An Education System Worthy of Malaysia #39
Chapter 6: Attempts At Reforms
Risks To Reform
Changing the status quo is always a formidable challenge; I do not underestimate the power of inertia. Would-be reformers, past and present, have met less-than-benign fate. Reforming an institution like Malaysian education with its powerful symbolism would be doubly daunting.
The essential ingredients for reform are already there – widespread dissatisfaction with and evident failures of the current system. Society demands that something be done, and the leaders too are recognizing this. While there is general consensus that something must be done, there is no agreement on either what ails the system or what are the objectives of reform. While all agree that the system ought to prepare the young for the increasingly competitive world and simultaneously foster national unity, beyond that there is considerable disagreement.
The divisions are along two broad camps. One side feels that the problem with the current system is that we are not sufficiently committed to its objectives and methods. Their remedy then is simply more of the same, but with more vigorous implementation. The other camp feels just as strongly that there is something radically wrong with the present system both in its objectives and methods that nothing short of a major overhaul would do.
The issue is further compounded by the fact that the primary mission of education is entangled with other societal goals. Language nationalists would like the system to not only maintain the supremacy of Malay but also to suppress the use of other languages, especially English because of its imperial association. These nationalists would not be satisfied until the nation is completely and exclusively monolingual.
It is this juvenile mindset, ensconced primarily at such places as
DBP and Malay Studies departments of public universities, which led to the defacing of non-Malay signs at highways and airports in days of yore. To these insular types, knowing any other language but Malay is tantamount to an act of treason. The good news is that these groups are fast receding into the fringes as more Malaysians, Malays in particular, are becoming more rational.
Few as these dissenters are, I do not estimate their ability to create mischief or grab the headlines. The lead editor of Dewan Bahasa, flagship publication of DBP, characterized the recent controversy on using English to teach science and mathematics as “language war!” Meanwhile its director, one Deraman Aziz, was loudly threatening to collect a million signatures to oppose the wider use of English. He quickly disavowed his participation when he was none too subtly reminded of his civil service obligations. Obviously the security of his plush civil service job has priority over his nationalistic zeal.
Malay politicians see education as a huge patronage system. All those juicy building contracts, textbook publishing, and yes, even catering services are viewed less as means of helping the young but more as tunnels to the public trough. Reform education if you must, but keep those spigots flowing! Similarly quotas in education are a security blanket for the less-than-talented. Again, reform if you must, but disturb those quota at your political peril.
To the Islamists, education is nothing more than to prepare Muslims for the Hereafter, the present world be damned. Malaysian-Chinese meanwhile are obsessed with their self-appointed role as defenders of their mother tongue. Never mind that in China the top universities are now using English or that those most vocal in opposing the extended use of English are sending their children abroad to Anglo Saxon countries. You can bet that those youngsters would not be taking up Chinese Studies there.
With such differing and conflicting perspectives, little wonder that education gets sucked into the maelstrom. As with any reform, the promised benefits would remain only a potential and be diffused. Meanwhile the casualties and costs would be direct and felt right away, and be concentrated on and borne by a few and definable groups. Emphasizing English would benefit all students together with enhancing the nation’s competitiveness, but that is only a potential. Meanwhile the price would be borne by those who have invested heavily in the present system – Malay language nationalists and the current establishment. Those who will bear the pain would be expected to be very vocal in their resistance, and will do their utmost to magnify and amplify the difficulties.
I anticipate the greatest obstacle to come from the current education establishment, especially those in the ministry and the ruling party who have benefited immensely at the expense of young Malaysians. Also included in this group is the entire civil service brought up under the present all-Malay system. These civil servants would be even more emboldened now that their older and English-fluent colleagues are retiring. This Malay-educated establishment would not be kindly disposed to any change. They have done well despite their low English fluency and nonexistent mathematical skills; they see little need for change. Rest assured they would do everything to ensure that any reform would fail.
These obvious resistors would be relatively easy to neutralize, as demonstrated by the now compliant Deraman Aziz. More pernicious and dangerous would be the “stealth” oppositionists. They would be formidable opponents because we cannot identify them. They would be conducting insidious guerilla warfare from within. They would do everything within their power to sabotage any change so as to justify their saying in the end, “I told you so!” These include the politically inclined academics, language activists, and Malay teachers who but for their political leanings would not be where they are today.
