Despite the massive public outcry and the near daily protests in our local print media, Kapten Datuk Professor Dr Hashim Yaacob remains steadfastly stoic and belligerent. The fall in UM's rankings in the world university rankings table compiled by The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) has demonstrated the UM vice-chancellor to be a recalcitrant. On Sunday, the vice-chancellor put up two simultaneous full-page advertorials in both the Sunday Star as well as the New Sunday Times (NST) to defend Universiti Malaya in the face of heavy criticism, without any hint of admission of weakness or wrong.
In a black and white advertorial which was entitled "UM - Worthy of Our Pride", with the picture of Dewan Tunku Canselor Hall of Fame taking up some 30% of the ad, the vice-chancellor wrote a lengthy "treatise" in small fonts to argue why UM doesn't at all deserve the criticism levelled at her, but should instead be 'praised' to high heavens. Here are the gist of his arguments (many of which were rehashed from earlier statements). Judge for yourselves if they deserve your high praise, and whether it was worth spending some RM30,000 of the university funds to publish them.
1. There are over 30,000 institutions of higher learning in the world. The VC argues that the fact that THES judged UM to be ranked 169th is an achievement in itself. He continues to harp on the fact that UM did commendably well in the 3 faculties of Arts and Humanities, Biomedicine and Social Sciences.
What the VC fails to tell you is that THES only evaluated some 500 universities to compile this rankings table, not 30,000. The Shanghai Jiaotong University (SJTU) world rankings table instead looked at more than 2,000 universities and UM is no where found in the Top 500 rankings list.
The only little credit I would give the vice-chancellor is the rankings achieved by the respective faculties appearing in the Top 100 list. But this "achievement" should not blind the university to all the other major failings and criticisms highlighted by the public, media and academics alike.
2. He pursued his argument that UM 'improved' technically, having increased her point collection from 16.6 to 23.5, despite the drop in rankings. He even has the cheek to state that:
Throughout 2004, I have stressed on the importance of marks rather than position as a measure of prestige. I have often emphasized on the importance of increasing our marks every year because this is something we can work on unlike the position which depends on the abilities of other universities that are assessed and the greater human and financial resources available in the more developed countries.The VC repeated the same argument during his opening speech during the "talk" by QS QuacquarelliSymonds at UM on Monday, which was labelled as a "let-down" by the Sun. Nuncio Quacquarelli, the guest speaker must have been amused by the VC's argument but was just too polite to refute the VC's statements.
The VC is wrong on so many counts here. As elaborated in my earlier post, the marks comparison between last year and this year is like comparing oranges to tangerines (not totally different, but significantly so). The manner in which the marks were compiled, normalised and measured is sufficiently different to make the comparison of absolute scores meaningless.
Secondly, throughout the past year, I have never once seen or read a speech, statement or publication by Universiti Malaya claiming that they were more concerned with the points achieved and not the rankings. When the VC nodded his head to Deputy Prime Minister's challenge to improve UM's rankings to Top 50 in the world by 2010, he has implicitly acknowledged the "importance" of the rankings. When he put up the various billboards and banners around the campus, it was always about the Top 100 rankings achievement. And when UM placed the centennial celebrations advertisement in the NST as late as September this year, it teased the public to look out for the latest rankings to be published soon. Never in any of his speeches or press interviews I have read (and I have unfortunately read quite a few), has the VC placed any emphasis or even a casual mention on marks instead of position.
And thirdly, by arguing that we should not be comparing ourselves to other institutions of developed countries is like saying that we should always be comparing ourselves with universities from some of the poorer countries in Africa. Is that the visionary mentality of a vice-chancellor of Malaysia's most prestigious university? How about the fact that Chulalongkorn University of Thailand outperformed UM this year?
3. The VC spent approximately half his "treatise" exploring the methodology used by THES (I wonder why he didn't do this last year) to justify that despite the skewed methodology that favours Western countries, "UM, to its credit has still managed to be still in the list of the world's best 200 universities."
Let me concede that certain aspects of the methodology, such as the Recruiter Review which constitutes 10% of overall scores are poorly conducted, and it may just be detrimental to UM rankings. However, flaws in methodologies can work both ways - and the UM VC has not been intellectually honest or competent enough to recognise that.
