – go beyond 2020. It should therefore be the basis for the development of potential directions social work can take.

It is a simple enough concept – that apart from economic and political development (also targeted in the Vision), Malaysia and Malaysians also need to be humane and take responsibility for looking after each other, caring for each other. The concept recognises that (Malaysian) society is not monolithic and that, generally, the strong must take care of the weak, the poor, the vulnerable (the elderly, the disabled, the young, for example). The marginalised must no longer remain marginalised. It is to be a commitment and duty by all in Malaysian society.

In a Caring Society, we cannot merely allow “social work” to be narrowly defined as the welfare of charity activities, like those headed by groups like the “wives of ministers” group, publicly committing themselves to performing patronage to various selective social welfare CSOs and “doing their bit”. 

In a Caring Society, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Services must do more. The ministry was seemingly established for all – often uncontroversial - matters affecting women and families and anything vaguely classified as “community affairs”.

Its history and uneventful performance under the BN government, suggests that it is a convenient ministry which dispenses aid and welfare as circumstances dictate. It has not really plotted viable and sustainable strategies and even policies for social work and social workers, to provide recognition and help elevate the profession and its professionals.

But let us look briefly at what services segments of Malaysian society currently receive and which are found wanting.

3.I Children with disabilities

Services are infrequent and sometimes non-existent depending on where you live. Many parents cope well, often with the families’ own resources and many rely on the charitable organisations or religious groups within their neighbourhood. 

The Welfare Department will only become involved if there is an urgent referral due to a service shortfall. As we know, the key issue with those children living with disabilities is the capacity of the families/carers and we feel that such parents should be given more help and support.

**The strategic aim here must be to professionally and substantially support carers of children who suffer from significant and substantial disabilities. 

There appears to be a trend, seemingly following trends and practices in early western societies, for children at risk, such as orphans and children whose interests are better served away from their natural parents, to be placed (housed) in government homes. These institutions are large and often resemble state “prisons” for children.

We would endorse the efforts of the national charity, Orphan Care, whose key objective is to enable children to remain within families instead of being raised in an institution.

Again, we would urge the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to rethink BN regime’s practice of placing children under 18 years into such residential homes. They are inappropriate and deny many children the necessary personal and relationship skills development often found in small family group arrangements. 

We feel that, as a first step, the PH government, must begin a serious audit into both the financial and non-financial costs of maintaining these types of homes, and undertake research into residents’ outcomes.

Alongside this – and perhaps as urgent – is the need for government efforts to promote “fostering” as a worthwhile and legitimate task by the community in caring for the less fortunate. 

Fostering, as an activity, is the provision of a “family substitute” for the child, capable of offering asylum and care. Herein would lie a crucial (new) role for trained social workers – carrying out systematic and rigorous checks and assessments on these “foster families” as is done in many developed countries.

The government, in partnership with CSOs, must begin a campaign to promote the concept of fostering and allocate resources for the task. After all, an “abandoned child” or a “child deemed in need” in the country, must be the responsibility of the government.

**Hence, the strategic aim here is to ensure the all children or young citizens are entitled to – and given – good care and parenting and the majority are satisfactorily cared for by their own families and in their own family settings.

However, where there are those whose less fortunate lives are denied this entitlement, it is incumbent upon the state to take over a corporate parenting role. In the case of Malaysia, it does do that. But we feel that the institutional residential care provided is inappropriate and, instead, such children should be in foster care homes or in registered small family group homes. And professional social workers would play a key role in monitoring and supervising these homes.

Children are vulnerable and they always need protection and they often need safeguarding. By this, we mean that all institutions that cater for children must have operating procedures which do that without compromise. 

Malaysia has legislated for child protection and that is a start. However, it seems to have failed in developing any programme for monitoring its efficacy in enforcing the legislation as there are reported child deaths and injuries either at homes or at institutions which care for children.

So, is the legislation failing? Or is there a deficit in understanding its operational requirements amongst the multi-agencies concerned? We suspect it is the latter. We also feel that at the heart of this is the lack of urgency or importance attached to this amidst the many other functions the agencies undertake. We are referring to schools, children’s centres, clubs and such like. Being CSOs, most are not professionally vetted or even licensed due to confusion and apathy between state and federal agencies. Here again, well-trained teams social workers would be welcome, indeed necessary.

Malaysian secondary schools for older children have been under the spotlight for their failure to protect their own pupils from bullying and intimidation. Reports have surfaced that some teachers turn a blind eye to such instances due to their own fear, or a lack of confidence in their own school management’s ability and desire to deal with such matters. This is unacceptable and it boils down to poor discipline due poor management in such schools which can also result in instances of illicit drug-taking.

** The strategic aim here is to ensure all agencies with children as a service user must be rigorously inspected and monitored, to ensure that children are safeguarded and protected as far as possible. We contend this is currently not being down systematically. And, once again, it is not that difficult to envisage professional social workers coming into the picture and taking up the slack.

3.II Elderly support and care

We contend that many of the services catered for elderly people are either poorly resourced residential establishments or hospitalised care. There is little publicity or priority given to services which may extend an elderly person’s life, based on their own choosing. Or if there was a better range of services. We are thinking of the yet undeveloped area of community based care.

There are many elderly persons who would do anything, if only they could continue to remain in their own homes for as long as they physically and mentally can, but for want of the right support services.

We propose a “care-giver” service that will perform this role. For many, this would be life-changing and it would enhance the quality of the person’s life. This care-giver would perform all the tasks necessary to maintain “aid to daily living” and would act to befriend, to assist and to provide for the individual person.  We need to pursue, in this regard, routes to secure basic training and accreditation for this new workforce, to end in attaining vocational qualifications. 

