$20 Million 'HELLO'

$20 Million Golden Hello!

Only if you are in USA.... can you smell millions upon employment....

Read this article from Washington Post today.

HP Giving Hurd $20 Million 'Golden Hello'

By Ben White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 31, 2005; Page E01


Mark V. Hurd, who takes over tomorrow as chief executive of troubled computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co., is widely viewed as the antithesis of the celebrity chief executive, a nuts-and-bolts manager with little interest in grabbing headlines for himself.

But judging by his new employment agreement, HP's board appears to view Hurd as a superstar at least on par with the firm's formerly highflying chief executive, Carly Fiorina. The board forced Fiorina out in February for not fixing the company as quickly as it wanted.

According to the employment agreement, Hurd will receive cash, stock and perks worth at least $20 million for simply walking in the door at HP's Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters.

Paul Hodgson, senior analyst at the Corporate Library, a research organization, called Hurd's deal a prime example of the kind of "golden hello" package now commonly handed out by large public companies.

"This is exactly the same kind of contract they made for Carly when she started, and we saw what the result of that was," Hodgson said. "Hurd is getting so much up front that is absolutely unrelated to his performance."

Hurd's package includes a $2 million signing bonus, a $2.75 million cash "relocation allowance," 1.15 million stock options valued by the company at $6.9 million and 400,000 restricted HP shares worth about $8 million.

In addition to the relocation allowance, Hurd will also receive free housing for a year and a four-year "mortgage interest subsidy." There will also be "no limit on the weight of household goods" he chooses to ship to California, according to the agreement.

In addition, the contract calls for HP to reimburse Hurd for up to a 20 percent decline in the value of 850,184 shares he owns in the firm he is leaving behind, Dayton, Ohio-based NCR Corp.

In addition to the signing money, Hurd's contract calls for an annual salary of $1.4 million, an annual bonus of at least $2.8 million and as much as $8.4 million, and long-term incentive payments of between $4.2 million and $12.6 million per year. HP spokeswoman Monica Sarkar said the long-term incentive payments are not guaranteed.

In the employment agreement, HP said 450,000 of the stock options, valued at $2.7 million, and the 400,000 restricted shares were awarded "to make up for compensation forfeited from" Hurd's previous employer. HP spokeswoman Sarkar said the amounts were based on what Hurd was "leaving on the table" at NCR.

NCR spokesman Jeff Dafler declined to say how much Hurd was giving up by leaving but said the company would soon make a regulatory filing detailing the terms of Hurd's departure.

In a news conference yesterday introducing the new chief executive, HP Chairman Patricia C. Dunn said Hurd "became the unanimous choice of our board because of his strong execution skills, his proven ability to lead top-performing teams and his track record of creating shareholder value."

Dunn added, "Although NCR is smaller than HP, it is a complex global organization with multiple business segments, and there Mark built a strong leadership team, bolstered the position of NCR's product lines and improved operating efficiencies."

Lucian Bebchuk, a Harvard Law School professor and co-author of the recent book "Pay Without Performance: The Unfulfilled Promise of Executive Compensation," criticized Hurd's agreement with HP for being front-loaded with cash and including provisions under which certain performance targets for 2005 and 2006 will be deemed as already achieved.

He noted that in the section detailing the annual incentive payment, the agreement says for the second half of fiscal 2005 and the first half fiscal 2006 "all performance goals will be deemed to have been achieved at target." The long-term incentive portion of the agreement uses similar language. HP's Sarkar said these provisions were inserted as an incentive for Hurd to join the company.

"Altogether this is a package where pay is large and much less linked to performance than an initial read of the agreement might lead investors to believe," Bebchuk said.

Hewlett-Packard, of course, is far from alone in offering such a sumptuous welcome package. Honeywell chief executive David M. Cote received a golden hello valued at close to $60 million in 2002.

WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION

AS

SOURCE:
http://www.acidicsports.blogspot.com/

Question : What is the truest definition of Globalization?

Answer: Princess Diana's death.

Question : How come?

Answer: An English princess, with an Egyptian boyfriend, crashes in a French tunnel, driving a German car , with a Dutch engine, driven by a Belgian, who was drunk on Scottish whisky, followed closely by Italian Paparazzi, on Japanese motorcycles, treated by an American doctor, using Brazilian medicines.

This is sent to you by an Malaysian, using American Bill Gates's technology, and u r probably reading this on your comp; that uses Taiwanese chips, and Korean monitor, assembled by Bangladeshis workers, in a Singapore plant, transported by indian/malay truck drivers.

Thatz, GLOBALISATION

ENGLISH COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS?

ENGLISH COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS 

INGRIS TECHAR COLAGE?

The Education Ministry has JUST suggested to the Economic Planning Unit that a teachers' college specifically to train English teachers be set up.

Minister of Education Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein said the ministry would take the idea to the Cabinet SOON.

Hishammuddin said he shared the hope of the Second Malay Education Congress that the Government would also plan strategies to improve the command of English and other foreign languages among students. "It would be a positive development, especially in the context of the Ninth Malaysia Plan. "Having a training college to turn out teachers proficient in the language is extremely feasible," he said, adding that the location of the college and the number of teachers required would be disclosed later.

"We will also tie up with overseas institutions of good, solid repute such as Oxford and Cambridge Universities in the UK, as well as others in Australia and New Zealand. "This will assist us in bringing our own institutions to global levels."

Hishammuddin also said he did not agree with Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Salleh on offering unemployed graduates the option of being teachers. "The quality of teachers is of high importance to the future of our students. We need people who are passionate about teaching and the welfare of students as teachers, not people who choose teaching as a career simply because they have no other options," he said.

At long last, after 3 years since the reverting Maths and Science back to English, the Education Ministry is going to do the RIGHT THING! Bravo, to the Education Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein for the right idea and solution.

It also takes great courage and wisdom of him as Education Minister to rebut the Higher Education Minister's SUPER BRIGHT IDEA to fill the gap of English teachers with unemployed graduates. I don't know why Dr. Shafie make such suggestion; to use unemployed graduates as teacher. Presumably, he thinks that every damn available unemployed graduate can be converted into an English teacher. Probably, thats the reason why we had such poor results in English in rural schools as enunciated by Ku Li. The previous system managers might had used such GREAT IDEAS to breed English teachers.

Infact, Tengku Razaleigh putting the blame elsewhere, should analyze whether the weakness of English language in rural schools might be due to the fact that the English teachers in Kelantan were filled up by unemployed "illiterate" graduates who couldn't speak English, but were been appointed to teach English to the children in Kelantan to reduce unemployment of graduates.

I am not sure how much interaction those Ministers had with the current students in schools and universities; whether they had ever done an emphirical analysis to find out the graduates English capabilities and proficiencies.

What say you men? sick milia dola ma? good techar in kelata?

DON'T BELITTLE SELF

DON'T BELITTLE YOUR OWN RACE

The Raja Muda of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah said people should not be hasty in presenting the weaknesses of Malays as their national identity as though being weak and incompetent is the monopoly of the race.

“Wake up! When a race chooses to belittle itself, it emboldens others to humiliate it. Ultimately, the race will be seen as destitute and its traditions and culture cast out,” he said when delivering the keynote address at the Second Malay Education Congress here yesterday.

He said Malays should not fall into the trap so easily and echo the same views to put down their own race. “When shortcomings are interpreted as weaknesses, we are actually equating padi to lallang and rice to sand,” he said. Malays, he said, should be evaluated fairly and intelligently through a wider scope that looked at all aspects like history, politics, time and culture so that the strengths could be reinforced and the weaknesses overcome.