The cautionary note in all of these is that to ensure that reform would be successful the government must be cognizant of the hidden opposition from the establishment. By this I mean not only senior education ministry officials but also the legends of headmasters and heads of universities. The government must deal quickly with those who not only oppose reform but also not sufficiently committed to it. If they were not made to pay the price for their obstinacy, it would only embolden others. The government has a powerful weapon in that these civil servants and language nationalists have no skills that are valued by the private sector. The mere threat of losing their prized civil service appointments is enough to make them toe the line, as pathetically demonstrated by DBP‘s Deraman Aziz. The government should not hesitate to wield this powerful disciplinary weapon.
There is a hidden yet significant danger to reform that is not widely appreciated or discussed. Education is a powerful symbol in the race politics of Malaysia; reforming it risks rekindling old battles. Many would like nothing more than to take the opportunity to score political points by raising long-settled issues. The danger is that the public, fearful of retracing the divisive path of the past, would simply give up on reform and settle for the mediocre status quo.
The only way to avoid this is to have as wide a debate as possible, with public hearings and input from various individuals and organizations. An open debate is healthy. Besides we will never know where the next bright idea might emerge. The solution to the nation’s myriad education problems does not lie with some esteemed committee of wise persons deliberating in some air-conditioned office away from the hustle and bustle of the classrooms. As we have seen in Chile, the solution lies not in a monolithic prescribed model rather with trying different forms and adapting and enhancing as we go along. Only in such a fashion could the needs of our nation be met.
In the remaining chapters I put forth my own specific ideas on reform. The purpose is not to enumerate my prescriptions rather to start this much-needed public debate.
Next: Chapter 7: Strengthening the Schools
October 18th, 2006 at 7:57 pm
i was brought up in the all malay system. the primary school i attended in kedah made us do our math homework using old books (in english-from the previous generation), perhaps in defiance of what was then a recent change in policy.
what we notice now, this generation is now divided by the medium that they were schooled in. the malay mediums were brought up to serve as worker ants.
the ones who got further are either
1) were western educated via private schools.
2) missionary schools which lagged in changing their policy, these are usually schools in KL.
3) the few from “sekolah asrama penuh” who saw the light.
these were a minority.
it is now obvious, the ones who were educated or dreamt in english are the ones with potential to be more than worker ants. somehow they are confident and are able to carry themselves well in an international crowd. this despite the same level of knowledge as their malay-ised peer.
i call this social engineering. with NEP, children of farmers and children of the elite were given the “same” opportunities. to keep the elite segregated in their class-the mass were encouraged to attend malay-ised schools when the elite still continued to send theirs in mostly english medium schools if not in private schools in the UK.
fast fwd to year 2000, this batch is now in their 30s. a malay middle class without dreams to go further than their 9-5 jobs and balik kampung on weekends. they have 4 kids-all hoping for scholarships, perhaps to the same 3rd rate US universities their parents attended. they give back nothing to the society and are fully dependant on the govt for their future. they live in a rut and they are not aware of it.
the fortunate ones and the elite rule. and because there are no competition from their peer group, they take everything. such is the divide amongst malays brought up in that era.
October 19th, 2006 at 1:39 am
Salam to Dr MBM,
I think the guy from DBP is Aziz Deraman, former Ketua Pengarah DBP( now held by Dr Firdaus of MU).
The effects of changing the learning (language )medium from English to Bahasa Malaysia had its pros and cons.
By using BM, many rural Malay students were able to understand and graps the knowledge needed.Many manage to go to boarding schools( the SMS and MRSMs) and finally improved their lives( at least to their parents).
In the kampongs and Felda schemes English is rarely used as the communicating language. Most uses Bahasa Melayu( not Bahasa Malaysia).This made the children difficult when English was the language used. I think that was the reason why BM was made the teaching language.
But, as we found out now after more than 30 years, we have a community as described by ibu mertuaku.
I think that is why Mahathir change backthe teaching of Science and Mathematics in English.He must have regretted changing it to BM when he was the Education Minister.
I wonder what would be the outcome to the majority of rural Malay children if English was still used?
Hopefully Dr MBM or En Din Merican and Mr Freeman-Kedah could give us some insight or possibilities.
