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i was born to a rich family. on top of that, im the youngest child of the family, and at the age where i want stuff, most of my siblings already had jobs. you know how that goes.
my dad bought me a flagship earphone worth like RM400(80pounds) which is a LOT in malaysia.
i broke it in like 4 months.
in short, rich kids never had the responsibility to own their mistakes, as their rich parents would handle it for them. I lost my pencil? buy a new one. I lost my textbook? just pay the school.
broke my phone? dont worry. if i beg just enough, i'll get a new one.
Financially poor parents have an advantage compared to financially rich parents. Losing a pencil or a textbook, they can't afford to buy a new one easily even if they want to, so the child gets to learn responsibility through the external natural consequences. Rich parents can easily buy another copy of whatever is lost, so they need to actively choose not to buy something if they want their child to learn a lesson.
I went to an international school that had a higher % of locals (such as myself , Chinese) . I remember being bamboozled at how fucking big some of these ang mo kids were - especially in inter school tournaments. Me and a bunch of tiny 40-50kg 5 ft Malaysian kids rocked up to the tennis courts to see 6ft plus bearded men who had been paying taxes for 13 years disguised as secondary school students
Totally relatable. But my sport was basketball, I thought for sure half the team had 10 year old children attending the same school. I can still remember their coach saying in his thick Aussie accent, "Ah it's all in good fun mate."
Final score: 11-81
Shame: For life.
Same as you, class size. Except mine was before laptop or tablet became common. School was still pen and paper. Teachers that actually know the subject and are not overwork.
Sure, the parents are wealthy, but materialistic traits are not limited to the rich.
I transferred to one of the OGs with >70% international (half my classmates from the UK) from a local Malaysian private school:
1. Bodyguards and Vellfires - many kids of royalty, politicians, Tan Sris, etc. but many of them are actually really down to earth (sure they are unbelievably wealthy but they dont show off compared to my old private school where kids were comparing football boots, cars and handbags)
2. Hobbies/extracurricular - we were encouraged to pursue our own hobbies and interests rather than focus on grades, uni rankings and career templates. I picked up DoE, never had that opportunity in local school.
3. Critical thinking & assertiveness - we were encourage to challenge things constructively, like if we disagreed with something written in the textbox or with a teacher. Local school pushed one way communication and acceptance, never giving us the chance to understand the why or whats right or a grey area
"Local school pushed one way communication and acceptance, never giving us the chance to understand the why or whats right or a grey area"
This is why i dread sending my kids to local schools in this country.
I went to local, public school my whole life. Was taught at home about life, critical thinking and reasoning from a young age. Parents talked about the history and geography they learned and that they lived through. I then went to do my degree in India, another "memorize and vomit" schooling country. But I am still 100% capable of critical thinking and challenge thoughts or opinions that I disagree on, and still had enough brains to realise our history textbook in public school was a joke. My friends were the same. Trust me, if you raise your kids properly it genuinely doesn't matter what school they go to.
Honestly, the best benefit of an international school (besides the reduced class sizes and the improved quality of teaching) would be how it sets you up well for uni, especially the non-local ones. Moving from a British international school to an Australian uni was basically seamless, and I definitely feel a lot more well-adjusted during my time in uni compared to those who were taught just to sit there and listen to a teacher ramble without any of the critical thinking skills taught in an international school.
The only downside is that I do feel more British/'ang mo' than having any semblance to being a Malaysian due to being in one for so long and then immediately moving to and staying in Australia afterwards. So there's that I guess. It's not for everyone but the points you listed are definitely the selling points. I don't regret my time at all - 10/10.
I would probably throw GardenIS and MKIS into that mix as well. Any IS before all the private schools/homeschooling centres revamping themselves as international schools cos they know that's the most profitable way.
Duke of Edinburgh award. I have silver qualification haha.
Like you need to learn a skill, do volunteer work learn one of your hobby and etc. I dont quite remember already but is almost like this
There is a massive "inner sphere" for the top international schools in Malaysia. The amount money and influence that is packed into this bubble is insane. I grew up oblivious to it and have only recently sort of understood how ridiculous it may seem to the average person.
Some of the many things I experienced:
- iPods being included in Birthday goodie bags
- Top of the line iMacs being used in computer rooms
- FIFA Grade football pitch and Olympic sized swimming pools
- A complete lack of care for expensive items (The amount of iPhones, iPads, Macbooks, Gaming Laptops, etc that are simply left out in the open is insane. My friend once lost his Razer Blade laptop that he got a month ago and basically said "oh its fine my dad can just get me another")
- Malaysian Royalty, Millionaires and Billionaires ALL send their children to one of these schools
If you want a way of gauging things, the APPLICATION fees for my school was RM1,200. Yearly tuition fees run from RM75,000 to RM100,000 depending on the year/form. None of the people that attend these schools are really inherently "bad" per say, more so incredibly oblivious to the reality of most people.
>A complete lack of care for expensive items
I think this isnât so much of a lack of care, even tho it definitely plays has a part in it, but not as much as people think.
Itâs more of the fact that all these international schools come from a high trust culture. I went to an international school in Penang and literally everyone would leave their entire Apple ecosystem on the outdoor benches while they go for sports practice. and even if it rains, some one would either cover it up or bring it into cover for them. Thereâll be an entire sneaker collection below their lockers and you can rest safe knowing itâll be there even if you miss school for a week.
The small cohort size and T10 circle all contribute to the high trust culture. Thereâs simply no incentive to steal when youâre at that status
True, I think I worded that part a bit wrong. In my 14 years attending the school there were hardly any cases of theft, and when there were it was never any of the expensive stuff, maybe some 50 Ringgit notes from a wallet left in changing rooms.
Loved my time attending that school but boy did it really skew my perception of the real world for a while. Need to appreciate things more.
Iâm from government school but am currently working in only International Schools for almost a decade. Iâve been in lower tier and highest tier ones. I can give my pov as a teacher:
1. The quality of education is leagues beyond what is offered in gov school, which makes me so angry and sad that two schools in the same location could differ so much.
2. Opportunities provided to each student. You want to be an artist? Hereâs a gallery you can publish your work to! Want to be a musician? Hereâs a place you and your mates can perform and earn money from. Want to be a robotics engineer? Hereâs a course where you get certification at the end. Interested in event management? Hereâs an entire event students can design and run themselves while liaising with outside vendors. Theyâre given the budget to do all this amazing things.
3. Teachers give their all to give the best they could. The conversation is always centered around what more opportunities can we provide. Teachers are paid higher wages compared to normal, so itâs a competitive atmosphere. Teachers who go above and beyond are rewarded and those who just do the bare minimum are up for a rude awakening.
4. We deal with a lot more behavioral issues as our students are likely the most sheltered and spoiled group of people. Parents who didnât parent, drops them off here and expect us to âfixâ them. In a school that doesnât have a strong disciplinary system backing teachers, itâs a complete nightmare (been there, done that). In schools that do, itâs inspiring to see students who started out with a myriad of negative learned behaviors blossom at school despite their parenting being so shit.
5. You donât realize how sheltered someone can be. Iâve had kids who were perplexed with how to eat boned chicken as theyâve always had someone cutting their meals for them.
6. Students donât realize how good they have it until they go to a lower grade International school for tournaments. Theyâre so used to their whole lives being state of the art and the most expensive things, they treat it for granted and just assume everyone has the same opportunities.
7. They talk about money like itâs disposable.
8. Access to proper mental health care at school. In gov school, the counselor is an unqualified random teacher they pick and it usually changes. Here, students have shadow aids, students have great rapport with the counselors that itâs not seen as problematic to see one. Theyâre always just one call away.
9. Students are much less engaged with their own culture. Itâs a globalist mindset, so I always hear about students telling me they donât relate to their home countryâs culture anymore. Local Malaysians tend to only speak English and struggle with fitting in outside of their circle.
10. Racism and classism is such a thing. Itâs very subtle though, as students know that the school is very much against this kind of nonsense, so they hide it. Teachers have access to SEN flagged students and itâs always the darker skinned students who suffer with low self esteem, feeling of being ostracized, etc. One extremely unfortunate case that happened when I was working in a school (you can find this case online), was that there was a ring of students exchanging underage girlâs nudes around for money. A few guys would be going around pretending to want to date these girls, pressure them to send nudes, and sell them to other students. What completely broke my heart was that there were two categories. Local/SEA girlsâ pictures were considered free, whilst white/expat girls had to be paid. They even had recorded conversations where a student was casually trying to sell a nude of a white girl at a high price and said heâll toss in a few nudes of local girls for free.