Raja Nazrin said a race that could identify its weaknesses and succeed in overcoming them would build itself into a strong one. He said that just because there were some Malays who were lazy, it did not mean that the Malay culture encouraged laziness until it was accepted as part of the character trait. According to him, the honour of the race must be defended by instilling a sense of pride and confidence.

AUTHOR'S COMMENT:

Raja Nazrin was absolutely right.

The recent results of SPM and STPM clearly shows that the Malays were NEVER inferior in the ability in achieving success if they work for it. There are also many other Malays currently studying overseas, who had achieve great results. This is testament of their abilities and capabilities.

Similarly, in the civil services and entreprenuers, you can name names of the many Malays who had achieve great successes through their dedication and hardwork.

So, why are there such paranoia? Who is presenting the weaknesses of Malays as their national identity as though being weak and incompetent is the monopoly of the race? Raja Nazrin was not specific when he made this comment.

From the point of views of the other races, as a Chinese Malaysian, being a friend of so many Malays, and as academician, I cannot see the rational of the statement. Many of my Malay friends had achieve tremendous successes in their lives, their careers and having beautiful families. They were happy people, proud of their achievements, and seeking continuous improvements in whatever they are endeavoring. Of course, they do have grouses, as are all the others.

I believe, the only problem within the community and the social aspects is primarily the concerns of many Malays, particularly those in schools and universities, who are weak in English. Due to their incompetencies in the English language, they may have to face difficulties when they begin their career - the question of UNEMPLOYABLE in the global economy.

For those who are fortunate to be accepted into the government services, they would have less headaches. It is because Bahasa Malaysia is still the main language used within the civil service and additionally, the government and the civil service departments does take effort to provide their employees with trainings to improve their knowledge as well as to improve their English.

But, what about those in the private sectors and those who aspires to join multi-national companies? If they are weak in English, they may have problem. In a global economy, every Malaysian, of all races, will have to master the English language, as this is the accepted normal medium of communication - in speaking, writing and reading. At such, for those who are weak in English, it is therefore necessary to make effort to master the English language to remain employable.

To the Malays, and to the non-Malays as well, my advice is: Start your mastering English journey. Do not depend on the schools and universities to deliver it to you. Everyone can improve their English, as well as any other languages, if they put efforts to master it. Success depends on self-determination. If you want it, you can get it provided you put efforts to it. Without it, you stand as a competitively disadvanatageous product

BEST OF LUCK & GOD BLESS YOU!

MATH & SCIENCE 

STOP TEACHING MATHS & SCIENCE IN ENGLISH?

The Government is studying whether the use of English in teaching Mathematics and Science is the best way to upgrade pupils' command of the language.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the Government would consider the people's opinion on the subject. Some, he said, had questioned whether teaching Maths and Science in English would be the best way for pupils, especially Malays, to improve their command of the language.

"We are studying if there are other ways to improve the mastery of English among Malay pupils," Najib said. “We need some empirical evidence on the matter, and we'd like to present the findings to the Prime Minister."

The research focuses on the decline in Malay pupils' command of English and whether it is a permanent phenomenon.

However, Najib dismissed speculation that the Government would revert to teaching Maths and Science in Bahasa Malaysia. "It's too early to decide because a policy cannot be changed hastily. Whatever decision we make will be based on a thorough study.“ Najib said the Government had several proposals to improve the command of English among pupils, but it was still too early to reveal them."

"We are studying them in-depth. We need to refine the proposals. It's too early to say what should be done."

AUTHOR'S COMMENT:

Success in anything is, but a JOURNEY. Time is the ESSENCE, if we want results. From the day the government decided to turn all school subjects to Bahasa Malaysia and reduced English to a single subject, it must have accepted the implication arising thereof. For whatever reasons why that political decision was made, the outcome and the consequences is a KNOWN FACTOR.

So, the problem of today, is the direct result of the solution of yesterday. This is Murphy's Law.

When the government decided to move Science and Maths back to English three years ago, the decision of our then beloved Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mahathir Mohamad, he must have considered the consequences and the tribulations that was embarked upon. I believe, the decision to go back to English must have been made after careful consideration of the needs of the nation and its population at large.

In the global economy, we cannot escape the fact that English will be the medium for communication and business. The information technology world have played a large part to remove the borders of the global communication system and allows business transactions and technology transfer to be achieved in the shortest time possible.

The normal mode of communication and the normal language used within the internet spheres has been English, thus far. Research papers for industries can be downloaded from the internet which will aid those researchers and academicians, including technocrats, in the scientific and invention world.

Products and services need to get to the market fast enough before competitions set in. Business survivals depends on competitive advantage and consistent high product quality. Communications is via cyber space and time has become the essence. English thus, becomes the basic necessity and absolute necessity.

The government of Mahathir was brave enough to make this change in line with the global economic requirements. Maths and Science thus was reverted back to English for the schools.

But what will be the consequences arising thereof?

This change is radical and abrupt. Chaos and complexities will rule the coming days. But it was necessary if we are to stay current and relevant in this global economy. We had to accept the pain and the tribulations that comes along with this decision. It is going to be painful and a discomfort, but we must move forward, at all cost.

Teachers and lecturers had to be retrain and re-educated in the "New" language. But who is training the teachers? Are the teachers left to themselves to make good their own English competency, when through the last two decades, they had been educated, taught and had been applying their services all in Bahasa Malaysia?

Tho' efforts were made to provide assistance to improve teachers' English, but the system approach to ensure that teachers are competent in English was lacking. Why?

Primarily, our system is basically short-sighted and tinkering. Our culture is one that demands immediate use of products, with whatever products we had remoulded or had produced. So, we end up with half-baked English teachers.

Of course, not all of them are half-baked. There were still some teachers who were brought to the educational world via the english medium school system and some who had been educated in English universities overseas. But they are a small percentage from the total. So, the result is that, the rural schools may have been populated with local Bahasa Malaysia educated teachers.

For those students who had made efforts to learn the english language themselves, they had exceled. For many who waited for the schools to provide them with the competency, they had to be disappointed.

At the opening of Kongres Pendidikan Melayu Kedua, organising chairman Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah wanted the government to discontinue the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English reports Mingguan Malaysia.

Tengku Razaleigh said using English as the medium of teaching Maths and Science has created many problems for both the teachers and students.

Ir. Ahmad Zaidee Laidin, former Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), said the policy has failed due to the implementation process that is ineffective. However, he suggested that the policy implementation of the teaching of maths and science in English can be further enhanced instead of discontinuing it all together. He said the country should not take a back-step by reverting to the old practice. "Give the teachers training if they are weak in the mastery of English; increase the (budget) allocation if allocation is an issue," he said. "But we shouldn't go back to the old ways."

So, opinions are divided. The new calls were loud from yesterdays politician. Will it affect the "new" administration? Do we revert back to the old system, or will we go forward, despite the pain? It is left to the current Prime Minister to decide.

My only advice: To achieve success, it is but a journey, a long and tiring journey. It will be painful and complex. We will not be able to see immediate results of improvement. We need to have perserverance and we must bid our time. It took us 20 years to make the students and teachers what they are today, and it isn't a fallacy to take another 20 years to put the system back where it was.

We will be able to make good the system if we have the tenacity to go on and are objective oriented.

But the only conclusion I can make is:

IF WE HAD THE PERSERVERANCE AND ARE CLEAR OF THE OBJECTIVES WE WILL MAKE IT. BUT WE WILL ONLY BE BACK TO WHERE WE WERE, FROM WHERE WE STARTED THE CHANGE 20 YEARS AGO!

Did we progress? We had to accept it.