Salam
Ayub Tulakang
October 19th, 2006 at 3:29 am
ibu mertuaku:
I appreciate your maturity in understanding where the problem actually lies. We are also not comfortable about the wide disparity within intra-ethnic groups, and this seems to wider in the Malay grup compared to the others. In short, the elite Malays are taking the “normal” Malays for a ride. Of late, they have found a new weapon - religion, and this seems to work fine to keep the Malays on their side and the Non-Malays outside the border and create animosity to the extent that many unassuming Malays have falled victims - in the trap set by none other the Malays themselves.
It is very flimsy to argue that the Non-Malays are going to rob the Malays of their share - this can never happen. It is a phobia created by the elite Malays to psche the ordinary Malays to pit them against the Non-Malays. So, your worst enemy are not the Non-Malays.
Ask any average non-malay of the need to support efforts to achieve a fair and balanced equity share in the economic cake, there would be a chorus in support of it. I am for it but shouldn’t it be in respect of all races? How could the govt justify giving the bumi discount to a Malay who purchases a rich bungalow?
October 19th, 2006 at 6:27 am
Dr Bakri:
Yes, it is really heartening to hear such wisdom but in this country, from the leader, ministers, university heads, etc, all are chasing political positions and wealth. Who really cares for the welfare of education and students. By and large, education policies have been made for plitical reasons rather than for the betterment of education.
A particualr deputy minister (of higher education) raised an issue of RM30,000 contract on some school upgrade work. At the end of the day, the actual work done was only RM3,000. This irked the deputy minister and when he raised it, the education minister took exception to it and shockingly came out with a statement that upon his “investigation” the work to the tune of RM30,000 has, in fact, been completed. Soon, it became a political issue rather than an education-related issue. His boss, Dato Mustapha sort of “reprimanded” his deputy for commenting on the issue. Even the DPM (Najib) had unsavoury comments on it. Then the truth came - the JKR confirmed that, in fact, the deputy minister was right after all. Now what? VCs are appointed based on political affiliations. Hope - that would be last thing crossing my mind on Malaysan education.
Now, I hear about their adventure with Cambridge and a huge sum at that. What would be the windfall for the advocates? I am so sorry my mind seems to suspect anything and everything done by the govt. Can I be blamed totally for it?
October 19th, 2006 at 9:12 am
How are we to respect our leaders when they are like “pagar makan padi” They say one thing and do another.
See how fickle Khir Toyo is. He seems to condone the evils of Zakaria who, being a councillor, has defied local council rulings by building his “istana” on a piece of land alienated to his wife without the council’s approval. Yet the MB says that the man is wrong, all in the same breath.
I agree with ibu mertuaku’s theory that the elite Malays have all along subdued the kampong Malays so they will remain marginalised and forever be indebted (terhutang budi) to them.
That is why they have roundedly condemned the Asli Report and want the government to maintain bumiputra’s equity at a low 18.9 per cent although the policy has been around for over 35 years.
The NEP is, undoubtedly, their lifeline and their excuse to plunder the country. What other reasons do they have? Definetly not to enrich Abu, Dollah and Minah in the kampongs.
October 19th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
Hello friends:
Wishing everyone a Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya Puasa
October 19th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
REAL MARGINALISED BUMIPUTRAS OF M’SIA
This was reported in NST today. But the title should really be “Who ate the money while our poor Bumi children go hunngry?” The NEP will always fail if the real BUMIS continued to be conned by the rich elite bumis. Shame on Malaysia for letting our poor native go hungry!
LONG LELLANG (Ulu Baram, Miri): The 106 Penan boys and girls at Sekolah Kebangsaan Long Lellang must be among the unluckiest group of pupils in the country.
While their boarding school is lacking in many physical aspects, the students have also been attending classes on an empty stomach for almost two years now.
It is not the government which has neglected them but the failure of the delivery system that has forced these students to survive on a single meal of porridge and boiled young papayas and jungle shoots.
The greater flaw is the failure of those concerned to monitor the contractors who have been given the responsibility of supplying food to the school.
While food supply to the school and villages has never been a problem before, the last two years have been hell as the timber track connecting the village to the outside world has been abandoned.
The timber concessionaire has refused to maintain the road after completing their “job” of extracting timber from the nearby area.