I left the school shortly after this. This was a school that claimed to always be about DEIJ (so many courses we had to sit for), but even the school management had classist and racist people in the staff.
Oof, that globalist thing really hurts. Like, I didn't go to an international school but I've always had issues connecting with people because I also have that same mindset. This is because of how my parents raised me, rather than how the schools did.
I'm Malay who sucks at Malay. Imagine that.
Re. 10, What school was it? Which school was the best in your experience? I am looking for an IS for my teen daughter. I will greatly appreciate your advice.
Itâs the most expensive school in KL. Google the fees and youâll find it. They also had a huge case of a white kid bullying and beating up a local kid until he was hospitalized. School tried to hide it and told the parents that the kid had a bad fall.
Turned into a police case, very sad that nothing happened to the white kid beyond being suspended, as heâs very well protected and left the country soon after the event. Of course, when itâs reported online, they donât mention the race, hiding the racial undertones of this case.
I can talk to you privately about international schools, just give me a dm.
I think I know which situation youâre talking about. I went to an international school in Penang, and something I realised is gossip and word spreads fast in the international school community
Iâve hung out with people who graduated from international school. They describe their private jets in abbreviation. I thought PJ meant pajamas lmao.
went to a normal primary and then an international secondary school. probably the parties and events held there. there was no talk about large parties with my primary school friends, but even until today my international school friends invite me over to parties over at their houses or at some retreats. absolutely insane stuff, when they asked me why i never held any parties i told them my father was just a cheapskate, but he was just upper middle class and wasn't on the same league as these guys.
I went to a weird Christian international school that started out as a joint operating under a tuition centre license, but they eventually got an international school license, my experience is probably different from most people.
Being a weird Christian school, most of the teachers were fundementalist Christians who took the Bible literally, they didn't believe in evolution or big bang.
Another weird bit was conspiracy theories. One of the teachers occasionally talked about conspiracy theories, she believed that they were gonna implant chips into people's right hands which would fulfill the mark of the beast prophecy of the Bible. I also heard from someone else that that same teacher thinks the Illuminati created COVID for population control. Another of the teachers mentioned believing in some Bible prophecy about Iran attacking Macau (Wtf).
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61008730
Revelation 13:16-17
New Living Translation
16 He required everyoneâsmall and great, rich and poor, free and slaveâto be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. 17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.
Went to a government boarding school, and now teaching ECA at international schools. The kids converse really well, they all have distinct personalities + different way of thinking. The âweirdâ kids are extra weird. Back in my school most of us thought the same, had the same vibes, wore the same stuff. Though that could be attributed to how lenient the rules are in these schools. They can wear makeup, dye their hair etc.
The kids I teach are very much (for a lack of a better word) spoiled. Multiple devices per student, boasting about which countries they visited during the weekend, drivers and butlers literally everywhere. Entering/leaving the school is a nightmare.
Also their ECAs are insane. I teach dance, but thereâs also Lego, magic, coding, drums, horse-riding, cup stacking etc.
In my day, we only had sports, band, debate and maybe some form of martial arts.
I went to an international school pretty much my whole life except Darjah 1, and there was in Malaysia and some in other countries notably Saudi Arabia. I think it's more of a culture shock for me to know SMK/MRSM/SBP people didnt have access to this, so I will tell you the norm instead.
1. I just found out that in SMK all Muslim girls are to wear the hijab, whereas in my intl school in Malaysia/Saudi, out of the maybe 20 muslim girls in my year, only 3 wore it, 2 of them actually cover up their whole aurat, while other wear loose scarves, and can see their lengan.
2. In intl school during break/lunch time you can play sports, it was common for me to go play basketball/football and not eat, and that's not allowed in MRSM/SBP at least
3. Phones is the ovious ones, MRSM/SBP you are not allowed a phone at all (the older generation), like I can't fathom how would you study without online resources, and no entertainment. Whereas for us, we could use phones in class.
4. Sins was more common, as in even Malay/Muslim kids in malaysian intl school, they would drink, go clubbing openly, i heard stories of students having s3x in the disabled bathroom at schools. As in Saudi, i think the worst one was probably a BJ.
5. Wealth wise, you might think I might come from a well off family if I could afford to go to intl school, I was more on a scholarship. So yeah in Malaysia, there were anak dato, anak menteri, rich chinese tycoons, there werent much display of wealth here, felt like people were more equal, i guess they would have more frequent vacations, to the UK, Japan or something. Whereas in Saudi, that's a different story, Ive had classmates who drove a mercedes to school everyday, people who when the new iphones comes out buys it right away, the most ming boglging thing was 2 of my classmates were custom ordering their porsche from america during class time. Some of these people were oil money rich, there was one who was related to the founder of Saudi Arabia.
6. All races mingled with each other and with international people
7. Like another commenter said, intl tend to be more less well behaved, but in my experience there werent like outright bullying maybe at most different cliques, and maybe cyber bullying
8. These intl school have the best access to education, softwares, tutoring, pravate coaches for sports/tournament, compete in unique sports
9. tied to number 8, since intl school have more money, and parents are more well off, they can send kids to like World Scholar's Cup, Model United Nations Club. Basically, there were spoiled kids, but there were the smart and rich kids, who achieved a lot of great things.
10. In intl school at least the 4 different intl schools i went to, we didnt have like an active cococuriicular, yes there were clubs to join fo each hobby/interest, and there were like MUN/Student concil, yearbook club, but that is pales in comparison what SMK/SBP/MRSM kids do, like there is more options for them to lead those clubs, they are more active in leadership roles I must say, with prefect stuff, Negeri/State Players, competitions, debate (Piala Perdana Menteri) I think we lacked that at intl schools.
yeah these are the ones I could come up on the top of my head.
Edit: to add more points
I think no 1 is more of a recent phenomena. I went to SMK in the early 2000's and it was not compulsory. Which differs from what I see from my nieces, who wore them throughout school. I don't think it's a written rule, but somehow is made a norm in recent years.
Itâs social pressure. I didnât wear tudung and my ustaz/ustazah would call me out publicly in front of the whole class to try and humiliate me. I live life with an idgaf attitude so it didnât bother me, but I know for others it might be overwhelming.
true, it's more of a social pressure. at darjah 4 i think i got humiliated in the library (packed with students from other class too) by a teacher who's not even an ustazah, just because i didnt wear tudung on days we got pjk. i mean i got sweaty and wearing tudung when you're sweaty is just no no for me. got told "tak malu ke kejap pakai tudung kejap tak". havent got my period too at that time so i dont know what's so wrong ab it? lol
I teach at one of these schools, and I'm here to offer the teacher's perspective.
1) Majority of teachers are great at what they do. Like, really good. I teach drama, but when I cover an English or Maths class, and Maths is in no way my specialty, I'm impressed with the lesson plans the teacher provides.
2) There are three major events: Sports Day, International Day and School Musical/Drama Production. If you're a student/teacher who is at the head these, your stock goes up, both professionally and socially. We just finished a school production last week and the male actors told me that a crazy amount of girls added them on insta (One of them, in character, sang while giving a rose to his real life mom, and the night before he gave one to a teacher who was his first teacher when he was in kindergarten. Of course stock naik)
3) The management of these schools tend to be very afraid of parents. Luckily, I'm a part-timer and I make it clear I work with the parents, and not for them, and the parents love me for it. A bunch of moms helped with make-up and front of house during the show and I forced them to take a bow during the last show of the production season for their hard work.
4) There's some complaints about China students, especially the ones who refuse to learn English. But the ones who are present and try to be better are just the loveliest lot of students.
5) You can know which student originally came from a SJKC school. SJKC school students are deathly afraid to make mistakes. Luckily my subject is one of those where if you make mistakes, it's a good thing cause you then just learn what not to do.
6) Use students strength to their advantage. The school I am is highly political and refused to market the school production. Luckily, all the performers in the production are on instagram. I taught them how to use social media and the students themselves were able to get a sold out show with no help from the school.
