My thoughts this merdeka: We no longer know what it means. And that is the cause of the de-fabrication of racial unity.
We keep hearing the point emphasized over and over again that we must appreciate our independence, and what it means to us. But I guess for third generation Malaysians, it is very hard to see it any more than a lot of pomp, or a holiday. Why is that?
Simple. Because we were not there. And we can't go back and try to appreciate merdeka experientially. Even if we camped overnight in school and ate ubi kayu ala Japanese occupation. Because first of all, our ubi kayu tasted good. Secondly, we had barbeque chicken, catfish, and lamb to go with it. And thirdly, we weren't around during 1941-1945.
Third generation Malaysians wake up, and get a social contract from their forefather's time forced down their throats. That doesn't help in their appreciation of merdeka either.
It is a fact we have to face. We weren't around during the British occupation. We weren't around during the Japanese occupation. We weren't around when the British regained occupation. And there is just so much we can appreciate something of the past without going through it experientially.
Anyway, let me digress...
Did anyone ever wonder how Tunku Abdul Rahman managed to negotiate our way to independence? Don't you think that is something monumentally difficult to do, that borders on impossibility? What did he actually say? What did he actually do? If you were a Brit, why would you want to leave Malaya permanently, in a win-lose situation?
My colleague commented that Tunku Abdul Rahman bought a fruit as a gift for the British at the negotiating table. And consuming the fruit affected their judgment.
???
Sometimes you can never tell if my male colleagues are serious. Cos they can really talk nonsense with a straight face.
Now, back to my point. We can't fully appreciate something, or be good at something, before going through it experientially. Think about the value of working experience. Think about your conversion experience. Do you think you'd be equally as appreciative, if you have not seen the before and after?
Our forefathers who had lived through the pre-independence era seemed to be able to get along better with other races. I put it to you that it is because they understood and accepted the social contract back then. Third generation Malaysians see the fabric of racial unity falling apart. Because we no longer see how that same social contract applies to us when we have not been there to be part of it.
Abdullah Badawi mentioned some time ago that the social contract will be reviewed. I think it's a good effort to be reviewed. But I doubt it will be amended.
To see why we possibly won't want it to be amended, we have to put ourselves in a Bumiputera's shoes. We will look to Australia. Do we want the same fate that has happened to the aborigines to fall on us too? We will look to South Africa. Do we want people from a different color skin to become the dominant race in our own land?
No, we don't. They can live in our land. But they cannot live off our land. When they first arrived, they were tin miners and rubber tappers. Since they stuck around until merdeka, we offered them a social contract. They were very happy with it anyway. So we keep it at that. And that is the way it should stay.
There isn't any logic to give absolute equality to people who came to our land just to work, isn't it? Would you want to give equal status to the Indonesian maid who lives in your house? If the maid gets married, has children, and her whole family continues working in your house, are you going to elevate her family's status?
It actually makes a lot of sense to maintain the social contract the way it is... If we were in their shoes.
On the other hand, we stand in our own shoes... Here's how I feel.
We always hear things like "Cina babi." Or "Cina balik China." Truth be told: If I am made to return to China, I will be grieved. Why would I want to return to China? I wasn't from China in the first place. How do I return to a place I didn't come from?
If Malaysia is taken away from us, we have nowhere to go.
So stop seeing us as immigrants from China. We are not from China. We are from Malaysia. We are Malaysians.
It is something hard for westerners to understand how you can be Chinese and not be from China, or how you can be Malaysian and not be Malay. Ask anyone who has gone for student exchange in foreign countries.
I am hoping that we, as Malaysians, can understand this better than westerners.
MERDEKA!! MERDEKA!!! MERDEK...
Eh, actually how many times did Tunku Abdul Rahman say merdeka ah? Until now I also dunno...
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Eradicate poverty, or develop human resource?