The MAS-operated Rural Air Services’ Twin Otter aircraft used to land at the five-year-old airport three times a week but even that has been reduced to twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Sundays, since Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) took over the operation.
Like any other parent who can’t see their children suffer, the Penans and Kelabits have been assisting the school by supplying rice, vegetables and fish but their patience has worn out due to the contractor’s failure to pay them.
“I decided to take my children back home since there is no food at the hostel,” Seluma Jalong said when met at her house in Long Main on Tuesday.
“There is no use leaving them there when they can hardly learn anything worthwhile on an empty stomach.”
Long Main is a Penan village about 90 minutes away on foot from Long Lellang.
Seluma is a volunteer in the Chief Minister’s office who is in charge of creating awareness and changing the mindset of her tribe.
She also helps her fellow tribesmen to understand the need for knowledge, modern farming and handicraft skills.
“But how can we convince Penan parents to send their kids to school when they practically starve there.
“The authorities must look into this urgently and ensure proper food supply.
“I think the school also needs a new hostel as the existing one is on the verge of collapse,” she said.
Seluma’s son, Vicky Ayub, 7, and daughter, Dorah Langup, 12, said they returned home due to lack of food at the hostel.
“Yesterday, I was very hungry and almost fainted. We didn’t get anything for dinner the previous day and yesterday we only had a single meal of porridge and boiled young papaya.”
Vicky was also crying “sebab perut dia pedih” (because he suffered gastric pains).
“I want to be in school but there is no food there,” Dorah confided to a group of journalists who visited her village.
The school, sitting in the sole Kelabit village (Long Lellang), serves seven Penan settlements.
Long Sabai, situated in the upper reaches of the Tutoh river, is the furthest from the school while Long Main is the closest.
It takes eight hours on foot to get to the school from Long Sabai.
A visit to the hostel showed that it is a shaky, two-storey wooden structure which was built by the villagers more than a decade ago. There were no beds, mattresses, pillows or blankets.
A few villagers who wished to remain anonymous said the supply problem was due to a lack of monitoring by the Education Department.
They claimed that the situation was similar in some other remote villages, one of which is in Long Seridan, where students stayed home due to lack of food at their hostel.
SK Long Lellang headmaster Apoi Iboh, who was away in Miri during the visits to the school and the hostel, said later that the various problems faced by the school was due to the lack of a road.
“The contractor claims that FAX has not been sending the food items. I can’t be arguing with him because he is appointed by the government.
“I’m trying my best to improve the situation here,” Apoi said when met at the Long Lellang airport.
October 19th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
I think for us in west Malaysia to join the Federation in 1963 was a big mistake.
October 19th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Dear Bakri,
I agree with some of your views but you are dead wrong on this one. “Malaysian Chinese are obssesed defenders of their mother tongue”, rather they are obssesed with the protection of the Chinese schools from falling into the hands of those corrupted UMNO putra. This is the last bastion where we can have some proper schooling. I am not saying that it is the best but at least it will be better run than a national type school. Look at what they have done to the national school system. I am a Chinese and I do not read or write Mandrin and I couldnt care less whether my children can master Mandrin but I still send them to Chinese school. To most of the Chinese a proper education is the most important. It is not about the language. The language is cover to keep the UMNO putra out of the system. If it is about language then the majority of the Chinese students would have ended up in Taiwan or China. Do you see that hapening?
As you have said the Malay politicains view the education system as a patronage system. I think if the politician are sincere even teaching in Bahasa Malaysia would still work. All the resources and money that are supposed to be channeled to the education system are channeled to the pockets of these corrupted politicians. If the aritcle in Aliran is correct, 1/3 of the schools in Malaysia still do not even have proper toilets. In the patronage system like shit in water will float to the top. Those corrupted and incompetent educator and administrator in the system have to be changed as rightly pointed out by you but I seriously doubt this will happen. Let us wait and see.
October 19th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
ogre Says:
“I think for us in west Malaysia to join the Federation in 1963 was a big mistake”
I’m surprised that you did not know where the money for the highways, etc., in W. M’sia come from. Do you actually think that W. M’sia can do without the oil money from E. M’sia? Study the economic figures again before you open your mouth lah!!!
October 20th, 2006 at 12:11 am
We have seen the government converted the education system into Malay-medium in the 1970s to give the Malays an advantage and put the non-Malays at a disadvantage in edcuation.