While the THES world universities rankings table has been the focus of the debate on the state of the affairs in the local institutions of higher learning, the objective of the focus is to bring the underlying problems at our varsities to the forefront. I am certain that Kian Ming (who has hinted similarly in his previous posts) and myself will be more than able to statistically demonstrate that the methodology used by THES to derive the Peer Review score (which makes up 40% of total score) is very much skewed towards encompassing more universities from different parts of the world into the list, than these universities possibly deserves.
Purely from an empirical perspective, this is one major reason why there are significantly more universities from the Latin America, Asia and Australia appearing (and are placed higher) in the Top 200 of the THES rankings list as opposed to the SJTU list. We strongly believe that adjusting the peer review score to cater for the inherent statistical bias towards universities in less developed regions, will actually produce an even lower ranking for UM, very likely out of the Top 200 altogether.
4. In the last part of his "treatise", the VC sought to demonstrate the fall in the rankings as nothing serious, and a 169th position as very credible but making references to many other universities (it's an amazing list) which also fell in the rankings table as well as other universities which didn't get ranked.
I shall not dwell on the details of the list. But once again, the VC has made it his mantra to always console himself by comparing his own achievements against those who have fallen, and those who are worse than him. The VC doesn't have the visionary capacity to compare himself to other universities which has improved significantly or remained top performers. The way the VC reacts, even if UM were to fall out of the Top 200 universities next year, he will compare UM's fate with all the other universities which also did not make it to the list, and argue that UM's still in great company.
The VC concluded his "treatise" with the following:
With its position as one of the Top 200 universities in the world, one of the top 100 universities in the Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences and Biomedicine categories as well as the improvement in marks achieved in 2005 compared to 2004, we can be confident that UM has indeed fared better in the last one year. UM is worthy of our pride!And my skin is crawling. Vice Chancellor Kapten Datuk Professor Dr Hashim Yaakob is proving to be a reactionary worthy of a seat in the Politburo of Leonid Brezhnev of the old Soviet Union. What a disappointing man.
31 comments:
OK.. we all know that Dr. Hashim needs to be sacked. But the question is, How?
This Kept Dato' Prof VC has demonstrated to his political master that he is born a natural twister of facts, a very important trait of aspiring political animals, thus paving his way to be a BN candidate in Kelantan in the not too distant future.
As a Malaysian student studying in America, it thrills yet saddens me to learn that I made the right choice in pursuing a tertiary education outside of Malaysia.
Is it just my bias or did the VC publicly just put his foot into his mouth again? In the STAR (22 Nov) at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/11/22/nation/20051122091147&sec=nation it was reported:
[In his speech, UM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Hashim Yaacob reiterated that the university had done better in the rankings this year compared with last year. “What is important is that each year we show an improvement in the marks. Our position is not within our control as it depends on how other universities fare. We do not deserve to be humiliated and looked down upon,” he added.]
How can anyone say that “our position is not within our control as it depends on how other universities fare.” Perhaps the man in the street might say that but for a VC to say that seem to indicate his lack of logical thinking (and he is leading a university?). It worries me extremely to know that this man is the VC of our university.
He is implying that we are not in control of whether there will be quality in UM or not? It all depends on whether other universities have low or no quality. He is saying that the ranking position is dependent on other universities (how they fare). He is absolving himself of any responsibility. It is like a student saying how well I do depend on how poorly/badly my other fellow student does. If they do well, then I am average. If they do badly, then I am number one. So, it’s not my fault and I have no control over it.
I agree that UM does not deserve to be humiliated and be looked down upon. I believe that is not what everyone is trying to do.- humiliate and look down on UM. We are all interested in talking about taking responsibility and action about improving quality education (not necessarily ranking position). It starts perhaps by acknowledging where we are and what we are now. By refusing to face reality, UM led by the current VC will be a lost cause.
By merely providing education without equal opportunity for all, discrimination, perceived or otherwise, has nurtured racism and destroyed trust.
