An Education System Worthy of Malaysia #16
Chapter 2: It’s More Than Just Education (Cont’d)
Education and Technology (Cont’d)
Numerous studies show the benefit of early musical education. I would thus provide musical instruments and music classes ahead of computers. Music lessons are also much cheaper. Music would teach these youngsters the concept of symbols and abstractions, and also teamwork. Very few Malaysian schools now have music programs.
While we have been bludgeoned with the mantra that information is power, in truth it isn’t. As Stoll so rightly points out in his book, librarians are famous for having the most information, yet they lack power. Politicians on the other hand have no or very little information, yet they are very powerful. Having the information is only the first step, the more important issue is how to evaluate that information and put it in the proper perspective. That requires a faculty for critical thinking, rational reasoning, and a high degree of skepticism.
Again comparing with the car, the skills or level of understanding needed to use one is very simple. Start the engine (two seconds instructions: insert and turn key) and then practice steering and braking.
With those simple instructions you could drive the car safely on a deserted road. But if you want to take the car on the freeway, then you will need more skills lest you become a menace to yourself and others. You would need to improve your steering and braking, and learn defensive driving and rules of the road. If you want to fix the engine then you would need to learn to be a mechanic. Going further, if you want to design cars or build a better suspension system, then you would need to go to design or engineering school.
Likewise with computers; if you want to write software, then you would need to learn one of the programming languages. But for the vast majority of users, all you have to know is which key to punch to get a certain result on the screen. That is all. The most frequent question asked when I was learning the computer was, “How do I do…?” You do not need special classes in the school curriculum to teach how to use word processor and e-mail, connect to the Internet, or access data from the Web. A visitor from Malaysia learned all these in one evening, and by the time my wife was ready with dinner, he had already sent his first e-mail. Yet this gentleman and his colleagues back home had been clamoring for the government to set up special computer classes for senior civil servants! If you want to get fancy, you could learn other slightly involved software like spreadsheet (good for accounting), PowerPoint (for slide presentations), and web authoring. Once you have the basics and are comfortable with computers, then you wonder how on earth you coped in the days before word processing! Today I rarely compose an essay on paper anymore, I do it straight on the keyboard, editing as I go along.
While learning how to use word processor is easy enough, writing is not. That requires a patient teacher, frequent exercises, and the availability of good books. If your prose is of the variety, “It was a dark and stormy night…,” no amount of fancy fonts and jazzing up on the word processor will improve it. Had you written, “I could barely make out his wet face amidst the rough rustling of the reeds…” then regardless whether you have fancy fonts or merely scribble it on a yellowing piece of paper, your readers would know that it was a dark and stormy night.
More importantly, they would likely to continue reading. It is more important to teach students how to write using the word processor rather than simply teaching them how to use the software. Likewise it is better to teach them how to collect, present, and interpret data using the database and spreadsheet rather than simply teaching them about the software.
The government has a high-level committee looking into bringing IT to the schools. I agree that schools should have computers, but before spending billions in wiring our schools, I would first attend to the basics. Having done that then I would introduce IT, starting at the upper levels, the universities. I would provide every faculty member with a free computer and unlimited Internet access. I would also ensure that the campus is “wired” and encourage the faculty to post their class assignments and reading lists online. Students too should be encouraged to submit their assignments electronically. All incoming students must be computer literate. I do not mean that the university should run word processing classes rather students would have to spend the months while waiting to enter the university acquiring those skills. There are plenty of proprietary classes where they can do this.
Even the mosque in Section 14, Petaling Jaya, has such classes. There is no need to waste expensive university personnel or resources for students to acquire these basic computer skills.
Having computers in schools would be useless if there are no changes with the present Internet hook up fee structure. In America there is a fixed fee for unlimited access; in Malaysia it is hourly rates. Thus users are inhibited from reaping the vast potential of the Internet because of the additional costs incurred.
Deputy Prime Minister Badawi in a fit of enthusiasm recently proposed that IT be taught in schools. The curriculum is already crowded. Besides, I do not know exactly what he meant by it. Teach programming, software writing, and website designing? Surely our students have plenty of time acquiring those skills after they have mastered the basics and developed critical thinking. But if he means that students should be able to use computers and be comfortable with them, then you do not need to have a separate subject for that; it can be done in computer clubs and as extracurricular activities. Frankly I do not think Badawi himself knows what he is talking about. To him IT is only the latest buzzword to sprinkle his speeches.
The government demonstrated its commitment to IT by funding it massively, nearly a billion ringgit for 2003. In contrast, only RM 850million for implementing single session schools. The amount allocated for teacher training was considerably less and did not merit a separate line item. The prime minister is deluded into thinking that teachers could be mere facilitators, their job reduced to turning on the computers and letting the students learn via electronic modules. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We have to differentiate computer literacy from computational literacy. The former as it is commonly understood means the ability to use the computer; it is a tool. In a way this is a misuse of the word literacy. A better term would be computer familiarity or facility. Computational literacy on the other hand is the ability to use programming language and to think, visualize, and extrapolate concepts in that medium. An illustration and comparison with text literacy would clarify my point.
Text literacy means more than just being able to read and write. It is a basic instrument to understand and communicate with the written word. Text literacy produces the works of Shakespeare and Steinbeck, and also the countless memos, letters, and little notes we write each other. It is a basic tool: an intellectual infrastructure. Through it we can communicate our deepest thoughts and emotions, a significant advancement over communication via cave wall drawings and oral traditions.
The discovery of the printing press brought a quantum leap forward in enhancing the utility of and democratizing text literacy. It brought literacy to the masses.
Computational literacy is also an infrastructure, and computers enhance it in much the same way that printing presses do to text literacy. With our understanding of the language of computers we would be able to think and project our messages and thoughts or otherwise communicate in this new medium.