We wish to distinguish this role from that of being a maid or a nurse. Their primary task is not purely domestic nor is it dispensing action in accordance with a medical treatment plan. Theirs is the role of confidante, a professional companion well versed in the needs of their “client”. Once again, here, we see that crucial role that a trained – and preferably experienced – social worker can and must play.

**The strategic aim here is to extend options in service provision for the elderly in our community, so as to enable them to live life with greater dignity and independence and to enhance their quality of life in their advancing years. Here again, residential confinement should be a preferred last resort.

4. Moving forward Post-GE14

We started by outlining the beginnings of social work in Malaysia. In the second section of our presentation, we discussed some the problems social work faces in contemporary Malaysia, alluding to Vision 2020 as providing a possible road map. We conclude here by trying to chart out directions for the future.

Here we will also outline what would be the ethos and institutional support needed for social work to be provided professionally, for all Malaysians who may need such services. 

Social work, as a profession befitting of an advancing nation like Malaysia, needs full recognition by the various communities and institutions in Malaysian society. The profession needs affirmation by the government of the day.

Given that we now have a new, purportedly reform-minded government, we feel the first step that needs to be taken is to table the languishing and virtually abandoned Social Workers Bill in parliament. This proposed “Social Workers Act” having been scrutinised through its technical committee for years now simply needs passing.

We contend that the passing of this piece of legislation will immediately boost the morale of countless social work personnel in Malaysia. It would give notice that Malaysia recognises the contribution this newly approved profession has made to the peoples of this country, including, but not exclusive to, children and families.

More, those universities which have been running graduate programmes will feel vindicated. Official and legal acknowledgement through the Act, we believe, will help make social work climb up the popularity ladder, thus helping its programme and courses to be presented as “preferred ones”, as opposed to those less popular ones often “still available”.

At the same time, it will help open up new research opportunities in a complex sociocultural and political environment like Malaysia in this long-neglected area of the social sciences. 

This will in all likelihood also signal the beginning of more carefully “thought-out” social services which are safe, appropriate and sensitive to users, almost all of whom are vulnerable and in great need. Importantly it will ensure that mainly, if not, only the committed and genuine, will be “entrusted” with the task of protecting, supporting and caring. This, in turn, will provide opportunities for greater innovation in service delivery from all sectors involved in social care.

The present set-up of government provision, supplemented by the voluntary not-for-profit sector will most likely change, as service users will begin to dictate the changes in provision to suit their needs.

In many developed countries, social work and social care services are localised. They are run by local authorities following prescribed frameworks set by government so that services can be consistent and comparable, in quality terms. The belief behind this is that local people are best placed to identify needs and arrange provision.

Similarly, services will not necessarily be all state provided as other providers oftentimes can do a better job. Hence, a mixed economy of care is often the case in many developed countries.

In the above scenario, which Malaysia could successfully emulate, the federal government will provide service frameworks, set service and practice standards, regulate and monitor management and service delivery, and enable local authorities to deliver services in partnership with a range of local or national specialist social services providers.

In practical terms, the developments will hopefully see the establishment of a professional agency concerned with regulating the profession and with licensing of the services related to this field. 

All social workers will require registration for practice, for employment, just as doctors, nurses, and others do. All service providers, from child services to adult support and to elderly care services will also be subjected to fee licensing and inspections.

This proposed Social Care Commission will also be concerned with determining the minimum standards of education and training and will collaborate with the Education Ministry on accreditation and quality assurance matters. 

We have suggested a road map and a broad workable framework; we hope the government will give the long awaited matter its deserved consideration. We believe this will lead to the wide-scale recognition and development of social work and the enhancement of this area as a deserving profession and its practitioners marked out as respected professionals.

[1] Zulkarnain A Hatta and and Zarina Mat Saad (2014): “Social work in Malaysia”. Book chapter in Christine Aspalter (ed), Social Work in East Asia. Routledge: London. https://ebrary.net/2165/sociology/resources_structure

Veteran scouts

THIS STORY appeared in the Metro North section of The Star newspaper on 23 Apr 2019. It is time again to applaud our old Westlands Primary School senior, Datuk Khoo Yeoh Gan Hong, for his scouting achievements. If you peek closer at the picture, you’ll see Ong Seng Huat there too. He’s the current vice-president of the Penang headquarters of the Scouts Association of Malaysia. For those who are unable to read the small print in the newspaper story, it is reproduced here below:

OCTOGENARIAN Khoo Poh Sen was the only woman who received a service medal during the Scouts Service Award ceremony at the Scouts Association of Malaysia’s Penang headquarters in Jalan Scotland.

“I became a Scouts in 1964, and back then my focus was grooming the younger Scouts in schools. I have never felt out of place with Scouts. We were always focused on the activities and projects we were doing together as Scouts,” said the former secondary school teacher after receiving her service medal.

The 83-year-old said she spent the best part of her life providing services to the community through the scouting movement. Khoo, who retired from the movement in 2015, was among 14 Scouts who received medals for their long service.

The oldest recipient was Datuk Khoo Yeoh Gan Hong, who was all smiles when he recalled his days as a Scout. “Once a Scout, always a Scout,” the former Penang Scout commissioner said when receiving his medal for 51 years of service. The 91-year-old has dedicated most of his life providing services to others through the scouting movement which he first joined in 1937.

“I was just nine years old then. It was a simple start, and everything that came later is history. Being a Scout, I realise that I cannot stop just yet, as there are always more inspiring things to do and more people to help,” he said.

National Scout chief Tan Sri Shafie Mohd Salleh, who presented the medals to the recipients recently, said he was touched by the services of the veteran Scouts.

