Matriculation Recognition Overseas

Before we take a cynical crack at the latest proposal by the MOE to obtain overseas recognition for our matriculation programs, let's try to see the positive side of things.

Firstly, this might increase the standard of our matriculation program, especially if it seeks recognition from top universities in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and NZ. I'm not sure what the procedure for getting recognition is like but I'm guessing that it's probably easier in the UK than the US since there's a more standard application procedure in the former (UCAS, a central clearing system, in the UK versus individual university applications in the US). It seems like that's the initial route given that "Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar said only some renowned universities in Britain accepted this qualification". What he did not specify (or at least wasn't reported) was which renowned universities, specifically, accepted our matriculation program as a pre-university qualification. Is it Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial or the LSE?

The fact that Noh Omar, Deputy Minister for Education, said the ministry's "aim was to have the matriculation qualification at par with that of A-level" is a timely acknowledgement that the current standards are not internationally competitive and more needs to be done to improve the curent standards.

We hope that the process is stringent enough such that improvements can be made to the matriculation program (to make it as thorough as STPM, for example) to make it internationally recognized. What we hope won't happen is for the Malaysian government to "buy" this recognition from certain universities (including the Irish International University) by promising them funds or funded students. Let's keep watch on which universities offer to recognize the matriculation program and we can make an educated guess to see if this recognition has been "bought".

Secondly, it might be a way for reasonably qualified matriculation students to gain access to a good foreign university, as an alternative to going to a local university. Most people might be sceptical of the thought that there is the possibility that some matriculation students can "make it" to a decent foreign university - "If there were that good, wouldn't they have been offered scholarships to go abroad already?". There are many reasons why there might be a handful of good matriculation students - late bloomers, accidentally missed the boat on earlier scholarship offers, etc... If they are good enough, I don't see why they cannot be offered the chance to study in a reputable foreign university.

The only worry I have regarding the efforts that are currently being expended on the matriculation program is that it will take away resources from the STPM program. It seems increasingly ludicrous to have two separate education programs for essentially the same thing - admissions into the local university system. So while this emphasis on the matriculation program is welcomed, we also need to ask - "what's happening to the STPM program?"

Globalised Higher Education

The Star is organising a conference entitled "Globalising Higher Education in Malaysia" in conjunction with the Asian Centre for Media Studies (ACMS) as well as the Global Malaysians Network. The conference aims to raise and discuss several pertinent issues including:

• What could local universities and colleges do to become truly world class institutions?
  
  
• How should the government, through its various ministries and departments, help to promote this global enterprise?

Actually, while I strongly believe that the intent of the conference and forum is good, I'm not sure what exact tangible benefits it will actually bring. The public is invited to attend the conference to hear a series of distinguish speakers presenting their views (and of course, pay RM800 to attend the event). Will it however, actually serve any purpose for someone like myself (who is deeply interested in education in this country) to fork out the cash to attend the event?

Irrespective, the conference has brought together speakers from some of the top institutions around the world and in some of the pre-conference media publicity, these speakers have highlighted some pertinent points and issues which the authorities as well as those involved in education in this country will do well to pay heed.

Here are some highlights of some of the comments made compiled from various articles published on various days:

Professor Dr Rod Coombs, Vice-President, University of Manchester:

A key to building globalised universities is to have researchers who collaborate more with academics outside their country than inside... Other elements that make a university globalised are faculty members that come from all over the world and a student body that is fully international and recruited on merit.

Source: The Star, June 28th 2006

Prof Quinn Mills, Albert J. Weatherhead Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School:

Why is Harvard University consistently cited as the top university in the world in virtually all rankings? The reason, according to Harvard don Professor Daniel Quinn Mills, lies in the university's faculty and students.

"It is also respected because of the accomplishments of its graduates. Harvard attracts students of exceptional potential and they are also key to its reputation."

Source: The Star, July 6th 2006

One of the reasons for [Harvard's] success is the decentralisation policy practised.

“Harvard is probably the most decentralised university in the world. The president has direct control of only about 7% of the university’s total budget as every school manages its own budget... In the short term, decentralisation creates big differences in salaries and facilities between the schools but in the long term, decentralisation allows each school to respond to the market for its services, and prevents Harvard from subsidising declining professions and fields."

Source: The Star, July 9th 2006

It is interesting to note that these comments which highlight the most important factors according to these distinguished guests on creating truly "world-class institutions" are exactly what the Malaysian higher education system has been most resistant to, for one reason or another.

Both senior academics have highlighted the need for both the faculty and the students to be "recruited on merit". The ability to attract students of "exceptional potential" is the "key to its reputation". While small baby steps have been taken to "meritocratise" our university entrance mechanisms, a terrible lot is still left to be desired.

Interestingly, Prof Quinn Mills also highlighted as extremely important, the policy of "decentralisation", not only between the university and the government authorities, but also between the faculties and the university administration. But the key underlying factor which goes directly against such as policy is the simple fact that our academics are essentially part of the country's civil service. And the death knell on any possible attempts at decentralisation is epitomised by our infamous "Akujanji" pledge to the higher powers there be.

If the Government is not willing to overturn the sacred cows, the most important factors as highlighted by these top notch global academics, then how are we ever going to create world class institutions, as envisioned by our leaders and enshrined in our "vision 2020" and 5-year plans? Why bother inviting this distinguished personalities to speak on the topic if we are not prepared to listen to them?