Our Dasar Ekonomi is to mengurangkan jurang antara yang kaya dengan yang miskin, dan membasmi kemiskinan. Our Pelan Induk Pendidikan is to membangunkan modal insan. How does the two go hand-in-hand together?
Theoretically, by membangunkan modal insan, we will equip more citizens to find jobs. Eventually, it will lead to membasmi kemiskinan.
Theoretically, that is.
There's this girl in my class. Let's call her J. She just became a prefect. But her grades are bad. Because she works everyday after school.
There's this other girl in my class. Let's call her N. She just became a prefect too. And her grades are just as bad. She works in a hand phone shop everyday after school.
There's another girl in my class. Let's call her U. Her grades are sad. She travels to KL after school everyday to help her parents at a traditional medicine shop.
I have a boy in my class. His grades are sad too. He works 3 times a day, loading and unloading cargo.
I have a girl in my class who got transferred out from my school. After a month, she came back. Her mum came to see me, asking me to allow her to join her classmates again. Her mum is a single parent. She has many children. She couldn't pay up her zakat. She just lost her house, electricity got cut, and water supply got cut. She got evicted. She doesn't have anyone who is big enough to take all of them in. So, her family is torn apart. Each of her children have to bunk in with other kind families at separate homes.
Poverty is a real problem. I see it everyday. It is important to ensure that our education system can effectively equip students to become wage-earners. Education is the only way to break the vicious cycle of poverty.
And how have we done that?
We have made public exams easier. Or lowered the passing grade. Notice how easily the 'As' come nowadays?
By doing that, we increase the number of people who can get a passing grade. Therefore, we churn out more SPM holders to the street. Does a bigger percentage of SPM holders become decent wage earners?
No. Because deep down inside, they know they are far from equipped.
Yes, we have "developed our human resource". We have produced more people who can pass public exams. We have churned out more degree holders than never before. But guess what. The problem of poverty is still there.
Why? Because we are merely fooling ourselves. Any employer from any reputable local company knows that a student's exam grade today may not truly reflect his intelligence. It gets worse overseas. Any employer from overseas sees our academic credentials as a twisted yardstick.
When you look at it critically, membasmi kemiskinan and membangunkan modal insan, in our context, cannot go hand-in-hand.
You wanna membasmi kemiskinan? Ok. Lower the standards of education. So more people can be employed locally. But that will mean our nation will become progressively under-developed. So much for membangunkan modal insan.
You wanna membangunkan modal insan? Ok. Raise the standards of education. So more people of real quality can contribute to society. But that will mean the poor will still remain poor, because they probably won't make it. So much for membasmi kemiskinan.
It's either one, or the other. We can't have it both ways.
Between membasmi kemiskinan and membangunkan modal insan... We have chosen the former.
Theoretically, by membangunkan modal insan, we will equip more citizens to find jobs. Eventually, it will lead to membasmi kemiskinan.
Theoretically, that is.
There's this girl in my class. Let's call her J. She just became a prefect. But her grades are bad. Because she works everyday after school.
There's this other girl in my class. Let's call her N. She just became a prefect too. And her grades are just as bad. She works in a hand phone shop everyday after school.
There's another girl in my class. Let's call her U. Her grades are sad. She travels to KL after school everyday to help her parents at a traditional medicine shop.
I have a boy in my class. His grades are sad too. He works 3 times a day, loading and unloading cargo.
I have a girl in my class who got transferred out from my school. After a month, she came back. Her mum came to see me, asking me to allow her to join her classmates again. Her mum is a single parent. She has many children. She couldn't pay up her zakat. She just lost her house, electricity got cut, and water supply got cut. She got evicted. She doesn't have anyone who is big enough to take all of them in. So, her family is torn apart. Each of her children have to bunk in with other kind families at separate homes.
Poverty is a real problem. I see it everyday. It is important to ensure that our education system can effectively equip students to become wage-earners. Education is the only way to break the vicious cycle of poverty.
And how have we done that?