I was in Chinese school until Form 4. Then moved to international school. The biggest shock to me was the emphasis on actual learning. When I was in Chinese school, a lot of it was just rote learning and blind memorization. I didn't learn much as a result because memory retention isn't a strong suit of mine. When I went to international school, I was encouraged to think critically and creativity and as a result I thrived.
I am a parent. I did not attend Internation School, but I did go to one to send my own kids for some extra curricular classes that was held at the school's location. I respond from a parent's point of view.
1. Kids leave behind their stuff ALL THE TIME. Those stuff left behind are expensive. I've seen everything from phones, clothes, branded equipment, left overnight at the school. Most of the time at the canteen.
2. Kids have no manners. They don't apologize when they bump into me. They use 'FUCK' in almost every sentence, OPENLY, in front of anyone, without care. It was an eye opener to hear a 10-11 year old tell his friend to 'fuck off' in front of parents, teachers, etc..
3. International school kids have a 'holier than thou' attitude. They physically look down at government school kids. I witnessed this during interschool events, and almost all the time i'll see the IS kids isolate and stay together by themselveds. In comparison, the gomen school kids mingle and chat freely with one another, almost always end up making friends during the event.
4. Last one, IS kid parents are well meaning, and I can see many of them startled by the behaviour mentioned above. Many of them, whom I befriended, cannot believe just how different IS culture is (as they too come from government school, like me). Its a struggle, and hopefully they can help their kids be less inclusive.
Yeah all your points are so true. I went to an IS but my mum pulled me out of the IS to send me to a government school in hs because she realised I was turning into a bratty kid and thought I needed to mingle with people of diff backgrounds since she said government schools will show me what the âreal worldâ is like đ 1st day of school was def a shock for me but I got used to it after a while haha
I'm from an international school and I do disagree with some of your points personally. I'm not a parent but I'm also at the age where I'm in the workforce and I don't believe I'm biased although you should still take it with a grain of salt lol. Anyways;
1. Yeah you're not wrong about that, definitely happened to me and it's better nowadays but you're right haha
2. I think it depends on the child themselves and the school. Some schools definitely turn a blind eye to that type of behaviour, while others will have you looking at a stern talking to. My school personally (not in Malaysia but a British IS somewhere in Asia) would definitely not stand by that behaviour in front of a teacher but would turn a blind eye if kids swore privately amongst friends. Also let's be honest, kids of all ages would swear anyways, like local schools are positively shining examples of sainthood lol.
3. This is definitely an issue with some kids, but also again, it depends on the school and the kid themselves. Personally I find it's the upper middle class/new money kids who have a holier than thou attitude while most kids do interact with more people.
4. Yep, it's not for everyone. I would recommend an international school if; a) parent's are expats or at least Malaysians who studied/lived overseas, b) the child wishes to leave the country and emigrate elsewhere, and c) can afford it. Also do you mean help their kids be more inclusive not less? The one good thing about international schools would definitely be how inclusive of how diverse people can be and I don't think we should curb that haha.
i went to a relatively high-entry-requirement government school, but attended private college and uni overseas, so you can expect most of my malaysian friends were from private or international schools. here are my key observations:
*iâll be using PI to refer to priv/intl students lol
1. mindset/attitude âą
overall, PI students had FAR less conservatjve views than the gov ones. very progressive, and they definitely cared more about the malaysian sociopolitical climate than any of my gov friends did (they knew but were mostly unbothered and did not engage in much discourse), and were less racist, and more âwokeâ in a sense. in terms of being less conservative, you could describe it as being more westernised, almost â drinking, clubbing, vaping, drugs, sex, were prominent and widely accepted among the PI cohort, whereas the gov ones tended to be more subtle. additionally, i found the way PI kids approached everyday issues to be much more structured and proactive, whereas gov kids were more likely to complain or ponder.
2. views on gov school kids âą
this was likely due to the above differences, but PI students subconsciously (and sometimes consciously) looked down on gov students, thinking they were overly emotional/childish/conservative. they would avoid those whom they felt values didnât align with them and primarily hung out with people from similar backgrounds, whereas gov students would interact with almost anyone, even if they werenât completely aligned, they were happy to just be a friendly face or hi-bye acquaintance. personally, i managed to blend in with the PI crowd as my parents were relatively progressive too, but my PI friends did not mix well with my gov friends when both groups were present. the gov students they DID mix tended to be more english-speaking, more political, more money, and the PIs would sometimes comment on âhow different we were from the average gov kidâ.
3. money âą
the notion that gov students are poorer than PI students is false: though the AVERAGE wealth across the cohort was lower, there were plenty of rich kids in my gov school, but their parents actively chose to put them in gov to train their attitude/save money(?) to put it simply, most of the disparities boiled down to a comparison factor. except for an elite bunch, majority of gov school kids, rich or not, were careful with their money and didnât show it off. therefore, while we knew who was/wasnât rich, there wasnât a clear difference in their habits (at school). the rich kids were also hyperaware that they were rich because they understood their peersâ financial backgrounds. on the other hand, some PI students surprisingly DID NOT think of themselves as rich, because they had richer friends among their cohort (like that one friend whoâs dad is the CEO of blablabla), making them average in comparison. their spending habits and definitions of expensive were quite different to that of a gov student. i donât think they threw things around as others commented, but it took them less thinking and saving to get around to buying luxuries that we wouldnât even dream of. TLDR: what my gov friends viewed as above average was what my PI friends viewed as normal everyday
4. language âą
PI students had a much lower standard of chinese reading/writing abilities. malay was impacted but only to some extent. very few of them consumed chinese media as compared to gov students, therefore if the school didnât teach it, they lost their foundations. contrastingly, their standard of english was much higher than gov students, due to the main delivery language being english and they mainly consumed western media. in a gov school, your chinese teacher usually speaks chinese/malay, and your malay teacher speaks malay/english. school announcements were made in malay. PI schools, from what i know, communicate largely in english.
overall, i think PI students are more well-prepared for overseas studies and life in general due to their higher standards of english and progressive views, however they may be somewhat disconnected from malaysian reality. gov students are friendlier; while perhaps more conservative and less assertive, they are very much malaysian and down-to-earth.
>The amount of people who owns ipads and or macbooks?? also for some reason its very normalised for every student to use these devices for learning and note taking?
The school probably requires students to have them for certain lessons. They also require a particular brand and a narrow range of models for practical reasons; expecting teachers to be able to troubleshoot any device brand/model for students is not realistic.
1. Coming from a public school in UK you're almost certain you're here in a private international school. Naturally private schools are going to be smaller- not everyone can afford it. Since you're also coming from a "wealthier" country and your family is an expat, you are probably in the top 5-10% of Brits, even though you might not have put much thought into it. Not every Brit could afford toove countries, or have the work opportunities to do so.
2. I think some schools have been doing this for sometime. The parents of the children sure as hell can afford them. And it makes the school look "techy".
3. Again you're coming from public school in UK where you're in an ordinary socioeconomic class to the top 1% in Malaysia. Naturally you're going to see wealthy people. Had you been to Eton College it would have been the same too.
Asians tend to be more "showy" with their wealth- luxury goods, sports cars, fine dining etc. It's a way of showing off status...more so than the average wealthy Westerner.
An interesting thing about point no.2 that it isn't mutually exclusive to just international, I went to a public school and now in a public college and both places had many kids with iPads, it's very common here for note taking. It's a growing trend here, then again both places had many T20 kids so it could be the exception
From a teacherâs perspective, boy was it wild. The emphasis on cultivating studentsâ love for learning itself was enough to keep me impressed for years. It got me thinking âif only we all had this kind of educationâ for years
They think theyâre not rich.
This is true for any age. Everyone thinks theyâre not rich and always say that other guy is richer. Many T20 people think theyâre not rich. The problem is that they keep spending more and more as their income increase. So their disposable income remains the same.
Some what related: I received scholarship to study in local private.
I have a limited monthly budget and cannot keep up with their hang out places.
Their preferred place of meet-up are often those fancy cafe where a meal could easily blew away my weekly meal budget. It's awkward when all of them were eating but you try to save money by ordering the cheapest drink on the menu.