LAZY HUSBANDS

According to Dr. Joshua Coleman's research, chances are, most wives would have married a lazy husband.

To Dr. Joshua, Lazy Husband is now a common domestic species in the household. His research indicates that men are getting lazier and have no time for household work or to their children.

Dr. Joshua, a psychologist and marriage expert from San Francisco is publishing a new book entitled: THE LAZY HUSBAND.

A self-confessed former lazy husband (I’m not sure if he is not one now), he identified 4 breeds of shirking spouse:

1. A Boy Husband,
2. The Perfectionist Husband,
3. The Angry Husband, and
4. The Worried Husband.

A Boy Husband will exhibit childlike neediness, coming into marriage not knowing how to take care of himself. He expects the wife to take care of everything, even making sure his wife have to wake him up on time for work. The wife feels like he is an extra child. The husband has yet to pass his childhood stage of growing up and still thinks he is above household chores.

The Perfectionist Husband is one that sets high standards for how his wife and children should behave, and how his house should be managed in the way he sees it and wants it. He is old-fashioned and maintains the mentality of olden day’s housewife philosophy whereby, it is held that the wife should play the role in the home and expects her to do everything at home.

The Angry Husband bullies his wife into doing things and uses intimidation as a way of getting household work done, including parenting duties.

The Worried Husband doesn’t do things around the house because he feels inadequate. He lacks the sense of entitlement and is completely henpecked. He has low esteem and is anxious that, if he tries to help out, he will do something wrong.

So husbands, which category you are in? Or, are you in a different category not yet defined by Dr. Joshua?

Me? I have all four-in-one which I call: "Loving Husband - Always Not At Home"; or shall you say, Lousy Husband!

NO OBJECTION LICENCE

NO OBJECTION LICENCE 

INTRODUCING THE "NO OBJECTION LICENSE" TO KILL

Licensing Students

13TH MARCH 2005, NST PRIME NEWS

NON-OBJECTION certificate - a must for Malaysian students studying overseas.

INTRODUCING THE "NO OBJECTION LICENSE" TO EMPOWER KLEPTOCRATISM

Students will have to be "licensed" before they can leave Malaysia under a plan by the Higher Education Ministry. The proposal for "non-objection certificates" to be issued by the ministry's Students Welfare Department will help the Government track their whereabouts, Higher Education parliamentary-secretary Dr Adham Baba said. The certificates will also allow the Government to help students get into the "right" universities, which are those recognised by the Government, he said.

Students who insist on studying at non-scheduled universities will not be issued the certificate.

If implemented, the plan will make it compulsory for Malaysian students, both private or government-sponsored, to hold these certificates before they can leave for their studies.

"We will advise them from going abroad if their academic records are not so good and we won't issue the certificate," Dr. Adham said.

Students will have to provide their academic qualifications and letter of offer to ministry officials before the certificate is issued. "There is a need for us to know the whereabouts of all Malaysian students abroad. If anything happens to them, at least we have records and data and know what to do."

Adham added that through the move, the Government would be able to determine the number of "quality" students who went overseas, based on their cumulative grade point average. "We do not want our private students, especially, to be taken for a ride by agents or private institutions offering courses that are not recognised by our Government." The plan came up following numerous complaints from students and parents.

What is the ministry trying to do???? This is an attempt that would infringed the rights and freedom of individual citizens and parents to provide their children an opportunity to pursue higher education which are to be fully funded by their parents. Dr. Adham was quoted as saying that the ministry will NOT issue the license to permit the students to study abroad if their academic records are not so good. What does he mean by NOT SO GOOD? Does he mean that the ministry has a right to stop someone who did not do well in their SPM and STPM from pursuing their "A" levels or maybe diplomas or certificate courses from oversea institutions? If foreign universities can accept and admit those students, giving them a chance to obtain some form of education and qualification, what rights had the ministry to play GOD and abuse the power mandated by the rakyat, by erecting a concrete barrier and preventing them from being educated?

WHERE IS THE RULE OF LAW IN MALAYSIA?

DOESN'T THE LEGISLATURE UNDERSTAND THE RULE OF LAW?

In the doctrines of the rule of law, Philosophers F.V. Hayek and AV Dicey emphasise the most essential component as the absence of arbitrary power in the hands of the State. According to F.V. Hayek, government in all its actions is bound by rules fixed and announced beforehand. Hayek expressed that the rule of law implies limit on the scope of legislation, it restrict it to the kind of general rules known as formal law, and exclude legislation directly aimed at particular person. In other words, the government has no place in usurping the authority of individuals by deciding their course of action for them. Individuals should be left to act as they choose. The job of law is to set the boundaries of personal action, not to dictate the course of such action. Law should not be particular in content or application but should be general in nature, applying to all and benefiting no one in particular.

Is this the democratic government that had decided to use the autocratic and high-handed tactics to dictate each rakyats' individual action and to dictate the boundaries of personal action by high-handedness, determining who should get what and who should be educated and who shouldn't? Is it that those individuals who did not do well in SPM and STPM should be pronounced as beggers and pariahs of the society?

With these kind of new policies being forwarded, the rakyat should get paranoid and start pondering what the future will be if the Prime Minister would allow his modern dictators in the name of democracy to self-appoint themselves as god of destruction of the people. If such destructive nacissicistic leadership and antogonistic managers are allowed to use delegated legislatures to usurp the rights of individuals, it will spell the beginning of the "Clash of Civilization". GOD forbid such imperialistic powers that would be to remain.

Pak Lah, where are you? Would you lay your hands to prevent the abuse of human rights by your appointees? Where is the constitutional rights of individual citizen to receive education???

WHAT'S AILING OUR NATIONAL SCHOOL?

WHAT'S AILING OUR NATIONAL SCHOOL?

EXCERPTS FROM THE STAR, 23rd. MARCH 2005

Barisan MPs and oppositions' showed their concern over the MCA’s proposal for more Chinese Schools under the 9MP during the parliamentary debate on the royal address yesterday.

Datuk Rosli Mat Hassan (BN-Dungun) said the govt should consider setting up a special committee to find out why non-Malay parents were reluctant to send their children to national schools.

“Are the parents reluctant to send their children to national schools because these schools have turned into national religious schools?” he asked.

Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) said national schools were synonymous with Malays rather than Malaysians.

“Is this the reason or is it the teachers are not up to standard and are unfriendly?” he asked.

Mohd Alwi Che Ahmad (BN-Ketereh) said there was no question about the identity of national schools, when he was a student. He said the reason national schools were accepted by all races then was because teachers there were from the various races.

“Why are the non-Malays uninterested in teaching? We should find the answer,” he added.

COMMENTS:

What then was the problem? Is it because the schools had turned into a unitary religious platform? Is it because the standards of teaching is low or are the teachers in national schools unfriendly? Or it is because the composition of teachers are no more multi-racial and that non-Malay are not interested in teaching in national schools?

These were some of the questions posed by the parliamentarians to the education ministry. What then is the problem?

I believe, all the hypothesis posed by the parliamentarians are part of the reasons, but not absolute.

From my discussions with parents and childrens of those in Chinese schools, one of the major factors is the quality of education. It is believed by those parents that their children will perform better in selective Chinese schools because of the perceived higher quality of education (from track records). It is not that there are no quality national schools in Malaysia but that there are far away from the homes of some families, and parents are not happy to see their children being posted to some remote schools which have track records of poor quality education. We must understand that children are posted to national schools at the discretion of the education ministry, and it has over the years being perceived that Chinese childrens are posted to schools of lower quality and are situated in remote isolated areas. At such, these parents would want a better choice by sending their childrens to selected Chinese schools which have better track records of their quality in educational excellence.