Andrea di Sessa (the man who coined the term computational literacy) in his book Changing Minds describe an experiment with computational literacy using his Boxer programming language to teach the physics of motion and other abstract mathematical concepts to Grade 6 students. The students were asked to picture someone on a roller blade sliding down the street with a tennis ball in his hand. He then dropped the ball from his chest while skating. The class was asked to visualize the motion of the ball from three perspectives: the skater, a miniature man looking up from the skateboard, and an observer standing by the roadside. This was an exercise on relative velocity, a difficult concept to teach.
The student who was asked to present the view from the skateboard explained his very simply. He pressed a function key and a small dot appeared in the middle of the computer screen. This then rapidly enlarged to fill the entire screen. He had to write only a line of codes in the program to effect this, and it captured accurately in a visual and concrete manner the image of a ball dropping and landing directly on the eye of the miniature observer on the skateboard. It would be tough to explain the motion of the ball using conventional text literacy or even standard mathematical formula. With computers, the message and the concept are readily grasped – very graphic representation and easily understood.
It is this ability to look at concepts differently that is so promising about computational literacy. At its most optimistic level, computational literacy would have the potential to do what text literacy and mathematical literacy do to our present understanding and level of communication. Galileo’s theory of motion took pages to explain in texts but only a few crisp lines of formulas to explain fully using modern algebra. He took that long because algebra was not yet invented in his time. Similarly with calculus; we could not begin to describe such concepts as acceleration without it. But with calculus, acceleration is merely a differential of velocity (dv/dt), or in words, the rate of change of velocity. Today calculus is taught at high school and is widely used to describe relationships and phenomena in the social as well as natural sciences.
Computational literacy is still rather primitive, or to use the ubiquitous phrase of the web, “under construction.” Past attempts at teaching programming in schools using first BASIC and later, LOGO, have floundered. But with better programs like Boxer, developed at the University of California Berkeley and tailored specifically for learning purposes and not to write applications, computational literacy may yet prove to be as infrastructural as text literacy. Malaysia must participate in these leading edge trials at selected schools but only under strict research protocol. But this is a totally different idea than the current mindless agitation for teaching IT in schools.
I am cynical of the current move to bring IT to the classrooms and provide teachers with laptops. This has less to do with enhancing the quality of education and everything to do with business. If it were the former, I would expect the ministry to provide computers to university lecturers and teacher trainees first; they need them more. Think of the billions worth of contracts, enough to make any executive drool at the prospects. Not to mention interested politicians who would gain by being the lucrative intermediaries. The whole scheme is business driven and corrupt, the pupils’ interest is only incidental. This program will end up like the computer ownership scheme sponsored by the Employees Provident Fund. It failed because EPF did not get substantial discounts or wholesale prices. Instead there were significant markups because of the “commissions” paid to politician middlemen. Likewise the schools and teachers will end up paying highly inflated prices.
The literature on the effectiveness of computers in classrooms is mixed and contradictory. Where they are successful it is because the authorities have clear and definable goals, and the efforts initially focused on few demonstration projects where the kinks could be ironed out. Once the project is running smoothly then it can be replicated and expanded. In choosing the software, teachers must have clear goals: computer assisted learning (CAL) as with self-directed drills in mathematics and language learning; for simulation and exploration; as computational tools as with word processing, spreadsheet, and Power-Point; part of a communication network; or merely as pedagogical administrative tool to keep track of students’ achievements.
Once the objectives are clear and agreed upon, key personnel can then be trained. It is better to concentrate the effort initially, once we can have a nucleus of competently trained experts, they can then spread their skills. The most logical place to start would be the teachers’ colleges and with teacher trainees. Once these are done only then could we consider selecting the hardware. With the goals and objectives clear, the hardware and specifications would be that much easier to define.
In 1999 Malaysia embarked on an ambitious “Smart School” project of bringing IT to selected schools. This program had yet to be digested and its lessons learned when the government embarked in its current and more massive project of providing laptops and LCD projectors to all schools. This is exactly the wrong approach. First, the teachers have yet to be trained and two, the objectives are not yet be clearly delineated. By next year all those expensive gadgets would be stored untouched or more likely be reported “stolen”. The students would be no further ahead.
There is one place where computers would be useful, and that is to help with the administrative chores like monitoring student attendance, payroll, accounting, and keeping tabs on supplies and budgeting. Not only would this be very efficient and accurate but it would also force the headmasters to be familiar with computers.
While it is easy to teach students how to use computers and surf the Net, the more difficult part would be to teach them the limitations and dangers lurking in cyberspace. The Internet is not filtered or censored; Einstein would have the same prominence in cyberspace as the simple villager. Those using the ‘Net must have the ability to think critically and be skeptical of the materials they get. The age of IT calls for even more emphasis on such traditional higher order intellectual activities like critical thinking, abstract reasoning, and information processing.
These can only be learned with the help of a good teacher. This point was illustrated to me recently when my readers asked me which websites they should look up on some questions about Islam I had discussed in one of my essays. How could they be sure that the information is genuine and the site authentic, and not the work of some anti-Muslim groups masquerading as believers? The answer is, you cannot be sure. Thus you must be able to evaluate critically the information as to its veracity and validity. There is nobody out there in cyberspace who will put a stamp of approval or to check the facts. The web is uncensored; that is its beauty.
This fact is extremely pertinent especially with medically related web sites. If someone suggests taking arsenic as a cure for baldness, you take that advice at your own risk. One needs to use one’s judgment. There is a lot of what is called “noise,” that is, irrelevant and nonsensical if not downright dangerous materials on the web.
There is also much hype on using IT for distance or e(electronic)-learning. I am in favor of this to a point. The Internet is much better and more efficient than the old correspondence schools. It is immediate; you do not have to wait for the mail and you can post your questions and have them answered immediately. It is also cheaper (after you invest in the computer) as there are no postages and papers. But this does not mean that e-learning could replace traditional classrooms.