“All of us are very proud of the icons and veterans who have been there with us, and for us. As Scouts, I believe the veterans and previous Scout members will always be close to us even after they have left their posts. We are humbled and appreciative of all the years they have put in as Scouts. We hope the younger Scouts will be able to learn from them,” he said in his speech.

Explore new paradigms on work culture

Republished from New Straits Times, Apr 9, 2019,
with the author’s permission. Read the original here.

By Yong Soo Heong

AMERICAN philosopher Henry David Thoreau once said, “It is not enough to be busy. The question is: what are we busy about?”

That certainly is worth pondering over as I am also reminded of that famous Penang Malay aphorism of “pi mai, pi mai, dok tang tu jugak”, which is somewhat similar to a situation of much ado about nothing when things don’t get moving despite a lot of hot air. Like some wisecracks may say, “busy doing nothing”.

A lot of these uncalled for remarks are often misdirected at the country’s 1.6 million-strong civil service. There might be some truth about ineptness and lack of enterprise among a few (or those who are too enterprising when they call the shots at administrative or regulatory “roadblocks”) but the vast majority are really a disciplined and hardworking lot.

Some time in February in the midst of the Lunar New Year festivities, a small but heartwarming news item caught my eye: the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) saved RM1.6 million last year in terms of operational and maintenance costs by just implementing a radical idea. It was certainly something worth shouting about as it was about mindset change and raising productivity at the workplace.

Through a programme known as Smart Employ Decision (SED), MPK decided that its 26 multipurpose halls only needed one person to run instead of four previously! Either that was thinking outside the box for productivity or sheer exploitation, it depends on how one sees it.

MPK’s handyman was deployed to handle multiple tasks on a timetable that starts from 8am to 8pm, with breaks in between, on each working day. He has to undertake tasks ranging from landscaping and cleaning to overseeing the security of the halls. MPK president Datuk Mohamad Yasid Bidin was reported to have said that the SED initiative meant that the cost to operate one hall has been slashed to RM3,880 a month as opposed to RM9,110 previously, without employing extra staff. That meant MPK would save RM62,760 a year from the operational costs of one hall, and RM1,631,760 for all 26 halls!

The numbers were impressive. If all local councils in the country were to adopt what MPK had done, there will be enough money to expend for development and benefit ratepayers in each local council’s jurisdiction. Like repairing public playgrounds or sprucing up public parks that seemed to have been given lesser priority these days under the guise of a shortage in government funds.

As one of MPK’s key initiatives to reduce costs, raise revenue and encouraging manpower effectiveness, SED trained its handyman to manage the halls single-handedly. After six months, MPK’s handyman was promoted and given the title of multipurpose hall manager. Whether he was entitled to a portion of the costs saved, it wasn’t divulged.

MPK’s initiative to instil greater sense of ownership, confidence and trustworthiness in its manpower planning ought to be lauded. Its revolutionary approach has shaken the myth that government entities do not take an entrepreneurial approach in their responsibilities. The above example has shown that leadership is about encouraging people and stimulating them. It is about enabling them to achieve what they can achieve and with purpose. Sometimes an enabling environment helps. Take for example the pledge by Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari that Selangor state civil servants would be given more than two months’ bonus if they met their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) this year. They would be evaluated by their departmental and individual KPIs. But he cautioned that some may even get a bonus of only a quarter or half a month’s salary. Last year, every Selangor state government employee, irrespective of performance, received a blanket sum of two months’ bonus. But it is going to be a whole new ball game this year.

That new reward paradigm needs to be expanded elsewhere to shake up the entire civil service. Datuk Seri Ismail Bakar, the Chief Secretary to the Government, said late last year that good leaders within government agencies and ministries were needed to lead and motivate government servants and remind them of their loyalty to the public.

What was even more telling was when he said that government servants should stay neutral and be loyal to the government of the day and, more importantly, the people. Ismail knows that it is going to take some time to change mindsets but it has to start somewhere.

The efficiency of the public sector as a facilitator when dealing with national development cannot be overlooked. Government employees, be they in uniform or otherwise, must take cognisance that they are part of a system that serves as an important catalyst in pushing Malaysia’s aspirations to be a more developed country by facilitating efficient and effective implementation of government policies. Incidentally Malaysia was ranked 23rd out of 137 countries under the World Economic Forum’s 2017/2018 Global Competitiveness Index. A commendable achievement indeed, but certainly Malaysia can punch above its weight if new paradigms on work culture and productivity can take root like those at MPK. That has to start now.

• Datuk Yong Soo Heong is a former chief executive officer and editor-in-chief of Bernama. Read more about him here

Khoo Chuan Keat, RIP

ONE OF our schoolmates from Westlands Primary School, Khoo Chuan Keat, passed away last week on 20 February 2019. Only last December, he had observed his 64th birthday, as had all his friends who were born in 1954. Some of us will have known him since Standard One in Westlands Primary School and some others will recall knowing him from Standard Two or even later. Many would have even carried the friendship over to secondary school days and even after retirement but no matter when it was that we first met him, we are all agreed that Chuan Keat was a staunch friend.

Chuan Keat in Standard 1B, 1961. He was standing in the back row, second from left.

Teoh Chye Teik, RIP

IT IS WITH sadness that we report the passing of one of the former teachers of Westlands Primary School and Penang Free School. Mr Teoh Chye Teik was 83 years old when he died in Singapore yesterday. For many of my old schoolmates from Primary school, he was the Class Teacher of Standard 6 Red in 1965.

Teoh Chye Teik was an Old Free and he was selected by the then Headmaster of Penang Free School to join the teaching staff there in the late 1960s. He excelled in playing Cricket and Tennis, and had represented Penang and Malaysia in Cricket. At the Free School, he taught Mathematics.