It must be remembered that these parents had to pay far higher school fees in Chinese schools compared to national schools; yet these middle income and lower income parents were prepared to foot the cost which caused them great financial distress. Presumably, if the education ministry had been seen to be fair and reasonable officers, these Chinese parents and those potential ones would want to sent their children to national schools too. The negative attitude towards the education ministry is not without basis and the government had never paid any attention to this problem over the decades, except to throw criticisms and to construed them as unpatriotic and disloyal citizens (metaphors).

Why are the non-Malays uninterested in teaching? This question was posed by Mohd Alwi Che Ahmad (BN-Ketereh) at the parliamentary session. Is it true? I DON'T THINK SO! Many Chinese and Indians love to be teachers and lecturers. Me too! But the system of educational administration left much to be desired. Many of these teachers felt that promotions and posting are tinkled with cronism and nepotism, often based on colors of skin. Would the government consider promoting non-Malays to post of Directors and Director-generals in civil services, and that include GLCs?

We do respect that there are many Malays that are capable and qualified. But there too, are many non-Malays who are qualified, experienced, competent and long-serving loyal civil servants. Will they be given near-equal (or quota-based) opportunities? Lets look at the case of Perwaja Steel's (criminal case) reported yesterday where a question was posed to former director of Perwaja Steel, Datuk Nik Mohd Affandi Nik Yusoff. Asked by counsel Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, whether he had said to Eric Chia, "By right, you were not supposed to be sitting in this chair, this is a Malay chair", Nik Mohd Affandi replied: "No, Your Honour, never."

Datuk Nik Mohd denied vehemently that he made that statement. But this question does loom in the mindset of many non-Malays. Why? Because, our system is a caste system! We are divided within the system and classified as first-class and second-class citizens. Is it unreasonable that non-Malays are suffering from paranoia?

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said people should not be too nationalistic when seeking knowledge. He said knowledge came in all forms and languages, and sometimes the native language needed to be learned first before the knowledge could be acquired.

"We should not be reluctant to learn other languages because they can help us gain access to the knowledge," he said in his speech when opening the abacus and mental arithmetic campaign at Wisma MCA Tuesday night.

The government, he said, had decided to implement the teaching of mathematics and science in English as it is the universal language. "We will not lose our national and racial identity if we speak in English," he added.

There is no question that all Malaysians, irrespective of races need to learn Bahasa Malaysia and be competent to speak and write in the language. But this is not the reason why Chinese are electing Chinese school education.

Marina Mahathir, the daughter of Tun Dr. Mahathir, in her article entitled, "Unequal learning in our education system" published in The Star (9th. March) made a statements that deserved critical thinking:

"When we think that education is the key to our children’s future ... It is one thing to give our kids the basics, it is another thing to try and unearth from them their true potential as thinking, living, breathing and creative human beings. And to do this, we have to expose them to as much of the world as possible, to allow them to assess, evaluate and judge for themselves. But if our education system does nothing more than force-feed them what we think is right for them and leave them no room to explore ideas on their own, then all we are doing is creating a whole bunch of automatons who are not going to know how to live in this changeable globalised world. It is a system that only breeds inequality. If our education system leaves no room to think, and only one type of thinking is allowed, then discrimination against anything different will naturally set in. That’s the first type of inequality. Then the parents who don’t like this type of education will look for ways out of it, by firstly going to private schools within the country. This then creates another sort of separation and inequality, where our kids will then only mix with certain types of kids, and grow to believe that that’s all there is in the world. Then the next step is for parents who can afford it (and more and more seem to be able to) to send kids abroad at earlier and earlier ages. This then creates even more separation and inequality with kids who have to remain at home ... We’ve only got one chance to get it right with our kids; how much longer are we going to blow it?"

I can add nothing more to what Marina had said. The statement speaks for itself the state of affairs in our educational system; except that she did not comment on the administrative aspects of the education ministry.

Does the education minister and his officers read this article? If they do, do they understand it? If they understand, will they listen to her wisdom and act to make things right? Do the government and in particular, the Ministry of Education, want a solution to this problem, or are they paranoid?

The new hypothesis should be: "If only Marina Mahathir is our Education Minister, then can we see radical change for the better". But, she won't be! (as she had not contested in the general election).

Maybe, Pak Lah should consider offering her a senatorship and make her the Education Minister (in the same manner when PM appointed Second Minister of Finance).

NATIONAL SCHOOL 

IJN Management & Consultants At Logger Heads

DO RIGHT 

IJN AT LOGGERHEADS 

DOING THINGS RIGHT OR DOING RIGHT THINGS?

23rd. MARCH 2005, THE STAR REPORT:

The plan to make the National Heart Institute (IJN) a world-renowned heart specialist centre could hit a roadblock following a disagreement between its new management and long-serving clinical consultants.

The plan, which included raising bonds to form a special purposed vehicle (SPV), restructuring IJN into several new subsidiaries and initiating changes to its non-medical management and clinical structure, has ruffled feathers among IJN staff.

It is understood that several long serving senior consultants are planning to leave and this has caught the attention of the Government as IJN consultants have long been associated with monitoring the health of the country’s leaders. IJN personnel, who spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity, said they were not consulted on most management decisions affecting the running and direction of the heart centre.

They feared that the some of the new developments could change the core objective of IJN, which was to help the public get quality cardiac treatment at an affordable price.

“We are concerned about the social aspect of IJN, which may take a backseat should IJN become too commercialised,” one consultant said.

Staff members had also queried the management over the “sweeping and rapid” changes which they felt could affect local patients and bring about a shortage of qualified personnel such as doctors and nurses.

One consultant also questioned a management move to hire nearly 20 non-medical staff, saying their jobs were previously handled by just three people.

“IJN is currently making money and it should continue its main objective of serving the public,” said another senior staff member, pointing to the more than RM100mil in cash that IJN currently has. The staff also said it was inappropriate to expand IJN now in view of the shortage of critical personnel.

IJN chief executive Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus, who was appointed in Sept 2003, had brought in two advisors on contract to deal with human capital organisational development and strategic management.

Staff at the centre also contend that some of the changes by the management were unnecessary and had eroded the consultants clout.

The CEO of IJN, Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus reiterated that, "The management of the National Heart Institute (IJN) will continue with its expansion plan to turn it into a centre of excellence despite strong objections from some of its employees". He said the changes were to ensure that the country's premier heart centre would stick to its core objective of providing more efficient service.

“What I am trying to do is to build on IJN's solid foundation, which was built over the last 10 years, and take the institute forward in the next 10 years,” Mohd Radzif told The Star in an interview yesterday.

Mohd Radzif also outlined IJN's ambitious plan which included raising funds privately, building new facilities and collaborating with other government-run heart centres.

COMMENTS:

If Mohd Radzif had his way and persistently go forward with the changes he wanted without the support of the specialists, will the specialists migrate elsewhere? What will happen to IJN then? Maybe, Mohd Radzif are well prepared on this eventualities.

The main characteristics of CHANGE MANAGEMENT is chaos and complexities. I suppose the new CEO had the profound knowledge to understand what he is doing and what can happen. The management poser is: "Is he doing the THINGS RIGHT", or would he not consider doing "THE RIGHT THING"?

The fundamental doctrine of a successful LEADER is that he has followers and that his followers adored him. At such, in managing a specialist centre, it is imperative that the CEO must be well-respected and liked by the specialists (and their assistants), and he is their source of inspiration and motivators.

Looking at the scenario from outside, it doesn't seem so!