And asks quite rightly, 'If the different language mediums have caused racial polarisation, how about the Mara colleges which only accept malay students? Have they caused racial polarisation too?'
Our universities should do away with the present system of entry based on the unfair and unjust equalisation of the matriculation course and the STPM standard and instead adopt a multiple point of entry currently followed by major universities around the world.
Lately, politics seems to have been used as a justification when addressing issues pertaining to education. This has proven to be an unhealthy trend with futile results over the past decade.
Politics, and partisan politics at that, has been rearing its ugly head in educational matters. It has been an open secret that every decision on education should be based on a political structure. The appointment of school headmasters, senior assistants, and even school wardens are first scrutinised for political justification.
Though many would deny it, this has been a norm even in an opposition-controlled state. From admission into a premier school to the appointment of a university vice-chancellor, politics plays a large role.
The problems in our universities are very serious, but focusing on a high-profile case or two will hardly help. Likewise, political interference is part of the problem and not the solution, although the requisite political will - to see reform through - is certainly needed.
Let us do this and let democracy prevail. Every single resident in Malaysia knows that non-malays in Malaysia are not given equal opportunities by the democratically-elected government and so have to struggle to help themselves.
Based on whatever meager assistance they get from the government and with their own funds or donations, the non-bumis often have to settle for cheaper alternatives.
Since non-bumis do not have the same opportunities for study at local universities, they have to find seek other places where they will be able to study. Even here, some in Umno are unhappy.
Let's all see how much of the budget's total is awarded to bumi companies in the form of 'negotiated' and 'open but managed' tenders, how seats in colleges are awarded among the various races, how many Approved Permits are awarded to non-bumis, how government scholarships are divided among the races, the numerous other perks like top management positions in listed companies and government-linked companies (GLCs), the number of non-bumi staff in GLCs, in Petronas etc. The list is endless.
Ultimately, those who have blown hot and hotter on this issue should be concerned enough about the state of Malaysian higher education to also think and act on the issue. People of substance living in civilised societies would not merely bellyache, groan, moan and whine.
I am a Chinese lady, who has been living in Australia since 1990 - more than half my life. I am grateful that my family had the opportunity to come here. If we were still in Malaysia, I do not know what kinds of opportunities I would have been offered in terms of my future.
In Malaysia, you have to have loads of money in order to provide your kids with a decent education. Fortunately, my cousins were lucky to have had the opportunities of overseas education. If I were still in Malaysia, my parents would not have been able to afford it.
From what I have heard (since I have not lived Malaysia there for so long - but have holiday there since), it is the malays that tend to get free opportunities, ahead of any other races in Malaysia. It is like any other countries (e.g. aborigines in Australia, native American Indians in USA) that always tend to get greater opportunities ahead of other races.
For this reason, I believe that the great amount of opportunities offered have made many of them who accept them lazy and expecting of it. I believe that this causes the country to increase in population of more lazy people who expect more opportunities.
Soon, these people are the ones who are the majority who vote for politicians, who are using this to get themselves into parliament and therefore offer even more freebies.
So, what happens then……….You have the greater population of dole budgets, pensioners or those who live off those opportunities, whilst the rest of the population who are hard working citizens who actually pay taxes to support the country, have to pay more to support these people.
One thing I am glad is that Malaysia do not have dole payments. However, the malays still have more opportunities ahead of everyone else. I believe that it would not be the case if the parliament were made up of people from all three races, instead of malays. Since, all the Chinese, Indians and Malays live together, they should also decide together to give equal opportunity for all.
Malaysians are mostly hard working people. They have to, especially if they are Chinese and Indians……….as they would otherwise starve since they don't get money or accommodation from the government. This I admire.
We should all live together as one, despite of race, religion, or color. Even though some would think it as a dream world, it is not impossible to achieve if the children of tomorrow were not taught our discriminating ways.
I am certainly not racist. Indeed, I have had malay friends, and certainly Indian ones. I have no problem associating with people from any racial background. My problem is with those who expect and depend on government handouts and then do not work.
Everyone has to work in Malaysia, whatever theirs color or background. But why is it that only malays are entitled to special privileges? Isn't that unfair?