Anyway, of note, among the panelist is our very own pony-tailed (will RTM insist on a haircut? :)) law lecturer from Universiti Malaya, Associate Professor Azmi Sharom, who thankfully serves as a beacon of "hope" for a change for the better at our local public institutions of higher learning. He will be presenting on "Attaining and Maintaining World-Class University Standards", chaired by Tan Sri Datuk Dr Anuwar Ali Vice-Chancellor, Open University Malaysia.

Also interestingly, Professor Wang Gungwu, Director of the East Asia Institute at National University of Singapore and former Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong University who was originally scheduled to give the Keynote Address of the conference on "What makes a University Today Really Good?", has been relegated to become a panelist for the same Address, now to be delivered by our new vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaya (UM), Datuk Rafiah Salim. I would have thought that Professor Wang Gungwu, who was himself formerly an academic from UM, would be in a better position to share his world class experience.

(I must be damn free man, noticing these useless little details...)

"Grand PhD"

Yup. There's such a thing as a "Grand PhD", if you believe the claims of one "Prof Dr" H. Sandhu, the Chief Executive Officer of the bogus "Irish International University", which was blogged here recently (and here a while back). Thanks to Idlan who did some further serious digging here, we now know that not only does this Mr Sandhu have a "Grand PhD" from Belgium, he possesses a Certified DBA (Oxford) and an Euro MBA (Cambridge) - all issued by his very own dubious institutions no doubt.

With all this outlandish claims and fancy college names such as Oxbridge College, and Irish International University (which if you haven't realised by now, doesn't exist in Ireland), I sometimes wonder if the "victims" of these institutions i.e., the "innocent" students seeking further education and life-long learning are really victims, or are instead willing and interested parties in this game of deception.

If anything, the students might be learning the footsteps of this Mr H. Sandhu on how creating bogus credentials and outlandish titles might actually make you some decent money and get you places - including hobnobbing with the rich and famous like some deputy ministers. If that is the case, do they deserve our sympathy?

Was for example, one Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, UMNO Putera's chief who proudly paraded his Masters in Business Administration from a certain "prestigious" Preston University ("one of the oldest universities in the United States"), which was found out to be bogus, deserving of our sympathy or contempt and ridicule?

Hmmm....

'A' Levels vs International Baccalaureate

Apologies for the long silence and thanks for Kian Ming for holding the fort :). A trip down to Singapore for a couple of days plus a weekend back in kampung with wife and kid sort of sucked up all the time there is. Spent almost the entire day today catching up with backlogged work. :)

Anyway, as usual, lots to blog about, lots to catch up on but just not enough time! :) I thought I'd start the ball rolling again with a non-controversial topic. I think the media both online and offline these days are filled with controversial issues. So we'd take a break from that :).

Many of us, myself included, would not have heard much about the "international baccalaureate" (IB) programme, specifically the IB Diploma Programme. Recently however, there has been more press given to the IB Diploma Programme as a good, or possibly better alternative to the 'A' Levels.

The IB Organisation (IBO) is a nonprofit educational foundation, motivated by its mission, focused on the student. Founded in 1968, we currently work with 1,874 schools in 124 countries to develop and offer three challenging programmes to over 481,000 students aged 3 to 19 years. As opposed to 'A' Levels, which is an export of the United Kingdom or SAT, of United States, the IB curriculum "represents the best from many different countries rather than the exported national system of any one. [The] challenging Diploma Programme assessment is recognized by the world's leading universities. [IBO] maintain [their] high standards by actively training and supporting teachers, and by authorizing and evaluating IB World Schools."

The IBO works with schools in 124 countries, headquartered in Geneva. They have offices / representatives in Bath, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Cardiff, Geneva, Mumbai, New York, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Vancouver.

One of the leading global pre-university institution adopting the IB curriculum is the United World College (UWC), blogged here earlier. Ng Eng Han, a student at UWC-USA who has received his admission into Dartmouth College via early admission has also written a short piece on the IB diploma programme - what it's about and where it's offered. To find out more about the curriculum of the IB diploma programme, you may like to visit their official website.

More interestingly, and back to the comparison of 'A' Levels versus IB, it appears that the Universities and College Admission Service (UCAS) of the United Kingdom have recently endorse the IB diploma programme as being "academically superior" to the 'A' Levels programme.

A new points tariff announced by UCAS... made a relatively modest IB score of 35 points (out of a maximum of 45) equivalent to four and a half A grades at A-level.

An IB score of 38, the average achieved every year by more than 200 pupils at Sevenoaks, one of the first independent schools to adopt the exam, was deemed to be equivalent to five As at A-level. Oxford and Cambridge typically ask for 40 points, equivalent to five and a half A grades.

Even 30 IB points is judged equivalent to three and a half As at A-level, sufficient to secure entry to most academically selective universities.

The 'A' Levels, which has been criticised in recent years as falling significantly in standards will find this "as confirmation of how far A-levels have slipped from the 'gold standard'." And it may hasten the switch of many schools around the world from conducting 'A' Levels to the IB Diploma Programme.

Worried about the dropping standards of the UK 'A' Levels programme, Singapore which uses the 'A' Levels qualification as the de facto criteria for entry into the universities, has clearly set out to differentiate its own 'A' Levels programme, distinct from that in the UK. As mentioned here in the press release way back in 2002:

In Singapore, students offer the Singapore-Cambridge A-level examination which is a separate examination, conducted jointly by MOE and the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES). The Singapore-Cambridge A-level has its own set of question papers. The setting, marking and grading of the examination scripts are subject to stringent quality control procedures and are closely monitored by UCLES and MOE to ensure that grades awarded reflect accurately the performance of students.