There is much more to learning than the mere transfer of information from teacher to student. The class discussions and the social interactions are also very important. In a classroom you learn to relate with those you like and tolerate those you don’t – very important lessons in life. You cannot get that sitting alone before a computer screen. We must appreciate what can be achieved through e-learning as well as the limitations. I use e-learning for my continuing medical education (CME) but only as a supplement. It does not replace the live conferences and seminars.
The best e-learning programs are precisely those that combine distance learning with in-depth and intensive face-to-face class and residential experiences. One of the best executive e-learning programs is that of Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. Students gather every two months at various locations around the world for concentrated “live” sessions with their fellow students and instructors. In between they communicate and receive lessons via the ‘Net. Such programs are ideal for working executives who would have difficulty taking long stretches of time away from their jobs.
My small hospital has an electronic hookup with a tertiary medical center where we could participate in live CME conferences. Through a two-way cable hookup we can see the speaker and he could see us, and we could communicate in real time as if we are in the same room. This is entirely different from e-learning via the computer. Such hookups via satellite would be ideal to connect a Third World university with an elite institution in the West. MIT has a similar program with the two public universities in Singapore to conduct joint “real-time” seminars.
Malaysian universities should have similar links. With the 12-hour time difference, an early morning lecture would be an early evening one in Malaysia. There is a great potential for IT in enhancing the learning experience, but in our enthusiasm we should not forget that the basics remain the first priority.
The second more important issue of how well the education system prepares Malaysians for the age of IT can be turned around by asking the more fundamental question: What are the skills required to thrive in this age of IT? The specific and basic skills required are English fluency, high mathematical competency, and science literacy. Our students must also be adept at critical thinking and higher-level reasoning. They must have flexible and transferable skills. We should also inculcate early the need and importance of life-long learning.
It is in all these areas that our education system has failed miserably. The good news is that the government is finally waking up to this fact, forced by the overwhelming evidence that it can no longer ignore. The entire premise of my reform is to prepare Malaysians for the competitive era of IT and globalization.
Next: Education, The Economy, and Demographics
May 3rd, 2006 at 9:29 pm
I have taken a computer managament subject in one of local university. after a while, I found out that my sister have the same book in her book shelf. So I read that book which amazed me, cos it is the same contend as what i am doing at that time.
What amazed me is, my sister has completed her studies more than 15 years, and she is working since then. I look at the published date, which is 1990 and I am doing this subject in 2002. Just imagine.
There is another computer subject that i have taken, word processing and spreadsheet. To me, still good at that time, cause some of my coursemate never used it before. But to me and some of use, it is like wasting our time, seems like KACANG putih. We have been using the same thing since Form 5 to complete out work at that time in SPM, and why they are repeating the same thing everytime.
It is true that government spend millions in purchasing computer for schools, and it is true also computer are stolen from schools and police are unable to catch them. And students have to pay to use the computer. Where are all the money. and also normally, school are provided with computer that are more highly ended than needed. Why you need those high end computer for spreadsheet and words processing? Who are purchasing it and who approved it?
My old school is a good place to learn computer, cos avertly, I am the one who teach my teacher how to use words and speadsheet till one extend where he gave me all the report to type and do all the work for him, but he dint even share his salary with me.
So if you cant provide the training, dont provide the infrastructure and let the citizen know. Dont do half and leave half of the work undone.
By the way, just one more question asked to Dr M Bakri Musa, will you send your children back to Malaysia so they can have the same education you have when you are young and also love the country malaysia as what you are now( ask yourself). … As for me, the only reason i will do so is education in Malaysia is cheap, recognise in some country and also well established. Other than that, better think twice to study in malaysia.
There is someone who mention that Malaya is there since 600 years and US is there for only 200 years right. But Malaysia is only 49 years old and constitution is there for that old. So you cant blame us being immature and unable to govern the country well.
Let grow up, behave outself, maintain courtesy and help each other. Where is our ancestor teaching of being polite and help each other?
Education is the root of everything, but our education fails and still failing and if no one do something about it, somedays some place, everyone will go away and leave Malaysia.
BTW, anyone know about Sekolah Wawasan in Malaysia? Want to comment something about this.
May 4th, 2006 at 7:32 am
lol…. look at the english! you should not be spending time doing anything else but reading and learning english.
those living in the U.S. would never dream of sending their kids back to Malaysia - only to be part of a system that stinks with interferance by politicians, who send their children overseas for education.
those who are architects of the national education system have no confidence in the system they create and you’re asking malaysians living abroad to send their kids back to malaysia for an education?? gimme a break….!
grow up.
May 4th, 2006 at 11:31 am
Badcountry
Don’t be too sure of yourself. I sent my second son back to Malaysia for education and then to Canada to complete the program. He is now practising in the US.
May 4th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
did you send him because you have confidence in the system there ?
or because you needed to - because of the scholarship that your son is lucky to haven as a malay??
May 4th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
dear dr bakri
While critical comments of govt policy and its implementation should be encouraged, I noticed that some participants to your blog and most blogs from Malaysia are fond of making racist remarks and religious slur. Sometimes the attacks are very personal. I think they should not be allowed to participate. They are not worthy contributor to an intellectual discussion.
May 4th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
badcountry
I send him because of the education. He didn’t and couldn’t get a scholarship. No SPM. So don’t put the malay thing in this.
May 4th, 2006 at 6:16 pm
I would say, be fair to everyone, I am sure my english is better than average, and thats what you get from 20 years of education in Malaysia, but I am still proud of it, cos if you want to have perfect english, dont blog, write and publish.
I am still in Malaysia, and looking at it, still have much room to grow, and I am truly proud of those who send children back here for education, at least they learn about mother tongue and also what is integration. However, no matter how worst it is, I still like to live here, cause my parent is here, friends is here and root is here.
I wouldnt say racist is not a problem, religion is not a problem, but eventually we can solve it, sooner or later, everyone will have the same right. Because we see it happen in developed country after much revolution, which we do not hope to see it in Malaysia. Wise up, look at overall, and we still have a peaceful Malaysia, better economy and better future. Those who are not privilige always find ways to finance themselves, which is already happen. And those who dint get scholarship, whatever race will always send their children to oversea.
