You’re ill educated if you belittle another’s education

Judge Ahmad Bashah by his track record as a leader, not by the level of his formal education.

Robin Augustin, Free Malaysia Today

Everyone knows that paper qualifications are overrated. Sure, the higher your qualification the higher your pay usually is, and the framed certificate looks nice on your office wall. But that’s about it. The certificate you have does not determine how great you become as a human being. By itself, it doesn’t even determine how well you perform in your job.

That’s why the jokes circulating online about the new Kedah Menteri Besar are so sickening. Even more disgusting are the statements by politicians who imply that his lack of education disqualifies him from taking the job.

This article is not an endorsement of Ahmad Bashah, but a defence of those who are the butt of jokes just because they did not complete school or get a degree.

There are many examples of people who did not even complete their SPM – either by choice or from lack of opportunity – and yet have succeeded in life. And there are people, including currently serving public officials, who have studied at the top universities of the world but who have done nothing noteworthy. They boast about having degrees, double degrees and postgraduate degrees and achieving high CGPA scores, and yet all they can show is their stupidity. Some of their public utterances would make a primary school dropout wonder if they have brains at all.

The only politicians worse than the stupid ones are the corrupt ones. There are, of course, politicians who are both stupid and corrupt.

It’s important to remember that being book smart alone does not make one successful. It pays to be street smart as well, more so for a career in politics. What good can a politician do if he can’t connect with the man on the street, even if he has had an impressive education? It’s not his paper qualification that determines a leader’s substance but what he does for the people.

Of course, citizens have every right to criticise their leaders, but Ahmad Bashah should be judged by his leadership rather than the level of his formal education. It remains to be seen how well he will perform as Menteri Besar. We’ll know in due time.