MOE has assumed greater control of the Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-level examination from 2002. Our A-level examination papers are based on syllabuses that are designed for Singapore's educational needs. MOE and UCLES are responsible for the setting of standards and the awarding of grades. This means that Singapore students offer a set of examination papers which meet A-level standards but are separate and different from those offered by students in the UK. The grading of our A-level examination, jointly undertaken by MOE and UCLES, is also a separate process from that of British A-levels.

The question however, is whether, the 'higher' and 'stricter' 'A'-Level standards in Singapore will penalise the students there as opposed to those who too 'A'-Levels based on the "declining" UK standards? Will UCAS differentiate the grades?

Anyway, given that the IB programme is offered only in a limited scale in Malaysia at this point of time, and not to mention, costing quite an arm and a leg, the question of which programme to take is probably moot even for students opting not to pursue STPM. Most Malaysians will still end up with 'A' Levels, South Australian Matriculation (SAM) and other matriculation examinations. However, this might just change in the near future.

For the moment, students pursuing other pre-university programmes including STPM need not be overly concerned. 'A'-Levels for example, is still well recognised around the world and as long as you do well in it, you can be certain of acceptance into the top universities of the world.

Thanks to LYL for the pointer. :)

PhD Scholarships for Local Universities

This is an overdue follow up from Tony's posting here. I've been emailing some of my non-bumi friends who are currently or have been sponsored to do their Masters / PhDs overseas by local universities and asking them to clarify the differences between SLAB, ASHES and ACTS. Here are some of my initial findings.

Firstly, all of them confirmed that the SLAB scheme is only open to bumiputeras. No surprise there. But one of my friends noted that funding for the SLAB scheme comes from JPA, which is more readily available compared to a university's internal funding resources. What this means is that lecturers who apply for the SLAB scheme, in all likelihood, will have to wait a shorter period of time before being sent overseas to do their PhDs. As long as the time discrepancy between those "SLAB"ers and non-"SLAB"ers is not too great, I don't really see this as a big problem.

Secondly, all of them (a small sample from 3 local universities) did not know about ASHES and / or ACTS. The official name of their scholarship is something like "Skim Hadiah Latihan Cuti Belajar". Their funding comes from the sending university and it includes tuition fees (as well as living expenses and salary), which Tony and I initially thought wasn't included. If, for all intents and purposes, the funding terms for SLABers and non-SLABers are the same, then why have the distinction? Are SLABers more likely to obtain approval for funding to go overseas than non-SLABers? I have a feeling that the answer to this question is in the affirmative.

Thirdly, there is some uncertainty in regards to the distribution of PhD funding among the different local universities. Some have the impression that some of the older and bigger universities (UM, USM and UKM) have more internal funding available courtesy of them being, well, older and bigger. Others have the impression that newer universities such as UNIMAS and UUM have more funding available because of their need to build up their faculties. These two views might not be mutually exclusive. Older and bigger universities might have more funding (in absolute terms) but also more lecturers to sponsor while newer universities might have more funding (in % terms) so the chances for a lecturer to be sponsored is greater in these universities. I guess that's one of the ways in which newer universities are able to attract potential PhD candidates who might otherwise have wanted to go to one of the older, more established universities.

While I welcome the 1.2RM billion allocation for PhD studies, I still have questions in regards to the distribution mechanism both between and within our local universities. How does the Ministry decide the amount a university should be allocated? How do universities decide on who gets sponsorship internally? Which departments and who within these departments should be sponsored? Maybe I need to send out more emails to get my answers.

Of course, I need to put in my usual gripe about how the local universities don't distinguish between the process to obtain US versus non-US PhDs. PhDs in the US usually take upwards of 5 years while those in the UK and Australia take upwards of only 3 years. The reason is that coursework is a required component in the US system while this is not so in the UK and Australia (although this is beginning to change for selected courses in selected universities). The PhD scholarships from the local universities are only for 3 years with a 6 month extension possible upon request. This makes life very difficult for those pursuing their PhDs in the US (which is why many lecturers opt to go to the UK and Australia instead) and they usually have to scrounge for alternative sources of funding for the remaining 1 1/2 to 2 years.

Finally, I also welcome the decision by the Ministry to have more joint post-grad programs (like the one recently established with Nottingham) because it is a way to expose our lecturers to the research environment in a reputable foreign institution of higher learning and at the same time, minimize the cost of doing so. Look for more of these partnerships to be signed in the future.

Asian Youth Fellowship applications open

Thanks Adriene, who's currently studying in Japan, for the heads up on the Asian Youth Fellowship, which is a scholarship that sends you to Japan for a 7 month intensive language course (in Japanese, of course) before you enter a Japanese university as a graduate student.

You can find the full details here. The closing date for applying for this scholarship is between Sept and Nov (varies by country). Check on the above website for the closing date for applications for Malaysians.

I highly recommend this scholarship to young (below 30), single people (scholarship doesn't cover spouses and / or children) who have not studied overseas before and is interested in immersing himself or herself in Japanese culture. My impression of this program is that it is very well organized and well structured and the bonding experience with your fellow grantees from all over Asia is pretty special. One might find the initial experience of being a 'gaijin' tough and lonely at first, but I'm sure the rewards are well worth the initial adjustment blues.

Good luck!

Irish International University Again!

I wrote quite extensively a while back on the issue of "bogus universities" in our presence. Part I was on Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, UMNO Putera's chief who proudly paraded his Masters in Business Administration credentials, which was purchased from a bogus Preston university. Part II covered the use of honorific titles from dubious institutions even in the religious fraternity. And Part III spoke about our very own Ministry of Higher Education and Public Service Department's complicity in lending credibility to these dodgy institutions including a certain "Irish International University".