May 4th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
Well said TCW. You are your own person and don’t have to fit into anybody’s mold. Don’t worry about others who try to embarass you. Sometimes they don’t see their own weaknesses. Speak your mind and express yourself. I’m sure most of the commentators on this blog support you and cheer you for your honesty and national pride. Kudos.
May 5th, 2006 at 5:07 am
Doel, Ogre, TCW -
Doel, you’re calling for censorship which is anathema to civil libertarians everywhere. You don’t correct a wrong by doing another wrong. Dr. Bakri is very fortunate to be blogging from his residence in California, away from the harassment of the dreaded Special Branch. Also Dr. Bakri is wise enough to stick to the straight and narrow i.e. he keeps to safe issues like education.
Lim Kit Siang would not censor postings made on his blog if not for the fact that he could be hauled by Special Branch anytime for allowing his readers to make racially inflammatory comments. He has no choice. Dr. Bakri does censor clearly obnoxious comments - but he is right in not censoring comments which are controversial but honest notwithstanding which side of the political divide it falls into. He can afford this luxury since he is operating from a foreign ISP. But credit must go to Dr. Bakri for making the choice of adhering to the First Amendment i.e. the right to free speech.
Yes, hate speech is also free speech.
TCW
You sound to me rather naive in your views - which could be because you have youth on your side.
However, our country does not leaders with a tunnel vision steeped in their idealism. There is nothing wrong in wanting the best or in being visionary. The leaders we need today are people who would strive to achieve the ‘unachievable’ with both feet on the ground - if you will.
Racism will continue to plague not just Malaysia but countries everywhere, where there are divisions along ethnic lines. It is never going to go away. Religious issues will further have their divisive effects on a plural society like Malaysia. It is never going to end. The United States much touted as unique in being the melting pot of the world is not that unique after all - as demonstrated by the recent “one day without the Latino” march drawing millions all over the country. Many of the Hispanics have been here for generations but refuse to integrate. The Chinese if left alone would do the same in Malaysia because of their pride in their culture (Chinese civilization is after all 5,000 years or more old, preceding the European or Western Civilization). To the Chinese in Malaysia and elsewhere, it is anathema to talk of assimilation. The numerous Chinatowns you find everywhere you go are testimony to their refusal to integrate.
TCW, you contradict yourself when you say that those without the benefit of a government scholarship will always send their children overseas for education.
And Ogre, you have not responded to badcountry’s comment that the only reason why you sent your kids back to Malaysia could be because you needed to do that to qualify them for government scholarships - not because you have faith in the country’s education system, which is what this thread is all about.
May 5th, 2006 at 7:12 am
You got it all wrong here.
UMNO’s hidden agenda is to build a Master race. For the last 40 years or so, starting with Arshad Ayub leading MARA in the area of scholarship for Malays, MARA has been sending thousands of Malay students to universities in the U.S. - any University which would take them; and in the U.K. any polytechnic which would take them. The idea was to build a new generation of Malays who are exposed to western ideas, technology etc. Their role upon their return would be to impart some of their experiences and serve as mentors for others bound for foreign universities. Many of them have been excused from having to repay their loans, and those on scholarships excused from having to serve the Government.
The fruits of this policy today can be seen in the number of Malays now holding senior management positions in big corporations in the private sector.
There is no such thing as bangsa Malaysia - nor will there ever be one. This is the figment of the imagination of the non-Malay politicians who need to assure their electorate and guarantee their support.
This a racist policy and we make no apologies for it.
May 5th, 2006 at 10:24 am
I cannot let this one pass.
KerisWieldingFanatic is true to his name. However, he is also honest. And we should appreciate his forthrightness.
I have always suspected UMNO of being no less than a racist organization. All the rhetoric is what it is - mere rhetoric.
But I intend to cast my vote at the next general election and there are many who are now contemplating transferring loyalty from MCA to DAP. We learned from our mistakes.
Malaysia will be more racially polarized and we would be one step closer to a repeat of May 13 - but this time with different consequences.
‘badcountry’ is right. One day we will have equal rights and the Malays will be forced to eat humble pie for all their misdeeds. This country cannot progress without the Chinese.
May 5th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
ClassMonitor
I have already responded to Badcountry on why I send my son back to Malaysia for his education. I don’t throw stones and hide my hand. If you care to look at the blog you will clearly see my response.
May 5th, 2006 at 4:46 pm
The only way out for the Chinese is to change the demographics i.e. work towards a higher birth rate - one day the majority will be Chinese.
The Latino population in the U.S. is set to exceed white American population by the year 2050 - the browning of America which you must have heard.
I cannot see why it cannot happen in Malaysia. Affluence among the Malays will mean smaller family units. The Chinese on the other hand should work towards having bigger families.
We can then replace the institutionalised racism which today benefits the Malays with one that benefits the Chinese. Class Monitor is right - racism begets racism.
May 5th, 2006 at 9:16 pm
Some people never learn & in the process remain a frog in the well. In fact it could be that he’s just plain stubbornish selfih to listen, not stupid. That’s fine if his tunnel vision is kept to himself. But what KerisWieldingFanatic has described, the past & continuous actions of the umnoputras, truly show how a single selfish action will pull the whole race into eventual oblivion, along the way losing the ‘maruah’ that has been keep drumming loudly. They’re just too much into their selfish causes than to adapt to a changing environment for the survival of their race.
There are many ‘showcases’ littering around the whole administration spectrum of the country that one sometimes just cannot fathom the ‘thoughts’ of these personnel.
MARA had a noble aim. This organization has been running to the ground many years ago in the hands of incompetent, racialistic, self-indulgent & most of all self-profiteering personnel. What remains is only a shell for personal money-generating machine & selfish fiefdom.
There are many good & capable Malay intellectuals coming out of the programs implemented by MARA. BUT there are even more nincompoops produced via the same system.
