Waldorf 100
Waldorf 100 is also celebrated in Malaysia by twelve Waldorf Schools and countless kindergartens. People there are increasingly dissatisfied with the mainstream school system.
Hot, happy and colorful! Malaysia, with a population of 33 million, is snuggled into the southernmost peninsula of the Eurasian continent between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean’s Andaman Sea. A very multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country, 60 per cent of the Malaysian people practice Islam, 20per cent are Buddhist, and 10per cent are Christian, leaving the remaining 10per cent as Hindu, Daoist, Confucian, and other beliefs. As a former British colony, its second language after Malay is English, but Chinese is also widely spoken. Since the general public doesn't have confidence in the changing curriculum of schools, many international schools are popular in the major cities here. There are now twelve Waldorf school initiatives – some more like homeschools - , kindergartens and a teacher training program with visits from foreign mentors.
A middle pathway between the extremes of life
Kelip Kelip is the largest Waldorf School on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city. Together with seven others it belongs to a federation called Steiner Education Malaysia. These sem schools have been celebrating Waldorf 100 with students, parents, teachers and the wider community.
At one of the celebrations in September, a visiting mentor presented a picture of the importance of education as an art at a time when many schools are one-sidedly promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Especially in this digital age, we must not lose track of what it is to be human and how the arts serve as a critical mediating factor in this regard. It is art, in the very broadest sense of the word, that provides the fulcrum and balance between the thinking and doing person. Waldorf education provides the heart that creates a middle pathway forward between the extremes in life that often tear us in two.
The teachers and parents of the Malaysian Waldorf movement are in search of this balance in education even without official recognition from their government.