Teoh Chye Teik attended the Bicentenary dinner of
Penang Free School in Oct 2016

One of our schoolmates, Siang Jin, penned this fitting eulogy to our old school master today:

“I remember Mr Teoh Chye Teik for a number of things:

(1) When a visiting West Indies cricket team played Penang during the time he was captain of the state team, he mentioned that he was blue and black all over and could hardly see the ball when the fast bowlers were fielded. The Penang side nevertheless tried to play their best against the Windies.

(2) Dato Tan Boon Lin mentioned recently that he specially selected many teachers for Penang Free School to beef up teaching and co-curricular quality. Mr Teoh was one of the hand-picked few.

From the 1971 issue of the
Penang Free School Magazine

 (3) He taught General Mathematics in the Arts stream and, according to Sukumaran, our classmate, he had a methodical way of solving matters like "plan and elevation". I remember that very well. That gave us a fighting chance against the Science boys.

(4) His sternness, which is appreciated by those who learned under him, is legendary. On his first day in Form 4A in 1969, he asked Michael Sak and me, with two others, to stand up and warned us that we should behave -- which we did. Subsequently, everything was OK.

(5) He was a dedicated teacher and coach.”

Hiking, Job Week and a bit of history: Scouting at WPS (1963-65) Part 3

HIKING WAS a very common activity for Scouts: We are thankful for photos of them. Westlands Primary is lucky that one of its scoutmasters, Mr Hwang Hong Shi, saw it fit to take and organise them in albums (above).

During our time at Westlands, the scoutmasters, Mr John Low Thean Hock and Mr Vellasamy, were not as adventurous as Mr Hwang Hong Shi and Mr Thomas Khor who took a group of 12 Scouts on a trek to Taiping and Maxwell Hill and back. Read here. Truth be told, our parents would not have given us permission to go on such a journey – not mine, anyway. Nevertheless, we had a few small adventures.

Hiking up Bukit Cendana: One morning in 1965 about 20 of us gathered at Mr Vellasamy’s home along Waterfall Road (if I am not mistaken) and headed for the Moongate. It was my first hill hike. On the way up the trail forked. Mr Vellasamy, in full Scout gear too, guided us up one path (the right); the left would have taken us up to Penang Hill. Read details here. Atop the hill was a dilapidated bungalow overlooking Tanjung Tokong, Pulau Tikus and the city. We stopped there for a small picnic. The building has, apparently, been burnt down. There are a few pictures of it, taken in the 1970s by Rob Dickinson, in this post here.

The view was breathtaking — the huge cluster of houses below set against the sea without obtrusive high-rises and the abundant greens; they made us very proud of Penang. We thought we had trekked through virgin forests but it was not true. The British had cleared much of Penang’s hills for the planting of spices in the 19th century. There were warnings of environmental degradation and their ill-effects (like climate change!) from as early as 1848. Read here.

Picture taken in 1930s or 1940s showing large patches of Bukit Cendana that had been stripped of vegetation. Source: anilnetto.com. Read his story here

Using the Mount Erskine route to reach here, we passed
through Pulau Tikus, Gottlieb Road and the cemetery.
Photo by Liu Ruxia on Flickr 

Journeying to Choong Lye Hock Road: After getting the Tenderfoot badge, we took some of the tests for Second Class. It involved a “journey”. A few of us decided to walk from the school to Mr Low’s house. It required us, among others, to draw maps, provide landmarks, name the roads and give directions. This is one of the reasons I cannot forget his address. Regretfully, the map book that I drew with meticulous detail is gone.

Job Week: Every Job Week, I would classify the people I do “jobs” for into three groups (a) donors (b) socialisers and (c) people who want serious work done. I would approach my grandfather, parents, uncles, etc, to donate on my Job Card before heading off to other homes. The uncles and aunties who wanted to socialise would invite us in for tea and biscuits after doing a token job like cleaning the wheels of their car or polishing shoes.

Mr John Low (right) with Mr Cheng Hin at the 2003 gathering

of Old Frees (1970-72), Bukit Jambul Country Club on 2nd 

February. We invited him because he taught many of us. 

Mr Low has passed on. When I went to fetch him that day, he 

talked about preparing to hike up Mount Kinabalu: “Once a

Scout, always a Scout,” as people say

The people I dreaded most were those who wanted serious work done. One old lady got us to weed an entire garden. While the space was small, just a patch in front of a linked house, the weeds were thick and there were numerous garden furniture (a swing and large stands for potted plants) that we had to crawl under. It was back breaking but, sportingly, we completed the job and was amply rewarded with a very grateful smile and one dollar to be shared among the two of us.

The general “Burmah” (including Salween, Tavoy, Irrawaddy and Mandalay roads) and “Birch Road” areas were our favourites because they comprised linked houses. The distance between the houses was much shorter and, if there were dogs, we could spot them quickly. The bungalows were probably more lucrative; however, the jobs could be more extensive and they probably had bigger dogs hidden away where we could not see. My friends and I generally avoided them – unless it was the home of a relative or friend.

There does not seem to be a coordinated effort to have Minggu Kerja for Scouts in Malaysia. It is still going strong in neighbouring Singapore which has the same Scouting roots as us. Read here.