Yes thousands has been sent under the scheme over the years but the return of the end result to the Malay race & Malaysia as a whole leave many to despair.
Looking back into financial history where the umnoputras have set their first goal on majority owned by their cronies. The real seed of these incompetent & self-indulgent started with Harun’s running down the Bank Rakyat to hold the Mohd Ali boxing match in KL. From then on the appetite of corruption grew larger & more rampages. Thus the following financial basket cases;
1) BMF in HK & lead to the 1st rescue of BBM by Petronas
Bank Islam losses
2) 2nd rescue of BBM by MoF
3) B Negara in Forex & Maminco fiasco
4) Sime bank collapse
5) 3rd BBM rescue
6) MBSB losses
7) LUTH losses
9) Bank Pertanian losses etc
These were where the umnoputras wanted to put on show their ‘crowning achievements’. In the words of KerisWieldingFanatic “ The fruits of this policy today can be seen in the number of Malays now holding senior management positions in big corporations in the private sector.”
Ya! holding senior positions to the detriment of the whole public organizations due to their questionable qualifications & trainings. & holding namesaked position to be exploited by others to unwind the govt policies in the private organisations.
It will be a OK if competent Malay are put in place to run these companies as due to the ego & ‘maruah bangsa’ non-Malay M’sian are excluded. After all if these companies were to be well managed & profitable, there will be spilled-over benefits to the other M’sians too. Like Petronas! But even then H Merican too has his plate full & just make-do to fence off these umno vultures.
Instead you have half-cooked cronies, paper-pushers, ‘bodek’-upholders of their own to run these companies. The end results are open for all to see. Only the cronies are well rewarded come what may. Meanwhile the common Malays who have no connections or are critical to the mismanagements are cast aside & waylaid to suffer.
Those frustrated & knowledgeable Malays who are capable then look outwards & leave the country. This trend is growing & accelerating. More & more ‘unqualified & under-trained’ cronies are getting in the top managements due to ‘the best available Malay condidate’ while the general administration are let to self-piloting or rule-book followers who are just not inspired for greater height through hard work as the top management have already shown amble examples for the rewards between hard work & ‘bodekism’.
This positive feedback reaction is spiraling the country to the bottom.
Before someone points out that financial mismanagements happened to Other M’sians too. Please think deeper & carefully. These two cases are not comparable as the non-Malay M’sian’s problems have a different end implications to the nation than those happened to the Malay’s. The end results cannot be the same.
Again WHERE ARE THE MALAY INTELLIGENSIA to save guard your people from these preying vultures? Are you allowing these umnoputras to fill their own pockets in your name while pulling the whole nation to the pitch?
WHEN IS THE TIME for change?
May 6th, 2006 at 1:46 am
Wow…is this the c53k that tried to twist Jared Diamond’s “Collapse” to further his/her (whatever) agenda?
c53k can’t even get Jared’s conclusion right (I dare say he misread the whole book!!!)… and now he is even exhorting the Malay intelligentsia to go against Umnoputra (or Malay elites running the country)……..
I think the Malays have to decide collectively what kind of society and political system that they want……
And sometime it is better that non-Malays not to make fun or inflame them… this will be counter-productive….
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But……
…..I have tell c53k and all non-Malays who don’t like Umnoputra and ketuanan Melayu not too despair too much….
Of course you can migrate….. but with patience… things may change….
In 20 years time with the rise of China and India as super-regional powers…. the Malays even when they are a majority…. they cannot sustain their ketuanan Melayu (unless they become efficient, have strong armed forces or allied themselves with a superpower or get together with Asean countries to form a solid bloc…..etc..etc..
You know… these two powers will flex their muscles… I bet they will use the pre-text of “protecting” their diaspora to attenuate the ketuanan Melayu policy
This had happened before in Indonesia…… Sukarno in 1959 had come up with “Peraturan Pemerintah 10/1959″… He instructed all Chinese in rural Indonesia to handover their businesses to the pribumis…..
Fortunately the Chinese (Beijing) managed to attenuate this policy…. thanks to Sukarno’s isolation from the Western countries…. and of course the Chinese “promised” to supply weapons to Sukarno……
A similar situation might be plausible in this region in the near future…..given that America whether it like it or not is experiencing relative decline in its power…due to the rise (in terms of economic power) of India and China…
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Yes…. this possibility is also a reminder to the Malays (or the Malay elites..since they are the ones who are running Malaysia) that they have to think really hard of what will be the “national policy” …..given that even if they hold vast (nominal) powers…. their exercise (of some) of these powers are actually subject to being approved by the leaders of major countries……
I don’t have to elaborate on this as you know what happened to the crooked bridge… and that is shamefully with such a small country!!!
Also another good example…. Suharto, before he invaded East Timor…discussed and obtained US approval first….yes… he met with Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger !!!
Maybe one day the Chinese (Beijing) or India will tell the Malaysians to stop the policy of ketuanan Melayu……
May 6th, 2006 at 2:03 am
Anyway… I have say sorry to M Bakri…. I suppose my comments are not really “relevant” to your current topic….
I suppose the commentators time and time… over and over again…. have engaged in a discussion that somehow diverges from the main idea of the posting……….
And I tend to engage more to the comments than to M Bakri’s posting…. isn’t that interesting?
May 6th, 2006 at 3:35 am
Dr Bakri my sincere apology to you for using this blog for this.
Amit
I’ve no intention to pick fight with you. From your responses I know what kind of being you’re, PERIOD.
I’m not keeping score & neither am I getting personal.
No point trying to beat an empty drum that keeps sounding the same. Just like a broken record except its coming far from DownUnder & trying to showcase a twisted sense for his people by blackmailing others through subtle threats.
EXCEPT I want to clarify this; “… the c53k that tried to twist Jared Diamond’s “Collapse” to further his/her (whatever) agenda?”
I read Diamond very well & I don’t skimp book covers & goggle book reviews! I don’t regurgitate others opinion wholesale without first understand it deeply within my own studies.
