For the second Wacana Warisan Series (WWS) webinar in 2022, organised by the Malay Heritage Foundation (MHF), guest speaker Dr. Roszalina Rawi delivered a 60-minute webinar on the “Concept of Heroes Amongst Malay Children in Singapore” in English. Dr. Rosza is a Lecturer at the Asian Languages & Cultures (ALC) Academic Group, National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University. Her thesis delves into assessment reform in Malay Language classrooms. This session officially marks the start of the new WWS season. Aside from researching assessment, Dr. Rosza also investigates social issues within the Malay community. She has recently published a chapter on how transgender Malay youths in Singapore mediate culture and identity in The Bloomsbury Handbook of Culture and Identity, from Early Childhood to Early Adulthood: Perceptions and Implication (2021).
Saturday, 21 May 2022 — MHF Vice-Chairman Dr. Azhar Ibrahim introduced the second guest speaker for WWS 2022, Dr. Roszalina Rawi, also known as Dr. Rosza, to the virtual audiences following the webinar via Zoom and Facebook Live. Before joining NIE as a lecturer in 2010, Dr. Rosza was an educator teaching Malay Language in secondary schools. She shared that her sharing session would explore the concept of heroes amongst Malay children in Singapore and discuss the implications of their choice of heroes on their identity development.
Dr. Rosza opened her webinar by providing a background and setting the context. She researched the concept of heroes amongst Malay students for her master’s degree in 2011. The study involved 86 secondary school Malay students aged 13-17 and were conducted via surveys and interviews. Dr. Rosza shared that heroes are figures admired for their achievements and noble qualities, and children tend to emulate the behaviours of those they admire. Hence, it is important to investigate who their heroes are and the traits within them. She added that many studies have shown that children are both competent and coherent commentators on their own lives and the contexts within which they live.
Dr. Rosza next shared the three current studies by young researchers. She mentioned that the three ladies researchers asked very pertinent research questions comprising: “How do young Malay children conceptualise heroes?”, “How do heroes motivate Malay children to learn?” and “What are the attributes young Malay children regard as important in their heroes?”. Dr. Rosza touched briefly on the concept of self-actualisation and heroism. A form of expression of self-actualisation can be cited as one reason for the growing discussion on heroism. Self-actualisation in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is the highest level of psychological development, where the personal potential is fully realised.
Dr. Rosza also discussed the ecological systems theory by Urei Brofenbrenner (1977). Child development is a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment – immediate settings of family and school and overall cultural values, laws, and customs. The microsystem is the most influential level of the ecological systems theory. Therefore, children’s heroes may be someone within their microsystem: immediate family members/peers.
Dr. Rosza next shared the social cognitive learning theory by Albert Bandura (1986), where individuals, children included, learn through observations and imitation. Bandura identified three basic models of observational learning – Live, Symbolic and Verbal Instructional. Dr. Rosza stressed that children would associate themselves with key figures such as their heroes and most likely imitate their role models’ behaviours. Therefore, having role models that portray desirable and positive behaviour traits is essential.
Dr. Rosza spoke about Professor Hadijah’s Peranan dan Perkembangan Sastera Kanak-Kanak where the hero is often lauded as the “historical ideals of life”. She added that Malay children’s literature refers to the hero such as sateria (knight), pahlawan (warrior), pendekar (man-in-arms), pejuang (fighter), wira (hero), tokoh (personality), and serikandi (woman warrior). For example, in the stories of Hang Tuah, his complete and utter loyalty towards the Sultan is considered by writers as a positive and noble value that should be encouraged in young readers.
In contrast to this, Dr. Rosza also shared Professor Shaharuddin Maaruf’s Concept of a hero in Malay society, which looked deeper into the main problem faced by the community – backward elites. The origins of this backward Malay elite, according to Prof. Shahruddin, date back to the era of Malay feudalism. He criticised the backward elites’ selection of figures as community heroes or fighters because, in fact, the figures were fighting for their selfish interests. The feudal heroes celebrated by the backward elite were only busy with non-constructive activities such as interest in martial arts, black magic, etc. When the Malay elite glorifies examples of feudal heroes such as Hang Tuah as community heroes, a problematic concept of a hero amongst the Malay arises.
Dr. Rosza also shared some interesting findings on the top heroes and personal heroes chosen by the Malay children in her research works. She also shared a study where 83.3% of the Malay children chose heroes primarily based on the characters’ personality traits (Nurulain, 2020). Towards the end of the lecture, Dr. Rosza stressed that parents play a significant role in Malay children’s choices of heroes. Their early exposure to personalities considered heroes is dependent on their parents. There is a need for Malay parents to have conversations with their children about the positive role models and influences so these children can self-actualise.
A closing Q&A session followed the second WWS webinar in 2022. Dr. Azhar moderated this segment, and Dr. Rosza addressed several questions from the virtual audience who tuned in via Zoom and Facebook Live.
WWS comprises a series of webinars to encourage the development of new and alternative approaches to understanding Malay history, economy, politics, society, and culture. Beyond the clichés and convenient mainstream narratives lie many lesser-known facts about the Malay community in Singapore.
The 2022 season comprises six different speakers delivering exciting topics on legacy discourse. Participants who register and attend via Zoom for at least five sessions are issued a Certificate of Attendance. WWS webinars are available in either English or Malay.
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