Well, for those interested, Idlan Zakaria did some updated extensive research about these institutions and posted her findings on his blog.

It appears that some of these institutions which has been "found out" continue to be offering a "degree" education in this country! And Irish International University (IIU) for example, continues to offer their dodgy degree programmes to students in this country, given the recent press article in Kosmo! on their graduation ceremony last month. This is despite the fact that the Irish Embassy has specifically highlighted to our authorities that there is no such university in Ireland!

The "university" even proudly proclaimed that due to the nature of their courses, one can complete its degree programme within a year, when a normal programme would have taken possibly 3 years.

...anda boleh menghabiskan kursus-kursus pengajian dalam tempoh masa lebih cepat daripada yang dijangka. Anda mungkin boleh menyelesaikan kursus yang memakan masa 3 tahun kepada hanya setahun.

And as pointed out by Idlan, claims by IIU to be accredited by a Quality Assurance Commission - United Kingdom (QAC-UK), are clearly attempts to mislead and dare I say it, defraud, potential students (victims)! There is no such regulatory body in the UK! The official agency for such matters in the UK is the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).

IIU claims to have 40 campuses within UK itself, and another 40 campuses around the world. Does it? Hell, it even runs an Oxbridge College in London!

Oh, and it offered Honourary Doctorates as well to "outstanding individual for his or her contribution to mankind". And the unfortunate "victim" for the honour this time round went to one, Tan Sri Dato Lamin Haji Mohd Yunus, who was recently voted to the UN Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and a non-executive director for several listed companies on Bursa Malaysia, including Mycom Berhad and Golden Hope Plantations Berhad.

IIU tries hard to avoid being categorised as a "degree mill". It tries to legitimise itself by calling itself a "non-traditional legitimate university" (as opposed to universities sanctioned by an Act of Parliament). If I'm not wrong, the fact that it is even using the term "university" in its name is illegal in both the UK and Malaysia since only institutions sanctioned by the Act of Parliament may call itself such. If it is really such a "legitimate" institution, why bother with all the blatant and shameless attempts to mislead?

Why is it that after complaints by the public and the Irish Embassy, this bogus university is still allowed to operate and defraud students in this country? What is the Public Service Commission and Ministry of Higher Education doing?

And the best part of it is...? The convocation ceremony which was held at the KLCC Convention Centre, was officiated by a Deputy Minister from the Prime Minister's Department, on Datuk M Kayveas.

Enough said.

Ethnic Relations Course : An Alternative Proposal

Finally, I'm back in the US and I have decent internet access once again. I had a good time meeting family and friends (including some who read this blog) in the 1 month that I was back. It was a reminder to my wife and I that we do want to return home when I eventually finish my PhD (though we might take a few detours along the way).

So many issues to discuss but I think I'll start with one which is closer to home which is the latest fiasco on the Ethnic Relations course and textbook in UPM. Tony has blogged about it here and here and I want to chip in with an alternative proposal to a "textbook".

I disagree with the idea that there should be ONE textbook on the teaching of Ethnic Relations in Malaysia. The practice of historical revisionism has been discussed by Tony and many of our readers. The fact is, every writer / author would approach a certain subject, for example, the May 13th 1969 riots, with a certain bias or agenda in hand, sometimes consciously, often subconciously.

Even if the writers / authors try their level best not to have an agenda, the very process of research might tilt towards a certain perspective. There will be / has been writings on this incident viewed from different perspectives. If you're interviewing, for example, only Chinese KL-lites who lived through the incident, their accounts of the riots would be different from Malay KL-lites who went through the same experience.

Instead of relying on ONE textbook (which is a very typically Malaysian thing to do -study ONE book to pass your exams instead of reading from a variety of sources), I propose that a variety of writings / articles should be used instead.

I'm personally surprised that Prof Shamsul AB is the project director for this new subject given that he should know that there has been different academic perspectives offered on the subject of race relations. He himself has authored many books and articles on the notion of Muslim and Islamic identity and how this has been contested over the past decades.

Other Malaysian academics who have written on this subject from different perspectives include Colin Abraham, Francis Loh, Terrence Gomez, Sumit Mandal and Johan Saravanamuttu. It is interesting to note that Johan Saravanamuttu was asked initially by the Ministry of Higher Education to be the head of the technical committee for the subject but pulled out because the Ministry wanted to fast track this project while Johan wanted it to be piloted first.

The problem with this course and the other compulsary courses in our public universities (Malaysian Studies, Islamic Civilisation, Malaysian Citizenship and languages) reeks of brain-washing instead of encouraging critical thinking and healthy debate on thess matters.

The notion that there should be ONE textbook on the issue of the civil rights movement in the US for example would be laughable in any university of repute here in the States. Instead, students are exposed to a variety of readings and allowed to argue their own points of view (no matter how biased) based on the texts that they have read. Good grades are given to points well-argued and not on taking the "government's" or the "university's" position.

But maybe that's going too far in our public university's context. To think that we might actually consider teaching our students to think critically! How seditious a thought!

B. A. (Hons) Thuggery

The Ministry of Higher Education is having a real rough time. From raising optimism with recent developments such as the review of the University and University Colleges Act (UUCA), it has found itself stumbling first on the disgraceful "Ethnic Relations" course "guidebook" and subsequently by widely circulated videoclip on Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) students fracas.