Diamond’s “Collapse” are not factually wrong in total. Neither are all the infos totally correct also. The readers have to digest & understand for themselves & form their own understandings & opinions. That’s part of the reading & learning process if you don’t by chance understand.
Of course there are always pseudo-intellectual who’s good at quoting others wholesale without going first letting the contents filter through that piece of grey matter sitting between the ears. Sometime even that filtering process is a waste of time.
What has been quoted in SMH about Oz were only one sided without further clarifications from Diamond himself. Why Diamond refuse to attend the radio-show must have a lot to think about. Even if some of the facts about Oz are wrong the underlying principles are still sound. That goes for all the other case studies mentioned in the book.
My own opinions are reinforced from the many sites that I’ve been to all over the world. I keep to my without any needed justifications to you, unless you can totally prove me wrong as I’ve with your shallow & myopic understandings of the India history.
Like I mentioned before it’s no point if these discussions cannot have any new insights from 3rd or 4th or more parties. It’ll eventually boil down to personality crash.
May 6th, 2006 at 3:47 am
We can’t change it politically, you are wrong. We will.
Like I said earlier, once this country is run by terms of equal rights, where each citizen play by the rules and regulations of total fairness, then we shall see where the Malays will stand.
They would be right at the bottom of the rubbish heap. The Malays could never change and never will.
You Malays are a bunch of low lives, your level of professed intelligence pathetic to say the least, crawling at the lowest level of the human hierarchy, begging for handouts, exposing your butt ugly faces in front of the world, like maggots feasting on a pile of dung.
You all are just stupid farts harping on the same issues, proclaiming this and that. Some of you like Din Merican have chosen to become a poster boy of the new Malay so-called intellectuals. Intellectual, my foot. A quote here and a quote there does not change the face of the Malay as a plundering, looting thief. Yes, because he still does not know how to plunder and loot and get away with it.
Your pointless talk here does not change how we feel about you.
My friend, your retarded brain must be struggling to offer answers to cheat and deceive your lot. But offer what you will, we are not easily deceived. Just wait and see.
C53k is right. But he should have included the Perwaja fiasco which cost billions with the cooperation of their MCA cronies.
Want a government without corruption, go the DAP way is the only salvation even for you Malays. That will at least put an end to bogus unfair rights, fictional promises which only rat testicles will believe they are true.
The same group of people who destroying the country with their own social menace, incest activities, drugs, materialistic punks with brain the size of a chicken shit, etc.
The lazy Malays who idolizes external portrayal of physical goodness, but mentally and reality, are bunch of idiotic hypocrites, much like a pair of rotten pig’s testicles. Even the maggots would think twice of devouring such a distasteful crap.
I am sick and tired of saying this over and over again.
You lot will get what you deserve at election time when the Chinese speak out loud and clear. Maggots, faggots….
May 6th, 2006 at 5:00 am
hello
this boleh is not the first real writer boleh
be careful
May 6th, 2006 at 6:08 am
Read excerpts of an interview given by our neo-Fascist leader, Najib to a reporter.
In reply to the reporter who queried him about a serious problem, Najib said he could have a motion first tabled by Lim Kit Siang re-drafted to look like it is a BN motion which will then pass. “How’s that? ” he says.
Isn’t this enough to convince the Opposition that UMNO does not need to justify the means so long as the end is served. We will take ideas from the Opposition headed by the DAP, hijack them and have them packaged like it is our own. The DAP cannot oppose its own ideas.
How’s that?
May 6th, 2006 at 6:16 am
P.S.
To: John Lee
UMNO does not need an excuse for the institutionalised racism you referred to.
May 7th, 2006 at 7:04 am
Class monitor talked about assimilation of the chinese…what do you exactly mean by that? If you mean having malay friends, speak malay, enjoy malay food, I am sure there are many chinese out there who are like this. But if you want the chinese to give up their language, their school, their culture, their customs….sorry, that will never happen.
May 7th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
You see. This is what I mean. The Chinese refuse to integrate.
They want to remain apart from the rest of society. If you let them, they’ll build ‘enclaves’ with their own Chinese schools using only Mandarin, Chinese newspapers, business boards in Chinese only, with their own restaurants serving pork without regard to local religious sensitivities and build temples without regard to local religious sensitivities. They want to build their own Chinatowns and pig farms.
Some may even owe allegiance to a foreign power - especially the foreign born ones.
Wherever they go they refuse to integrate - unless forced to.
The Chinese should follow local customs and use the national language in their daily lives. The Indonesian Chinese have integrated themselves well into local society - having changed their names and manner of dressing to reflect local customs. Indonesia have a national attire and you see Indonesian Chinese abiding by it - wearing the batek and the songkok during national celebrations like Independence Day.
Why can’t Malaysian Chinese do the same? Is it because in Malaysia, they make up 35% of the total population in Malaysia and in Indonesia they are only 1% of the total population of some 200 million??
The Chinese talk of Malaysian Malaysia and equal rights and national identity etc only when it suits them. As for their loyalty all you need do is look at the composition of the Armed Forces. They refuse to join the Police, the Army and the Navy. The Air Force is an exception because of the commercial opportunies it offers. They are mostly migratory birds of fine weather, not wanting to develop roots in the local society.
Can you blame the local population for harbouring suspicions about their loyalty?
May 7th, 2006 at 6:38 pm
To Nationalist,
Please kindly state your occupation maybe, as you are saying about integration.
Have you ever heard of Kampung Melayu, you can find at least 5 in Johor Bahru, where you cant even find a Chinatown in JB.
You are talking about chinese school using chinese paper and so on, did you know they also teach BM and BI in there school too, and encourage them to read malay newspaper, but it was just that they dont read and write as much as you do.
Did you know how to speak chinese, or tamil, but we know how to read malay, speak malay and even argue in malay.
