As part of the fourth Wacana Warisan Series (WWS) webinar in 2022, organised by the Malay Heritage Foundation (MHF), guest speaker Dr. Nor Hanisah Saphari delivered a 60-minute webinar on “NEWNILAI: Menjenguk Semula Arif Budiman – Pengalaman Seorang Pendidik”. Dr. Hanisah is a PhD holder from the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Her PhD research thesis was titled “Penerapan nilai melalui sastera kanak-kanak dalam bahasa Melayu di sekolah rendah di Singapura”. She also has experience as an educator of different levels in Singapore, including training teachers at NIE. She is currently working as a senior teacher at Catholic Junior College. Joining the webinar as a moderator is Ustaz Alfian Yasrif Kuchit, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore (NUS). In his career, he has experience serving with the government, governing agencies, and statutory boards.
Saturday, 8 October 2022 — For the fourth WWS webinar, Dr. Nor Hanisah Saphari was the guest speaker. Introducing her and joining the session as moderator is Ustaz Alfian Yasrif Kuchit. This is the first time a guest moderator has been invited to WWS. Ustaz Alfian shared that he stepped out of his comfort zone by being the moderator as he felt the topic was relevant for education in Islam. He also would like to understand the new developments within the education field.
Dr. Hanisah was introduced as someone who obtained her PhD of Education in NIE, NTU, with her research thesis titled “Penerapan Nilai Melalui Sastera Kanak-kanak dalam Bahasa Melayu di Sekolah Rendah di Singapura”, she is now working as a senior teacher in Catholic Junior College.
Referring to the webinar title, “NEWNILAI: Menjenguk Semula Arif Budiman – Pengalaman Seorang Pendidik”, Dr. Hanisah shared that it is based on her own experience as an educator for more than 30 years. She introduced the five different parts of her webinar, which are as follows: (1) NEWNilai, (2) Arif Budiman, (3) Observation, (4) Personal Experience and (5) Values and Q&A.
The concept of NEWNilai was created as Dr. Hanisah was thinking of the content for the webinar. It is on assessing values (nilai). She shared the context of our life and how we often connect with each other, and why the concept is created. However, in the interconnectedness, there are elements of mystery and counterfeit, such as contacting someone we are unfamiliar with. Dr. Hanisah said that this served as a paradox or conflict. As in the interconnectedness, there is another message behind it.
She added that values and culture have tangible and intangible values. However, according to Dr. Hanisah, there are apparent values that stand out more in our community, which may be due to how easy there are to hold, feel and experience. The values that stand out less would be thinking and philosophy, which may not be pushed forward.
Dr. Hanisah also shared that there are values that were once awkward but not mainstream. For example, previously, one seen talking alone without using devices may be shunned. Nevertheless, this has changed in the modern context, where many use earpieces to communicate. Another example would be the heavy rain in October, as opposed to the past pattern of heavy rain in November and December, which was predictable. Still, climate change has made it difficult to predict and determine the weather. She said that it is the new norm for unpredictability.
Dr. Hanisah also mentioned that there is now excessive dependence on technology, to the point that there are essential, necessary things that could not be done without technology, such as remembering the phone number of loved ones, as it is kept in the phone’s contact list. This dependence was mentioned as not present in the past but is now made a norm.
With terms that used the concept of NEW such as NEWater, NEWSand, New Normal (Never Normal), New Waver (Trend Setter), and No New Friends (Not requiring any new friends, as one is already in a clique), then came along the formation of NEWNilai. Dr. Hanisah shared some new terms that did not exist before, such as cancel culture, inability to the brain (understand), influencer, quaranteen (being a teenager in quarantine), and working from home.
In the second section, Menjenguk Semula Arif Budiman, Dr. Hanisah mentioned that those not in the education field might be unfamiliar and confused with the term. Sharing the background of Visi Arif Budiman, there is a Malay language curriculum revision done in Singapore, which started in 2005. Prof. Hadijah Rahmat led the review of the Malay language curriculum in Singapore in 2004. The direction or mission of the Malay language education was “Insan Berpengetahuan yang Menyumbang kepada Masyarakat” to encourage students to learn and appreciate the Malay language and culture.
The vision is divided into three levels, with the first being primary, of introducing and understanding the Malay language and culture as part and parcel of the plural community of Singapore. This is followed by the secondary level of delving into and appreciating the Malay language and culture in the extension of national development. The third level would be pre-university, which is to build the Malay language and culture creatively to prepare and face challenges and gain opportunities in an ever-changing world. Every Malay language teacher should understand and practice these in school based on these three levels. Dr. Hanisah then explained the challenges of how these are being realised and translated in the different levels of education and what teachers understand about the concept or philosophy behind Arif Budiman.