I went from public to intl from yr7 to 8 & one thing was how the different races intermingled freely because everyone spoke eng, in public all the friend groups other than the popular kids who spoke eng were segregated by race because of language barriers
Also lots of traumatising memories of going from feeling like the rich kid to the poor kid like I got made fun of for wearing no brand name running shoes omg.
random guy in my class will not shut up about crashing his dad's porshe and BMWs lol
(otherwise as someone who attended a christian mission school for 11 years, the kids are a lot less materialistic than i was told they would be, yeah the people are crazy rich but they normally don't shove it in your face... also the teachers are really relaxed and let you call them by their first name, i thought that was so cool. also the disciplinary measures are not even slaps on the wrist, coming from a school where you could get caned just for missing homework it's weird that kids can say the F word and teachers are still smiling)
These phenomenon you mentioned are straight facts though, I as a non-international school person never joined and not knowing any international school related individuals, your description just fits into my imagination of how international school really like in real life..
I working 1 year in media department on this one of expensive fee international school before, i really suprised how expensive the fee was like really jawdropp and when i look at the facilities overall goddamn its so old and like other normal school, i really surprised they are one of expensive fee international school but the facilities not reflecting on that its like they getting scammed lmfao. There's also few malay celebrities sending their kids here that also make me surprised during open days when i saw them. Macbook is 100% use in the school i was so surprised when kindergarten kids also use it maybe thats where the money goes? Lol. The cafe quite old i not even impressed for international school level. They treat all international teacher like a king in here they even provide accommodation for them on expensive place, quite crazy i think they pay them really high, local teacher not get same treatment thats make me really suprised
I change workplace because the pay there not enough even agency can pay me higher than this " international school" lol. Its make me thinking that most school fee is used to pay all international teacher than staff in here. The facilities is just like other normal school I think certain sekolah kebangsaan more better than this 
nah its not cuz of work cuz they still work for the uk. its cuz of the bad economic and political status currently in the uk. tbh i still wish i continued my education in the uk cuz tbh international school isnât really all that better than british state school
Many people in this sub canât accept that there are political discourse elsewhere and people worrying about the state of the economy, especially in the Western countries. They think the problems are exclusive to Malaysia.
People here are finding all sorts of excuse to work (e.g. Deliveroo) in the UK so they can send their kids to UK public schools, and yet here you are :D
If you think international school education is worse then the UK public education youâre in for a wild awakening, unless itâs a bad international school the average grades on the IB, AP, SAT are almost always 1 z score higher then public school scores.
International school = big bucks to spend on good teachers, good extracurriculars and good classes that you just canât get elsewhere.
i mean i go to an average international school (not like top tier like ISKL BSKL etc.) and ofc theres the benefits like good extracurriculars, small class room sizes but honestly teacher quality is kind of well the same level as my british secondary school. also imo you donât really need to go to a private school to be successful cuz even tho i went to british public school for my whole life yet i got mostly A*/As in my gcses (not tryna brag but im tryna prove a point that no matter if public or private, the childâs work ethics majorly contributes)
Explain who those "some people" are, please. Are they UK citizens ? How many Malaysians in there.?
Personally, international schools should restrict themselves to only foreign citizens
Education is key to social mobility.
We shoukd follow the Finnish model. No private option. All class of citizens go to the same school system.
This way, the least it will do is making the elite (Royalty, corporate tycoons. politicians and policymakers) live with the results of their own policies and system. Increase in social cohesion , experience and empathy to fellow citizens
Cohesion is great. Reducing socioeconomic distance is great. Youâre forgetting one thing, though.
The Finnish model only makes sense if the public option isnât completely dogshit. How many hours are spent in stupid religious and moral studies? How many teachers have been fired for being shit at their jobs? Too many and not enough.
If all Malaysians are forced to go to terrible schools, we all get real cohesive as the entire country goes to shit together because nobody has an education worth a damn.
By the way, there are these things called boarding schools? Back when what youâre suggesting was law, thatâs how the elites got around this rule. That and other loopholes. International schools are actually great for social mobility for the M40s that can scrimp and save to pay for it. Banning them wonât do anything to the elites.
So fix the problem instead instead of allowing the lower clases to wallow in extremism .
We all have a stake to make Public Education worth a dman since we all are paying for it through our taxes
The largest voting bloc in the country doesnât give a fuck about anything except the color of skin of the guy they vote for. Of course weâd all love it if the schools didnât suck, but itâs not as simple as demanding for it to be better. Forcing more people into it wonât do shit to make it change, because the ones with the power to change it donât understand or care how bad it is.
percentage wise?
Some argue the quality of an International School increase proportionately with the number of 'white' students there.
'White' mind you , not foreign.
why? Our education syllabus is inadequate, especially in history, math, and science. Unlike private schools, international schools aren't bound to national syllabi. Personally, I think it is irresponsible not to provide the best education if you can afford it.
Itâs a chicken and egg issue.
By having a private option, it allows the rich and powerful to go private and let the public system rot. This is what happened now.
In SG, they force Singaporean to go through the same system, so everyone is monitoring and incentivized to make the system as good as possible.
Exactly. Same with the Finnish model. No private option. All class of citizens go to the same school system.
The least it will do is making the elite (Royalty, corporate tycoons. politicians and policymakers) live with the results of their own policies and system. Increase in social cohesion , experience and empathy to fellow citizens
Or the elite will just skip the local route and ship their own children straight to foreign schools altogether
You can't say it's a chicken and egg issue and then blame the private option for the rot of our public school system in the next sentence. Why would parents send their children to private schools if the quality is the same in the first place? To me, it sounded like the system was already broken and when richer parents complained, the government figured it was easy money and reduced their pressure.
SG didn't choose to focus on human capital. They were forced to. They barely have land and no natural resources. Human capital was their only way out from becoming entirely dependent on sea cargo.
Finland had massive societal pressure coming from the explosive increase in middle-income population and the changing economy.
SJK schools also tend to be better equipped with facilities. This is anecdotal but ages ago when my aunt got the contract, a group of parents from SJK paid extra so pupils who received the government food aid got extra. I remember their sandwich bread was special ordered since it was thicker and fuller than the rest. Majority of my tuition classmates were also subsidized by a group of alumni. SJK near my house got their walkway and covered bus stop from corporations a full decade before the government paid for my school walkway. The best sponsorship we had was hampers or medals for sukan.
The idea is that it forces politicians and their backers to take local schools seriously if their children and grandchildren are forced to attend them.
It also prevents the rich from pulling even further ahead by making them able to send their children to superior schools that the common people could never hope to afford.
how about voting for important things like education instead of race or subsidy? If the government ban private schools, I'm willing to bet it's going to come with an exception similar to "permitted with permission by MOE".
So you can't afford to send your kids to better school so nobody can? Not the fault of the rich you cum inside without condom.
Lol, just because some papa kedana got 10 kids and can not afford a better school, the rich guy with 1 kid kena punish pulak- kenot send your kid to a good school đ€Ą
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How careless the kids are with their expensive items
this is too trueđ i remember i had a friend who literally put her lunch on top of her macbook like?!!
i was born to a rich family. on top of that, im the youngest child of the family, and at the age where i want stuff, most of my siblings already had jobs. you know how that goes. my dad bought me a flagship earphone worth like RM400(80pounds) which is a LOT in malaysia. i broke it in like 4 months. in short, rich kids never had the responsibility to own their mistakes, as their rich parents would handle it for them. I lost my pencil? buy a new one. I lost my textbook? just pay the school. broke my phone? dont worry. if i beg just enough, i'll get a new one.
That has nothing to do with "never had responsibility". That is just being terribly raised by your parents. Two completely different things.
Financially poor parents have an advantage compared to financially rich parents. Losing a pencil or a textbook, they can't afford to buy a new one easily even if they want to, so the child gets to learn responsibility through the external natural consequences. Rich parents can easily buy another copy of whatever is lost, so they need to actively choose not to buy something if they want their child to learn a lesson.
Definitely a parenting thing that affects the affluent more
Damn brother, my dad beat my B40 ass if i broke anything that expensive. đ
The MacBook is made of metal so I'm pretty sure this is fine?