Restaurant is worst, did you know most of the chinese dont go to malay stall because they serve beef. Most of us dont eat beef, so are you willing to exclude beef from your next meal just to integrate with us. As for pork, we can exclude it by going to malay stall, but are you coming to chinese stall to eat with us. there are worst case where malay and chinese are not allowed to sit together to have a meal together, cause worried that foods are not halal. Who cares when hungry!!!
As for temple, compare the numbers of Temple in malaysia with the mosque in malaysia, which one greater, i am sure you will find with every 1 temple built, there will be at least 5 mosque and more. so who is the one who dont integrate.
If you cant even respect people’s food, religion, language, custom and education, so how do you want people to respect you.
As for the armed forces, i admit there is little representative from chinese and indian, but think about it, how much is your salary as a constables, or in army, and what is the education level that we need to join, and compare with most chinese and indian, we earn around 2k per month, can you get that in police, army and so on. Even a indian lorry driver earn that money, and chinese bus driver can earn more. Education level, when they said SPM level, some of them only PMR, SPM fail, so what is the point of talking about this. What are the other benefits that attract people to join as public servant, as the name said, servant to other citizens. We cannot create that kind of respect to them unless problem like corruption stop and cronies and GLC problem are being solved. Even chinese in government are corrupted too.
So after all. i will not and would not and will never encourage any of my friends, relative and anyonw know me to join the government to work like hell and get nothing in return except petty pension fund and little respect.
May 7th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
BTW, I have seen a lot of chinese and indian wear batik and baju kurung, of course without the songkok, due to religion problem maybe, but they still wear songkok when seeking audience with Sultan and Agong when being conferred Datuk and Tan Sri.
How come I never seen a malay wear cheongsam, sari and telegu if i am not wrong in official ceremony or other smaller celebration. why why why, is this their ketuanan or refuse to integration problem. think carefully, now who is the one who refuse to integrate, i believe chinese and indian have done their best in doing so, so what can malay contribute.
dont forget, you will have around 30% of chinese and indian in national school but 1% of malay in chinese school and 0% in indian school. So are you comparing,
Thats why we dont want to talk about malay, chinese and indian anymore, and politician come out with Malaysian, cos no matter how, they will lose when compare and arguing who refuted integration.
May 7th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
We must wait for the Chinese towkays to award Tan Sri and Datuk title to the Malays before you can see them wearing Cheongsam etc. BTW I wonder why should the Chinese bother receiving those ridiculous honours that will further divide and stratify society and community. Malays love such titles because they have nothing else to show off.
May 7th, 2006 at 9:11 pm
Dr Bakri is right in pointing out that our govt policy have wrongly prioritised IT as the most important subject for Malaysian to master. As a result the job market is inundated with various types of IT graduates with very little prospect of being employed by the IT industry, even if they have good command of the English language. The IT department of big companies employed such graduates mostly as system administrator, to configure users, their passwords and solve routine problems. The most important jobs are contracted out to foreign companies or local companies with Indian programmers. Nowadays such avtivities are called outsourcing.
The job market also created this anomaly because they failed to appreciate graduates in other areas could also contribute to IT dept operation and even software development. IT and software development I believe is a multidisciplinary activities. If a company run an SAP software you don’t have to be a computer science graduate to learn how to implement it, as an example.
So why the hype? It is all about politicians making the bugs from smart school projects etc.
May 7th, 2006 at 11:40 pm
What is Malaysia without racism! You mean you want an ID without the race part on it?
Badcountry, what race are you? I’m a Malay, a very proud Malay!
May 8th, 2006 at 4:04 am
….and I am a Chinese! A damn proud one too - what with 5,000 years of Chinese civilization behind us. Where were your ancestors then …still swinging from tree to tree??
May 8th, 2006 at 4:27 am
So you are saying that when you migrate to places like United States, the American girls over there must wear cheongsum and the men to wear singlets rolled up to their chests, and squat next to an unoccupied bench in a public park to make a call from his cell phone etc to integrate with the Chinese??
You must have crawled out from a rock on some remote island off the China Sea.
May 8th, 2006 at 4:28 am
TCW
That’s one skewed concept of ‘integration’ you have there.
May 8th, 2006 at 4:41 am
Mmmmm… I see that some one is saying …….”No point trying to beat an empty drum that keeps sounding the same….” I will not mention his name here…..
Perhaps I am at fault here…perhaps I made a wrong here……
Perhaps I am gulity…..guilty of being offended by those who post their thoughts with the main idea of critizing one race… and in this case the Malays…….
But that person or any persons who mis-use the freedom of speech criticise one ethnic group i.e. the Malays must bear in mind that…
…if you want to crititicise the Malays for whatever reasons… be it crudely (bashing style) or or more sophisticatedly… (by appealing to so called higher ideals or famous works), then you must be prepared to accept criticism… be it by the logic in your arguments, the facts that you use…and even your own credibility…..
That is after all… the rules within the so called….freedom of speech…..
May 8th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
TCW
My my my, you have changed. From the humble person you now exhibit a non tolerance attitude. Racial integration goes beyond wearing songkok or cheongsam or eating the same food. The Malays being Muslims are bound by religious restrictions especially in dressing and consumption of non halal food. The Chinese on the other hand have no restriction, they eat anything and everything from the weird to the bizzare. You need to understand Islam better before shooting off your thoughts. Being Muslims wearing Cheongsam with a slit right up to the hips are considered indecent in Islam. Eating Pork and non halal food is prohibited in Islam. Halal goes beyond consumption of pork. Halal means that the animal must be slaughtered the Islamic way and food prepared without any non halal or haram ingredients. On Chinese not eating beef, how would anyone know their religious beliefs? They have Christian names but are Budhist. More confusion.
Integration is a very difficult process and takes many generations. For example the US, supposedly the melting pot of races, still have not fully integrated. There is still Chinatown, Little India, Little Arabia, Thaitown, Latin Quarters etc. The Chinese have been in California for more than 200 years but they still have not fully integrated into American culture and society. They still have little areas where they congregate, they don’t celebrate the American holidays but Americans are enjoying the chinese cultural performances each Chinese New Year. Yes Chinese in America no longer wear pigtails and Sam Foo as potrayed in the early movies but integration and immersion into American society is still far from it.
