السلام عليكم
Yesterday, I (together with Shahirah, Fatin, Afza, Shahirah's sis & Sumaiyah) had the once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity to attend the finals for Bahas 4PM which was between Millenia Institute and Madrasah Wak Tanjong Al-Islamiah thanks to Fatin for giving me free tickets to watch it(: The event was held at Mediacorp Cadelcott broadcating area and of course, it was my first time going there. Upon arriving, hordes of people mostly dressed in puple (MWTI supporters) & red (MI supporters) thronged the place and we had to queue up before entering the Mediacorp studio. I have to say that the area was swarmed with so many people that the air became warmer and stuffy by the minute. We were trapped in an inferno, furnace and we could do nothing but merely wait for almost 2 hours before being able to enter the studio. During my experience there, I could see that there was a subtle segregation/marginalization among the secular & madrasah people from my viewpoint. The reason being is because when I was queueing up, Fatin's friend actually told us that there would be another debate going on at Darul-Arqam & the issues being debated were mostly provocative and controversial such as "Madrasah students tend to lose out easily compared to the secular studets". I felt so shocked and in disbelieve. I mean how can you debate about such things isn't it like subtly discriminating and putting down madrasah students? This is only creating internal division within the Muslim community. They should at least be debating about serious problems plaguing the world today such as global warming and stuffs like that.
Ok, so moving on, after the Mediacorp crew FINALLY allowed us to enter the studio (like finally), I sat at the 'neutral paty' area because I wasn't actually favouring anyone really but my friends were supporting MWTI. Then I saw that the MWTI students carried this huge, purple banner- "Madrasah boleh". I must admit that when I saw that banner, I felt abit discriminated/ insulted (agaknyer aku ni terase ker :P) and immediately I questioned myself & my stream of consciousness started to invade my mind. If they printed 'Madrasah boleh' on their banner, are they trying to say that we regard Madrasah students as incapable or inferior than us? Are they trying to differentiate/ exclude themselves from the secualr students by saying that 'madrasah boleh' and 'secular students tak boleh'? I mean it is ok to put that but why didn't they put 'Madrasah Wak Tanjong Islamiah boleh'? I don't know, maybe I was just thinking too much or maybe I was abit paranoid at that point in time? Still, I feel kind of upset and my spirits abit dampened to discover that there are certain division and disunity among secular and madrasah students. I really wish and hope that our Malay Muslim community would grow stronger and help to tackle our problems plaguing us as a community together.
Moving on, the finals was not as good as compared to the debate competition between Madrash Al-Ma'arif and Madrasah Wak Tanjong during the quarter finals. I believe that maybe the competitors were nervous (would be showcased on tv) during that time. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed myself and respect them ALOT as I don't possess the capability and the aptitude to speak the Malay language eloquently and fluently like them. They have so much talent, skills and knowledge and indeed I must salute them for that. Overall, the winning team was Millenia Institute but still Madrasah Wak Tanjong did a fabulous effort and performance! Great job guys! :D
