I attended a talk about perspectives on the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) this evening at UCSI. Met up with some people I’ve not met in 12 years and it was good to touch base with them again. I also got to meet some new people and I hope that I would get to know more interesting people in the future.
One of the themes that came out of the talk was about attracting talent to Malaysia, particularly Malaysian talent who are now contributing their talents to overseas economies, back home to Malaysia. In line with this objective, our government is setting up another GLC to coordinate the effort in attracting these people back – ostensibly called the Talent Corp.
Sigh.
This will be another white elephant unless institutional changes are made first. I liked what KJ had to say about the entrenched system – of stifling freedoms, red-tape walls, and incompetent superiors. It all jived with my personal experiences. TP added that anyone who came home would leave very quickly once they get tired of these issues. That is exactly how I feel as well.
Many friends have advised me to go overseas. I have my reasons for staying and I will try my best to succeed against all odds.
However, I would like to add that the panelists all seemed to miss out on one thing – retaining existing talent. Instead of just focusing on attracting talent back home, we should not miss out the existing people who are being side-lined in our country today – who are suffocating under pressure of inanity. I can definitely relate to that.
Also, I like Fahmi Reza’s dress style – it’s so Retro!
At least that is what our government seems to say. I am just thoroughly confused with the statements from Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz. One day, he says that our government gave out 2,000 scholarships last year and cut it down to 1,500 this year. Today, he says that our government gave out 2,850 scholarships last year. I am thoroughly confused.
How can 2,850 be equated to 2,000 scholarships? Even my lame engineering mind cannot fathom that.
Simple – by inflating the figures in order to justify his stand that, “If based on merit, only a few Bumiputera succeeded in getting the scholarship, thus, next year, Bumiputera students need to study harder.” Unless of course when he said that 1,500 were given this year actually meant that 2,137 scholarships were given out this year!
So, what this article basically claims is that Bumiputera students are unable to compete based on merit alone and that they needed the ethnic scholarships to back up their numbers. Okay, let me try some magical mathematics to see what happens if we take out the ethnic based scholarships.
If we took out 900 (557+343) ethnic based scholarships, we would be left with 1950 scholarships (now, that’s closer to the 2,000 scholarships quoted earlier) given out based on non-ethnic criteria such as merit and social background. Of this, 1050 (150+841+59) were given to Bumiputera while and the balance were given to non-Bumiputera. This means that 54% of the scholarships were given out to Bumiputeras, even without any ethnic criteria!
This is an excellent number! It proves that things can work fine even without the ethnic based criteria.
I would also like to point out the the needs-based scholarships are further evidence that the poor and marginalised are found in every race. From the statistics given there were 991 (150+841) poor and deserving Bumiputera and 675 poor and deserving non-Bumiputera, which is about 60% and 40% respectively.
This is another excellent number! It proves that poor and deserving people come from all ethnic backgrounds equally. Magic!
It’s real. Our PM says that the government will be reducing overseas scholarships for students at the undergraduate level and focus instead of the post-graduate level.
Okay, while I have already commented about this earlier, I forgot to add that there is also another annual drama – the post-STPM drama – where students cry foul over university admissions, where top students are unable to secure places in the courses of their choice, and where the same issues crop up again but at a higher level.
So, by phasing out overseas scholarships, our government is now putting pressure on the local universities to absorb these students. I don’t think that it is a bad idea but I think that admissions policies have got to change as well. Just like the scholarship issue, there has to be more transparency with admissions. Furthermore, universities will need to accept all pre-university qualifications and not just limit themselves to the STPM and/or matriculation.
I think that our education system is quite frakked in this respect.
Honestly, I think that our government has its priorities wrong when it comes to allocating funds. While I do think that our annual scholarship award saga is quite banal, I do not think that the solution is to take away the scholarships like one of our ministers suggests. According to the online paper, The Malaysian Insider:
We have to tell the truth. We just cannot afford it. Just like how a parent cannot afford to send their children abroad to further their studies, the government cannot afford it. We do not have the financial capacity that permits us to send every good student abroad.
Sigh.
We do not have money to invest in our children’s education. We are considering the removal of education subsidies for primary and secondary schools as well as reducing the number of scholarships or dropping them off altogether. However, we are also thinking of building a new parliament building in Putrajaya at the cost of RM800++ million.