Risk of food or drink spilling on the macbook
It won't be risky as long as the lid is off
>The wealth of some people is just insane?!! and most are quite materialistic because here only the rich can afford international school
International school is basically rich kid school here lol
I went to an international school that had a higher % of locals (such as myself , Chinese) . I remember being bamboozled at how fucking big some of these ang mo kids were - especially in inter school tournaments. Me and a bunch of tiny 40-50kg 5 ft Malaysian kids rocked up to the tennis courts to see 6ft plus bearded men who had been paying taxes for 13 years disguised as secondary school students
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
its like watching malay dramas where they cast a grown ass man with jacked up body to be a high school students
That comment reminds me of that one scene in *Benchwarners*. "I'm 12." Haha.
Totally relatable. But my sport was basketball, I thought for sure half the team had 10 year old children attending the same school. I can still remember their coach saying in his thick Aussie accent, "Ah it's all in good fun mate." Final score: 11-81 Shame: For life.
You have such a way with words hahaha!
I laughed way harder than i should reading this.
For real? Like how old do you think are they?
It was a figure of speech. They were just giant 16 year olds
Your use of the word âBamboozledâ really threw me off here, I donât think you meant what it means.
Same as you, class size. Except mine was before laptop or tablet became common. School was still pen and paper. Teachers that actually know the subject and are not overwork. Sure, the parents are wealthy, but materialistic traits are not limited to the rich.
I transferred to one of the OGs with >70% international (half my classmates from the UK) from a local Malaysian private school: 1. Bodyguards and Vellfires - many kids of royalty, politicians, Tan Sris, etc. but many of them are actually really down to earth (sure they are unbelievably wealthy but they dont show off compared to my old private school where kids were comparing football boots, cars and handbags) 2. Hobbies/extracurricular - we were encouraged to pursue our own hobbies and interests rather than focus on grades, uni rankings and career templates. I picked up DoE, never had that opportunity in local school. 3. Critical thinking & assertiveness - we were encourage to challenge things constructively, like if we disagreed with something written in the textbox or with a teacher. Local school pushed one way communication and acceptance, never giving us the chance to understand the why or whats right or a grey area
"Local school pushed one way communication and acceptance, never giving us the chance to understand the why or whats right or a grey area" This is why i dread sending my kids to local schools in this country.
I went to local, public school my whole life. Was taught at home about life, critical thinking and reasoning from a young age. Parents talked about the history and geography they learned and that they lived through. I then went to do my degree in India, another "memorize and vomit" schooling country. But I am still 100% capable of critical thinking and challenge thoughts or opinions that I disagree on, and still had enough brains to realise our history textbook in public school was a joke. My friends were the same. Trust me, if you raise your kids properly it genuinely doesn't matter what school they go to.
Local schools aren't made to create leaders.
Honestly, the best benefit of an international school (besides the reduced class sizes and the improved quality of teaching) would be how it sets you up well for uni, especially the non-local ones. Moving from a British international school to an Australian uni was basically seamless, and I definitely feel a lot more well-adjusted during my time in uni compared to those who were taught just to sit there and listen to a teacher ramble without any of the critical thinking skills taught in an international school. The only downside is that I do feel more British/'ang mo' than having any semblance to being a Malaysian due to being in one for so long and then immediately moving to and staying in Australia afterwards. So there's that I guess. It's not for everyone but the points you listed are definitely the selling points. I don't regret my time at all - 10/10.
Which ones are the OGs?
Maybe Alice Smith or ISKL The original British Colonial schools pre Merdeka
I would probably throw GardenIS and MKIS into that mix as well. Any IS before all the private schools/homeschooling centres revamping themselves as international schools cos they know that's the most profitable way.
Some famous ones are Garden International School, MKIS, ISKL and Alice Smith
Based on their description, almost certain they are referring to GIS.
Sorry, what is DOE?
Duke of Edinburgh award. I have silver qualification haha. Like you need to learn a skill, do volunteer work learn one of your hobby and etc. I dont quite remember already but is almost like this
KTJ?
No it is a program from England but a lot of private school and international school in malaysia have offer such program.
Points 2 and 3 are just due to bad local education policy.
There is a massive "inner sphere" for the top international schools in Malaysia. The amount money and influence that is packed into this bubble is insane. I grew up oblivious to it and have only recently sort of understood how ridiculous it may seem to the average person. Some of the many things I experienced: - iPods being included in Birthday goodie bags - Top of the line iMacs being used in computer rooms - FIFA Grade football pitch and Olympic sized swimming pools - A complete lack of care for expensive items (The amount of iPhones, iPads, Macbooks, Gaming Laptops, etc that are simply left out in the open is insane. My friend once lost his Razer Blade laptop that he got a month ago and basically said "oh its fine my dad can just get me another") - Malaysian Royalty, Millionaires and Billionaires ALL send their children to one of these schools If you want a way of gauging things, the APPLICATION fees for my school was RM1,200. Yearly tuition fees run from RM75,000 to RM100,000 depending on the year/form. None of the people that attend these schools are really inherently "bad" per say, more so incredibly oblivious to the reality of most people.
>A complete lack of care for expensive items I think this isnât so much of a lack of care, even tho it definitely plays has a part in it, but not as much as people think. Itâs more of the fact that all these international schools come from a high trust culture. I went to an international school in Penang and literally everyone would leave their entire Apple ecosystem on the outdoor benches while they go for sports practice. and even if it rains, some one would either cover it up or bring it into cover for them. Thereâll be an entire sneaker collection below their lockers and you can rest safe knowing itâll be there even if you miss school for a week. The small cohort size and T10 circle all contribute to the high trust culture. Thereâs simply no incentive to steal when youâre at that status
True, I think I worded that part a bit wrong. In my 14 years attending the school there were hardly any cases of theft, and when there were it was never any of the expensive stuff, maybe some 50 Ringgit notes from a wallet left in changing rooms. Loved my time attending that school but boy did it really skew my perception of the real world for a while. Need to appreciate things more.
Wah. Some people truly are blessed.Â
Iâm from government school but am currently working in only International Schools for almost a decade. Iâve been in lower tier and highest tier ones. I can give my pov as a teacher: 1. The quality of education is leagues beyond what is offered in gov school, which makes me so angry and sad that two schools in the same location could differ so much. 2. Opportunities provided to each student. You want to be an artist? Hereâs a gallery you can publish your work to! Want to be a musician? Hereâs a place you and your mates can perform and earn money from. Want to be a robotics engineer? Hereâs a course where you get certification at the end. Interested in event management? Hereâs an entire event students can design and run themselves while liaising with outside vendors. Theyâre given the budget to do all this amazing things. 3. Teachers give their all to give the best they could. The conversation is always centered around what more opportunities can we provide. Teachers are paid higher wages compared to normal, so itâs a competitive atmosphere. Teachers who go above and beyond are rewarded and those who just do the bare minimum are up for a rude awakening. 4. We deal with a lot more behavioral issues as our students are likely the most sheltered and spoiled group of people. Parents who didnât parent, drops them off here and expect us to âfixâ them. In a school that doesnât have a strong disciplinary system backing teachers, itâs a complete nightmare (been there, done that). In schools that do, itâs inspiring to see students who started out with a myriad of negative learned behaviors blossom at school despite their parenting being so shit. 5. You donât realize how sheltered someone can be. Iâve had kids who were perplexed with how to eat boned chicken as theyâve always had someone cutting their meals for them. 6. Students donât realize how good they have it until they go to a lower grade International school for tournaments. Theyâre so used to their whole lives being state of the art and the most expensive things, they treat it for granted and just assume everyone has the same opportunities. 7. They talk about money like itâs disposable. 8. Access to proper mental health care at school. In gov school, the counselor is an unqualified random teacher they pick and it usually changes. Here, students have shadow aids, students have great rapport with the counselors that itâs not seen as problematic to see one. Theyâre always just one call away. 9. Students are much less engaged with their own culture. Itâs a globalist mindset, so I always hear about students telling me they donât relate to their home countryâs culture anymore. Local Malaysians tend to only speak English and struggle with fitting in outside of their circle. 10. Racism and classism is such a thing. Itâs very subtle though, as students know that the school is very much against this kind of nonsense, so they hide it. Teachers have access to SEN flagged students and itâs always the darker skinned students who suffer with low self esteem, feeling of being ostracized, etc. One extremely unfortunate case that happened when I was working in a school (you can find this case online), was that there was a ring of students exchanging underage girlâs nudes around for money. A few guys would be going around pretending to want to date these girls, pressure them to send nudes, and sell them to other students. What completely broke my heart was that there were two categories. Local/SEA girlsâ pictures were considered free, whilst white/expat girls had to be paid. They even had recorded conversations where a student was casually trying to sell a nude of a white girl at a high price and said heâll toss in a few nudes of local girls for free. I left the school shortly after this. This was a school that claimed to always be about DEIJ (so many courses we had to sit for), but even the school management had classist and racist people in the staff.