And guess what? All this thanks to the Internet. First we have Malaysiakini breaking the news on the "guidebook" and then, we have the fracas videoclip circulating like wildfire via YouTube.com. And all attempts by the relevant parties to defend, explain away and cover up the relevant facts and incidents were torn to shreds like a single ply tissue paper. But lets get back to the topic, we aren't here to discuss the socio-political impact of the Internet in Malaysia. :)

Have you ever wondered how come so many of our "youths" in political organisations have a tendency to behave like thugs whenever there are parties who don't share their sentiments? There was the incident where Umno Youth-led mob of 400 men - calling themselves the Malaysian Peoples’ Action Front - stormed Kuala Lumpur’s Asia Hotel and went on a rampage in the bid to stop the Second Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor, also known as Apcet II. The the culprits got away with barely a slap on the wrist.

Some of you might separately remember that another 200 or so UMNO Youth members demonstrated in front of the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (SCAH) in Kuala Lumpur over Suqiu’s 17-point "extremist" Election Appeal. On this occasion, the noisy, provocative demonstrators even threatened to burn down the SCAH.

Then, recently there was the case of another bunch of 50 thugs from the same organisation sent a threatening ultimatum to MCA member of Parliament, Loh Seng Kok for raising valid and seemingly straightforward questions in parliament (blogged here).

As P Ramakrishnan argued in his article in Aliran:

It is rather unfortunate – even regrettable – that the Kelana Jaya division was not ticked off by UMNO or the government for acting brashly. And because this was not done, these agitators get the impression that their deplorable conduct is endorsed and even encouraged by the leadership. The general public perceives this non-action by the government as not only condoning thuggery but also reflecting fear of taking disciplinary action against recalcitrant members whose support they need to remain in power.

Where did all these thugs pick up their skills? Now we know. There is no better place to train our thugs but at our premier institutions of higher learning.

Once again, we have Malaysiakini to thank for being first to publish the report on the controversial incident.

Students Progressive Front (SPF) member Wong Chai Yi claimed she was shoved so hard by members of the university student council, that she fell. She said the incident occurred on Monday when five members of her group set up a ‘help counter’ at 6.30pm at a hostel to provide information on their activities to new undergraduates and offer advice to those with problems.

Wong told malaysiakini that about 40 students - led by the council president - surrounded her group members and scolded them harshly for setting up the counter when the SPF is not a registered group.

“He told us to leave within 10 minutes, saying he did not want any trouble, but we refused to go. They surrounded us and removed our brochures, tables and chairs, and our belongings, to force us to leave... While doing so, they shouted at us and pushed us out of the way. A security guard witnessed this - instead of stopping them, he joined them in pushing us.”

The sequence of event which followed is best captured at Sdr Lim Kit Siang's blog (I just couldn't keep up with him! :)). First, there was just silence from the university and ministry authorities. Then there were the meek attempts to pass the buck and demonstrate "actions" taken. MageP's Lab also had a good account of the events before today.

That was followed by the most farcical of actions taken by the university authorities, led by the vice-chancellor of UPM itself, Prof Dr Nik Mustapha R Abdullah. He has clearly demonstrated that as long as the actions of thuggery is conducted by "pro-establishment" students to "protect" pro-establishment interests, the university authorities will do its best to protect and absolve these students of blame.

UPM’s student representative council president Abdul Manaf Ariffin, one of the leading culprits identified in the videoclip, and its treasurer Alex Yong shook hands at a hastily arranged press conference by the vice-chancellor providing the ‘evidence and reality of racial integration’ in UPM. Read the additional Malaysiakini report for the flip-flops and the pathetic attempts to dodge pertinent questions by the journalists by Prof Dr Nik Mustapha. Putting it simply:

“It is funny how the students who attacked us shook hands among themselves besides the attempt to blame the scuffles as a racial issue. The core of the matter is that the university is suppressing students from carrying out activities on campus,” said [Simon Ooi], a 22-year-old third-year student.

The good thing is before the farcical fiasco could go any further, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, our Minister of Higher Education got the university to set up an "inquiry panel" as headlined by the Sun today. The committee will comprise of Ethics course lecturer Prof Dr Abdul Rahman Aroff, lecturers Prof Dr Kamariah Abu Bakar (Education), Associate Prof Dr Tai Shzee Yew (Economy), Dr Mohd Bakri Ishak (Law) and Dr S. Vijayaletchumy (Languages).

So the question now, as rightly asked by Sdr Lim, is whether the parties guilty of mob rule led by Abdul Manaf Ariffin will be awarded their first class honours degree in Thuggery with a light slap on the wrist, while the victims unjustly punished or otherwise. We will have to wait and see.

2007/8 Oxbridge Undergraduate Admissions

Since I've just spoken at Experiences-KL, a fair promoting the top American universities, I thought that I might as well post a gentle reminder to students interested in Oxbridge admissions, being an alumni myself. :)

I've written three post previously about the application process and a little about my life there - "Oxford: Should I Apply?" Part I, II and III. And I suppose I'd just like to emphasize that you do not need to be geniuses to be enrolled into these universities.

Unlike the other universities in the United Kingdom, Oxbridge universities have a slightly different application process. In particular, they have an earlier closing date for applications, particularly for overseas students. Hence, if you are interested, it will be useful to pay attention to these dates.

For Malaysian candidates interested in pursuing your further education at Oxford University, the closing date for applications for admission in 2007/8, is 20 September in 2006. Interviews will be held on October 12 and 13 in Malaysia. Detailed information on how to apply is available here.