Scouting in Penang: Some snippets

• The first Malaysian Scout Jamboree was held in Penang in 1966. According to a story in the Persatuan Pengakap Malaysia, Pulau Pinang website: “Jubilee Camp, the then campsite of the Local Boy Scouts Association, was transformed into the Jamboree Village with nearly 3,000 inhabitants of various colour, class and creed, adhering to the tenets of the Scout Law, which incidentally was the Law of this camp... Eleven countries, including Malaysia participated; 2,328 scouts from Nationalist China, Great Britain, India, South Korea, Laos, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia took part. The Chairman of Organising Committee and Camp Chief was Wong Pow Nee; it was declared open by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Sultan of Trengganu.” Read the story here.
• Claims made at the jamboree that scouting in Malaya was founded in Penang in 1908 via an experimental troop with the YMCA are apparently not true. According to Wan Meng Hao, co-author of Scouting In Singapore 1910-2000, “the photo of that 1908 scout troop was taken at Fort Canning, Singapore. Goh Guan Ho was working and living in Singapore in 1908. He had yet to relocate to Penang”.
• In 1934, Lord Baden-Powell and Lady Olave Baden-Powell made a visit to Penang, Kuala Kangsar, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur. In Kuala Lumpur on 25th Nov, the 77-year-old Chief Scout was quoted as saying to 30-odd Scouters: “You chaps won't get a chance to see me again. Let me shake hands with you.” He went on to have a word with all of them individually. The group was struck by his informality. It was indeed his first and only visit to Malaya. He retired from public Scouting in 1937 and died in Kenya in 1941. Read more here, here (The Straits Times, Nov 26, 1934) and here.

Scouting continues to be a strong movement in the country. According to a census taken in 2010 by the World Organisation of the Scout Movement, there were 48,394 members then. I purchased recently a translation of the book, Scouting for Boys, by Robert Baden-Powell. It gave me goose bumps to know what we read about scouting in the 1960s are still being read today but in Bahasa Malaysia. The 233-page translated book, Ilmu Pengakap bagi Budak-budak (shown above) sells for only RM13.90!

Aerial photo of the 1966 First Malaysian Scout Jamboree at Jubilee Camp. Source: Persatuan Pengakap Malaysia, Pulau Pinang. Read the story here.

This is the third of three parts:

• Part 1: Building character and skills in uniform. Read here
• Part 2: Camping and cooking. Read here

– Lim Siang Jin

Camping and cooking: Scouting at WPS (1963-65) Part 2

Jubilee Camp, Teluk Bahang 1958. Photo courtesy of Mr Hwang Hong Shi

TELUK BAHANG was a sleepy fishing village in the 1960s. To reach it from school, we had to take a Hin Company blue bus from Burmah Road to Tanjung Bungah, to a depot opposite Sin Hai Kheng Hainanese restaurant. At that stop, we had to alight and switch to another blue bus for Teluk Bahang. As Scouts, the main attraction of the area was Jubilee Camp, situated just after a promontory with huge rocks – a favourite spot for anglers. When we were camping, the Scoutmasters would go to a row of shophouses for provisions and its famous mee goreng. We were not afforded the luxury of this delicious dish as far as I can recall.

The campsite then, set on an undulating sandy and grassy incline towards the sea, had many matured coconut trees. There was a guardhouse-like structure at road level. This was where we kept our provisions and equipment. Nearby were one or two single-storey beach bungalows.

Coconut trees and undulating grounds: Jubilee Camp in the late 1950s.
Photo courtesy of Mr Hwang Hong Shi

In 1966, Penang hosted the First Malaysian Scout Jamboree at Jubilee Camp. Although it was touted as a most important event in the state’s scouting history, the charm of the camp site disappeared with it. The area was flattened with laterite soil to make space for contingents from 11 countries. For a week Jubilee accommodated nearly 3,000 people. I thought that greater care ought to have been taken to preserve the environs of the camp.

The following anecdotes on camping and cooking are from my three years as a Scout at WPS:

The “Lantern Lady” at Jubilee Camp: In 1964 (Standard 5), I was not allowed to go camping. Ewe Tee went and came back with the most amazing story. Jubilee Camp was apparently haunted. On some nights, a woman in white carrying a lantern would walk the area. She was said to have committed suicide because her husband had not returned from sea. Therefore, on few nights each month she would still go to the beach to wait for him. Ewe Tee said he saw her walk past their tent. The next morning a raincoat used to prevent rainwater from dripping into the tent had bloodstains.

Ewe Tee does not recall the story. However, another friend of mine, Patrick Choo, formerly from theSun, confirmed it: “I remember our Scoutmasters telling us stories about the ‘lady with the lamp’ and asking us to fetch water at night from the well.” Patrick was not from WPS but St George’s Balik Pulau. Their Scout troop used to camp at Jubilee annually too. My own suspicion is that it was a means of the Scoutmasters to keep a tight leash on their charge. They certainly could not afford to allow 12-year-olds to wander around at night.

Pranks at the camp etc: In 1965, when I was finally allowed to go camping, at Jubilee too, we did not see any ghost. A few other things were carved into my memory though:

• Colgate prank: Our boyhood activities were full of mischief. The Colgate prank kept me awake for most of the night because I knew, if I fell into a deep slumber, others might spread toothpaste on my face, or worst, in my pants.
• Going out for air: The other matter that kept me awake were the musty smell of the tent and the stench of our collective eight bodies cramped under 6ft by 8ft of thick canvas. They gave me hay fever. I was finally able to breathe properly by sticking my head out from under the tent. Luckily, it did not rain those few days.
• Soggy fried taugeh and burnt rice: Cooking the very affordable taugeh and rice in large aluminium pots (about 2ft diameter) over a makeshift stove was standard practice. It gave us a very soggy version of the vegetable dish. Often, the rice we cooked would be slightly burnt. Famished, we walloped them anyway.

The spring water tank in 2017: Disused and overgrown with weeds.
Photo by Lim Siang Jin

Cold spring water and dark nights: One of the iconic facilities at Jubilee was cold spring water that flowed into a large holding tank (about 5ft by 20ft). Some of us called it the “well”. The water then overflowed into a drain that led to the sea. To get to the tank, we had to walk along the drain and under a small bridge; above is the Teluk Bahang Road. The water was very cold. We shivered each time we bathed but it was fun. Sometimes we would see locals and picnickers there too – men, women and children – to bathe or to wash the salt off their bodies after a swim. Today the tank (right) is overgrown with weeds.