Dr. Hanisah shared that the term Arif Budiman has been heard in the award, Anugerah Guru Arif Budiman (AGAB), given to teachers with the characteristics of Arif Budiman. There is also the lecture, Ceramah Arif Budiman, whereby organisers will invite speakers who are experts in their field and inspire participants to showcase Arif Budiman. In the meeting of the two terms of Arif and Budiman, it is not to downplay its importance but to ease the meaning of it. It has to be realistic and doable and does not exist solely in shape (concept/abstract) but is also based on experience. The terms cannot be explained separately. Dr. Hanisah also mentioned the need to be Budiman yang Arif before being Arif yang Budiman. Before being virtuous, one must have a relevant understanding. Otherwise, there would be an imbalance. She summarised that it must be realistic, in the sense that it is understandable and reach students, and requires wisdom (cleverness) in being virtuous and sensible. Arif and Budiman cannot be separated. This is for accessing knowledge and skills, and both are equal. These are the components of the value needed to be input in students. The question would be how teachers in the classroom can achieve these.
Dr. Hanisah then shared her experiences as an educator. For literature programmes, she shared that teachers use creativity in reaching out to students in class and as a channel to input values into students. Teachers also use Mother Tongue Language (MTL) Fortnight to share the values of Arif Budiman with students, where funds are provided for these two weeks once a year to apply mother tongue language and culture in school. She also mentioned the use of drama in education and how there is an understanding of values through theatre. Drama is used as a platform to discuss values or discuss social issues, particularly so in secondary school. Furthermore, there is teachers’ creativity and responsibility to ensure that the vision is placed within students. Other than that, there is also a schoolwide approach to reach the vision of Arif Budiman and the school’s vision and mission.
From her own experience, Dr. Hanisah revealed the hashtag #thinklikecikgu. For her expertise in pre-university, she built the Malay language and culture creatively to prepare students for challenges and as an opportunity in a changing world. She then shared projects such as Dapur Kreatif (Creative Kitchen), whereby students are exposed to traditional dishes and can modify them according to their creativity. Students can also bring home food to share with their friends. It is to be noted that the elements of Arif and Budiman are not restricted to only one or two kinds of concepts, but they can be changed to gain students’ interests and, in this example, would be food as the common language. Another project Dr. Hanisah shared is Projek NITRA (Nilai dalam Sastera or Values in Literature), a collaborative effort with different schools started in 2021 to expose literature texts to students and make values relevant. These values are shared and brought back to each of the respective schools. The third project shared is Rakan Bahasa, where students are given a chance to guide their friends, and the Malay language and culture can be lifted.
Additionally, there is Projek Nusantara, which sees how students who offer the Malay Language at MLB and H1 levels can write scripts and act them out on video, which is collated and shared with others regionally, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia. Dr. Hanisah also mentioned another project called Projek Pustaka, where students can showcase Arif Budiman as they research Syawal and Ramadhan from the whole world and showcase it in the school’s library.
In her fifth webinar section, Dr. Hanisah discussed its definition and value. The values by the Ministry of Education are known. Still, the question would be whether there is an alignment between their vision and their hope in how it is understood, translated, and implemented at the school level. She also presented the values of the ministry, such as national education, social-emotional competency, cultural and citizenship education, and core values of harmony and love.
Dr. Hanisah then touched on the meeting of the two concepts of Arif Budiman and NEWNilai. She then posed the question of which value to be lifted in NEWNilai, to the audience and invited them to think about it, be it Ministry of Education (MOE), Malay, 21st Century Competencies, Religion, Shared Values, or as a Global Citizen. She later asked who the stakeholders for NEWNilai should be, whether it be teachers, heirs such as writers, reporters, parents, the school, or even the general public, in curriculum development. She also posed other questions: where does Arif Budiman sit in the context of NEWNilai, does it need to be revisited in NEWNilai, and are there examples and models of Arif Budiman in the community?
A closing Q&A followed the fourth webinar of WWS in 2022, moderated by Ustaz Alfian and Dr. Hanisah, addressing several questions posed by the virtual audience tuned into the webinar 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 five different speakers delivering exciting topics on legacy discourse. Participants who register and attend via Zoom for all five sessions are issued a Certificate of Attendance. WWS webinars are available in either English or Malay. One more WWS session is being scheduled this year.
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