Similarly for Cambridge University, the closing date is also on the 20 September for students interested to be interviewed in Malaysia. Interviews are expected between 19-21 October. More information is available here as well as a specific word document with a fair bit of details.

Should you apply? My simple reply would be "Why Not?" - the worst case scenario is that you get rejected, and you aren't any worse off than if you didn't apply. Most students who would have "qualified" otherwise, "disqualified" themselves before even attempting the application. Remember, I'm not a straight As student myself. With a little bit of luck, I still managed to "wriggle" myself in - and what a difference it made. :)

So good luck guys! And remmeber to have fun!

Girls Smarter Than Boys? (II)

I've written exactly a year ago on the matter of girls being smarter than boys. Then, it was noted that from 1995 to 2005, the number of women in public universities is 472,279 (59.2%) compared with men 326,024 (40.8%). But given some recent articles on the same matter recently, I thought it was worth a revisit. The ratio of girls to boys entering university is now so bad, that for every 7 girls, there are only 3 boys. What exactly is happening? Are men going extinct?

How are our politicians and academics reacting to this phenomenon?

MCA secretary-general Datuk Ong Ka Chuan had this piece of advice for the boys:

Study hard to achieve excellent results or you may end up cooking and washing clothes at home for your family.

Ouch. Like that's going to happen though. They are probably more likely to end up in the streets peddling pirated DVDs.

More recently, there was an interview with Professor Dr Mohamed Yusoff Ismail, the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) on the same topic. Now, his views certainly deserve some brickbats and rotten tomatoes – but they are absolutely hilarious. Here are some of the funny bits.

On why are there more women in universities?

Women are more obedient by nature. They are more serious and less playful in school. Men, on the other hand, are more rebellious. Men suffer from the Oedipus complex — they rebel against authority... Men are also easily distracted by other activities such as racing, karaoke and smoking.

Err.. hmmm. And why do women perform academically better?

With our current education system, women are destined for academic excellence from the first day they start school. Women are just so much better at rote learning and memorisation.

Boys can’t be bothered. Our system does not encourage critical or analytical thinking, which boys are better at.

I nearly died reading that! What sort of caveman mentality is that? Also, something which many will find equally disagreeable,

Women also think better under pressure. Thus, as they are usually better prepared for exams, they just perform better. Men panic more when it comes to exams.

Huh?! And Professor Dr Mohamed Yusoff Ismail's sociological theory on our education system's bias toward women is equally mind-boggling.

...the demographic factor indicates an Amazonian orientation in society. In schools, this is reflected by the fact that most of the teachers and principals are women. Such an atmosphere is very conducive to younger women. They feel more secure.

Some women also tend to be more prejudiced against males — this is an Amazonian concept. As such, in the case of teachers, they tend to favour the female students. So the females are given more encouragement and tend to excel. Of course, the females are usually easier to handle.

What?! Here's some more juicy stuff:

Some highly-educated women actually find men a nuisance. Furthermore, did you know that in rural society, as men get older, they lose their importance and their control over the families? The women start making fun of them when they reach that age. I can’t say for sure, but I think in the Malay society, this happens to men when they reach the age of 60.

Amazing! Did he do an academic study of 200 Malaysian Malay male specimen aged 40 to 80, and a regressive analysis of the surveys conducted to determine that men lose it when they reach 60? Or is he just feeling a little too hen-pecked himself? Hey, if you read between the lines when he gets queried on whether women who are strong would find it harder to get married, that might just be the case!

If I were born again, I wouldn’t get married. I tell my sons not to get married. There are many problems that come with marriage. It is unfortunate that women who choose not to marry get so much more attention than men who do not marry.

Speechless.

And that ladies and gentlemen, is the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.


Footnote: In my most recent round of recruitment exercise, I interviewed 14 girls and hired 5 of them. The 3 guys who were shortlisted decided that the interview wasn't worth their time. Not only are there more girls in the universities today, they are performing academically better as well! If I was guilty of hiring disproportionately higher number of girls before with my recruitment methodology, then I think I deserve the death sentence in my most recent recruitment exercise.

Our Universities, Our Animal Farm

As Malaysians, we have always liked to think of ourselves as being among the better and more progressive societies. Yes, we have our glaring shortcomings but most of us wouldn't think that these shortcomings will put us with the worst of countries out there. However, it is events such as the disgraceful publication of a ethnic relations textbook as blogged here yesterday, which really makes you wonder - are we any different?

The blatant revisionist tendencies (and acts of passing off fiction as historical facts) by the writers and editors, Dr Zaid bin Ahmad and Prof Jayum Jawan, of Universiti Putra Malaysia has clearly brought forth the "world-class" quality of our institutions of higher learning.

After nearly 50 years of nation building, if we as Malaysians, and the individual respective communities which forms Malaysia are unable to accept the roles played by all parties, the mistakes made and lessons learnt from historical incident, and remain incorrigible with our culture of denial and blame - are we any better than the other countries which we love to criticise?

Are we any better than sections of the Japanese government and society which refuses to admit the gross acts committed against humanity in Korea, China and Southeast Asia by "glossing" over the World War in the historical textbooks? Are we possibly any better than those claim the Holocaust was but a figment of our imagination?

What is possibly worse, or at least equally terrible, is how an innocuous ethnic relations textbook can be converted into a tool for political indoctrination. Even the normally patient Dr Khoo Kay Kim, Professor Emeritus of History at Universiti Malaya was vocally upset with elements of the text. As reported in the excellent expose by Malaysiakini:

...the textbook said "the (BN) symbol of the scale shows that the BN is a party that emphasises equal and equitable rights between its component parties and, indirectly, presses for equal rights among all groups.

