Nurturing children''s potential

I was relieved and happy with the recent statement by our  Deputy Prime Minster and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at a ceremony to celebrate the success of the Malaysian contingent's performance at the Kuala Lumpur World Robotic Olympiad (KL WRO) 2012 recently. He said children's potential should be nurtured.

I have always believed that every child has a potential hidden within him or her. A child is potentially the light of the world. Every effort should be taken to make the light shine out.  Children need to be regarded as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Just look how the gems are excavated from the soil and polished to become a beautiful and lustrous ornament for man.

Likewise, we need to identify the potential of a child, nurture its potential so that the child can reveal its hidden talent and reach his or her apex.  It is the paramount duty of parents and teachers to identify and nurture the talents and potential of their children.  

As aptly said by our DPM, it would be a waste if the student’s interest is not cultivated and nurtured. A child can develop interest in any field, be it sports, computer, economics, journalism, language or even dancing. Whatever field is the choice of children; it should be encouraged and fostered so that the child achieves his or her choice.

Nowadays, we see a worrying trend among parents demanding their children to study a field of their choice, like medicine, law and the like. Some parents even indoctrinate the child from childhood to become a doctor, even though the child may not have the correct aptitude for medicine. In some families, becoming a doctor is a prestigious achievement. I do not deny the fact the career of a doctor is a truly rewarding one. But, is the child interested in medicine and has the passion to be a doctor? This is the crucial issue the parents need to ponder before encouraging the child to take up any career.

Let’s us bring the best of every child and make him or her happy for choosing the career. Do not deny them their right to make a choice. We should not force upon any career that is a dream of ours. After all what is happiness in life? Be happy with whatever you do and thus contribute our share for the betterment of our fellow being.

Education

Currently, there is a common trend among parents that one of their children should become a medical doctor at any cost. For some parents, it is a matter of prestige and honour. But, are their children inclined towards this noble career? Doctors are special human beings, composed of passion for service to humanity. Are our present doctors portraying such novel qualities? To be a doctor, it needs full commitment to the career and service, not merely on monetary gains.

I remember a friend of mine, a long-time physician who has such excellent work ethics that he treats all his patients as own family members. He even goes night rounds at midnight to visit his patients although his duty as physician ends at 5.00pm. He says he needs to monitor their progress. His patients always remember him. The personal touch with his patients makes him a well-loved doctor. Do our young doctors have such noble values? Today, most of our current doctors are working according to time. It is only office-hours. Even our private practitioners, engage locum doctors to treat patients in the evenings. They don’t go back to the clinic in the evenings.

It is reported that we have 28 universities offering medical courses in the country now, including the public and private universities. Surely, the number is too large for a small nation of ours. Besides, we have tens of students graduating as medical doctors from foreign universities from all over the world to serve in our country. I believe there will glut of doctors in the new future. The quality of these doctors are always questionable. We have heard stories on how doctors examine their patients with pencils and pens. They dare not touch their patients and practice a lot of restrain from the physical touch. I believe physical touch of doctors on patients is also very soothing act and another form of cure, perhaps psychologically.

Please, we do not want to produce doctors who are not fully committed to the career. There must be passion for service and if it is missing, the aspiring doctors and parents who want their child to be doctor should ponder over it seriously.