As Patrick said, fetching water at night was scary. So was going out to ease ourselves. There were no toilets then and we had to make do with the drain for any big job. The hurricane and carbide lamps helped a bit. Since they illuminated so little, a mere few feet, they constantly left us wondering what’s beyond the lighted space.

Chap chnai (Pacific mole crab) that is found in abundance occasionally at
Teluk Bahang. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Abundant seafood and dangerous currents: The Jubilee beach was rich collecting grounds for siput (tiny shellfish) and the chap chnai (also called the Pacific mole crab). They would appear as we disturbed the sand when the waves broke at the edge of the shores. They did not add much to our diet but food-gathering was good exercise. We were not allowed to swim though. We were told that beyond a few feet of the shallows was a trench that could swallow even the strongest swimmer. This could be true because the sandscape at the beach go through tremendous alterations over the course of a year. It would take very powerful currents to effect such change.

Mr Vellasamy was Class Teacher of 

Standard 4C, WPS, in 1963. This is the 

best photo I can find of him

Cooking with Vellasamy: As part of preparation for camping, Mr Vellasamy taught us how to cook – in school. Apart from the soggy taugeh and the occasional burnt rice, we cooked chicken curry. It was most memorable. First, we bought and prepared the ingredients — chicken (chopped into small pieces), sliced onions, grated coconut (from which we squeezed santan), curry powder, a slice of toasted belacan, coconut oil and salt. The oil and onions went in first into the heated pot; and then the chicken, curry powder and belacan. When the ingredients started to char, we added the santan and salted the curry to our taste. It was great stuff!

Mr Vellasamy has passed on. I have not met him since 1965. I have fond memories of him as a caring person who was concerned about our welfare and how much he could teach us.

This is the second of three parts.

• Part 1: Building character and skills in uniform. Read here. 
• Part 3: Hiking, Job Week and a bit of history. Read here.

– Lim Siang Jin

Building character and skills in uniform: Scouting at WPS (1963-65) Part 1

Scouts of Westlands Primary School, 1965. One of our Scoutmasters, Mr John Low Thean Hock, is on the left. We had two troops: 3rd Georgetown (North) and 15th Georgetown (North). Photo courtesy of Jim Lim Teik Wah

SCOUTING was fun, and usually the penultimate adventure for pre-teen urban boys. We got to wear uniforms with all sorts of insignias and familiarise ourselves with the pecking order they bring along; we learnt a lot of practical things like tying knots and lighting a fire; we experienced cooking outdoors; we went hiking and camping; we even worked to collect money for the movement one week a year — during the unforgettable Job Week.

At the base of these activities were some ground rules which we, in all innocence, imbibed. They spawned a subculture of organised character-building activities for a huge group of students.

Scouting for Boys, The Boy Scouts
Association 1963, printed in the UK.
Baden-Powell's Foreword in Pages vi
to ix are appended below.

Scout motto, promise and law — positive control: Scouting, like any other uniformed activity, was a form of group control. But it was generally a positive one for us – mainly because our Scoutmasters were people with the right values and, strong civic and environmental consciousness. Overall, I could never forget the motto “Be prepared”, telling us to be “always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your duty”. For the record, Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout movement, asked us to:

• Be prepared in mind by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment, and are willing to do it.
• Be prepared in body by making yourself strong and active and able to do the right thing at the right moment, and do it. 

Our promise: As a Scout we made the following promise: “On my honour I promise I will do my best – to do my duty to God and the King (or to God and my country); to help other people at all times; and to obey the Scout Law.” There were 10 parts to the Scout Law which instructed us to be: (a) trusted (b) loyal (c) useful and to help others (d) a friend to all and a brother to every other Scout (e) courteous (f) a friend to animals (g) obedient (to the orders of our parents, Patrol Leader or Scoutmaster without question) (h) happy (“A Scout smiles and whistles under all difficulties”) (i) thrifty, and (j) clean in thought, word and deed. Read more here.

If I had a bone to pick with the Scout Promise, it would be the unquestioning allegiance and obedience. However, as I said earlier, our Scoutmasters then had the right ethical mindset. As a result, being a Scout was a powerful character-building activity.

The scouting movement is still very much alive today. Far removed from its activities now, I am not aware of what is happening. I can only give snapshots of the past. At Westlands Primary, scouting was normally confined to those in Standards 5 and 6. However in 1963, Mr John Low Thean Hock, our Form Teacher in Standards 1 and 3 and a Scoutmaster, allowed a few of us (Ewe Tee and I included) to join in Standard 4.

In full gear before our time: Mr G D Muir, Chief Education Officer, inspecting 

a guard of honour by Westlands School Scouts on Parents Day 1955.
Photo courtesy of Mr Hwang Hong Shi, the Scoutmaster

What I have written in this story and the two other parts that follow are some views and anecdotes from my three years with our troop, 3rd Georgetown (North), which was run by Mr Low and Mr Vellasamy. Many of the pictures used to illustrate the stories were taken by Mr Hwang Hong Shi when he was a Scoutmaster at WPS in the 1950s. He has diligently kept and cataloged them in albums. We are very thankful for that.

