Old School Discipline

After the “well-received” entry on how my parents brought up 3 sons, I have been going through my memory bank searching for a piece of entertaining human history to share. It’s tough, I tell you. But, it is important to write it down, in case the worst happen. At least, people who get “arrowed” to do my eulogy can research here. I think I’ll save them the hassle of coming up with something poignant and emotional.

So the question now is what to write about.

I was reminded of a stand up comedian who related how white kids would threaten to report their parents on charges of child abuse and the parents would relent. An Asian kid tried the same tactics only to have his father call his bluff, saying, "Well, if you do report me, I may get into a little bit of trouble. But those people need exactly 23 minutes to arrive. During that 23 minutes, someone is going to get hurt real bad..."

Times change, but some things shouldn’t… Should it?

Discipline. We all need it, but we all don’t want it. Still, we all got it somewhere some time in our lives. And the most unforgettable manifestation of discipline is, you guessed it, the cane – readily available at the neighbourhood provision shops. And who could forget the two models that dominated the market, the “Discipline Professional Edition” that was made specifically for disciplining misbehaving children and the “Discipline Dual Purpose Edition” that doubles up as a cleaning apparatus.

Anthony Robbins said it best in his book, Awaken The Giant Within, “It’s all about Pain and Pleasure.” Simply put, it is an instinct to avoid pain and move towards pleasure.
If you didn’t do well for tests in school, you get pain.
If you misbehave, you get pain.
Such is the simplicity and effectiveness of pain. The old school (includes our parents, our primary school teachers, BMT and not to forget the prison) swears by it. And of course, the very (in)famous phrase: “Whatever doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger.”

Anyway, back in the old days in primary school, (1988 - 1993) when most of our parents were not so highly educated. That said, teachers then were held in high esteem because they were more educated. Teaching equates to a noble profession because it was apparently not the best paying job and stress from taking care of kids seemed to result in illnesses like cancer, high blood pressure, respiratory problems (because they were always used chalk) and heart attack (probably most common). Or at least that was the impression from my primary school. The last I heard, some of my teachers got very sick. The luckier ones just retired.
Partly for these occupational risks and for the fact that our parents wanted the best education for us, teachers were empowered by them to inflict pain on us as a form of discipline through the use the canes, rulers or just their bare hands.

The most memorable teachers (read: fiercest) always entered the classroom with a cane, either dangling from a hand or shoved in a bag with the hooked handle jutting out like an antenna where it is very visible to the class. The canes seemed to scream, "Misbehave and I''ll draw children's blood."

This is reinforced whenever the teacher whips the cane onto the blackboard. The force of impact is felt throughout the class, sometimes the adjacent class too. There would be complete silence and the air would thicken with the smell of fear.

So that was the strategy employed and it was an effective one. Plus, there was always the naughty one who will suffer the dire consequences of misbehavior. If the person who got cane sat next to you, you would 'kaypoh' and ask if it hurt.

Sometimes, if the form teacher was reputed as a fierce teacher, she empowers other teachers teaching her class with a cane hanging at side of the blackboard. The consequence here is doubled because the teacher conducting the class will whip you in her capacity. Then he/she will inform the form teacher. The form teacher then comes around to whip you again.

If it was a major disciplinary problem, the teacher reports to the principal and the parents. The parents come over. School authorities get permission to whip the student. They whip him/her in front of the parents. Once they are done, the parents take over and whip their child again.

I guess the main thing that sort of drives discipline is respect for authority. During those times, teachers truly earned the people's respect for passing on knowledge to the younger generation. In these times of young princes and princesses, well, it's another matter, I guess.

I personally feel that we have somewhat neglected the importance of inculcating the virtue of respect towards authority in our young ones.
And I think we have also neglected the importance of truly earning people's respect. My Platoon Sergeant used to make this statement: "The Army, a career that commands respect. I command you to respect me. There is no such thing as earning respect here. If got such thing, 'O' Level also can become officer."

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