All leaders and managers need to manage all the stakeholders, particularly, those critical stakeholders. You can have the government's support, some managers support; but without the specialists support, (more so as is the case of a medical centre) then, you are looking for trouble.

The MEANS MUST JUSTIFY THE END. CEOs had to walk his talk but if the talk is unacceptable, and the CEO persists, then, a new and more potent crisis will erupt. The result is a NO-WIN situation for all, including the government and the rakyat.

THE HYPOTHESIS: The Government appoints leaders who lacks the competency to manage people.

A good manager will not succeed if he cannot gain respect from his people. Trying to do what business schools had taught you may just be DOING THE RIGHT THING! But It is DOING THINGS RIGHT that counts!

MALAYSIA BOLEH....cari pasal!!!!!!

UNEQUAL LEARNING OF OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

This is a great erudition and an intellectual discourse presented by Datuk Marina Mahathir in her column MUSINGS with MARINA MAHATHIR, The Star Publication on March 9, 2005.

It is reproduced verbatim for those who had miss the article, or had not read it. I really am impressed by her strength and wisdom.

Unequal learning in our education system

MUSINGS with MARINA MAHATHIR

9th March 2005, Star

As the cliché goes, kids say the darndest things. My older one, who admittedly will soon not be a kid anymore, had a particularly insightful thought the other day. “You know, Mum,” she said. “If I had stayed at school at home (in Malaysia), I would never have read half of the books I’ve read today.”

To explain, my daughter is in school in another country. I sent her away because I had begun to worry about the type of education she was getting, and the type of socialisation she was exposed to. I felt that, mentally, she was not being stretched, and that her creative instincts were being stifled, and that with some of her friends, she was becoming yet another mall-rat. So I sent her abroad to a rugged boot camp for a year and then continued her schooling in boarding school.

The thing about her little insight was that she was not saying it to feel superior to anyone. She followed this statement with another that made my heart clutch. “I feel sad,” she said, “because my friends who didn’t come over with me didn’t have this opportunity.” In that moment, my daughter, who sometimes makes me bang my head in frustration for her silliness and sheer teenage irresponsibility, displayed an understanding of the inequalities of the world far more than I ever did at her age, when I didn’t have half her privileges.

She understood, first of all, that she is lucky to have had the opportunity to study in an environment far more open than she would have had at home. She also understood that privilege costs her parents money, and it is something to be always grateful for. But she also understood that it was unfair that her friends did not have the same opportunity for whatever reason, and because of that, they may be losing out on something, and that was sad. She wanted the friends she had grown up with to move along in the world at the same pace as her, but that was not to be. I asked her if she ever discussed the books she was reading (for pleasure and as school work) with her friends at home and she said wistfully that she didn’t even try because it was so different from what they were doing. She is currently reading Dante’s Inferno, which she thinks is “pretty cool”.

When we think that education is the key to our children’s future, it seems unfair that not all children get a fair deal with it. It is one thing to give our kids the basics, it is another thing to try and unearth from them their true potential as thinking, living, breathing and creative human beings. And to do this, we have to expose them to as much of the world as possible, to allow them to assess, evaluate and judge for themselves.

But if our education system does nothing more than force-feed them what we think is right for them and leave them no room to explore ideas on their own, then all we are doing is creating a whole bunch of automatons who are not going to know how to live in this changeable globalised world. We will have people who are afraid of others, of taking risks, of things or people that are different from what they are used to. Without these types of challenges, our kids’ minds and indeed souls do not hone into the resilient mature characters we want them to be.

It is a system that only breeds inequality. If our education system leaves no room to think, and only one type of thinking is allowed, then discrimination against anything different will naturally set in. That’s the first type of inequality. Then the parents who don’t like this type of education will look for ways out of it, by firstly going to private schools within the country. This then creates another sort of separation and inequality, where our kids will then only mix with certain types of kids, and grow to believe that that’s all there is in the world.

Then the next step is for parents who can afford it (and more and more seem to be able to) to send kids abroad at earlier and earlier ages. This then creates even more separation and inequality with kids who have to remain at home, as my own daughter had pointed out. Instinctively, she had recognised that, despite the many years of friendship, soon the way she was being educated would start putting a wedge of difference with her old friends, and it would take enormous maturity and effort to not let those friendships fade. Ironically, in many ways, her current educational environment, albeit elite, stresses community service, and allows her to mix with a greater diversity of kids, and in this way does more to promote equality than her public education back home.

It’s an age-old subject, our education system. While the current discussion about too much homework is good, it still doesn’t do anything about our concept of education itself, especially that exams are still the mainstay of our system. We’ve only got one chance to get it right with our kids; how much longer are we going to blow it?

UNITING SCHOOL CHILDREN

Uniting School Children

It is the Government's intention to strengthen the sekolah kebangsaan (national school) to be the school of choice, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

He said the national school should become the choice of the rakyat, irrespective of race and religion. Abdullah. however, reiterated the right of non-Malays to study in their own mother tongue as guaranteed under the Education Act.

“We hope that at a certain point after studying at sekolah rendah jenis kebangsaan Cina or sekolah rendah jenis kebangsaan Tamil, the children can continue their education at sekolah kebangsaan where we have a standard curriculum and students of all races and religions can learn and play together,” he told reporters at his office yesterday.

He said this when asked to comment on a memorandum to be presented by the MCA to the Government appealing for more Chinese schools in densely-populated areas and resolving issues affecting such schools.

“Whatever we do in tackling issues involving Chinese national-type schools, and allowing more such schools to be built, we cannot allow a situation to develop where there will exist a dual system in our education system.

“We cannot have a system that will provide an absolute alternative to a certain group of people,” he said, adding that such a system would result in the people moving along in a parallel line, and they would never meet. Education, he said, played a very big role in enhancing unity and integration among people of different races and religions. Thus the best option was a single system where the schoolchildren could interact freely, he said.

AUTHOR'S COMMENT:

It is great comfort that the beloved Prime Minister is re-assuring the other races of the commitment by the government to adhere to the rights to study in their mother tongue as guaranteed in the Education Act.

Unfortunately, many at times, such kind of issues are unnecessary and unworthy of discussions as it creates division and disunity amongst the races and makes the races paranoid.

I had never wish to write articles on this blog, which treaded on political science, religious indifferences or those relating to racial divide. Most of my articles (I believe) is on PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT, SYSTEM MANAGEMENT (particularly of the civil service and the executives), COMMERCE, SOCIAL SCIENCE, AND EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS. But this one, I hope will not incite destructive narcissism.

As a Chinese, I will sent my children to schools that will benefit them and which will prepare my children for their future undertaking. It does not matter that it is Chinese school, Tamil school or Sekolah Kebangsaan. All my three children are educated in Sekolah Kebangsaan and they are doing well and two of them are in Universities. I am proud of their educational achievements and I believe they will be ready to face the employment world on graduation.

If other parents thinks that they want to sent their children to Chinese-type school or Tamil school, I don't think they can be faulted or blamed for creating disunity or racial segregation. It may be that they find it comforting to do so, due to the schools' quality education and the disciplines. I do not think, for most of those I know that came from Chinese-type school, that they are concerned about their mother-tongue. It is just political protectionist policies for some institutions to further some kind of interest best known to themselves.

My mother tongue is Hokkien and I married a Hakka. My children only speak Cantonese dialect. My mother and all my family members and in-laws are not too concerned about their inability to speak Hokkien or Hakka, neither do I or my wife. So, what's the issue of mother-tongue? Mandarin actually are not the mother-tongue of many chinese. This, the Chinese associations such as Tong Ziao Zong or MCA may not agree with me. But I am totally against the politicising of the Chinese schools. Whether there should be more of them should be left to the market forces to dictate and infact, National-type school should be encouraged to bring about social integration of the various races, in the interest of the nation as a whole, and the betterment of the society. It does not make me less Chinese because I did not get educated in Chinese School, neither would those who are educated in Chinese Schools be less Malaysian.