We have made public exams easier. Or lowered the passing grade. Notice how easily the 'As' come nowadays?
By doing that, we increase the number of people who can get a passing grade. Therefore, we churn out more SPM holders to the street. Does a bigger percentage of SPM holders become decent wage earners?
No. Because deep down inside, they know they are far from equipped.
Yes, we have "developed our human resource". We have produced more people who can pass public exams. We have churned out more degree holders than never before. But guess what. The problem of poverty is still there.
Why? Because we are merely fooling ourselves. Any employer from any reputable local company knows that a student's exam grade today may not truly reflect his intelligence. It gets worse overseas. Any employer from overseas sees our academic credentials as a twisted yardstick.
When you look at it critically, membasmi kemiskinan and membangunkan modal insan, in our context, cannot go hand-in-hand.
You wanna membasmi kemiskinan? Ok. Lower the standards of education. So more people can be employed locally. But that will mean our nation will become progressively under-developed. So much for membangunkan modal insan.
You wanna membangunkan modal insan? Ok. Raise the standards of education. So more people of real quality can contribute to society. But that will mean the poor will still remain poor, because they probably won't make it. So much for membasmi kemiskinan.
It's either one, or the other. We can't have it both ways.
Between membasmi kemiskinan and membangunkan modal insan... We have chosen the former.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Bike modification of the day
Raised my bicycle seat by 2.5 inches. Tilted the seat forward at a gradient. Power output increase... Incredible! The wonders of bike-fitting. Let's take on Empangan Batu tomorrow.
Oh yah, guess who pulled up in the parking lot yesterday evening. It's Sunshine! It finally arrived.
The strange thing is, I don't feel a thing. Maybe it's because the wait has been much too long, until I hati tawar already. Or maybe it's because I'm more captivated by a 2-wheeler than a 4-wheeler.
If there's anything that I feel, I think it's the feeling of paranoia. Of how long will it be before somebody tries to break into it. Hence, the car steering lock. The car body cover. Tomorrow, I'll fix the car door security plates. To prevent the door from being opened by merely sliding a metal ruler down the window.
Oh yah. Did I forget to mention that the car interior design totally rocks? It has a glove compartment. But the compartment is actually a lubang, without a lid. What kind of things can you put in a lubang without a lid?
There is this panel under the steering wheel. Dunno who's bright idea it was to put it there. Because it keeps hitting my lower leg whenever I step on the clutch! One day, my leg is gonna bengkok.
The best part is... The steering wheel blocks my view of the speedometer! I literally can't see how fast I'm going. If I get stopped by the police, my lips ain't lying when I say, "Sorry encik, saya tak tahu saya speeding! Betul punya!"
Looks like my Merida 904 isn't gonna arrive. Not if I have to foot RM363 per month for the car, for the next 7 years. I guess it's true what they say. Buying a car is nothing but a liability.
If I continue waiting for a road bike, my triathlon dream will never happen. I guess my only option is to race on a 300-dollar mountain bike. I'm all heart and lungs, man. Just heart and lungs.
Gee... I wonder how long will it take before someone says, "Hey, let's rob this chink. He's got 10 wheels!"
What am I gonna do with so many wheels...
Oh yah, guess who pulled up in the parking lot yesterday evening. It's Sunshine! It finally arrived.
The strange thing is, I don't feel a thing. Maybe it's because the wait has been much too long, until I hati tawar already. Or maybe it's because I'm more captivated by a 2-wheeler than a 4-wheeler.
If there's anything that I feel, I think it's the feeling of paranoia. Of how long will it be before somebody tries to break into it. Hence, the car steering lock. The car body cover. Tomorrow, I'll fix the car door security plates. To prevent the door from being opened by merely sliding a metal ruler down the window.
Oh yah. Did I forget to mention that the car interior design totally rocks? It has a glove compartment. But the compartment is actually a lubang, without a lid. What kind of things can you put in a lubang without a lid?
