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Picture this. The year is 1956. Malaysia was a word no one had coined yet. Independence was still a year away and no one knew what the future would hold.
A young girl from SMK Zainab (1) in Kelantan, Jawahir Haji Ali, was about 17 years old, and could not possibly have imagined that her fellow countrymen would be discussing her achievements on social media some eight decades later.
At the time SMK Zainab was known as Zainab School, a government English school for girls.
Jawahir spoke fluent English at the time and while not much information can be gleaned about her early years, what is clear is that she was a brilliant young lady.
@kevintandoori In 1956, Jawahir binte Haji Ali represented Malaya as a youth ambassador at the Herald Tribune World Youth Forum. As part of this international programme, she spent three months in the United States experiencing American life — attending high school, going on site visits, and meeting political figures. The footage you’re watching is from a broadcast series that aimed to promote global understanding by showcasing selected youths from around the world, while reminding American audiences that, despite their differences, young people everywhere shared common hopes and challenges. Unfortunately, Jawahir didn’t get much airtime in this particular broadcast. It’s a real shame, especially since many of us today (nearly seven decades later) would’ve loved to hear her thoughts on Malaya and the world’s youth in the 1950s. From what I could find online, Jawahir was from Kelantan and later pursued a PhD at University College London in the 1980s. Her thesis explored how native English speakers and Malaysian learners differ in their understanding of word categories, and what that means for teaching English as a foreign language. Surely someone out there remembers her. If you do, please share this. It would be wonderful if this video eventually reached her family, and maybe even helped complete the rest of her story.
♬ original sound – Kevin Tandoori – Kevin TandooriSource: Indiana University Bloomington #malaya #youth #kelantan #americanlife #newyork #heraldtribune #malaysia #1950s #1956 #nostalgic #nostalgia #vintage #fyp
She was not the only one. Two years later, Lee Hup Suan from Anderson School (now SMK Anderson) Ipoh, Perak would follow in her footsteps, making her way to the World Youth Forum.
The forum, organised by the New York Herald Tribune was a gathering of high-schoolers from all over the world. They were not randomly selected but they were all winners of a nationwide competition held by the ministries of education in their respective countries.
Teenagers like Jawahir and Lee beat all the other entries in Malaya at the time to earn their spot in the forum which took them abroad for a few months.
Based on the old black and white footages, we know that the forum took them to New York, USA and Lee’s group had also proceeded to Berlin, Germany.
Thanks to these old footages, we can see the joy in the faces of these teenagers, who were possibly abroad for the very first time in their young lives.
Dr Jawahir Haji Ali, Kota Bharu – Kelantan
Jawahir said while she knew it would be winter in New York prior to arriving, the cold still took by her surprise. This is of course to be expected for a girl from Peninsular Malaysia as we don’t get four seasons here.
Not much can be found of Jawahir’s later life online but it is learned that the she pursued a doctorate in London.
According to a comment by Suraya Supian on TikTok, claiming to be her niece, Jawahir had dedicated her life to academia, English lingustics specifically.
“She had a flair in expressing herself, always so eloquently, witty and humorous too. She was known as Dr J among her students,” Suraya said.
This is backed by a thesis paper we found in the University of London repository, under the name “Haji Ali, Jawahir binte” titled “An empirical study of taxonomic norms of English native speakers and Malaysian learners and their relevance to the tesching of English as a foreign language”.
Another TikTok user Jamal Ali left a comment saying he is Jawahir’s son and that his mother passed away in 2005.
Clearly the short clip of Jawahir speaking confidently impressed many, with one user likening her speech to the flow of a gentle stream.
Her voice drifts like a gentle stream…Tender in tone, yet deep with meaning. Each word falls with quiet elegance, her English a reflection of both intellect and grace.
Badli Shah
What is equally as impressive as her English is her confidence. There was neither pause nor stutter in her mannerism, a clear indication of a well-educated and bright young woman, able to hold herself high in a time women’s voices were not quite loud.
And to do all that at just 17.
Lee Hup Suan, Ipoh – Perak
It was the same for Lee, who attended the forum in 1958.
In a Singapore Straits Times article dated 3 April,1966, we get to know a little bit more about Lee who at the time had become a chartered accountant.
Not only that, Lee was the only one among 25 Malaysians who passed the chartered accountancy examination in London which she sat for in 1965.
At the time, she was also a chartered secretary.
Lee had gone to London under a scholarship from the Perak state government in 1960.
In the Straits Times article, Lee spoke about her three months in the US for the World Youth Forum in 1958. She won the spot thanks to her essay titled “The World We Want”.
I wrote in my essay that I wanted a world in which there is tolerance, cooperation and friendship.
Lee Hup Suan, Singapore Straits Times, 3 April 1966
World Youth Forum
As part of the Youth Forum, participants are involved in a National Educational Television series titled “The World We Want”.
These are the footages we are seeing today. Most of them can be found in the Media Collection of the University of Indiana, USA.
Based on our search, the Herald Tribune’s forum ran from 1947 to 1972.
Writer Catherine Bishop documented the forum in her book “The World We Want”.
The forum gathered 30 teenagers in each edition and they would spend three months in New York.
They experienced life with American families, American schools, went on television and discussed topics rangin from world conflicts to human rights.
Bishop noted that these teenagers also had the opportunity to chat with US presidents and met stars like Harry Belafonte and Ingrid Bergman.
The Herald Tribune World Youth Forum was both an idealistic attempt to create a better, more peaceful postwar world and an exercise in Cold War soft power diplomacy.
Catherine Bishop
While the forum showed these teenagers the world beyond their home countries, Lee remained a true Malayan.
When asked if she would rather be an American than a Malayan, she confidently replied no.
Because in spite of all the formality and rigidness that we are subject to, I am sure the Malayan way of life has more to offer me and has more variety than the American.
Lee Hup Suan
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Lee Hup Suan And Jawahir Haji Ali – Malayan Teens Hit The World Stage, Back In The 50s
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