So, what's the problem? Is it necessary that it should be constantly reminded that the Chinese are Chinese and Indians are Tamils, and Malays are Malays? Aren't we all Malaysians?

Khairi, the UMNO Deputy Youth Leader should refrain from adding oil to fire; similarly, other politicians in MCA should also be less contageous. Politicians should be wisemen and wisewomen and stop treading in hot water and create Tsunamis for the rakyat.

I had admired Khairi for a long time but since he became the youth leader, his public statements and political directions are beginning to show biases. I hope and believe he will be a better person and a great leader if he shows he sincerely cares for the nation and will serve ALL the rakyat in Malaysia. GOD bless Khairi and make him a better leader.

COURAGEOUS DECISION-MAKERS

Courageous Decision-maker

Decision makers must have the courage to reject projects that do not benefit the people even after they have been approved, said Datuk Sri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The Prime Minister said this was because under the Ninth Malaysia Plan the Government would focus only on projects that would control the country’s deficit and justify public spending. Abdullah, who is also Finance Minister, promised that, while the Government was trying its best to reduce deficit, this stance would not affect the planning for the Ninth Plan nor would it cause on-going development projects to be halted. “We need to reduce public spending in a gradual manner but, at the same time, we must ensure that our economy continues to grow,” he told the ministry’s monthly gathering here yesterday.

This is definitely a brave statement from the Prime Minister and it is hope that ministers and menteri besars will heed his advise. It may look to be a slap in the face for Khir Toyo, but I hope he can take the rebuttals as I believe the PM is just straight speaking. But what about the component parties ministers? Will they take this advise? Pak Lah, we need more of your attention and leadership to ensure change does take place, and it is those changes for the betterment of the rakyat.

50% DROP IN TOP SCORERS FOR STPM 

STPM RESULTS OUT - MINISTRY CAN BREATH RELIEVE

STPM Results

The number of four and five A scorers dropped by more than 50% to 362 when compared with the previous year's result of 767 scorers. This will be a great relieve to the ministry as they will have lesser work to do and less headache to find places for medical students in local universities as compared to last year.

Malaysian Examinations Council chairman Tan Sri Prof Dr Abu Hassan Othman, in announcing the results, said: “The percentage of candidates with four or five principal passes has increased and subject performance has also improved.” The number of candidates passing four or five subjects has increased to 29,877 from the previous year's 23,458, showing a 2.5% INCREASE. The number of candidates last year increased to 71,145 from 56,502 in 2003 (ABOUT 20% INCREASE IN CANDIDATES). Of this total, 47,750 (67.1%) were female candidates while 23,395 (32.9%) were male.

SO, THERE ARE 20% INCREASE IN CANDIDATES AND THE NUMBER PASSING 4-5 SUBJECTS HAD INCREASED BY 2.5%? GOOD RESULTS? IMPROVEMENTS? CAN CONGRATULATE AND CELEBRATE?

When commenting about the reduced numbers in top scorers (by 50%), this is what the ministry had to say:

“Every year we get candidates of different calibre, which accounts for the lower number of top scorers. “We have to look at the overall improvement,” said Malaysian Examinations Council chairman Tan Sri Prof Dr Abu Hassan Othman, in announcing the results.

Of the total number of top scorers, nine obtained perfect scores.

They are Nur Ashikin Abdul Rahim from Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah in Klang; Tee Teng Teng from SMK Seri Keledang in Menglembu, Perak; Lee Tuan Cheong from SMK Kepong; Tee Xian Yang from SMK Tinggi Segamat, Johor; Lim Kher Sham from SMK Ibrahim, Sungai Petani in Kedah; Chen Ming Wei from SMK St Paul in Seremban; Teh Gim Aik from SMK Chung Ling in Penang; Chew Eong Loon and Liew Seng Fatt from SMK Jit Sin (A) Bukit Mertajam.

So, what is their success factors?

Tee Teng Teng worked hard, spent three to four hours revising every day and paid close attention to her lessons at her small rural school in Menglembu. In between, she also found time to help her mother at her stall selling nyonya kuih. Teng Teng, whose favourite subject is Biology, scored As in all five subjects. She is determined to become a doctor so that she can help the poor by providing free treatment and medical assistance. “I come from a poor family so I know how difficult life can be. I want to become a doctor because I like the field and also so that I can offer free treatment to the poor,” said the student of SMK Seri Keledang. For Tee Teng Teng, effective time-management was the key to success in the STPM. The 20-year-old made a timetable to divide her time between school and revisions. "To succeed, one must combine hard work, a strong will and discipline," she said.

For Nur Ashikin Abdul Rahim, the news that she was the top student in the country came as a shock to her. “Actually, I had set a target for myself to be the top student in the country. But I really did not think it would actually come true,” said the student of Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah in Klang who also scored As in all five subjects.

SMK Kepong Science student Lee Tuan Cheong, who scored 5As and had perfect scores in all the 13 papers that he had sat for. Tuan Cheong said that while he worked hard and received a lot of support from family and teachers, he also enjoyed going shopping, swimming and playing futsal with friends. He recently represented the country at an International Physics Olympiad in South Korea and the Asian Physics Olympiad in Vietnam.

None said TV was the reason for their achievements. To ministry officials, would they still think TV will help improve English and provide educational success?

HARVARDIZATION 

Harvard's Way Forward!

Harvardisation of Civil Services

The Govt is adopting Harvard University’s Management Tools to help reform the civil services competencies.

It had engaged a Harvard Professors consulting Team since January to review and upgrade the quality and capacity of senior civil servants to effectively design, articulate and implement public policies including GLCs.

The team, according to Tan Sri Dr. Lin See Yan, the Harvard Club of Malaysia President, will undertake a quality review of the technical capability and capacity of development administration in Malaysia, identifying the needs and problems and offering solutions. Under the term of reference, the team can propose measures to collaborate with Harvard and other world-class institutions. It can also make recommendations for actions that are cost-effective as well as reflective of the best Malaysian traditions of government and the needs of a modern and civil society in a rapidly globalising world.

Meanwhile, the Harvard Club of Malaysia is organising executive education programmes on corporate governance conducted by Prof Dr. Quinn Mills from Harvard University.

This is a positive effort taken by the government to seek improvement to the public service delivery system that include Government-Linked Companies. It shows that the current system management is not afraid to learn from others and to learn from the best of the best.

But, is it the solution to our problem? Is the solution sought the right anecdote and tonic to our systemic failures?

First and foremost, the hypothesis is unknown, at least to the public.

When seeking a solution to a problem, we had to identify the causes of defects and failures. And we had to go the root cause of failures. Take an example, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), since the 1980s, had been scouting and employing the best coaches the badminton world had ever produced and we had since the last 2 decades engaged almost all available world best coaches. But what was the result? We did not produce a crop of world beaters and the results were clear and unambiguous - we failed to win any world titles and we had not produce potential world class players from the development programmes that had cost the government hundreds of millions, if not billions over the last twenty years or so. So, what was the reason? It cannot be due to poor coaching? It is administration and management failures. It include political patronage and influences that impeded the management abilities to move forward and it curtail progress.

Coming back to the Harvardisation of civil services, what had been the problem of the delivery system failures or weaknesses?

