education; history, communists, loans, language, non-bumis. phew.
In today’s NST:
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysians should learn about both good and bad events in the country’s past to understand the proper context of why the events happened, and why certain decisions were made.
I couldn’t agree more DS. I’m not sure we would agree as to the reasons behind every decision, but if what you’re promoting is a culture of greater openness about the checkered history of our beloved country, aku sokong.
In the same paper however, MP YB Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) says that our history books do not reflect the nation’s past accurately enough, basically saying that non-Malay historical personalities were not given enough attention.
Parliamentary secretary for the Min. of Education P Komala Devi’s excuse for things being left out was not encouraging:
“Research showed that students were not interested in history, they had difficulty understanding facts and were only memorising information without appreciating the subject. We decided to consolidate the facts to make the subject less boring,” she said.
That’s because of the way you test them (trust me, I remember), not because of the content. I have this feeling that if you let all the truths out, the last thing Malaysian history will seem is boring. Why would students enjoy history if they don’t somehow feel a part of it?
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On the issue of history, Pas has some very interesting things to say about the Communist party and its role in gaining independence – praising Chin Peng for fighting the Japanese, sleeping under the stars and such. I wonder why they happen to be bringing this up. Looking for Chinese votes? Some more sincere motivation?
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Higher Education Min Datuk Mustapa Mohamed has quite a bit to say about student loans. Apparently the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) has been administered in a fashion that has become increasingly unsustainable.
But despair not, the Star alone (no surprise) also covers an MCA initiative to make available interest free loans to early school leavers for courses in technical and vocational courses. Credit where credit is due: can’t be bad.
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Gerakan Kuala Lumpur chairperson Dr Tan Kee Kwong submitted a memorandum to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. malaysiakini reports that he requests that DBP
“remove the words keling and cinabeng from the next edition of ‘Kamus Dewan’ or amend their definition to avoid misleading users”
Meanwhile, Education Min DS Hishammuddin prepares to table a memorandum, also involving the DBP, promoting the use of BM.
I wish I spoke and wrote better BM. English is super-useful and I’m thankful for my ability with it, don’t get me wrong; just that it’s good to have a linguistic identity separate from one essentially formed in the aftermath of hegemony.
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Quick point to a good article on autonomy for successfully run schools (a concept with relatively impeccable logic).
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Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed calls for a greater representation of non-bumiputras in academia.
He talks a lot about improving the universities, making them exciting places to work, etc etc.. I think however the Star (predictably) points to a most telling fact:
In Universiti Malaya there is only one non-bumiputra dean among 20. In many of the other universities, there is none.
If you want more non-bumis in universities, give them the credit they deserve. People will serve locally out of pure love for the country, if only you give them only as much recognition they deserve – no need for special treatment or anything. The rest is pretty much tangential and probably barely relevant.
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