There is this panel under the steering wheel. Dunno who's bright idea it was to put it there. Because it keeps hitting my lower leg whenever I step on the clutch! One day, my leg is gonna bengkok.
The best part is... The steering wheel blocks my view of the speedometer! I literally can't see how fast I'm going. If I get stopped by the police, my lips ain't lying when I say, "Sorry encik, saya tak tahu saya speeding! Betul punya!"
Looks like my Merida 904 isn't gonna arrive. Not if I have to foot RM363 per month for the car, for the next 7 years. I guess it's true what they say. Buying a car is nothing but a liability.
If I continue waiting for a road bike, my triathlon dream will never happen. I guess my only option is to race on a 300-dollar mountain bike. I'm all heart and lungs, man. Just heart and lungs.
Gee... I wonder how long will it take before someone says, "Hey, let's rob this chink. He's got 10 wheels!"
What am I gonna do with so many wheels...
Monday, August 06, 2007
Change your job, or change your goal
There are three things you cannot change from bottom-up. Corruption, poverty, and education.
I'm getting bored of my job, to the point of giving up. I feel like I don't have a real goal. I'm glancing at my watch once too often, hoping that I can leave the class as soon as possible. I don't feel like staying back one minute longer after school hours. I feel like I'm living an empty, direction-less life.
Gone is naive aspiration, of "giving kids a better shot at life." Here's the reality check. Kids aren't getting any better. And they are never gonna get any better, if they are not allowed to get better. They are not gonna get a better shot at life, if all they have are blanks to shoot from.
The bottom-up approach works in some contexts. But not in schools. You got to grab the bull by its horns, and do it top-down.
There is just so much you can do if you're at the bottom. Whatever you say, or whatever you do, no matter how good it is, will be coming from a nobody. "Home-schooling? What are you talking about? Are you a Datuk? A dean? A pegawai from the Pengarah's office? If you're none of those, then shut up and suck it in."
Hence, I postulate:
First, you'll need a platform. You're going nowhere if you get stuck teaching in a kampung school that nobody hears about. "You got a bright idea? Which school are you from again? Err... that place doesn't sound bright..."
I've got good cables in Penang Free School. As soon as my 4-year tenure is up, I'm going back to my Alma Mater. It's a Cluster School now. (Cluster what? Cluster of under-performing students from a privileged people, that is. Ask the canteen auntie who sells fried bee hoon mee. Her business has dropped so bad, that she has stopped selling after school hours. Why? Because there are too few people who are not from the privileged people who stay back after school.)
Anyway, whatever "cluster" means, cluster's good if you're looking for a platform. If you come out tops there, that will put you on the grid.
Next, you'll wanna get involved with the Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah. Get involved with their meetings, seminars, whatever. Volunteer yourself to do things for them. Get yourself a name among them.
Then, slowly ease yourself in to the Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri. Be a good guy first. Earn their trust, win their favor. Play some politics if you have to, as long as you don't compromise on your convictions. You gotta be wise. Because if you start launching your agenda before you make it to the top, you'll fall flat and your grand plan will go bust.
After that, you wanna do some research. One thing I regret is that I did not put in enough effort to become an academician. How does someone do real, actual research? How does someone publish a paper? Those folios we did for Sejarah and Geografi PMR wasn't too helpful, was it? I guess I'm a victim if a system I grew up in. Even after university level, I know nuts about doing real research. "You only do research if you take Masters? You poor things. My boy already published papers before he graduated. He's not from here, of course..."
Now we also have folios for Pendidikan Moral. I wonder which big guy came up with that idea. I wonder how he made it there too.
Anyway, as I was saying... I'll need to do a research, and get it published. I'll need to learn how to do it. How to go about it. And how come I never learned any of those in my student life.
I'll need friends who can help me with it:
Journalists - I want to be the brain, I need them to do the story.
Media people - I got the idea, I need them to communicate it well.
Statisticians - I want real data, I need surveyors to do the job.