Now, I understand where the government will be getting its funds for the new building. It costs several hundred thousand to fund a student overseas. So, dropping about 1,500-2,000 scholarships will help generate the necessary funds to build our new parliament building! Yeay!
While I do think that the scholarship saga is unnecessary, I blame the problem on the selection process. So, this is where I think that our government has at least got one thing right:
Nazri said more students would be placed in local universities, while only those applying for postgraduate studies or who obtained a place in an Ivy League institution in a critical field would be sent overseas. The intention is, firstly, to reduce expenditure in sending students overseas. Secondly, we must ensure that local universities have bright students. Why are we doubting the quality of local universities?
Our government will be out-sourcing the selection process of students to the overseas institutions. Only undergrads who have obtained a place in a good university will be given a scholarship. This, I can totally agree with. Our government wastes too much money sending students to just regular foreign universities that are no better than our local ones. So, I think that this is fair as long as students who obtain places in top universities are guaranteed a scholarship – based entirely on merit and not the colour of their skin.
Then, there will be emphasis placed on sending people overseas for further studies. I would recommend that the government only consider sending people overseas for PhDs. The primary reason is because our local universities may not have the necessary facilities nor faculties to provide research opportunities in all areas. We have some things we are good at and many other things that we are not.
In summary, I do agree that the scholarship system needs to be fixed and that some of the ideas are good. However, I doubt the reasons behind the government fixing it. I get the sense that this is the lazy man’s way out. There are other ways of fixing it – by introducing more transparency into the system and the students will not complain.
Most students complain when they know that someone far inferior to them get a scholarship when they don’t. They feel victimised for no apparent reason. I don’t know if the government can ever fix this. I would hazard to predict that not every student who gets into a top university will be able to obtain a scholarship. Some will just be rejected without any apparent reason as they are now.
So, this means that there will probably be more business for our local private colleges preparing students for pre-university courses. Students who cannot afford private education would be able to go to form six and take the STPM examinations instead. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Unless of course, the government intends to game the system by allowing students from certain schools to take the IB examinations instead of the SPM:
Students of Malay College Kuala Kangsar and Tunku Kurshiah College may soon choose if they want to sit for the International Baccalaureate (IB) or the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia. The IB diploma programme can be used for entry into major universities around the world. Education Minister Datuk Seri Hisham?muddin Tun Hussein announced that both schools would be offering the IB from 2011.
Somehow, I just doubt that the government has my best interest in mind.
I read in TheStar today that our government is studying a proposal to make vernacular languages compulsory in national schools. Personally, I think that this is a great idea and is the first step necessary to shut down government vernacular schools nationwide.
I have generally been of the opinion that these schools contribute to the general problem of racial segregation in the country. While it is not the only contributing factor, it is a major one. Students who grow up in an environment where 90% of their peers are of the same race as them are just not prepared to enter a world where they are not surrounded by people of the same colour. Therefore, it is imperative that our government shut down vernacular schools as soon as possible.
By making vernacular languages compulsory in national schools, it would silence critics who defend the existence of vernacular schools due to Constitutional guarantees that students will have access to vernacular language education. There is no better way to push for vernacular education than to give them the same standing as the national language and English in our national curriculum. It’s better to be tri-lingual than bi.
So, I whole heartedly support this idea. Shutdown those vernacular schools.
Now, as for the next step – please shut down all them religious schools as well. Religion should be taken out of national schools entirely. Introduce civics and ethics into schools instead of focusing on Islam and morality. I would think that an ethics course would be a very good place for students to explore philosophies and expand their minds beyond the obvious.
I have read that our government is interested in improving the software of the country and wants to attract top talent to Malaysia to work. There were several measures announced by our PM during the unveiling of our 10th Malaysia Plan. Personally, I am not quite sure if the government is going to succeed in an area that they have been trying to address for a long time.
The reason is simple – you cannot attract talent with money alone.
As shown in the video, while money is important, it is not the prime motivator for talent. Once talented people have enough money to sustain their lifestyles, it ceases to be the primary motivation and is replaced by autonomy, mastery and purpose. This is where I think that we fail in Malaysia.
For one, it is not easy for us to find an organisation that eschews autonomy in Malaysia. Our mentality has always reflected a more ‘top-down’ approach that rewards ‘yes men’ and punishes ‘rebel leaders’ that are viewed as ‘difficult to manage’. This is a problem that exists in both the government and private sector and is partially due to our cultural inclination to listen to our seniors.