Today, the non-malays are fluent in Malay language. In fact, they add Malay language into two or three languages they already possesed. This makes them more marketable in the job market. So, the policy backfired.
Knowing that the Malays no longer hold any advantage and many Malays graduates are unemployed, English was reintroduced to teach science subjects in recent years.
This is only one example of how the government is willing to go to the extend of shifting the goal post half way through the game to suit certain purpose. We inherited a world class education system from the British but we ruined it.
Singapore sticked to English and their NUS is now among the top 20 in global’s ranking. Our UM slided to near 200 in ranking.
Based on past bad experiences, it is justifiable for the Chinese not to trust our government. Recent introduction of Chinese and Tamil classes into government schools to attract more parents to send their children to these schools should be taken with a pinch of salt.
As I see it, and I think many others would agree too, this policy is aim at weakening the enrollment in vernacular schools.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:27 am
May I also add. The government has even gone into manipulating methodology to calculate the bumi wealth to keep the percentage low to justifiable the continuing of the NEP.
How can shares issued to bumi interests valued at par in the 1970s is today valued again at par? This will grossly understate the wealth of bumi.
Many people, including Malays, are now realising that NEP is being abused as a vehicle for UMNOputras to amass wealth. And we should expect UMNO Youth to continue championing NEP so that the vehicle will still be there when they reach to the top leadership.
Can we afford them to continue ruining our economy? Under the British rule, we were the second richest country in Asia but today we are behind Singapore, Taiwan, Hongkong and South Korea. South Korea was 3 times poorer than us in the 1960s but to day it is 3 times richer. Our RM1 is about equal to S$1 in the 1960s and today it is only RM2.20 to S$1. It may go down to RM5 to S$1 half a generation from now.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:48 am
Dr Bakri, on that specific view, I tend to agree with Kodiang, chinese schools were struggling to survive during the 70’s, by a stroke of pen,they not only survive but flourish when english medium was switched to B.M. He is right,what chinese want is good schooling,not politicking.
I like to tell you all a story,last week, i met up with my chinese friend who converted to muslim by marriage to an Arab,one day she got a complaint from her daughter that she was under ‘peer pressure’ to conform to ‘islamic’ dressing from her religious teacher,my friend(mum) confronted the headmaster and sorted out the problem b’cos there is no such policy.During their meeting she also got a shock that she was told about a complaint that her daughter is mixing too much with non-muslim friends and suffering from identity problem.They want her to mix more with their own type. See! instead of focusing on education, some are overzealous in their own personal agenda, so much for integration.Chinese only want good education,not ‘indoctrination’ happening in national-type schools.
October 20th, 2006 at 4:16 am
The recent debate on the 18% or 45% seems to have struck a raw nerve on some Malaysians. What is interesting is that most, if not all, the argument is focused on the NET worth of the wealth held by the various races, while the govt is sticking to the par or nominal value.
This argument by the govt is actually a myth or very misleading. With the NEP, companies going for listing are required to set aside 30% for malays. Apart from this, when the govt privatised many of its agencies, like Telecoms and TNB, blue chip shares were allocated to bumis or bumi-related companies such PB, etc. If all these are accounted for, there would not be a shred of doubt that the malays have achieved the target long time ago, even when based on the par or nominal value. If those receiving them sell for quick profits, then the fault lies with the govt and the malays. And they will go on selling what has been allocated to them and it is just an act of duping the non-malays. It has to stop. When even the intra-ethnic disparity on wealth ownership is the highest among the malays, it does not make sense at all to continue with the NEP related policies anymore. It is a bare fact that ordinary malays and non-malays alike do not trust the govt anymore and with this credibility problem, the govt needs to urgently address the grouses.
Where I studied, we had all races studying in the English medium together and most parents, including non-malays preferred to send their students to national schools (English medium). There cannot be any dispute that the standard and quality then was very good and demanding. Now, not only the standard in national schools have deteriorated drastically, these schools have even become laughing stocks. Add to that the “islamisation” of the national schools, and what other ammunition is needed to stop the non-malay parents from sending their children to national schools. Just providing chinese and tamil lessons in such schools are being seen as a ploy by the non-malays, notwithstanding the govt’s intention to promote racial integrity. Of course, this had given no room for integration and when they go secondary schools, the racial “groups” are continued.
