Day 3 - The study of Thick and Black

March 12, 2012

I had made plans to meet Kong Chan at ComTar building this morning.  He drove up with Soo Har.  I was surprised to see him. It was years (seven or nine) since I last saw him. We were in the Sixth Forms in High School, but were not friends until towards the end, when we formed the "Boys Club" at Aw Bah's house.
Through University days, we were friends, but less so with Soo Har, and more so with Kong Chan.

Both Kong Chan and Soo Har became teachers, and they both taught tuition classes after school, and made good money (under the table.)  Soo Har taught at various schools, became a high school principal eventually, and resigned or was sacked six or sevens later. So when we got together, the conversations turned to education and teaching.  Soo Har did most of the talking.  He vented his opinions of the (lack of ) standard in education, and the oppression they faced as Chinese teachers and educators.

We had curry noodles, char kuay teow, and stuffed tofus at a coffee shop in Penang Road, then drove to Penang Hill road, intending to take the funicular railroad to the top of the hill.  This week being the school holidays (vacation), the railroad station was filled with young people lining up for tickets, so we decided to go elsewhere instead.

We drove to Tanjong Bunga (beach), and along the coast, up to Telok Pahang, and onto the road that goes around the island.  At Balik Pulau, we stopped for Laksa, then dropped off Kong Chan and drove back to mother's house around 1:30 PM.  The whole trip took about 2 to 3 hours.

Throughout the trip, Soo Har talked.  He talked about teachers from the old days, and he talked about his teaching days.  He talked about the time he worked at Chung Lung High School, our alma mata high school, and how he was tricked to resigned from the high school.  He talked.  When we arrived home, I invited him in to have a beer and he talked.

Most of what he talked about is the Chinese theory of Thick & Black.  Thick face (shameless) and Black heart - one must be shameless and ruthless when dealing with the enemies.

The essence of the Thick and Black is based on human psychology.  Most man crave fame and fortune.  Therein lies their weaknesses from which you can start your attack.  An example:

Lam is the high school discipline officer.  Under his control, the high school enjoys a high reputation of good, polite students, punctual to class, keeps the campus clean and neat, etc.  Lam always brag in front of the Principal without him the school will fall apart. After a while, the principal Mr Yap was sick of Lam and plotted to oust him from the school.  Now Lam is a long time employee, so Yap will need to be careful how he handle this so as not to cause administrative issues and receive repercussions from the government.

One chapter of the Thick Black Theory is call:
"Loan a man a ladder, Make him feel elevated,
 Take away the ladder, See him helpless."
The meaning of the theory will become obvious when you examine how Mr Yap carried out his mission using the theory in this chapter.

To become a principal in Malaysia, one must possess certain qualifications, the least of which is a university degree.  It turns out that Lam was a Form five (high school) graduate and had worked his way up to be the discipline officer of the high school.  Mr Yap called Lam into the office and offered to help Lam .  He said he has connections at the Ministry, and can recommend Lam to take an upcoming post of the principal of another high school.  Lam thought Mr Yap was being so nice to him, and also, who wouldn't want to have a promotion, and the glory of being the boss of a high school?  He eagerly accepted the invitation.

Now the high school he took over was at the time a small high school, with only a few hundred students.  Lam qualified to run the high school, even though without a university degree, because regulations state that a degree is only needed for schools with more than a thousand students. Lam was elevated to principal, and because to enjoy the live and glory.  Mr Yap had known for a while that the high school is situated in a high population growth area, and in three years, will see student population grow to more than a thousand students.  He kept that information from Lam.

In due time, when the school population grew to a thousand, Lam was still in high spirit, thinking it was his administration that attracted the students, and not thinking of the degree requirement.  Secretly, Mr Yap sent a note to a Ministry official, exposing Lam's lack of qualification.  Lam was unceremoniously removed as the principal.

So, as you can see, to get rid of Lam, Mr. Yap gave him a ladder (the recommendation of a promotion.)  The ladder elevated Lam to a high position.  Yap knew Lam will take the bait, because it is human propensity for fame and fortune.  Once Lam is promoted, and danger befell on him for not having the degree, Yap can withdraw his help, with the excuse that he did not anticipate the high school will rise in population, and that he did not know Lam did not have a university degree.  This is taking the ladder away from Lam, so Lam is left hanging in the cloud, from which he must fall.  The Thick Black Theory struck his opponent in such a way that Lam has no way of accusing Yap of any wrong-doing. At the same time, Yap accomplished his goal of ridding Lam from his staff.


Another chapter of the Thick Black Theory:  "Getting to Yes"

(to be continued)

Yet another chapter of the Thick Black Theory is "Thank you for hurting me, Sir"

Four days after Soo Har became the Deputy Principal of the high school, he was faced with a problem. As Deputy Principal, he was automatically the Discipline Officer.  There were reports of missing bicycles and bicycle helmets. Soo Har was not sure if this was the act of one person or a gang, but he decided to make an example of one.  He was mindful that in the past, when students were accused of wrong-doings, the parents would side with the students, making it ineffective for the school administrators to punish the violators.

To carry out his plans, he immediately made an announcement: Anyone caught





(to be continued)