"BN gives emphasis to efforts at ensuring that all races are represented through the practice of power-sharing in order to guarantee peace, prosperity, harmony amongst all Malaysians regardless of ethnic affiliation. In line with that, BN emphasises national unity and ensures a system of governance for the whole populace."

Khoo expressed regret that such a subject had been rendered into an exercise in indoctrination rather than an objective analysis of the state of ethnic relations in the country.

If the above doesn't make our "world-class"-wannabe universities a Orwellian "Animal Farm", I'm not sure what does. How different are we from the political indoctrination exercises meted out by the communist regimes of Maoist China and Stalinist Russia? Are all Malaysians are equal, but some of us are just more equal than others?

In accordance to an earlier announcement back in January by the National Accredition Board, "the 600,000 students... must also pass the paper to qualify for certificates, diplomas or degrees." Hence anybody who attempts a different (but possibly more truthful) interpretation of the historical events will not obtain their degrees. So, altogether now, "Two legs good, four legs bad; two legs good, four legs bad..."

The joke is, Prof Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the project director for the new subject claims that

...the thrust of the curriculum is to broaden the minds of Muslim students who are inward looking and of non-Muslims who have an unfounded fear of Islam, and eventually, mould Malaysians into “towering personalities”.

“The aim is to eliminate stereotyping or preconceived notions that the various races have of each other. The course will enable us to look at ourselves. This will help us address the reality of this country and how to connect with each other."

Given the fierce and angry backlash the "textbook" has unleashed to date, there have been some murmurs that the "textbook" isn't an "official" textbook, and that it was completed in a rush, and that it is still not in some late draft stages. These are not acceptable excuses at all. Such biased, historical fiction and hatred-inducing text should not have existed even in a draft of the rawest form if its intent had been to promote harmony and integration.

If the Government is sincere in recognising the mistakes made, it needs to not only drastically revise the offending text, but also punish the culprits responsible for being a disgrace to our Malaysian academia. Go on, demote the two editors responsible for the book - Dr Zaid bin Ahmad and Prof Jayum Jawan, or better still, give them the sack. Show that we are serious about academic excellence and not brown-nosing champions. I'm sure the majority of my readers will agree.

Ethnic Relations Course: Disgraceful! (I)

It was almost a year ago, which I lauded the move by our local universities to introduce a new course on "Ethnic Relations" to promote multi-racial integration at our institutions of higher learning. As part of the syllabus, historical milestone events such as the racial riots of May 13th, 1969 and the Kampung Medan "incident" of 2001 will be included to provide perspective to the racial relations and developments in the country.

Knowing the sensitivities surrounding the various issues, I had expected a watered down course which doesn't deal so much with the issues of the past, but to focus on the cultures of the various ethnic groups and promote greater friendliness and understanding. But never did I expect a textbook on ethnic relations which not only atttempts to distort the truth but promoted historical falsehoods as well. If the historical revisionism in our textbooks were bad - blogged here and here, then this is many times worse, for it redefines the essence of Malaysia.

So, what's the fuss? Thanks to an excellent report by Malaysiakini, the following are some of the contentious issues raised in the new textbook.

• The textbook focussed solely on the role of ruling party Umno and the Independence of Malaya Party set up in 1946 and 1951, respectively which made it seem “as if there were no other parties and organisations in Malaysia participating in the political arena and the country’s nation-building.”
  
  As rightly pointed out by Professor Emeritus of History at Universiti Malaya, Khoo Kay Kim, this represents a grossly "selective representation of history".
  
  
• In the case of the May 13, 1969 riots,
  

  ... the opposition party DAP was singled out as a Chinese-majority party that had ‘upset the Malays’ and contributed to the conflagration that occurred "...the DAP, which is made up mostly of Chinese, conducted a procession in Kuala Lumpur in which they insulted and uttered statements that upset the Malays."
  

  Once again, this is a factual concoction as "it was BN coalition member Gerakan and not DAP which had participated in the procession in Kuala Lumpur's Kampung Baru that triggered the 1969 riots."

• With regards to the 2001 Kampung Medan fights between Indians and Malays, the Indians were blamed.
  

  "The Malay community in the said area had lost their patience with the anti-social attitude of groups of Indian youths and wanted to teach them a lesson..."
  

  The connotations behind the above statement clearly points to unsubstantiated allegations which borders on racism. I wonder if the text is meant to promote understanding or trigger fights within the classroom.

• Similarly, the book referred to the call for a non-discriminatory affirmative action policy by the Malaysian Chinese Election Appeals Committee (Suqiu) in 2000 as ‘extremist’.
  

  "Such (extremist) demands should no longer exist, in order to defend the harmony that has so far been experienced and to preserve the relations and cooperation between the various races in Malaysia.".
  

  So if Suqiu, who submitted a peaceful memorandum to the Prime Minister of the day requesting for the rights of the community to be protected (rightly or wrongly) is regarded as "extremist", then there should be equal mention of a whole bunch of jokers and idiots from a certain youth wing of a political party who will every now and then decide to illegally storm private talks and seminars. Who are the "extremists"?
  

I'm upset (understatement). Especially since after reading back my earlier post on the subject, I had warned against this exact outcome.

An attempted politicisation and revisionism of the historical events will not only result in the objectives of teaching the ethnic relations subject not being met, it may actually cement the racial polarisation through perceived bias and injustice in our education and administration system.