Teachers - I got a new working environment for them, I need to see if they're rolling with it.
Academic consultants - I need to know the existing structures of home-schooling in the West, and how to make it work in Malaysia.
Funding - How do you get research grants anyway? And whom do you get it from? And after the work is done, where do you go to get it published?
I'll keep the friends that I know real close. One day, they'll have important parts to play in the grand plan. Is that grand plan possible? Somehow, something tells me that if you soak in enough nonsense, do it for a time long enough, and not get numb while doing it... You can actually make it. A real difference, that is.
There. Now I feel better about going to school tomorrow.
I'm getting bored of my job, to the point of giving up. I feel like I don't have a real goal. I'm glancing at my watch once too often, hoping that I can leave the class as soon as possible. I don't feel like staying back one minute longer after school hours. I feel like I'm living an empty, direction-less life.
Gone is naive aspiration, of "giving kids a better shot at life." Here's the reality check. Kids aren't getting any better. And they are never gonna get any better, if they are not allowed to get better. They are not gonna get a better shot at life, if all they have are blanks to shoot from.
The bottom-up approach works in some contexts. But not in schools. You got to grab the bull by its horns, and do it top-down.
There is just so much you can do if you're at the bottom. Whatever you say, or whatever you do, no matter how good it is, will be coming from a nobody. "Home-schooling? What are you talking about? Are you a Datuk? A dean? A pegawai from the Pengarah's office? If you're none of those, then shut up and suck it in."
Hence, I postulate:
- If you want change, you got to be a somebody.
- You want change.
- Therefore, be a somebody. Do what it takes.
First, you'll need a platform. You're going nowhere if you get stuck teaching in a kampung school that nobody hears about. "You got a bright idea? Which school are you from again? Err... that place doesn't sound bright..."
I've got good cables in Penang Free School. As soon as my 4-year tenure is up, I'm going back to my Alma Mater. It's a Cluster School now. (Cluster what? Cluster of under-performing students from a privileged people, that is. Ask the canteen auntie who sells fried bee hoon mee. Her business has dropped so bad, that she has stopped selling after school hours. Why? Because there are too few people who are not from the privileged people who stay back after school.)
Anyway, whatever "cluster" means, cluster's good if you're looking for a platform. If you come out tops there, that will put you on the grid.
Next, you'll wanna get involved with the Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah. Get involved with their meetings, seminars, whatever. Volunteer yourself to do things for them. Get yourself a name among them.
Then, slowly ease yourself in to the Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri. Be a good guy first. Earn their trust, win their favor. Play some politics if you have to, as long as you don't compromise on your convictions. You gotta be wise. Because if you start launching your agenda before you make it to the top, you'll fall flat and your grand plan will go bust.
After that, you wanna do some research. One thing I regret is that I did not put in enough effort to become an academician. How does someone do real, actual research? How does someone publish a paper? Those folios we did for Sejarah and Geografi PMR wasn't too helpful, was it? I guess I'm a victim if a system I grew up in. Even after university level, I know nuts about doing real research. "You only do research if you take Masters? You poor things. My boy already published papers before he graduated. He's not from here, of course..."
Now we also have folios for Pendidikan Moral. I wonder which big guy came up with that idea. I wonder how he made it there too.
Anyway, as I was saying... I'll need to do a research, and get it published. I'll need to learn how to do it. How to go about it. And how come I never learned any of those in my student life.
I'll need friends who can help me with it:
Journalists - I want to be the brain, I need them to do the story.
Media people - I got the idea, I need them to communicate it well.
Statisticians - I want real data, I need surveyors to do the job.
Teachers - I got a new working environment for them, I need to see if they're rolling with it.
Academic consultants - I need to know the existing structures of home-schooling in the West, and how to make it work in Malaysia.
Funding - How do you get research grants anyway? And whom do you get it from? And after the work is done, where do you go to get it published?