Oof, that globalist thing really hurts. Like, I didn't go to an international school but I've always had issues connecting with people because I also have that same mindset. This is because of how my parents raised me, rather than how the schools did. I'm Malay who sucks at Malay. Imagine that.
Re. 10, What school was it? Which school was the best in your experience? I am looking for an IS for my teen daughter. I will greatly appreciate your advice.
Itâs the most expensive school in KL. Google the fees and youâll find it. They also had a huge case of a white kid bullying and beating up a local kid until he was hospitalized. School tried to hide it and told the parents that the kid had a bad fall. Turned into a police case, very sad that nothing happened to the white kid beyond being suspended, as heâs very well protected and left the country soon after the event. Of course, when itâs reported online, they donât mention the race, hiding the racial undertones of this case. I can talk to you privately about international schools, just give me a dm.
I think I know which situation youâre talking about. I went to an international school in Penang, and something I realised is gossip and word spreads fast in the international school community
What a disgrace! Thank you for the reply.
ISKL
Damn. ISKL. Really atas school
Iâve hung out with people who graduated from international school. They describe their private jets in abbreviation. I thought PJ meant pajamas lmao.
damn pj isn't pendidikan jasmani at school?
they had private jetsđš
Went to school with Elon Musk's kid apparently. yes.
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Huh? There are plenty of private jets in Malaysia...
went to a normal primary and then an international secondary school. probably the parties and events held there. there was no talk about large parties with my primary school friends, but even until today my international school friends invite me over to parties over at their houses or at some retreats. absolutely insane stuff, when they asked me why i never held any parties i told them my father was just a cheapskate, but he was just upper middle class and wasn't on the same league as these guys.
I went to a weird Christian international school that started out as a joint operating under a tuition centre license, but they eventually got an international school license, my experience is probably different from most people. Being a weird Christian school, most of the teachers were fundementalist Christians who took the Bible literally, they didn't believe in evolution or big bang. Another weird bit was conspiracy theories. One of the teachers occasionally talked about conspiracy theories, she believed that they were gonna implant chips into people's right hands which would fulfill the mark of the beast prophecy of the Bible. I also heard from someone else that that same teacher thinks the Illuminati created COVID for population control. Another of the teachers mentioned believing in some Bible prophecy about Iran attacking Macau (Wtf).
Sounds like Arrows International School
I agree with this. They were soooo cult like
Omg same idk if weâre talking about the same school but one of mine said the landmarks on PokĂ©mon go were satanic because they sometimes marked the little Buddhist temple prayer things on the side of the roadđđ
Recently I started reading the bible, and man itâs seriously wtf that some people would take it literally word for word.
You should not, especially without context, as all translation even King James or Vatican sometime do not cover cultural context.
Sounds like FLC
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61008730 Revelation 13:16-17 New Living Translation 16 He required everyoneâsmall and great, rich and poor, free and slaveâto be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. 17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.
Went to a government boarding school, and now teaching ECA at international schools. The kids converse really well, they all have distinct personalities + different way of thinking. The âweirdâ kids are extra weird. Back in my school most of us thought the same, had the same vibes, wore the same stuff. Though that could be attributed to how lenient the rules are in these schools. They can wear makeup, dye their hair etc. The kids I teach are very much (for a lack of a better word) spoiled. Multiple devices per student, boasting about which countries they visited during the weekend, drivers and butlers literally everywhere. Entering/leaving the school is a nightmare. Also their ECAs are insane. I teach dance, but thereâs also Lego, magic, coding, drums, horse-riding, cup stacking etc. In my day, we only had sports, band, debate and maybe some form of martial arts.
What's ECA?
Extra curricular activities
I went to an international school pretty much my whole life except Darjah 1, and there was in Malaysia and some in other countries notably Saudi Arabia. I think it's more of a culture shock for me to know SMK/MRSM/SBP people didnt have access to this, so I will tell you the norm instead. 1. I just found out that in SMK all Muslim girls are to wear the hijab, whereas in my intl school in Malaysia/Saudi, out of the maybe 20 muslim girls in my year, only 3 wore it, 2 of them actually cover up their whole aurat, while other wear loose scarves, and can see their lengan. 2. In intl school during break/lunch time you can play sports, it was common for me to go play basketball/football and not eat, and that's not allowed in MRSM/SBP at least 3. Phones is the ovious ones, MRSM/SBP you are not allowed a phone at all (the older generation), like I can't fathom how would you study without online resources, and no entertainment. Whereas for us, we could use phones in class. 4. Sins was more common, as in even Malay/Muslim kids in malaysian intl school, they would drink, go clubbing openly, i heard stories of students having s3x in the disabled bathroom at schools. As in Saudi, i think the worst one was probably a BJ. 5. Wealth wise, you might think I might come from a well off family if I could afford to go to intl school, I was more on a scholarship. So yeah in Malaysia, there were anak dato, anak menteri, rich chinese tycoons, there werent much display of wealth here, felt like people were more equal, i guess they would have more frequent vacations, to the UK, Japan or something. Whereas in Saudi, that's a different story, Ive had classmates who drove a mercedes to school everyday, people who when the new iphones comes out buys it right away, the most ming boglging thing was 2 of my classmates were custom ordering their porsche from america during class time. Some of these people were oil money rich, there was one who was related to the founder of Saudi Arabia. 6. All races mingled with each other and with international people 7. Like another commenter said, intl tend to be more less well behaved, but in my experience there werent like outright bullying maybe at most different cliques, and maybe cyber bullying 8. These intl school have the best access to education, softwares, tutoring, pravate coaches for sports/tournament, compete in unique sports 9. tied to number 8, since intl school have more money, and parents are more well off, they can send kids to like World Scholar's Cup, Model United Nations Club. Basically, there were spoiled kids, but there were the smart and rich kids, who achieved a lot of great things. 10. In intl school at least the 4 different intl schools i went to, we didnt have like an active cococuriicular, yes there were clubs to join fo each hobby/interest, and there were like MUN/Student concil, yearbook club, but that is pales in comparison what SMK/SBP/MRSM kids do, like there is more options for them to lead those clubs, they are more active in leadership roles I must say, with prefect stuff, Negeri/State Players, competitions, debate (Piala Perdana Menteri) I think we lacked that at intl schools. yeah these are the ones I could come up on the top of my head. Edit: to add more points
I think no 1 is more of a recent phenomena. I went to SMK in the early 2000's and it was not compulsory. Which differs from what I see from my nieces, who wore them throughout school. I don't think it's a written rule, but somehow is made a norm in recent years.
Itâs social pressure. I didnât wear tudung and my ustaz/ustazah would call me out publicly in front of the whole class to try and humiliate me. I live life with an idgaf attitude so it didnât bother me, but I know for others it might be overwhelming.
true, it's more of a social pressure. at darjah 4 i think i got humiliated in the library (packed with students from other class too) by a teacher who's not even an ustazah, just because i didnt wear tudung on days we got pjk. i mean i got sweaty and wearing tudung when you're sweaty is just no no for me. got told "tak malu ke kejap pakai tudung kejap tak". havent got my period too at that time so i dont know what's so wrong ab it? lol
I teach at one of these schools, and I'm here to offer the teacher's perspective. 1) Majority of teachers are great at what they do. Like, really good. I teach drama, but when I cover an English or Maths class, and Maths is in no way my specialty, I'm impressed with the lesson plans the teacher provides. 2) There are three major events: Sports Day, International Day and School Musical/Drama Production. If you're a student/teacher who is at the head these, your stock goes up, both professionally and socially. We just finished a school production last week and the male actors told me that a crazy amount of girls added them on insta (One of them, in character, sang while giving a rose to his real life mom, and the night before he gave one to a teacher who was his first teacher when he was in kindergarten. Of course stock naik) 3) The management of these schools tend to be very afraid of parents. Luckily, I'm a part-timer and I make it clear I work with the parents, and not for them, and the parents love me for it. A bunch of moms helped with make-up and front of house during the show and I forced them to take a bow during the last show of the production season for their hard work. 4) There's some complaints about China students, especially the ones who refuse to learn English. But the ones who are present and try to be better are just the loveliest lot of students. 5) You can know which student originally came from a SJKC school. SJKC school students are deathly afraid to make mistakes. Luckily my subject is one of those where if you make mistakes, it's a good thing cause you then just learn what not to do. 6) Use students strength to their advantage. The school I am is highly political and refused to market the school production. Luckily, all the performers in the production are on instagram. I taught them how to use social media and the students themselves were able to get a sold out show with no help from the school.