Paraphernalia for uniformity and distinction: All of us were excited when we bought our first set of uniform from Stanley Scout Shop along Light Street opposite the Esplanade. I was taken aback by the range of things sold there. Even the essentials are enough to satisfy, for a while at least, a shopaholic:

• Neckerchief and a leather woggle with the Scout’s crest to hold the "2ft by 2ft" cloth together;
• A green beret which could be folded and slipped into the shoulder loop of our uniform;
• A belt to which we could hang pen knives, short rope, etc;
• Knee-high stockings with garters to hold them up;
• Khaki shirts and shorts (the colours of 3rd GTN).

We should note that many parents had to struggle to buy such uniform for their children while others could not join the movement because they could not afford it.

Tests for the Tenderfoot badge: Courtesy of Saw Lip Chye of 15th Georgetown

(North). He took the tests in 1964. The Scoutmaster who passed him was

Mr Chow Guan Foo. Assistant Scoutmaster Ramachandran was among his testers.

Mind-changing ways of a uniform: Donning a uniform had an impact on us. We felt more confident, more willing to work as a group, and a greater sense of identity. This could cut a few ways when it came to acceptability by others. On the one hand, it could instil a sense of superiority in us, a better-than-others attitude – that would have been bad. On the other, it could steer us towards service and pride, even professionalism, once we were led the right way within a suitable overall culture. A 2017 article in The New Yorker argues against the unquestioning acceptance of the upside of uniforms. Read here.

Rivalry as patrol leaders: Ewe Tee and I were great friends (we still are, until today — we meet occasionally in Kuala Lumpur and London). We were rivals too. In Standard 6, both of us were appointed patrol leaders. With that position came two stripes on our shirt pockets and the right to choose the name of our patrol. I chose to name mine after the cobra (with orange and black ribbons to be pinned on our shoulders). He chose the mongoose (brown and orange ribbons). The reason: Mongoose can kill the cobra. We had a good laugh and moved on.

Tests for the Second Class badge: 

Courtesy of Saw Lip Chye

The skills that never left us: Scouts, as their name suggests, were supposed to acquire outdoorsy skills. Even in the limited three years, we learnt a lot of those. Many of them have stuck with me for life:

• Knots and lashings: The knots I still use are the reef knot (to connect two ropes or strings so that the knot can be more easily undone), bowline (to secure oneself to others as we ascend or descend a steep slope), sheepshank (to shorten a rope without cutting it) and round turn and two half hitches (e.g. to secure a tree trunk to a post, etc). As for lashings, I have not used them for some time but, in a home setting, they were good for securing temporary structures in the garden like shades for plants.
• Lighting a fire: The requirements for lighting a fire for a stove (outdoor or indoor) are the same. For our exercise, we built a small half-foot tepee of splintered firewood in which we had some dried leaves or crumpled newspaper. Around the tepee were three or four rocks placed a few inches apart to form a well-ventilated stove. We were allowed to use matches to start the fire. The tiny flame had to be carefully nursed, fanning and blowing it lightly, until it became viable. As it grew, we added bigger and bigger pieces of firewood. I had wondered why it was so much easier to light fires at home, only to discover that we used charcoal or firewood dipped in kerosene as starters.   
• Basic First Aid: A few basic things I learnt about First Aid were how to clean a wound, cool down a burn and help someone who had fainted. I cannot remember if it was from the Scouts or from my father first. I have not done much more than that though. In another vein of thought, when we were young, it was reassuring that we went outdoors with Scoutmasters who knew First Aid.

After I joined Penang Free School, I stopped scouting. It was for the most trivial of reasons. My expectations were high and I thought about being welcomed. On the first day, instead of an uplifting talk, the troop leader gave me a dressing down for no apparent reason. It was such a contrast to my experience at Westlands. Disappointed, I left and never turned up again. I often wondered what would happen if I had appeared again a week later.

This is the first of three parts:

• Part 2: Camping and cooking. Read here
• Part 3: Hiking, Job Week and a bit of history. Read here.

-- Lim Siang Jin

Appendix: Pages iv to ix of Scouting for Boys: Foreword by Robert Baden-Powell

Great Howl of the Wolf Cubs

BEING IN a uniformed group was an exciting experience. The first opportunity at Westlands Primary came when we were allowed to become Wolf Cubs. That was in Standard 3. In our case, it was in 1962. We became “special” people overnight — for once or twice a month we dressed differently; we also had a set of rituals that distinguished us from the rest. We were made to feel that we belonged to a bigger body of people worldwide. We felt somewhat connected with nature with all the antics of boy-wolves. Somehow we didn't feel silly.

Our snatches of memory from those times, however, do not form a coherent whole. We could only remember:

• Repeating “dyb”  (do your best) and “dob”  (do our best) four times, 
• Standing in circles, 
• Doing the Cub salute with two fingers, the shape of our hand resembling a wolf, and 
• Being led by a leader called “Akela” (whom we cannot recall).

Baden-Powell's illustration 
in The Wolf Cub's Handbook (1916) 

showing how a Wolf Cub's squatting 
posture imitates a wolf at the Grand
Howl. Source: Wikipedia

According to the British Boys Scouts and Girl Guides Association (BBSGGA), they were part of a ritual called the “Great or Grand Howl”, one used by Cubs to greet their leader, Akela, the “Old Wolf”. It was created by Scouts movement founder Robert Baden-Powell, based on stories in Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. Read more here.

The BBSGGA says that the Grand Howl takes place at the beginning and end of a pack meeting: “The wolves sit around the ‘council rock’ in a circle and, when Akela takes his or her place on the rock, they all throw up their heads and howl their welcome to him or her.”

Baden-Powell, in The Wolf Cub's Handbook, describes the ritual in the following manner:

Scouter: “Pack - Pack - Pack!” This calls the Cubs into a Parade Circle.
The Cubs reply as they run to their places in the circle. 

• Cubs: “Pack!”

As the Scouter enters the circle, the Cubs squat down on their heels with their “fore paws” on the ground between their feet and their knees out on either side. 