May 8th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
TCW says the Malays must also ‘integrate’ into the Malaysian society. He says Malay women must wear the cheongsum, and the men singlets and squat next to an unoccupied bench when he could sit on the bench, and eat everything that moves and spits every few feet as he walks etc.
To him this is ‘integration’ - and it applies to all races including the Malays!
Where is your brain, TCW??
May 8th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
Malays should also do what 5000 years civilization taught us to do - toilet paper to cleanse oneself after that horrible diarrhea?
May 8th, 2006 at 7:07 pm
Dear All,
I mean if in the case of attrire puzzled us all, we better dont discuss about it, to me it is just an example of integration when we discuss about our traditional clothing. Integration doesnt mean wearing each other cloth, it is a mindset that we have in each other mind, treating each other like a family and care about each other. Cloth is just something that we wear out.
We did not differentiate each other when we are in uniform forces, whether in school or outside. We never did so, we just treat each other as friends when we meet. Actually it been great to know more about Islam in my university education.
As for the christian name and religion, one may have christian name, but is a budhist just because their parent like that kind of name. Not because of religion problem. So far, chinese is quite flexible with religion, where it is up to individual and their parent to decide what religion they are. As for name, the same way goes by, and we can even add on a christian/english name whenever we wish, change it and amend to it. Of course, IC stayed the same, unless you apply to change. It is a name to let people to remember you….
Sorry if i have made the wrong comment in food and wearing, but look at some of the passage before me, someone mention about it. my real intention is eating the same thing, wearing the same thing doesnt change anyone mindset. 3 person sit together will have 3 different mind, goal and achievement. To put 3 together is by giving them a task that need 3 to complete and not one.
And of course, now, chinese dont wear cheongsam and sam foo( thats the word i am looking for) except in special occasion like CNY and sometimes D&D, and we dont wear singlet, unless you are 80 years old, we dont squat next to bench and spit all around. It is something impolite to do that thing in current society.
By the way, no one must integrate with each other, just be yourself and think about your own future and your children future, what kind of country you want them to be in for the next 30 years and do your best to achieve it.
Integration mean works together not joining together to form something new.
May 8th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
dear friends…
no matter who you are
what you do
where you coming from
where you going
you will leave this world
you will be judged by your deeds
and its our duty
to choose the right path
May 8th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
TCW
When I was in school we don’t differentiate between Malays, Chinese and Indians and till now my classmates still remember us for who we are not by our race. WEe still get together once in a while and words like malaikuey and cinakuey and Tambi don’t offend anyone.We even have nicknames for everyone and we remember fondly the times we were together. Somehow times have changed. Now Malaysians are more concious of their race and religion. I don’t know whether that is good or bad. As for me I tolerate and accept the differences in race and religion as long as my friends accept my race and religion.
May 9th, 2006 at 11:19 am
Now..look here guys,
We’re talking about ‘integration’ - go look up its meaning in sociology.
It is a sociological process, a model and it is one differentiated by sociologists from ‘assimilation’. It is a form of social engineering which could work in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society like Malaysia.
I would expect TCW to speak of ‘integration’ as being a better model acceptable to the Chinese in Malaysia - as opposed to ‘assimilation’.
May 9th, 2006 at 11:21 am
Food for thought
‘Integration’ means wearing the tudung over a cheongsum with its high slit??
May 9th, 2006 at 11:55 am
Nationalist,
Get your facts right before trying to argue something, please.
Chinese school teaches chinese, malay and english, as opposed to chinese only.
They are 25% of chinese in malaysia, as opposed to 35%
All this said, I think the willingness to respect other races’s culture and accepting that people are different reflects strenght and security…from Nationalist’s POV, I think he is too naive. Chinese in malaysia speaks malay, eats malay food and generally, have no problem mixing with malays. You want us to adopt malay name and not eat pig? LOL…respect, dude, respect…
May 9th, 2006 at 11:57 am
It is true that many ads for jobs owned by chinese are discriminatory and I am totally against that. However, I think it should be taken into account that the ability to communicate in chinese is very important in certain business, thus the ads that are in chinese.
May 9th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
Hey, dude…
The Chinese wouldn’t be speaking Bahasa today if not for government policy to change the medium of instruction from English to Bahasa in the country’s schools.
If you want to live and work in Malaysia, you should assimilate into Malay culture. Period.
Shops should not be allowed to serve pork and pig farms must not be allowed since this is against Islam which is the official religion of the Country. Period.
May 9th, 2006 at 6:34 pm
Hey, Nationalist,
So the whole Malaysia has become Malay-land for you already right. It mean we all have to convert to Islam in your point of view. So that is the nationalism that is already in your mind, by not respecting other religion and also custom.
I think it will be hard for you to survive in other place that your Malaysia.
May 10th, 2006 at 4:11 am
If that is what it takes to be assimilated into the local society, then so be it. But I do not think ‘assimilation’ goes as far as forcing one to change one’s religion - but only to show respect to the official religion of the country they have adopted as their own.
The Baba Chinese who have been here longer than any other Chinese are a good example of assimilation’ - but they are frowned upon by other Chinese from other states because they ’speak bahasa habitually and have lost the ability to speak Mandarin entirely, even follow some Malay customs. Their manner of dressing reflects a different set of values - neither Chinese nor totally Malay.
Tan Siew Sin and Omar Ong Yoke Lin are fine examples of Malaysian Chinese - though not Abdullah Ang who changed his name only for business purposes, to win favours from Malay politicians including Mahathir, and finally ended up in jail for four years.
May 12th, 2006 at 12:53 am
wow..after reading the 45 comments..ive forgotten about dr bakri’s education and technology…
October 16th, 2007 at 6:18 am
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