Again, it is like talking to a wall when you tell the govt. The leaders and ploiticians are only interested in their vote banks. Who gives a damn about the future of the children.
To tackle the problem, bold measures ought to be taken, instead of cosmetic patch-works here and there. One way would be to re-introduce English as the medium of instruction. Dramatic it would be but unless such bold measures are introduced, we can forget about schools as centres for education. Next, a rule must be introduced that school-teachers are not permitted to give tuition or work in tuition centres. How are these teachers expected to focus on their education priorities if they are to spend time on preparing for the tuition classes. After all, they seem to teach better at tuition centres than at schools, surprising isn’t it. And remember, they are paid to teach children in schools. This aside, more job opportunities could be created for jobless graduates who can be trained to focus on providing the additional training to our children, if necessary.
Then, texts and materials should be introduced from renowned schools from overseas. I know, many may jump at this. Two months ago, I took a casual survey of some 100 teachers on what they teach and why they are teaching those topics/subjects. I can only summarise in a single word = “pathetic”. What I am trying to say is our teachers need to be educated even before we can think of educating our children. It is nothing more than garbage-in, garbage-out.
Deep seated and pathetic attitudes have destroyed our education system and the govt continuing to live in a self-denial attitude would mean that most of our children are just “paper” holders with no interest to seek knowledge. It has to start from ground zero after striping-off everything from the current system. Would it happen? ????
October 20th, 2006 at 4:30 am
Sorry, missed out the following:
So, the cosmetic introduction of chinese and tamil studies in national schools would not help very much to encourage to abandon vernacular education, as the vernacualr attachment seems not so much in being “pious” about race but the confidence that these provide a better educational environment. The govt is giving too little, which appears more of half-hearted. If the national schools are made conducive and competitive with English as the medium, then the govt need not even bother to convince the non-malays on this issue, they will go for better education, wherever it may be.
October 20th, 2006 at 7:02 am
“How can shares issued to bumi interests valued at par in the 1970s is today valued again at par? This will grossly understate the wealth of bumi.”
If the objective is to measure the relative share of the national economic pie that bumis have, it makes complete sense. Is the figure 18.9% supposed to be a measurement of the absolute wealh of any one ethnic group. Clearly, it is not.
So what’s the beef?
October 20th, 2006 at 7:12 am
MyView says, “Our RM1 is about equal to S$1 in the 1960s and today it is only RM2.20 to S$1. It may go down to RM5 to S$1 half a generation from now. ”
When I first worked after graduating from University of Malaya in 1971, the exchange rate was MR 1 = S$ 0.87 .
That’s how far our currency has fallen. Malaysia Ringgit fell against all major currencies over the long run - showing fundamental weaknesses in the way we managed our monetary and fiscal policies.
October 20th, 2006 at 7:18 am
The Almighty is always fair. We as mortal beings can’t even comprehend what is install for us.
It’s just a shame that our elected representatives claims to be godly and took oath to serve the public. But we are all fools to bang our hope on them. Not just 1 time but every election. And in the recent quote that Hishamuddin uses is really true, “You can’t fool all the people all the time”
If our leaders are wise, and if they had allowed all Malaysian to progress as they should while Mara played their role with the amount of money that were allocated, grow Malaysians human capitals, we would have soared much much further at least within the Asian region. We would have held a considerable wealth and probably power if we had taken that direction. We could be the Premier education centre for south East Asia. But alas, that was not to be. We had Mahathir, who happens to have a mix parentage ( Indian + Malay ) and Badawi whose roots traces to Chinese + Malay. My observation regarding this is that they are constantly under pressure to deliver MORE to the Malays or will be viewed as anti-melayu. As they are not Pure Thorough bred Malay, they are obliged to give more.
The DEB and the NEP not only slowed the Chinese and Indian’s progress, sidelined the other “Sons of Soil” from Sabah and Sarawak but engage Malaysia into reverse gear in all other area. A good example is our automotive industry. If we had given opportunity for all Malaysian to participate, I believed we could have designed a better car then what we have now. The Ketuanan Melayu had gone over their heads making them blind not to see the diverse “power ” we Malaysia posses. We have bangsa “Lain-lain” that could have contributed significantly and who knows our Dear Dr. Bakri would be driving our Malaysian Design car on highway 101 right now.