• Cubs: “Ah-kay-la! We-e-e-e-ll do-o-o-o o-o-o-u-u-r BEST!” On the word “BEST”, the Cubs jump to their feet with two fingers of each hand at the sides of their heads, to resemble a wolf’s ears.
• A Sixers: “Dyb - dyb - dyb - dyb” The word “dyb” means “Do Your Best” which is the first part of the Cub Promise and was the original Wolf Cub motto.

On the fourth “dyb”, the Cubs lower their left hands and the fingers of their right hands extend to form the Wolf Cub salute.

• Cubs: “We-e-e-e-ll dob-dob-dob-dob”, meaning “We’ll do our best”.

The above extract strings some of our memories together, however, we still want to add more details to our cubbing days. We hope that former fellow Cubs can add to it.,

Massive Grand Howl in Hong Kong: In 2016, the Cub movement in Hong Kong celebrated its 100th year anniversary with a huge Grand Howl. The video can be watched here.

Child abuse: We need a registry of the offenders

Reprinted from Malaysiakini,
Nov 9, 2018, with the permission
of the author. Read original here.

By Jim Lim

DEPUTY Minister for Women, Family and Community Development Hannah Yeoh made an important policy intention regarding the key issue of safeguarding children, that is, the screening of those who work with children.

For far too long, those unsuitable and those deemed “undesirable” have been allowed to destroy young lives, through a combination of general apathy on the part of adults and a lack of diligence by some children-affiliated agencies such as schools, care centres and orphanages.

Citing the high recorded cases of child abuse in the country — at more than 20,000 in the last five years — Yeoh rightly advised parents to exercise greater monitoring, to give them education on sex and care, and promised to provide greater support and counselling for victims.

Therefore, will focused attention and encouragement of parents and caregivers, with the strengthening of counselling resources at schools as well as widespread information about the Talian Kasih helpline be enough? Prevention efforts, access to the helpline and a post-trauma rescue service are a good start.

I hope the “work in progress”, as Yeoh stated, will spell out the message that child protection is the responsibility of all. It is not only the government alone but everyone! Sure, the government must show the lead, and must allocate resources to underpin its importance, but all sections in society must also act in support.

To start with, the government needs to get all the statutory key agencies to act together and to develop a joint policy with the sole objective of safeguarding and protecting children. Unlike the sexual offenders' registry, which has list of those convicted of a criminal offence, this process of eliminating those unsuitable is a “vetting and barring” scheme. The UK government does operate a scheme for this purpose and their own development and experience can be shared and adapted to the Malaysian context.

In my experience, the existence of a similar type of registry rests on the principles of civil law and the evidence sought is not along the desirability as with criminal law, which seeks a “beyond reasonable doubt” conviction. Rather it is loosely based on employment law, where evidence gathered is based around the “balance of probabilities”.

In the UK, there was a registry maintained by the Education Ministry of teachers who had been dismissed for gross misconduct (not criminally convicted) or medical/para-medical staff dismissed for professional misconduct. Details of such individuals would be stored in a register. All employing authorities (Education, Social Care and Health) would check with those lists prior to recruiting staff.

With such a safety-cum-screening resource in place, it would be “reassuring” to the public that service providers to children comply with this requirement. The ministry in Malaysia must proceed to set up such a register as a way of screening.

To further extend and continue the quality assurance of the establishments concerned, the registration of a service provider, e.g. a nursery (taska, tadika), children’s home (orphanage), all public and private schools and tahfiz schools, must be mandatory.

Unless establishments are subjected to checks and inspections, they should not be allowed a licence to operate. The registration requirements, therefore, must be strengthened and rigorously enforced and perhaps, as a sweetener to encourage good practice, tax incentives could be offered in return for strict compliance to those accepted standards.

I am sure many will look forward to an announcement on further details or an implementation timetable.

• Jim Lim is a former director of Social Services in a London borough and a former CEO of a charity.  He is a member of the Malaysian Association of Social Workers.  Read more about him here.

The area, it is a changin'

THE AREA around Westlands Primary has undergone a number of changes; a few of which are quite radical. Here are some photos with captions to illustrate them.

Our school has, of course, been turned into a sports training centre. The above is its official name: "Pusat Kecemerlangan Sukan Westlands" or the Westlands Centre of Sports Excellence. Read more about it here. A unit of the Penang Education Department, it also houses the MSSPP or Majlis Sukan Sekolah Pulau Pinang. Read here.

The former Rediffusion building has now been incorporated into the Penang Christian Centre, a part of the Assemblies of God, Malaysia. The PCC has two centres, the second in Butterworth. Read more about PCC here.

One of the bungalows along Khaw Sim Bee Road now houses Tadika Buddhist Tzu Chi. Read more about the Tzu Chi Malaysia, Penang branch, here.

Pykett Methodist Primary is set to become Wesley Methodist School Penang (International). According to Bishop Dr Ong Hwai Teik of the Methodist Church in Malaysia: "We are now once again called upon to further act on this mission call, this time in a different age and season, by returning to 'our roots'  to build a new school of 'Education with Mission, Excellence and Compassion' i.e. the Wesley Methodist School Penang (International). Work on the building of this new institution has begun." Read here

The block of buildings where Mrs Phipp's kindergarten used to be is now the Pinang A's Learning Center. Established in 2006, the centre uses the "Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) programme with an emphasis on holistic development". Read more about it here.

Westlands Secondary School remains the "School for the Gentlemen", however, it has added a covered court to be used for basketball and futsal (see below) next to its main entrance.

The Chinese Recreation Club has been renovated with restaurants and a new pool. Parts of the building, the pavilion for example, has retained its original ambience. Read more here.