Who are the guilty parties for coming up with some of the above nonsense? Well, clearly some half-baked academics from Universiti Putra Malaysia. The editors whose names are published on the cover of the textbook, are Dr Zaid bin Ahmad who is the Head of the Department of Government and Civilisation Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology, and Prof Jayum Jawan, who is a professor of Politics and Government. I think they are an absolute disgrace to the academia, their university and country.

However, historical revisionism and fictional concoction isn't the only thing that this new Ethnic Relations textbook is guilty of. But more on that in the next post.

UUCA: Optimism Unfounded?

There has been a flurry of discussions on the University and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA) recently in all our mainstream newspapers. Even yours truly was asked to give his 2 sens here. News and reports about the impending reforms of UUCA was coming out faster than this writer can blog :).

It all started when our Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, announced that the Government will be talking to political parties to get feedback for the review of the UUCA. "Among other things, the review is expected to address the students' freedom to join off-campus organisations."

"The only thing that we haven’t done is to have a consultation session with the political parties. We have already had sessions with students, NGOs, vice-chancellors and academics.

The general direction is towards some liberalisation. We are looking at some relaxation – as to which particular provisions of the Act, we haven’t decided yet... What I can assure you is that we will further improve the environment on campus."

So we are all slightly hopeful that some of the more "draconian" legislations within the UUCA may be reformed. However, 2 different articles I read over the last 2 days have probably brought me back down to earth.

For those interested in finding out more about UUCA and what all the fuss is about, the compulsory reading will be the interview which the Sun carried yesterday with Associate Professor Dr Azmi Sharom yesterday (and that's only Part I). When asked by Jacqueline Ann Surin on why he sounded "skeptical and cynical" about the exercise, Dr Azmi replied that he was "not hopeful that they're going to do anything of real value to the law".

(Sighs heavily) I think there's a sense that university students must be controlled. I mean, this is a throwback to the 70s, you know. But, frankly, Jacque, I don't know how politicians think anyway...

But, I know that there's a (pauses), you see, I think university students unfortunately are being used almost like a tool. 'Look! University students support the government!' Or 'Look! The university students support the opposition!'

They're used as a bargaining chip between the political parties, and they want to make sure, the government wants to make sure that this bargaining chip is in their pocket, I think. But, like I said, I don't know how their minds work. I wouldn't know.

So, I don't hold too much hope with the review of the UUCA.

Now, if Dr Azmi Sharom, who was also formerly the deputy dean of the Universiti Malaya Law Faculty, didn't feel the need to be optimistic about the proposed changes, you know, then maybe I was overly hopeful about it.

Today, however, after reading Sdr Lim Kit Siang's report on the briefing provided by the Deputy Higher Education Minister, it appears that we are back to square one.

I am convinced after the briefing that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s call for a “education revolution” to achieve world-class universities in Malaysia will join the lengthening queue of “cakap ta serupa bikin” of the present administration as there are no signs of any political will to amend the UUCA to free lecturers and students from the fetters strangling academic freedom and student idealism.

It will not only be most unfortunate but a calamity to the aspirations of achieving academic excellence and world-class university status if the amendments to the UUCA to be presented to the next meeting of Parliament leaves the repressive and draconian provisions curbing student activism and idealism, inhibiting freedom of speech and expression of university students and lecturers, basically untouched – despite the Ministry of Higher Education initiating a process of consultation. But this appears to be what is in store in the new batch of amendments to the UUCA which are presently in the works.

Sigh. So all these active discussions in the media with regards to students being given greater leeway in participating in off-campus activities and be subjected to reduced bureaucracy and regulations in the campus are all but hot air? Maybe.

Let us all continue to put up the case for some forms of liberalisation in the campus (after all, some is better than none) and hopefully the authorities will take them into consideration when amending the proposed legislation before submission for the parliamentary rubber stamp come August. More on UUCA soon. :)

Civil Service Dump for Unemployed Graduates

So it has come to this. The local higher education system, both public and private, expanded its intake and "graduate" production capabilities at breakneck speed over the past 5-10 years. Over the last 5 years, the number of degree students enrolled in our tertiary institutions increased by 40.0% from 230,726 (2000) to 322,917 (2005). The corresponding impact of such explosive growth was the lowering of standards at our tertiary institutions as well as the entry criteria for enrolment. The ultimate impact - tens of thousands of unemployed (or unemployable) graduates.

To solve this issue, the Cabinet has instructed the Public Service Department (PSD) to sweep all these unemployed graduates under the carpet by employing them, and pretend that the source of the problems never existed.

The Public Services Department (PSD) and Public Services Commission have been urged to speed up the recruitment of graduates to fill some 30,000 vacancies in the civil service.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said this would overcome the problem of unemployed graduates, which had reached the 60,000 mark. This was among the recommendations made at the special committee chaired by Najib yesterday to discuss the issue of unemployed graduates.

Hence, our civil service has officially become the dump for our unemployable graduates. And the message to our undergraduates appears to be "Don't worry, if you can't find jobs, the Government will provide for you." The irony of it is what our Deputy Prime Minister says next.

"If we can speed up recruitment, we can reduce the number of unemployed graduates, and also increase the efficiency of the civil service."

So we populate our civil service with graduates nobody wants and we expect the civil service to improve in efficiency? Gosh.

With our graduates pool expected to increase at an accelerated pace for the next 5 years when enrolment is expected to be at 428,000 by 2010, are we then going to have one of the largest civil service in the world on a per capita basis? After all, we already have in all likelihood, one of the largest cabinet in the world.