As I have said earlier, The Almighty is fair, and as a punishment for our leaders that practices Apartheid policies, we as a country deserve to be put on a reverse gear. We are not fit to be among the “better” county. Though the leaders claim to practice “Ada Had, Ada Hari” God uses similar logic. And the “hari” will come when the top 100 University is won buy “University of Vietnam” while we are still searching for clues on what had went wrong.
Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya to all.
October 20th, 2006 at 7:26 am
TrueMalaysian:
“I’m surprised that you did not know where the money for the highways, etc., in W. M’sia come from. Do you actually think that W. M’sia can do without the oil money from E. M’sia? Study the economic figures again before you open your mouth lah!!!”
What oil money?? The proceeds from the sale of LNG are kept abroad in US currency dominated accounts, managed by foreign funds managers appointed by Petronas. These funds are used by UMNO to bail out UMNO companies and government corporations and companies belonging to Mahathir’s sons.
Taxpayers in West Malaysia have been made to cough out the much needed funds to fund the economic development of the two East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. If not for the protection provided by Malays in West Malaysia who fill the rank and file of the Armed Forces, these two states would have been swarmped by Indons and Fillipinos who regard these territories as being theirs.
You must differentiate the government, the people of west Malaysia and the political party that runs the government. They are all separate and different.
So before you open your mouth showing your toothless grin, how about getting some real education?
October 20th, 2006 at 7:45 am
“A good example is our automotive industry. If we had given opportunity for all Malaysian to participate, I believed we could have designed a better car then what we have now.”
This is very true. I graduated from University of Malaya in 1971 - majoring in history. My experience before being asked to head Proton by Mahathir was driving race cars and playing badminton and counting pimples on my wife’s face - who incidentally is a Chinese from Seremban.
In my free time I would design cars besides strumming my cheap guitar.
Had I been given more time, I would have designed a better car. Being a history major I learned how Ford made the first spaceship to send people to the moon. I thought why not we use space technology to drive our cars. We could use palm oil as fuel.
I support Mahathir and he supports me until now. If he becomes Prime Minister again I promise to do my level best to build my dream car and export them to wherever he wants me to.
Never mind about making money. Proton has never been a money making venture. Mahathir tells me he uses Proton as a cash cow to finance his activities. Until now I do not know what these activities are. Proton a cash cow?? I thought we could only find cash cows in the streets of India. They tell me Mahathir being half-Indian prays to cows and had visions of his cows being stuffed in cash. He still does.
Oh well…
October 20th, 2006 at 9:50 am
Well, ogre it is true we descend from the orang utans and have the orang utan mentality. Therefore we are the true bumiputras - and not Malays who come from the Yunnan Plateau of southern China.
We’ve been around longer swinging from tree to tree - which is why the so-called white rajah who first ‘discovered’ this place did not notice us.
Since then we must admit you educate us, teach us how to brush our teeth and our women to wear bras and not drink from the river where we also dump faeces.
A big thank you to the Government who saved us from extinction. Vote BN!
October 20th, 2006 at 10:07 am
language: during the japanese occupation, malayans learnt the japanese national anthem in no time at all-for fear of their survival. RPKJ or asasi jepun students learnt to speak and write in japanese in less than 2 years while coping with matriculation work. had our education system remained in english, i have no doubt of bebudak kampung’s ability to master the language.
why fix-it-if-it-ain’t-broken? the education system left by the british is still used by india. literacy rates are even above 90% and 100% in some areas. india is fast producing educated and skilled workers willing to work at a third the wages paid in the silicone valley. it would still be sad to see how we rate against india in the next 5 years.
what prevented the malays from getting into english schools was not language, but: 1)opportunity-i believe only children of “civil servants” during the british era were actually considered for enrollment. 2)to a lesser extent, religion or the fear of losing faith.
parenting: the malay middle class was brought up in sekolah asrama-s. 5 years of minimal parental contact (hey-of course we love em and vice versa, but did they really know you then?) leaves many on autopilot mode when it comes to parenting. they are clueless in navigating their children’s education as they themselves just trusted the government with theirs.