I'll keep the friends that I know real close. One day, they'll have important parts to play in the grand plan. Is that grand plan possible? Somehow, something tells me that if you soak in enough nonsense, do it for a time long enough, and not get numb while doing it... You can actually make it. A real difference, that is.
There. Now I feel better about going to school tomorrow.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Backwaaaaard, march! Hup, two three four...
A student from another school told me he has an exchange student from Belgium in his class. His name is Tom something-something. They called him Amir.
Once, the teacher was teaching about ogives. The Belgium guy looked nonchalant. Thinking that maybe he couldn't follow the lesson, the teacher asked him, "Can you understand what I'm saying?" The Belgium guy said, "Yeah. I already learnt that since... ummm... 5 to 6 years ago?"
*Shocked silence*
Well. That means, in their "UPSR", they are already doing our SPM questions. What do they do for their "SPM" then? Our college or university level questions.
The Belgium guy explained that for them, when they reach high-school (something like our secondary school), they already start specializing their subjects. Say, for example, you are interested in engineering. So, you take the subjects that are geared towards engineering since high-school level.
How progressive are we in our public schools? We'd like to think that the subject matter gets increasingly difficult as you progress. But the fact is, things don't really get much harder. Try to think back to your primary school years. In Maths, as you progress through each year, you basically deal with bigger numbers. That's all. From puluh, you deal with ratus. From ratus, you deal with ribu. From ribu, you deal with puluh ribu. Mathematical operations remain the same. How much math do you really learn over 6 years?
While we're busy tackling bigger numbers, kids from the West are already dealing with elementary calculus.
How much choice do we have in our public school system? Everyone has to take their UPSR. PMR doesn't give you any choice of subjects. You may choose the Science stream or the Arts stream for SPM. But even so, there is too little specialization to be called a "real choice".
How do we view the "great divide" between the Science stream and Arts stream? We have not understood the concept that intellectual abilities come in different aptitudes, and none is superior over the other. In our system, we put the smart ones in the Science stream. Because smart = Science. We put the not-so-smart ones in the Arts stream. Because not smart = Arts. And we look down condescendingly on Arts students. (Now Arts does not mean drawing, painting and dancing class. Arts also means finance, commerce, accountancy, literature, humanities, etc. Even law! Are all those types of knowledge inferior to that of Science geeks?) We have not matured in our thinking.
How many students do we have who can get through their SPM, and still do not know what they want to do? Hordes. Why? Because our system does not encourage people make proper choices, just general ones. "Better to be safe and don't choose now, so we can have better options later." Our system produces people who can score strings of A's in its exams, but yet be as directionless as a person who never went to school.
Speaking of A's. The standard of our A's mean nothing anymore in the international scene. Our A's are helpful only if we wanna work in our local kampung. The last reliable yardstick we had to represent a student's academic prowess was the SPM. Now, it no longer qualifies as a yardstick.
Think about it. Our Form 5 Add Maths today is actually the Form 5 Modern Maths syllabus, way back then. Our Form 6 STPM Maths today is actually the Form 5 Add Maths syllabus, way back then. How would other countries dare to give serious credibility to the standard of public exams in Malaysia?
Not only that. The questions we have for SPM gets progressively easier every year. I've compiled a collection of past year questions for SPM Add Maths questions. The trend can be clearly seen. The newer the questions, the less analysis is required. You can even see the answer before you start solving the question.
So, are we moving forward, or backward?
What do you think Amir will do when he goes back to Belgium? If I were him, I will kutuk lah! Surely wan, rite? Here, smile smile first. When go back, kutuk la... "Hey, you know what those guys in Malaysia are learning at age 16? Hahahaha..."
Here's what I think. If it's true that the West is always a decade ahead of Malaysia, then what is happening now in the West will happen in Malaysia 10 years later.
Currently, home-schooling is already very developed in the West. It is an option that many parents take for their children's best interest. There is nothing left in public schools that are more advantageous, compared to home-schooling.