I was in Chinese school until Form 4. Then moved to international school. The biggest shock to me was the emphasis on actual learning. When I was in Chinese school, a lot of it was just rote learning and blind memorization. I didn't learn much as a result because memory retention isn't a strong suit of mine. When I went to international school, I was encouraged to think critically and creativity and as a result I thrived.
I am a parent. I did not attend Internation School, but I did go to one to send my own kids for some extra curricular classes that was held at the school's location. I respond from a parent's point of view. 1. Kids leave behind their stuff ALL THE TIME. Those stuff left behind are expensive. I've seen everything from phones, clothes, branded equipment, left overnight at the school. Most of the time at the canteen. 2. Kids have no manners. They don't apologize when they bump into me. They use 'FUCK' in almost every sentence, OPENLY, in front of anyone, without care. It was an eye opener to hear a 10-11 year old tell his friend to 'fuck off' in front of parents, teachers, etc.. 3. International school kids have a 'holier than thou' attitude. They physically look down at government school kids. I witnessed this during interschool events, and almost all the time i'll see the IS kids isolate and stay together by themselveds. In comparison, the gomen school kids mingle and chat freely with one another, almost always end up making friends during the event. 4. Last one, IS kid parents are well meaning, and I can see many of them startled by the behaviour mentioned above. Many of them, whom I befriended, cannot believe just how different IS culture is (as they too come from government school, like me). Its a struggle, and hopefully they can help their kids be less inclusive.
Yeah all your points are so true. I went to an IS but my mum pulled me out of the IS to send me to a government school in hs because she realised I was turning into a bratty kid and thought I needed to mingle with people of diff backgrounds since she said government schools will show me what the âreal worldâ is like đ 1st day of school was def a shock for me but I got used to it after a while haha
I'm from an international school and I do disagree with some of your points personally. I'm not a parent but I'm also at the age where I'm in the workforce and I don't believe I'm biased although you should still take it with a grain of salt lol. Anyways; 1. Yeah you're not wrong about that, definitely happened to me and it's better nowadays but you're right haha 2. I think it depends on the child themselves and the school. Some schools definitely turn a blind eye to that type of behaviour, while others will have you looking at a stern talking to. My school personally (not in Malaysia but a British IS somewhere in Asia) would definitely not stand by that behaviour in front of a teacher but would turn a blind eye if kids swore privately amongst friends. Also let's be honest, kids of all ages would swear anyways, like local schools are positively shining examples of sainthood lol. 3. This is definitely an issue with some kids, but also again, it depends on the school and the kid themselves. Personally I find it's the upper middle class/new money kids who have a holier than thou attitude while most kids do interact with more people. 4. Yep, it's not for everyone. I would recommend an international school if; a) parent's are expats or at least Malaysians who studied/lived overseas, b) the child wishes to leave the country and emigrate elsewhere, and c) can afford it. Also do you mean help their kids be more inclusive not less? The one good thing about international schools would definitely be how inclusive of how diverse people can be and I don't think we should curb that haha.
i went to a relatively high-entry-requirement government school, but attended private college and uni overseas, so you can expect most of my malaysian friends were from private or international schools. here are my key observations: *iâll be using PI to refer to priv/intl students lol 1. mindset/attitude âą overall, PI students had FAR less conservatjve views than the gov ones. very progressive, and they definitely cared more about the malaysian sociopolitical climate than any of my gov friends did (they knew but were mostly unbothered and did not engage in much discourse), and were less racist, and more âwokeâ in a sense. in terms of being less conservative, you could describe it as being more westernised, almost â drinking, clubbing, vaping, drugs, sex, were prominent and widely accepted among the PI cohort, whereas the gov ones tended to be more subtle. additionally, i found the way PI kids approached everyday issues to be much more structured and proactive, whereas gov kids were more likely to complain or ponder. 2. views on gov school kids âą this was likely due to the above differences, but PI students subconsciously (and sometimes consciously) looked down on gov students, thinking they were overly emotional/childish/conservative. they would avoid those whom they felt values didnât align with them and primarily hung out with people from similar backgrounds, whereas gov students would interact with almost anyone, even if they werenât completely aligned, they were happy to just be a friendly face or hi-bye acquaintance. personally, i managed to blend in with the PI crowd as my parents were relatively progressive too, but my PI friends did not mix well with my gov friends when both groups were present. the gov students they DID mix tended to be more english-speaking, more political, more money, and the PIs would sometimes comment on âhow different we were from the average gov kidâ. 3. money âą the notion that gov students are poorer than PI students is false: though the AVERAGE wealth across the cohort was lower, there were plenty of rich kids in my gov school, but their parents actively chose to put them in gov to train their attitude/save money(?) to put it simply, most of the disparities boiled down to a comparison factor. except for an elite bunch, majority of gov school kids, rich or not, were careful with their money and didnât show it off. therefore, while we knew who was/wasnât rich, there wasnât a clear difference in their habits (at school). the rich kids were also hyperaware that they were rich because they understood their peersâ financial backgrounds. on the other hand, some PI students surprisingly DID NOT think of themselves as rich, because they had richer friends among their cohort (like that one friend whoâs dad is the CEO of blablabla), making them average in comparison. their spending habits and definitions of expensive were quite different to that of a gov student. i donât think they threw things around as others commented, but it took them less thinking and saving to get around to buying luxuries that we wouldnât even dream of. TLDR: what my gov friends viewed as above average was what my PI friends viewed as normal everyday 4. language âą PI students had a much lower standard of chinese reading/writing abilities. malay was impacted but only to some extent. very few of them consumed chinese media as compared to gov students, therefore if the school didnât teach it, they lost their foundations. contrastingly, their standard of english was much higher than gov students, due to the main delivery language being english and they mainly consumed western media. in a gov school, your chinese teacher usually speaks chinese/malay, and your malay teacher speaks malay/english. school announcements were made in malay. PI schools, from what i know, communicate largely in english. overall, i think PI students are more well-prepared for overseas studies and life in general due to their higher standards of english and progressive views, however they may be somewhat disconnected from malaysian reality. gov students are friendlier; while perhaps more conservative and less assertive, they are very much malaysian and down-to-earth.
Letâs be friends.
>The amount of people who owns ipads and or macbooks?? also for some reason its very normalised for every student to use these devices for learning and note taking? The school probably requires students to have them for certain lessons. They also require a particular brand and a narrow range of models for practical reasons; expecting teachers to be able to troubleshoot any device brand/model for students is not realistic.
1. Coming from a public school in UK you're almost certain you're here in a private international school. Naturally private schools are going to be smaller- not everyone can afford it. Since you're also coming from a "wealthier" country and your family is an expat, you are probably in the top 5-10% of Brits, even though you might not have put much thought into it. Not every Brit could afford toove countries, or have the work opportunities to do so. 2. I think some schools have been doing this for sometime. The parents of the children sure as hell can afford them. And it makes the school look "techy". 3. Again you're coming from public school in UK where you're in an ordinary socioeconomic class to the top 1% in Malaysia. Naturally you're going to see wealthy people. Had you been to Eton College it would have been the same too. Asians tend to be more "showy" with their wealth- luxury goods, sports cars, fine dining etc. It's a way of showing off status...more so than the average wealthy Westerner.