Using the BAM as a case study, hypothetically, are we not seeking the coaches to reconstruct the civil service delivery system? Is that what we need. These professors may be able to identify our problems and recommend corrctive and preventive actions. But what about the implementation system and directoring? Haven't we learned from our history that "Malaysia and Malaysians is never short of rules, regulations, procedures, and knowledges." What had always been seen unpretentiously is that, we have all these years failed to implement change holistically and courageously. We built systems and disciplines, but the political system has other objectives, needs and wants. Projects are mooted not because we need it but because we want it to fill the desires of the political agendas.

So, what is our problem? The system managers and the PM and his cabinet should consider the real issue. It can relate to MONEY POLITICS AND MONIES NEEDED FOR POLITICIANS. Our system of political management is about churning money out from the system and fulfilling the lust and crave for ultra wealth and material pleasures of the political players. Decisions are made to suit the political game plan, and not for the interest of the rakyat as a whole. The planning and implementations are often being reconstructed and changed to suit short term needs and not long term efficiencies. Selection criterias are not based on meritocracy. We encourage our childrens to study hard and achieve excellent results, but the system would not ensure that those who had achieved those results would be guaranteed educational needs of the highest level.

As long as the system do not nurture and breeds competency and quality of the highest level, and the utilization of mass resources, Harvardisation will end up as another show-piece for the workbook.

I am not a doom-sayer. I do have hope that we are moving in the right direction and I do applaud the decision of Harvardisation. But, we need to see radical change, particularly in the system of managing development expenditure and the management of human resources, including the management of future leaders - that is the Malaysian children now in school. HONESTY and INTEGRITY of those managers and executives will prove my hypothesis wrong. But would those in-charge and leaders want to place honesty and integrity as ABSOLUTES, or will it still be OBSOLETES?

30% Drop in Straight As for SPM  

SPM Results Out

SPM Results

The results are out today! There was a drastic decline in the number of straight A students in last year’s Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, with 30.6% fewer top scorers compared to 2003.

Of the 416,741 candidates who sat for the examination last year, 324,590 obtained the open certificate with the minimum requirement of a pass in Bahasa Melayu.

Among those who scored all A1s was Anushree Lalitha Subramaniam from SMK(P) Sri Aman, Petaling Jaya, who obtained 14 distinctions. Eleven other students had 13 distinctions while 12 others had 12.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said that last year’s SPM, however, did produce the best-ever candidate, with Nur Amalina Che Bakri from SMK Ulu Tiram here scoring an amazing 17 A1s.

Paradoxically, it should be good news for the Ministry of Higher Education as they are worried that too many students are getting straights As and they would have problem allocating places in universities for those aspiring students, particularly those that are seeking medical doctorates.

So, is the 30% drop a good sign and a sigh of relief for the ministers? Maybe, they should pray hard that the STPM results should see more drops of straight As... to make their work easier. Probably if it happens, then they can have more free time to visit Egypt and celebrate with the Belly Dancers.

AMAZING AMALINA

17As

Congratulations!!!! Nur Amalina Che Bakri scored 17 A1s in the SPM exam.

That includes seven subjects not offered by her school. She did not need to rely on any extra hours of private tuition.

Nur Amalina will receive her detailed results from Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein tomorrow at a special ceremony at her school, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Ulu Tiram.

Nur Amalina's was greatly inspired by Mahatma Gandhi doctrine that, ‘The measure of success is not the result but the effort’.

"I also remember reading about a girl who scored 15 A1s in her SPM and I thought if she could do it, why couldn’t I?" said Nur Amalina.

Nur Amalina scored 5As in the UPSR and 8As in the PMR.

This is great news for the malays. It is clear that the malays had equal and possibly more ability than any other races when it comes to academic excellence and achievement. It clearly indicates that any person who aspires success and works hard to achieve the goals shall be blessed by the Almighty God.

I strongly believe that there are more of Nur Amalina within our community, be they Chinese, Malays, Indians, Kadazan, Iban, Malanaus, etc, etc. For one thing is clear, Malays are NO under-achievers, and they DO NOT need CLUTCHES! Only UMNO believed they are; not the others, including me. Those who need clutches are inside UMNO as the political system had ensured that UMNO members will not be able to grow up to be able to be independent and high achievers. This is due to the fact that UMNO had leaders that splashes projects to their proxies and cronies and in turn, these proxy cronies would sell the projects to others, not necessarily Chinese or Indians, but include Bumis too. This happens because they believed in the philosophy and doctrine of quick monies and fast track wealth accumulation and it is at the expense of tax-payers money.

The next question arise: "Nur Amalina wants to be a gynaecologist, and perhaps one day, the first woman Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Would the authorities grant her this wishes by offering her a scholarship in the best medical college, or would they offer her the Serat Kayu Degree, or a degree in biology or Japanese studies?

University Malaya medical faculty dean Datuk Prof Dr Mohd Amin Jalaludin and the Higher Education Minister had recently said that "Good grades do not necessary make good doctors." So, how are they going to judge her? God forbid that the power that is would act to prevent her from her journey to her dream destiny. And I hope one day, she would achieve her dream to be the Prime Minister, or maybe, the Menteri Besar of Johor.

WATCH TV TO IMPROVE ENGLISH

TV THE SOLUTION

STAR FRONT PAGE REPORTS: 9TH MARCH 2005

Watch more television. That is the Education Ministry’s advice to students who are having trouble coping with the learning of Mathematics and Science in English. Its director-general Datuk Dr Ahamad Sipon said students should turn on the TV, regardless of whether to watch educational programmes or cartoons, to understand and speak better English.

“We cannot underestimate the role of television in educating our children,” he told reporters after chairing a special meeting with senior ministry officials on the effectiveness of the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English yesterday.

The TV-watching advice was among eight initiatives put forward by the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) to help students and teachers who had trouble with English.

The theory of educational success from Nur Amalina goes like this:

"I did my homework first before sitting down for any revision work."

"School hours were crucial to learning and understanding the subjects, while homework reinforced what she picked up in the classroom. I usually finish all my schoolwork and revision by 1am," she said.

Nur Amalina usual activities include: hanging out with friends, chatting on the Internet, listening to chart-toppers and watching television, and a special diet.

Did she improve her English because of TV?

I can't discount the contributions of TV to the improvement of English language as proferred by Datuk Dr Ahamad Sipon. But, this method would not work in isolation. To improve english, first, we must read books and make sure we understand the vocabulary and the spellings. Then, we need to use the language by writing essays. At the same time, students must create the opportunity to speak the language more often. Students must make every effort to speak to their family members and friends in the language and at the same time master the vocabulary and the choice of words used in the oral and written form. Reading a lot of books, understanding the sentences and choice of words used in the books and attempting to use and apply the language knowledge in writing exercises will definitely help to master the language.

So, my advice is, TV will not help you in isolation. One of the disadvantages is that those in the TV often speak in "TONGUES" which is hard to grasp. Students may not be able to capture the spoken language in TV as it is often spoken in certain slangs and speedily blutted out by the person on the screen. Therefore, books and lectures will be more helpful. But do our teachers had the required competency in teaching English?

CERMELANG, GEMILANG DAN TEMBERANG

CERMELAMG,GEMILANG,TEMBERANG

Luxurious ‘exco village’ comes under fire
BY LOONG MENG YEE, THE STAR, PAGE 2, NATION.

The Selangor State Government had spent an estimated MR40 million of public funds to built an “EXCO VILLAGE” in Section 7, Shah Alam comprising bungalows and a clubhouse exclusively for the use of Selangor executive councillors. State Opposition Leader Teng Chang Khim questioned the rationale for the estimated RM40mil project, which comprises 10 bungalows and a clubhouse.