When we finally realize the rot in our public school system 10 years from now, we may start to have a home-schooling system. If those guys up there don't realize it... Then I'll home-school my own kid.
There is too little hope left in our public schools. Even today.
Once, the teacher was teaching about ogives. The Belgium guy looked nonchalant. Thinking that maybe he couldn't follow the lesson, the teacher asked him, "Can you understand what I'm saying?" The Belgium guy said, "Yeah. I already learnt that since... ummm... 5 to 6 years ago?"
*Shocked silence*
Well. That means, in their "UPSR", they are already doing our SPM questions. What do they do for their "SPM" then? Our college or university level questions.
The Belgium guy explained that for them, when they reach high-school (something like our secondary school), they already start specializing their subjects. Say, for example, you are interested in engineering. So, you take the subjects that are geared towards engineering since high-school level.
How progressive are we in our public schools? We'd like to think that the subject matter gets increasingly difficult as you progress. But the fact is, things don't really get much harder. Try to think back to your primary school years. In Maths, as you progress through each year, you basically deal with bigger numbers. That's all. From puluh, you deal with ratus. From ratus, you deal with ribu. From ribu, you deal with puluh ribu. Mathematical operations remain the same. How much math do you really learn over 6 years?
While we're busy tackling bigger numbers, kids from the West are already dealing with elementary calculus.
How much choice do we have in our public school system? Everyone has to take their UPSR. PMR doesn't give you any choice of subjects. You may choose the Science stream or the Arts stream for SPM. But even so, there is too little specialization to be called a "real choice".
How do we view the "great divide" between the Science stream and Arts stream? We have not understood the concept that intellectual abilities come in different aptitudes, and none is superior over the other. In our system, we put the smart ones in the Science stream. Because smart = Science. We put the not-so-smart ones in the Arts stream. Because not smart = Arts. And we look down condescendingly on Arts students. (Now Arts does not mean drawing, painting and dancing class. Arts also means finance, commerce, accountancy, literature, humanities, etc. Even law! Are all those types of knowledge inferior to that of Science geeks?) We have not matured in our thinking.
How many students do we have who can get through their SPM, and still do not know what they want to do? Hordes. Why? Because our system does not encourage people make proper choices, just general ones. "Better to be safe and don't choose now, so we can have better options later." Our system produces people who can score strings of A's in its exams, but yet be as directionless as a person who never went to school.
Speaking of A's. The standard of our A's mean nothing anymore in the international scene. Our A's are helpful only if we wanna work in our local kampung. The last reliable yardstick we had to represent a student's academic prowess was the SPM. Now, it no longer qualifies as a yardstick.
Think about it. Our Form 5 Add Maths today is actually the Form 5 Modern Maths syllabus, way back then. Our Form 6 STPM Maths today is actually the Form 5 Add Maths syllabus, way back then. How would other countries dare to give serious credibility to the standard of public exams in Malaysia?
Not only that. The questions we have for SPM gets progressively easier every year. I've compiled a collection of past year questions for SPM Add Maths questions. The trend can be clearly seen. The newer the questions, the less analysis is required. You can even see the answer before you start solving the question.
So, are we moving forward, or backward?
What do you think Amir will do when he goes back to Belgium? If I were him, I will kutuk lah! Surely wan, rite? Here, smile smile first. When go back, kutuk la... "Hey, you know what those guys in Malaysia are learning at age 16? Hahahaha..."
Here's what I think. If it's true that the West is always a decade ahead of Malaysia, then what is happening now in the West will happen in Malaysia 10 years later.
Currently, home-schooling is already very developed in the West. It is an option that many parents take for their children's best interest. There is nothing left in public schools that are more advantageous, compared to home-schooling.
When we finally realize the rot in our public school system 10 years from now, we may start to have a home-schooling system. If those guys up there don't realize it... Then I'll home-school my own kid.
There is too little hope left in our public schools. Even today.
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