However, the biggest problem is a lack of purpose. Ever since our dear old TDM vacated his seat, our country seems to have lost its purpose. Our previous PM tried to move us towards agriculture that the present PM does not seem that focused on. We seem to be a ship without a rudder and that has got me a little worried. However, without an overarching purpose, it will be difficult to retain talent. These people need to know that what they do will actually affect the lives of other people and create an impact.
Personally, while I think that the idea is good, it will join the ranks of all other great Malaysian ideas.
15 minute HD video smuggled out by one of the passengers on board. You can hear gun-shots going off at several points but there was no general panic. Everything was quite well organised. One of those injured actually looks possibly Malay or Indonesian. Some of those people in the video are most likely dead.
What stood out to me is that there were several languages spoken. I could audibly identify Arabic, French, English and Indonesian (or Malay). I don’t understand how an act of piracy by a state military can possibly be tolerated.
Sigh. I sometimes wonder whether the fault is with the system, or the students, or a bit of both.
I remember speaking up at a JPA forum organised by DAP last year and reminding everyone that JPA scholarships should be the last resort and not the first one. Every other Malaysian is applying for it and everyone seems to want to do medicine in the UK. There are just not that many places available.
I think that school counselors need to do a better job of advising students. Obviously, I don’t think that these students would be best placed as factory workers but I also do not think that everyone should end up as a doctor. There are plenty of other fields in which to excel in and I suspect that some of these students may end up doing better elsewhere.
As for the case of scholarships, while I do not think that these students have actually gotten very excellent results because there are 8,500 others better than them, I do think that there are flaws in the existing system. Some scholarships should be merit based while others should be needs based. Some of these kids come from pretty poor families and should be given a chance to get out of the poverty trap.
Personally, I think that there are faults with both the government policies and the students themselves. One thing that think should be revamped is our scholarship system. It is in need of a serious re-think. There are already so many ideas thrown about by so many parties that I won’t even bother to go into it but there is definitely a lot of room for improvement.
That said, the students, parents and families should also consider alternative career paths. Also, one set-back is not the end of their lives. There are plenty of other opportunities out there besides being a factory worker. I think that I will consider some other alternatives here instead.
STPM
It seems like a poor four-letter word but seriously, it is a well recognised examination unlike the SPM. It is a very viable alternative. There is nothing wrong with taking it – especially if you plan on doing medicine. It will open new windows to you while closing previous doors. While you may not get a JPA scholarship after STPM, there are other ones available – both inside and outside the country.
The STPM is also well recognised as a pre-university qualification for most universities around the world. Do not just limit yourself to applying for local IPTA/IPTS. Broaden your options and consider applying for overseas universities. I have several friends from Cambridge who have gone there using their STPM results instead of A-Levels/IB.
Employment
For those who are a bit cash-strapped, there are opportunities for gainful employment if you have some usable skills. While the options are limited when all you have is an SPM, you would still be able to make a decent income in many places – just stay away from the chinaman companies. Do not think of it as a dead-end though but take it as a stepping stone.
Take some time out to gain some real-world experience and save up some cash. You might even be able to fund your own further education at a later time. Keep in mind that most universities are willing to accept mature students into their degree programmes. In fact, in some countries, taking some time off after high-school is a very regular thing. It’s only us Asians who are rushing for time.
In fact, it may be a positive factor because you may not want to become a doctor once your eyes are opened to all the opportunities in the world. For people considering a career in medicine, maybe you can work as a clinic assistant for a while to learn. For people considering a career in accounting, maybe some work as an administrative assistant will work. You get the basic idea.
Entrepreneurship
To those risk takers, there are plenty of government grants available – even for young people – as long as you have a good idea and a sound business plan. Check out the guys from Cradle – they are happy to part with RM150k to fund great ideas from anyone above the age of 18. What is more important than the money is actually the experiences that you will gain, while trying to do a start-up. I can personally attest that you will not learn it anywhere else.
I think that the ultimate problem with our students is apathy. There are things that we can all do to succeed and scholarships, matriculation is just one way to achieve it. There are many others. So, please do not limit your options but go out and explore all the different paths that life has to offer you.