I believe that those who help themselves should be able to have those privileges and it should not be dependant on racial background. If you don't work, you don't get paid……….it's that simple.
And if you happen to be working hard……….then good for you! You should be one of them privileged to get assistance……….but it should not be because you are malay……….but a Malaysian.
You have also called me a racist……….but think about how most of people have looked down at us Chinese and Indians……….just because people were there long before the Chinese and Indians. Most of the time, discrimination is hidden and hushed because there is no choice.
Unfortunately, it has come to the ''put up or shut up". But what happened to fairness for all? Most of the time it is the government's fault, because it should be more grown up to lead its country in all fairness.
And when I talk about this, I believe that this should also be applied to country other than Malaysia because I recognise that this happens in many other countries. Everyone should live together in peace, sharing with one another. It shouldn't be about religion or color.
To those who want to shut me up……….is it because you are afraid, are you open minded enough to listen……….or are you afraid? I think you should be strong and stand up for.
For those who are lazy and are receiving assistance……….don't even bother writing……….you make me and all those who work hard sick.
As an ex-lecturer at one of the medical schools in Malaysia for 13 years, I taught medical students during their first year at the medical faculty.
We (the lecturers) began to notice the difference in the quality of the students - between those coming from the STPM (mainly non-bumis) and those coming from the matriculation system (the bumis).
Although the students from matriculation were also the cream of the bumi students, in general they could not fare as well as the non-bumis. No matter how hard the lecturers try to coax (sometime to the extent of spoon feeding) and motivate them, we could see the difference.
Even when answering essay questions in Bahasa Malaysia, the non-bumis fared better. I could tell the difference in the script.
Students coming after STPM are more confident, independent, mature, motivated, resilient, self-directed and with high self-esteem. The students from matriculation are hardworking and also motivated but something is amiss with their pre-university education i.e. during matriculation.
They seem to be not fully ready for university life and academic expectations. I am not saying that all matriculation students are like this. The majority of top 10 students are still bumi students but in general, perhaps the bottom 50 percent are also from matriculation.
Of course, when I was still employed there, we lecturers do give our input to the powers-that-be in the university. We even suggested doing away with the matriculation and have one university entry examination.
We were told it was not for us to decide, the politicians are the ones who make the decisions. Try talking to rational, farsighted malay educationists (not nationalists) and they will give you the same suggestion.
When I suggested to some post-SPM malay students (who excelled in the SPM) to choose STPM over matriculation, they refused to do so, citing teachers who said that the STPM was difficult and more so for malays because Form Six teachers were mainly Chinese and non-bumis!
Life in matriculation schools is about cramming information. Interaction is only amongst the bumis with a sprinkling of non-malays who perhaps will also keep to themselves. There is very minimal cross interaction and learning from students of other races.
It is not so bad for those who came from an urban background, but for the malays who are from rural schools, they will remain in their cocoon. Hence, when they enter university, it is an emotional and cultural shock.
You can't blame the students (both bumis and non-bumis) for only clicking with their own kind. They feel insecure with the other and they sometimes compete unhealthily. Knowledge is not shared and it is not unusual to hear that important reference materials only get passed from one person to another of the same race.
Study groups consist only of one group of students of the same race. Talk about polarisation. Who polarised them? Talk about unity and Bangsa Malaysia, who disunited them?
I do not understand why the government cannot see the 'loss' the bumi students are experiencing in the long run. Let's adopt one entry system. The setback will only be temporary to the bumis.
I can only say that the 'heroic' act by our prime minister in allowing the 128 non-bumi students to do medicine is a political ploy and the scripts have been acted out well.
In the end, this guy wraps himself up in colors of Malay agenda and anything justify it. He has spent thousands on billboards, on publicity event and now this adds. Imagine what can be done academically with that money he has spent in defending himself in these short few weeks. He is a fascist and ideologue. If he was a bit younger and his career had stalled, he would be a terrorist now.