“The state government pays each exco a housing allowance. This payment is more economical than constructing and maintaining the bungalows as the monthly maintenance fee is high,” he said in a press statement yesterday.

As for the clubhouse, he said the excos could become members of the hilltop Kelab Shah Alam by paying RM1,500 monthly.

It is believed that the idea for an “exco village” was mooted last year by the state leadership. The reason was to have a centralised housing area for the councillors, to facilitate easier meeting with each other and the Mentri Besar. They now stay in different locations, some even outside the capital here.

A state official said the bungalows would remain properties of the state. "Most likely, the exco members will lose their monthly housing allowance once they move into the official houses. The state will actually save taxpayers' money because these houses will appreciate in value. We do not have to increase their housing allowances anymore from now,” he said. He said the clubhouse would function as a recreational area and a meeting point; it could even host official events.

It was argued that the bungalows were not extravagant as even district officers and various department heads were given official residences. A survey at the site showed that it is a gated community with a clubhouse right in the centre. Some of the bungalows were fully furnished, complete with bedroom and dining room sets. The gardens had been landscaped as well and workers said the entire “exco village” project had been completed and they were putting the finishing touches.

Is this in compliance with the doctrine of "CERMELANG, GEMILANG, DAN TERBILANG"?

It looks like the government is more towards the doctrine of "TEMBERANG"

Selangor State had decided to increase water tariffs because they could not continue to subsidise the rakyat. But they had no problem to spent multi-millions in building bungalows to appease themselves, plus, paying for trips to watch belly dancers, etc.

Are the rakyat made to look stupid? Did we elect this people to govern us? Oh, my God!!!!!!!

JKR Slope Monitoring System

HILL SLOPE PROTECTION

The New Straits Times report, page 6, Prime News


According to the report, more than 100 hillslopes had been identified by PWD as risky for possible landslides. The hillslopes are found predominantly in Fraser's Hill, Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands (all in Pahang), Gunung Raya (Langkawi), Paya Terubung Valley (Penang), the mountain ranges in Ulu Kelang, Selangor, and several limestone hills in Ipoh.

This followed a recent survey by the department's slope engineering division following a series of landslides in recent years.

PWD deputy director-general 1 Prof Datuk Dr. Wahid Omar said today JKR Cawangan Jalan utilised the Slope Management and Risk Tracking (Smart) system developed from a comprehensive study of the landslide at the Tamparuli-Sandakan trunk road in Sabah last year.

"The identified areas are being monitored and remedial measures are being taken," Wahid said. "The affected slopes are a result of improper development around the areas which affected the stability of the soil."

The Government, he added, had approved a RM7 million budget to carry out a year-long study to collect data and formulate the National Slope Masterplan, which is expected to be ready by the year's end.

The study involves other agencies such as the Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing, the departments of Geology, Drainage and Irrigation, Meteorology and Environment and the Public Works Institute.

"The study constitutes aerial photography and photogrammetry (used in topographical map preparation), geology, drainage, site history and engineering," he said during a one-day seminar on "Landslide Monitoring and Disaster Early Warning Systems".

The study, Dr. Wahid added, was in addition to the RM160 million budget allocated to the PWD to install the hillslope early warning system, which will monitor earth movements on hillslopes along federal roads and highways. The Government, he said, had taken a serious view of the threats and consequences of landslides.

Among the incidents that hogged newspaper headlines were the mudslides at Km303 of the North-South Expressway at Gua Tempurung near Gopeng, Perak, on Oct 12 last year, the Bukit Lanjan rockfall at the North Klang Valley Expressway on Nov 24, 2002 and the landslide in Taman Hillview, Ampang, Selangor on Nov 20, 2002.

Cheers to JKR for their dedication in performing their services to the public. If only all the other departments such as, State authorities and other public service authorities are doing what JKR were doing, we would not have the Bukit Cahaya fiasco.

Yesterday, in the NST, it was reported that there was zero monitoring of the development around Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam agricultural park by the Shah Alam City Council. That explains why seven developers were prepared to go-ahead with land clearing work even without approval from the local authority. That also explains why two developers did not follow a pre-approved schedule.

The Federal and State Ministers should take the blame if it was true that there is absolutely no monitoring of the development projects, particularly, on the environmental factors. How could the Mentri Besar of Selangor puts the entire blame on the statutory bodies when they are the Leaders who are fully responsible for all the actions and rules.

Pak Lah certainly needs more leaders in the like of Datuk Dr. Wahid, who is the key driver of knowledge management and competency building within JKR. He resembles the evangelist of "CHANGE MANAGEMENT", a leader who have no fear of politicians and one who will not give favor to curry politicians. But, I am afraid, our national system do not encourage people of this category to exist, and will not allow such talent to lead the change in the civil service system. These capable and maverick leaders will be punished and stepped-on to such low morals, because the politicians hate them and despise them. Politicians only wanted "YES-MEN" and "BODEK-MEN". So, with power in their hand, they will only select kleptocratic leaders and cronyist servants, who will offer to curry-flavor from them and will do what had or will be told, not what is right to do.

The Prime Minister talks loud and all too often of the need for a clean and efficient system, a good delivery system and a people-oriented administration. So far, after more than one year in power, we only hear what he says he will do, but nothing had been done or seen done. The corrupt officers and poiliticians are still holding powers (extremely powerful, infact more powerful than in Mahathir's era), the inefficient and incompetent civil servants continues to bully those who can perform, (one of such person who had to suffer is Datuk Dr Wahid), the delivery system is only "CAKAP SAHAJA", and all the ministries such as Works ministry, utilities (water & electricity) and various others are sweeping the rubbish back to their working places.

How long more would we be able to see change? Is it that our system is "CAKAP SELALU TAK SERUPA BIKIN?"

Pak Lah KEEPS REMINDING himself and his officers that the honeymoon is over, and he knows it is; but what can he do? He had a mulfunction system and incompetent officers, but he had no power to remove them or change them. He can only keep telling them, but, that won't produce the goals and objectives he had set out to do as promised. Maybe, the only solution is to consider appointing someone like Datuk Dr. Wahid to higher positions to lead the change.

If the PM is desirous of change, then he needs to put in place the "change masters"! There are a few change masters in the civil services, but they are strapped and silenced by the system administrators. Would PM knows about it? Or, is he sleeping with his enemies, the corruptors?????

GOOD GRADES DO NOT NECESSARY MAKE GOOD DOCTORS

Good grades not enough

University Malaya medical faculty dean Datuk Prof Dr Mohd Amin Jalaludin said that "Good grades in STPM (A level) do not necessary make good doctors."

I do agree to some extent. But, how would the education ministry judge a potential student who had scored 4.0 CGPA, that he will not make a good doctor, and that a lesser grade student will be a make a better doctor? Dear Prof., if that child is yours and he had scored 4.0 CGPA and is determine to take up medicine, are you going to tell him that he is more suitable for "Serat Kayu degree"?

How many children of the hundred thousands that sit for the STPM exam are able to score 4.0 CGPA, and if you are the parent, wouldn't you give him a chance to go through the process to meet his dream, or are you going to let someone in the ministry decide that your child is better off studying wood technology, biology, history, or Japanese studies???

Those who stay in glass house and big bungalows, such as those ministers and senior govt servants including university professors, are able to sent their children overseas to the elite universities. But what about those who are earning just enough to survive, including those who aren't earning enough who had determined children who studied hard, sacrifices their time to achieve excellent results in STPM, in the hope that the govt would assist and provide them with places in public universities to pursue their dream to become a doctor one day. Why crush their dream just because you think they may not make a good doctor? God forbid that you had chosen to be the judge of their destiny.