Pilgrimage invokes divine help to pass examinations
Clad in a figure-hugging yellow sari, Tamil Malar, 17, gasped for breath under the blistering noon sun outside the Batu Caves, Malaysia's holiest Hindu shrine.
The temple is perched on a hill outside Kuala Lumpur and Malar had climbed 272 steps to reach the cave complex. As she climbed the winding stairs, she chanted prayers and carrying a jug of milk on her head, a gift for the gods.
Over 30,000 students made the same journey last week - a trip organisers call an 'education pilgrimage' to invoke divine help to pass high school examinations in November.
'The pilgrimage has energised me to study ... I have no fear now that the gods are not with me,' said Malar, a truck driver's daughter who dreams of becoming a doctor.
The pilgrimage, now into its 10th year, is organised by the Sri Murugan Tuition Centre, a learning institute that combines religious fervour, fasting, sacrifice, mass prayer and weekend tuition to prepare students for the examination.
It is large, cheap and almost exclusively patronised by poor Indian students.
'These are students who usually perform poorly in schools and are neglected by teachers. They also face a multitude of family problems like crime, alcoholism and poverty,' said P.Rajendran, president of the Tamil Writers Association. 'The centre is their only hope.'
It began in 1982 with 42 students and has grown into a popular movement, kept running on donations from well-wishers, former students and teachers.
Its strength is that it annually spots examination questions, prepares model answers and helps the students pass the crucial examinations and enter universities.
'We tried to motivate students with lectures but their enthusiasm for studies dissipated fast,' said centre founder and former university professor M.Thambirajah. 'Our philosophy is simple - use the powerful forces of religion and God to help poor Indian students to concentrate single-mindedly on passing examinations, enter universities and escape poverty.'
The centre is not without critics who say it unfairly exploits faith, raises false hope, fails to enhance academic excellence or prepare students for jobs.
'It offers only one path for students ... to spot questions, pass exams and enter universities and escape poverty,' said writer and social critic S.Balakrishnan. 'This path does not work for the majority of the students ... many students fail examinations with or without the centre.
'They eventually drop out of colleges and end up as unskilled factory workers or join criminal gangs.'
Despite the criticism, the centre expands each year, perhaps reflecting the scale of despair among poor Indians. It remains a rare beacon of hope to escape the poverty that has stricken their parents.