Billboard-Hashim hell no, he won't go.
cool girl:
Parliament does have many people from different races. However, they are only there for show, as UMNO has admitted: "In Malaysia, everybody knows that Malays are the masters of this land. We rule this country as provided for in the federal constitution." And welfare in Malaysia actually is very much based on handouts. Loans are not repaid. APs are handed out without anything expected in return except some kickbacks. By and large, most welfare programmes, especially for the Malays, are just complicated ways of making a handout look like something else. (Malay author M. Bakri Musa has written extensively about this in his book The Malay Dilemma Revisited.)
"rs said...
As a Malaysian student studying in America, it thrills yet saddens me to learn that I made the right choice in pursuing a tertiary education outside of Malaysia."
Ditto.
Talking about the natural twister of facts.. during my National Service(first batch) period in UM,he manipulated all the rules and regulations in order to maintain stability.If thats not bad enough,he further "brainwashed" us naive trainees so that we wont revolt against his policies and instilled fear deep in our veins..truly the works of an academician and a father to us all
"The Malay Dilemma" and "The Malay Dilemma Revisited" are two of the books revealing the weaknesses of Malays. But did they do something to amend their weaknesses using the correct way, like work harder, compete equally etc? They did "work hard", and with the fastest way, implementing unfair policies. How many of you all will agree that the policies are not benefiting the Malays? From the economy to the society and to the education system, all policies were meant to "close" the loop in their mind and body.
I remember they like to say "takkan melayu hilang di muka bumi." Certainly they wont, given their high birth rate. They were paid to give birth! Else how is it possible that each and every Malay family has around 5 to 6 children? How is it possible that a rubber tapper can sustain his family of 7? That's where our taxes went, while most of it went down to the pocket of "person-in-charge". Roughly 75% of Malaysia's population now is Malay. Compare the percentage to say, 10 or 20 years ago and you will understand what i mean.
At the same time, while claiming that the current education system is the best for our country, how many of the ministers' children are experiencing it? All their children were outstation in prestige colleges and universities, funded by tax payer. Another example, why would they go to America or Germany for treatment when they keep boasting that local health ammenities are up to international standard?
All these prove a very simple thing. They just talk cock. They dont even sure that the policy are good and have no confident in what they do. They carry out such policy just to make sure they stay in power, by winning the Malays' heart and most of those unaware non-bumis as well.
In Bernama, Pak Lah just announce that NEP will stay, as long as the gap between the poor and the rich exists. In a free economy, this will always be the case. How can the gap be narrowed if they dont work hard? Just ask any neo-classical or Keynesian economists how an economy works.
Let's assume that they are trying to perform an intra-generational transfer to yield a Pareto improvement, by neglecting the rights of other races. If they are transfering wealth to the poor in this way, it would be better to practice socialism or communism, where everything belongs to the country and no personal assets are allowed.
After 35 years of NEP, how has it benefited the countr as a whole? No one benefited in the end except those in power.
As a UM graduate I am saddened by all the bad publicity recently.
During my study it's generally known fact that the UM academic quality was and is dropping. Too many political issues involved, local lecturers are more keen in politics than in teaching; while foreign lecturers are not given the respect they deserved. Inadequate facilities, improfessional staffs, imbalance student qualities, improper code of ethics..
What saddened me most is the graduates have to face the 'humiliation' of this cause. After all it is still undeniable that some of the Malaysian best qualified students are stuying in UM, they deserved to be noticed as bright and accountable.
I am appalled by all these... esecially by vovo, cool girl and romsam and johnleemk...and others
The points on UM weaknesses may be valid, but why bash the Malays?
It seems the UM weaknesses is being used by non-Malays especially Chinese to bash the Malays in general...
That is a sad reflection of the fractured racially based civil society in Malaysia...
I am not bashing the Malays. I am bashing the handouts they are receiving. As a people, handouts and quotas have weakened their capability to compete, and as a result, weakened Malaysia and UM's capability to compete. Malaysia cannot struggle on with only the Chinese and Indias actively driving the economy forward. We need the Malays as well. That is how Malaysia and UM can improve.
Exactly, we are not bashing nor having any racism feeling in our post. We are concerned about the future of Malaysia. After all it is where we are borned and somewhere we belong to. All of us are responsible to the good and bad of our own country. One of the ways to improve is to have a fair competition so that Malaysia can take off faster. Without competition, no one has the motivation to work hard and this is what we meant.