what is preventing english from being the medium of instruction now: the parents of these kids do not speak fluent english, therefore are unlikely to support the change. these same parents now keep the country treadmill going and they certainly want to keep the status quo.(lest they fly off the treadmill and land on the thighmaster)
curriculum: with KTJ offering an option of the local fare, A-levels or IB, i do not see how or why they should be the only institution offering thus. implement this in our schools and we would finally see a “malaysian” school. Chinese and Tamil schools would be obsolete and kebangsaan schools would actually be teaching something. of course we would have 3 different exams, these students are fulfilling different destinies.
teachers: pay more. import from other countries. expensive, yes. arent our future generation worth it? how to pay for it? we had billions to bail the cronys. could we not find some for this? scrap matriculation. stop sending kids overseas for their primary degree-only for specialty training after postgraduate work and postgrad degrees not available here.
deans and VCs: get the kelantanese out of the picture please. i mean no disrespect to the state and people, but their tenure in MU proved that they need to be replaced with those with merit.
politicians: must not have day jobs. to resign once sworn in. to serve only 2 terms during which they have active files in ACA on their family members (twice removed). hopefully this would discourage those who are just in it for the “perks”. people who think they might have something to offer to society should then stop commenting in other people’s blogs and compete to serve the people. hopefully we would find a leader who was previously suppressed by the present political structure.
me: i have never voted. i have not found anyone worth voting for. many in my generation do not vote. what if no one votes? would that tell our leaders that they’re doing something really wrong?
October 20th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
I think we should go back to the attap school and learn to recite the koran without knowing what it means.
October 20th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
“i have never voted. i have not found anyone worth voting for. many in my generation do not vote. what if no one votes? would that tell our leaders that they’re doing something really wrong? ”
what if no one votes?? wake up bro. many people vote. so if you don’t vote, don’t think you’re such a smart ass. you choose not to exercise your birthright as a citizen - that is your choice. a stupid one.
October 20th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
I look forward to your proposal on Malaysian education reform. To me the biggest problem with educational reform in Malaysia is that those that debate them and those that have the power to decide are NOT real educationist with real experience in teaching and education. Its like telling a non-doctor to run the health policies of the country - its just don’t fix what are tough problems and issues.
Public education is very very hard. Its rare these days to find ANY COUNTRY WHICH DON”T HAVE A FAILED PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM. Even in US, Europe, Japan and even our neigbouring Singapore, public education is a dissapointment and even a source of social problem. The challenges of modern economies and social issues just cannot be met with simple ideas on education public or otherwise.
This is perhaps the biggest problem of Malaysia education - the politics just don’t recognizes the challenges. Its why no amount of discussion and comments will really work. At best it produces pockets of excuses - some results born out of just sheer conincidences and luck not a real determined change that benefit many and the masses.
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:56 am
I can’t believe this. We are turning the clock back.
Malaysia bans speaking English in Parliament
By Anadolu News Agency
The Malaysian Language Institute warned it would impose fines on lawmakers and other government officials who speak English in parliament and at formal meetings.
In an open letter to the New Straits Times, Noresah Baharom, department director at the Institute of Language and Literature, said: “If there is a need to use words or phrases in English, members of parliament will have to seek permission to do so.”
Baharom noted slang expressions were also banned and added the move was a show of respect for Malay, the national and official language of Malaysia. Offenders would reportedly face fines.
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:19 am
Phelps:
Do you think I am angry or sad with that announcement. Cynical or sarcastic it may sound, but I am very happy that they are denying the poor Malays the chance to get English. Don’t you get it, we non-malays have sme everage because they keep on pushing their kids into Malay and Islam and keep them in their shells. Of course, the Language Centre’s children would be proficient in English, I think
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:20 am
leverage
October 22nd, 2006 at 6:12 am
Phelps, you idiot! Where have you been the last 40 years??
October 22nd, 2006 at 9:10 am
Dear Bakri,
Now you see what I means. This Baharom Director of ILL can even ban parliment from using English. There are so many of these people in the government srevice that even with a chage in government, it will take a long, long time to purge these useless, incompetant administrators from the civil service. I think you know how serious the level of incompetancy the civil service has become over the years of promotion on political patronage. I remember reading an article written by you on this matter years ago. They have wasted so much money due to their incompetance and corrupt practice. We are realy, realy in a desprate situation. We need change, I will try anything, as I know if we continue as we are now we are heading for a big disaster.
November 11th, 2006 at 2:37 am
hogans alley
hogans alley