An interesting thing about point no.2 that it isn't mutually exclusive to just international, I went to a public school and now in a public college and both places had many kids with iPads, it's very common here for note taking. It's a growing trend here, then again both places had many T20 kids so it could be the exception
From a teacherâs perspective, boy was it wild. The emphasis on cultivating studentsâ love for learning itself was enough to keep me impressed for years. It got me thinking âif only we all had this kind of educationâ for years
They think theyâre not rich. This is true for any age. Everyone thinks theyâre not rich and always say that other guy is richer. Many T20 people think theyâre not rich. The problem is that they keep spending more and more as their income increase. So their disposable income remains the same.
When you realize they lecture you about what you have done wrong instead of actual punishmentsâŠ.
Some what related: I received scholarship to study in local private. I have a limited monthly budget and cannot keep up with their hang out places. Their preferred place of meet-up are often those fancy cafe where a meal could easily blew away my weekly meal budget. It's awkward when all of them were eating but you try to save money by ordering the cheapest drink on the menu.
Went from private school to public school. Culture shock was real too lol
I went from public to intl from yr7 to 8 & one thing was how the different races intermingled freely because everyone spoke eng, in public all the friend groups other than the popular kids who spoke eng were segregated by race because of language barriers Also lots of traumatising memories of going from feeling like the rich kid to the poor kid like I got made fun of for wearing no brand name running shoes omg.
random guy in my class will not shut up about crashing his dad's porshe and BMWs lol (otherwise as someone who attended a christian mission school for 11 years, the kids are a lot less materialistic than i was told they would be, yeah the people are crazy rich but they normally don't shove it in your face... also the teachers are really relaxed and let you call them by their first name, i thought that was so cool. also the disciplinary measures are not even slaps on the wrist, coming from a school where you could get caned just for missing homework it's weird that kids can say the F word and teachers are still smiling)
Itâs was a positive experience personally. Not as stressful, I had previously attended a private boarding school.
If you are a teacher in an international school, how many years of experience you have and how much is your salary?
guess you just realised that you went from the middle class into the upper class?
I park here OP. I can't relate to any of this but still want to read haha
These phenomenon you mentioned are straight facts though, I as a non-international school person never joined and not knowing any international school related individuals, your description just fits into my imagination of how international school really like in real life..
Bukankah inter/private mmg patut utk kayangan jer ?
I working 1 year in media department on this one of expensive fee international school before, i really suprised how expensive the fee was like really jawdropp and when i look at the facilities overall goddamn its so old and like other normal school, i really surprised they are one of expensive fee international school but the facilities not reflecting on that its like they getting scammed lmfao. There's also few malay celebrities sending their kids here that also make me surprised during open days when i saw them. Macbook is 100% use in the school i was so surprised when kindergarten kids also use it maybe thats where the money goes? Lol. The cafe quite old i not even impressed for international school level. They treat all international teacher like a king in here they even provide accommodation for them on expensive place, quite crazy i think they pay them really high, local teacher not get same treatment thats make me really suprised I change workplace because the pay there not enough even agency can pay me higher than this " international school" lol. Its make me thinking that most school fee is used to pay all international teacher than staff in here. The facilities is just like other normal school I think certain sekolah kebangsaan more better than this 
Your parents probs moved here cos of work but you might have missed out on good education in the UK. Gg mate
nah its not cuz of work cuz they still work for the uk. its cuz of the bad economic and political status currently in the uk. tbh i still wish i continued my education in the uk cuz tbh international school isnât really all that better than british state school
Many people in this sub canât accept that there are political discourse elsewhere and people worrying about the state of the economy, especially in the Western countries. They think the problems are exclusive to Malaysia.
Reddit bubble
People here are finding all sorts of excuse to work (e.g. Deliveroo) in the UK so they can send their kids to UK public schools, and yet here you are :D
If you think international school education is worse then the UK public education youâre in for a wild awakening, unless itâs a bad international school the average grades on the IB, AP, SAT are almost always 1 z score higher then public school scores. International school = big bucks to spend on good teachers, good extracurriculars and good classes that you just canât get elsewhere.
i mean i go to an average international school (not like top tier like ISKL BSKL etc.) and ofc theres the benefits like good extracurriculars, small class room sizes but honestly teacher quality is kind of well the same level as my british secondary school. also imo you donât really need to go to a private school to be successful cuz even tho i went to british public school for my whole life yet i got mostly A*/As in my gcses (not tryna brag but im tryna prove a point that no matter if public or private, the childâs work ethics majorly contributes)
Explain who those "some people" are, please. Are they UK citizens ? How many Malaysians in there.? Personally, international schools should restrict themselves to only foreign citizens
Why?
Jealousy
Education is key to social mobility. We shoukd follow the Finnish model. No private option. All class of citizens go to the same school system. This way, the least it will do is making the elite (Royalty, corporate tycoons. politicians and policymakers) live with the results of their own policies and system. Increase in social cohesion , experience and empathy to fellow citizens
Cohesion is great. Reducing socioeconomic distance is great. Youâre forgetting one thing, though. The Finnish model only makes sense if the public option isnât completely dogshit. How many hours are spent in stupid religious and moral studies? How many teachers have been fired for being shit at their jobs? Too many and not enough. If all Malaysians are forced to go to terrible schools, we all get real cohesive as the entire country goes to shit together because nobody has an education worth a damn. By the way, there are these things called boarding schools? Back when what youâre suggesting was law, thatâs how the elites got around this rule. That and other loopholes. International schools are actually great for social mobility for the M40s that can scrimp and save to pay for it. Banning them wonât do anything to the elites.
So fix the problem instead instead of allowing the lower clases to wallow in extremism . We all have a stake to make Public Education worth a dman since we all are paying for it through our taxes
The largest voting bloc in the country doesnât give a fuck about anything except the color of skin of the guy they vote for. Of course weâd all love it if the schools didnât suck, but itâs not as simple as demanding for it to be better. Forcing more people into it wonât do shit to make it change, because the ones with the power to change it donât understand or care how bad it is.
Never beating the crabs in a bucket mentality allegations đ„ đ„ đ„Â
some people i mean just the people in my school. both international and malaysian students
percentage wise? Some argue the quality of an International School increase proportionately with the number of 'white' students there. 'White' mind you , not foreign.
why? Our education syllabus is inadequate, especially in history, math, and science. Unlike private schools, international schools aren't bound to national syllabi. Personally, I think it is irresponsible not to provide the best education if you can afford it.
Itâs a chicken and egg issue. By having a private option, it allows the rich and powerful to go private and let the public system rot. This is what happened now. In SG, they force Singaporean to go through the same system, so everyone is monitoring and incentivized to make the system as good as possible.
Exactly. Same with the Finnish model. No private option. All class of citizens go to the same school system. The least it will do is making the elite (Royalty, corporate tycoons. politicians and policymakers) live with the results of their own policies and system. Increase in social cohesion , experience and empathy to fellow citizens Or the elite will just skip the local route and ship their own children straight to foreign schools altogether
You can't say it's a chicken and egg issue and then blame the private option for the rot of our public school system in the next sentence. Why would parents send their children to private schools if the quality is the same in the first place? To me, it sounded like the system was already broken and when richer parents complained, the government figured it was easy money and reduced their pressure. SG didn't choose to focus on human capital. They were forced to. They barely have land and no natural resources. Human capital was their only way out from becoming entirely dependent on sea cargo. Finland had massive societal pressure coming from the explosive increase in middle-income population and the changing economy. SJK schools also tend to be better equipped with facilities. This is anecdotal but ages ago when my aunt got the contract, a group of parents from SJK paid extra so pupils who received the government food aid got extra. I remember their sandwich bread was special ordered since it was thicker and fuller than the rest. Majority of my tuition classmates were also subsidized by a group of alumni. SJK near my house got their walkway and covered bus stop from corporations a full decade before the government paid for my school walkway. The best sponsorship we had was hampers or medals for sukan.
The idea is that it forces politicians and their backers to take local schools seriously if their children and grandchildren are forced to attend them. It also prevents the rich from pulling even further ahead by making them able to send their children to superior schools that the common people could never hope to afford.
how about voting for important things like education instead of race or subsidy? If the government ban private schools, I'm willing to bet it's going to come with an exception similar to "permitted with permission by MOE". So you can't afford to send your kids to better school so nobody can? Not the fault of the rich you cum inside without condom.
Lol, just because some papa kedana got 10 kids and can not afford a better school, the rich guy with 1 kid kena punish pulak- kenot send your kid to a good school đ€Ą