For Datuk from the MOHE,
we feel we are ready for only one system of university entrance exam like what practice in Korea...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1641670.stm
If our students can't even compete among our own system, what do think our National car could compete the Hyundai -- made by the cream of the cream from the Korean educational system!!
Fikir betul-betul Datuk!
We are in a globalised economy!
Are you kidding? The Korean system is crazy. Did you even read the article you linked to? We should be modeling our education system after the Finns', not the Koreans'.
Nobody wants a polarised society but the Malays in power taken steps which make other races around them lost respect for them. Hashim Yaacob do has to be sacked, but for all you know, he might stay in power too because he has political ties with some minister.
I wonder, why is he still in power after all the fiasco and stunts he pulled. Over and over again he keep repeating the speech above. I really do suspect people in the ministry also silently support what he said. In fact they are using him as a pawn to tell the public, this message, "Look we dont give a shit and UM is still the best, Yaacob is gonna remain in power what can you people do about it."
So far this is the vibe I get. I mean it is impossible to stand on stage keep telling lies like that unless he is backed by someone or some people in power. Otherwise there would be internal chaos between him and the education ministry. Dont you people think so?
So this really bothers me. I know people have been expressing their concerns here and there. But somehow I think it is insufficient because the current administration is still agressively defending themselves non stop with thick skin too. What scares me the most is, they might be able to get away with it and still laugh about it at our face.
What I am thinking is we might need to bring this to a more aggresive level, like start more petitioning activities, and put things in the media perspective in a more aggresive stance in terms of criticisms and start challenging his authority in the media and wide open. After all he does has a lot to answer for his misconduct.
The VC said UM doesnt want to be humiliated, but from my point of view, he is humiliating UM himself by saying all these BS and literally slapping everyone on the face. Hence I think he deserves to be humiliated.
I was told that the VC's term is only 2 years. So think it is time to act instead of expressing concern it is time to challenge his authority wide open. We have nothing to lose.
PS:Datuk terlalu tua tak paham apa itu globalisation. Title is purchased not earned hahahah.
Pur.Boy
hi johnleemk,
thanks for your response.
while I cannot provide the causality between the two facts
that I am try to link..
But just imagine that:
The Korean students whom survive their system, go to Seoul National U, and end up in Hyundai,
while our matric guys go to UM, and end up in Proton Otomobil.
What would be the scenario in 10 years time ??
Between the competitive level of Hyundai and Proton ??
As a global fund manager in CALPERS, which company you want to invest in ??
answer me..
That's the harsh fact of globalised world!
Fikir betul-betul Datuk !
Coz globalization is knocking at our doorsteps..
Patriot
To Pur.Boy
It's fat hope Hashim is going to be sacked!
Our beloved PM cannot even tinkle with the AP Queen, even after such obvious malpractice of powers.
Self-denial of real threats of globalised world, compounded with
overzealous self-propagation of small achievements (being top 100 in three fields) are just two double punches to Vision 2020.
Wake up! Fikir-fikir betul Datuk!
To Pur boy,
why waste your energy to start petition...
You cannot drag the horse to the river and force it to drink the water..
Have you read the book "Follow your heart" by Andrew Matthews ?
He said that if the other party is not ready for your advice, do not give it.
I think the question is "readiness".
Both Kapt. and Datuk are still not ready for our advice.
Let save it and wait for next year THES results..
Please visit http://www.asiaone.com/st/st_20051125_354849.html to read about the following news: In Singapore, this year's top scorer at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is Adil Hakeem Mohamad Rafee.
This news is well accepted by the population and people rejoiced with Adil and his family. There is no lingering doubt about the authenticity of academic excellence or meritocracy achieved by Adil. There is a feel good factor here.
Unfortunately, in Malaysia, such a news would invariably create doubt and sarcastic remarks over the authenticity of academic excellence or meritocracy achieved by a Malay. Many people in Malaysia have been conditioned by the government to think of social manipulation and engineering. Many people in Malaysia have no confidence and faith on the governance of the government.
