Yes, Ian, at the core of contentions over culture is the question of identity. One of the things that I did appreciate about my mission school background is that we, girls, were so “multicultural” – shared jokes, food, hobbies, interests- without trying to be. We weren’t unaware about the ‘race’ thing because well, our parents talked about it at home. We heard neighbours chatting over the fences and kedai runcits about who didn’t get this scholarship and how unfair it was. But the heat of these debates somehow didn’t burn away friendships. Those were the days of the mission school movement.

The homeschool movement has the same potential , I think, to realign Malaysian culture to what it should be. Like the mission school movement- actually more so- the homeschool movement can open shared spaces- for leisure, for debate, for friendships- in a way that the present public school system doesn’t. We have greater autonomy. That’s not to say that parents of public schooled kids can’t do the same- making opportunities for their kids to interact and build friendships with kids of other ethnic groups, economic backgrounds and religions. But there are greater constraints in terms of time, in terms of going against the prejudices that schooling (may) help stoke instead of abolish.

Identifying the social strata as Middle/Upper Middle in itself, i feel, already suggests the problem, or, at least the greatest potential problem. And that is, that the agenda of the strata is most naturally aligned with the pursuit of wealth, comfort and achievement. And obligations such as nation-building and neighbourliness, even cultural heritage, can often be regarded as means at worst and, well, tiresome tasks at best.

It needs an intentional placement of value on the worth of cultural identity–first one’s own, then others’–before we can actually address this problem.

Christianity can be a two edged sword: it can either be westernising or it can imbue you with an hands-on love for peoples of the world.

Yeah, it’s so very important to differentiate the two definitions of “culture” that are so broadly used by people. You expressed your views so succinctly and plainly in the last sentence. Back to the real culture!

Charge! Haha : )