Why? Because of the perception that most things that can be manipulated have been manipulated by the BN government, so much so that even a Malay who genuinely achieved something based on his or her efforts is viewed suspiciously by many. Such is the tragedy in Malaysia. In trying to promote Malay interests indiscriminately, the BN government has done a big disfavour to the Malay community.
Hi People,
"Have you read the book "Follow your heart" by Andrew Matthews ?
He said that if the other party is not ready for your advice, do not give it."
Andrew Matthews also said in chapter 5 Why Think Positive and Thought Reaps Results. So my thoughts is time for change. Even if the guy is not ready for advise, I have to give a piece of mind, because I seriously think we all have waited long enough and it is part of our responsibility as society to point out what is right or wrong and act on it. I think it is not suffice to say only give advice when only people want to hear it. That is an excuse. If you were charge with responsibility of advising a firm or a CEO, will you only tell him when he feels like he is ready? Or will you tell him as the situation changes things need attention right away?
Why waste energy on petition, hmm
well it is a start on something. Do you have a better idea? At least I am following my heart like what Mr Matthews said. Unless you have other connections and power to pull to do something change the situation, I am all ears for your solution.
"It's fat hope Hashim is going to be sacked!
Our beloved PM cannot even tinkle with the AP Queen, even after such obvious malpractice of powers."
Well if he is not fired and situation drags on. Whose fault will it be? Do you blame it on goverment still? Or do you blame on people who dont stand up and challenge him for what is wrong and right? I beg to differ from your opinion and I disagree. The PM could not tinkle AP queen that is his part to play because AP queen has more political influence than the VC himself hence harder to deal with. This is education where something it is within the reach of citizen.
So are you saying you wont even try to challenge him for something he has done wrong in the face of the world? You are going to just let him go without any punishment for doing such a lousy job on your tax money? Is the society of Malaysia really that just and merciful on him? If that is the case,then I am sorry to say these blogs where we write our concerns and opinions have been undermined and I have wasted my time like one of the anony said giving advice where people dont like or not the right timing to hear about. All the talk where no decisive actions taken is pointless. By the time of next year, this debate would have lost most of its momentum reason is because they would declare that they are doing something about it and we all would have no sufficient reasons to put a case against these people, and we would have missed the window of opportunity that is presented to us today.
But that is just me for I am speaking honestly from the bottom of my heart. If you think I am naive please be so kind as to share your opinions with me and correct me.
Pur.Boy
Hi Pur. Boy,
I glad that you read "Follow your heart" by Andrew Matthews...
It's a great book... packed with universal truths..
Ya..you are right..I agree with you..
This is the time..and we are the ones to make change..
Like the saying goes,"A journey of thousands miles begin with a single step."
Well,it's incredibly sad to note that the previous achievement of the top 100 ranked Universities was celebrated with much zest and pride,without proper insights into the true essence and meaning behind the rankings.What I would like to say is that the previous achievement shouldn't be given such recognition and gratification by the goverment,which I think is the primary reason that contributed in this years ranking.If not for the over-elaborate recognition given to UM at the first place,I'm pretty sure that UM would have tried much harder to improve themselves, rather than just clinging to past glories.Goes with the saying...'The harder they fall,the harder they'll realize....'
The non-malays have heard this one before - If you think that Malaysia not good, please go out this country.
Umno has been brought up to think they are the prince of the land.
Every time they get cornered, Umno will tell the other race to go out where they belong. I think Umno must change their thinking or they will pull down the country to the middle age.
So far there is no Umno leader that can lead them to be modern 21st century citizens.
Rather Umno is anti this or anti that. There is no forward looking and thinking to break free perspective.
Malaysia developed nation on year 2020?
Is absolutely right!
For those who have been victimized under the Malaysian made meritocracy trap, look elsewhere. Opportunities abound.
Most of the talented people in the country leave because of this exact problem, the smart malays have two options, they can use their skills abroad, do something interesting, innovative,exciting, or stay in Malaysia, learn to abuse the system and their family ties and make shit loads of money.
I left Malaysia long time ago when my mother told me to look for greener pasture elsewhere.
Absolutely no regret. The government and local organizations sponsored all my educational and living expenses here to the maximum I could go.
Frankly speaking, if not for those incompetent, extremists, and brainless leaders and cronies who have destroyed Malaysia for the past 30 years, this land is a heaven on earth.
During my work experience now in Singapore, I found out that every employee in our company came from Malaysia, including our CEO. They had found a place where they could compete on equal grounds.
In reality, although NEP is officially dead, some of the policies remain favoring one race regardless of need (example education, housing, loan facility etc).
The non-bumis feels that NEP is holding them back (this is true in many cases) in order for the bumis to catch up.
It is sad to think some bumis believe the best way to catching up with the non-bumis is to hold non-bumis back.
Malaysia has lost many able non-bumis to other competing countries (brain drain) and is unable to see the relative advantage of retaining this pool of talents to help them.
What an irony that I experienced less discrimination in foreign country than in my own soil?
After my studies in US, I applied for job there and to my surprise it is unlawful to be discriminatory, employers do not ask your race and religion, and the good things, employment is based sorely on merits regardless of your background, a lot of my friends stay back because the incentives are excellent and the R&D facilities are cutting edge reputation, universities there are really centers for breeding new ideas unlike in Malaysia local universities, where freedom of thoughts are controlled by Acts.
Frankly I have no ideas how we can compete with them when our "think outside the box" culture is oppressed. We say one thing but we do the opposite, the government is sending the wrong signal. In this country, even we have the hardware, we lack human ware.
Border has no meanings nowadays, talents will go where they are demand and appreciated, and one day globalization will break down our Malaysia affirmative actions whether we like it or not.
While I submit that Malaysia is a net loser in this global "brain drain", I think the country has to re-look at its programs to stem the outflow. The sad truth is that what we are
attracting - the "lower skilled" or "unskilled" types.
Malaysia is the only country in the world where special privileges are shamelessly given to, and accepted by the majority of the population.
Citizens of Malaysia, be you bumiputra (as long as not Umnoputra) or nonbumiputra, it’s time to wake up, the earlier the better, and realize that the mother of all problems in Malaysia is not caused by ordinary citizens but by Umnoputras, who have insatiable greed for power and money, and hence must divide this country by race and rule. It’s their insatiable greed that is ruining Malaysia, including our education system and universities. The struggle in Malaysia is not between bumiputras and nonbumiputras, but between Umnoputras and the rest, inclusive of bumiputras and nonbumiputras.
Yes, as long as we have political parties based on race (e.g., UMNO, MCA, MIC, etc.), don’t ever hope for equality of different ethnic groups because that’s the end of racial politics in Malaysia, especially UMNO.
So the rich and powerful Umnoputras will ensure that the national policies will favour the Malays and they will exploit the national policies for themselves and their families to become filthy richer and richer.
Look around us and see what happened to the multimillion wetland project at the heartland of Umnoputra, Putrajaya? What about Invent Qjaya? What about MUST, a collaboration between Ehsan Foundation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)? What about Proton? What about MAS? What about the money meant for the poorest of the poor? Who sucked off the money? Nonbumiputras or Umnoputras?
For Malaysian citizens who plan to move away, pray go with all our blessings. Good luck. There is nothing to be sad about for this country does not even value you. Go to countries where people respect and rejoice human diversities, and give your children a chance to breathe true freedom and justice, as well as to realise all their potentials. Go to and settled down in countries where you will be appreciated for what you are and where you can contribute positively to the society.
After a while, you will invariably ask: “What a fool am I. Why and how did I live so long in Malaysia, a country that discriminates me, my family, and my children because of our race?”
Don’t ever thought of coming back for there is not much pleasant things to return to, even if the government invites you back. Here is a house of cards that will crumble soon, especially when the Malaysian population escalates rapidly to 60 millions or more with Malays consituting more than 90% of the population, when the Petronas money runs dry or is sucked dry, when a large percentage of graduates of our public universities are umemployable, and when corruption, incompetence, and inefficiencies lead to chaos and violence everywhere. Empty talk of doom? Let's wait and see in 2020.
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