They took the road least traveled and failed miserably!

Race quotas, politics led to falling UM standards, says World Bank study

By Leslie Lau
Executive Editor

October 17, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — A World Bank publication has found that standards at Universiti Malaya have fallen and the institution has been kept at a disadvantage because of race-based admission quotas and political interference in university management. In contrast, Singapore’s decision to prioritise research, keeping English as the medium of instruction and a merit-based admissions policy have all contributed to the success of the National University of Singapore’s success, according to “The Road to Academic Excellence,” which studies what contributes to a world-class research university.
The study also noted that Malaysian secondary school students are not well prepared for tertiary education.
It points out that the Malaysian education system promotes rote learning, conformity and uniformity rather than fresh and creative thinking.
The study is led by two scholars — Philip Altbach and Jamil Salmi — while various chapters see contributions from various academics.
Salmi, a Moroccan education economist attached to the World Bank, also notes that “disturbing political developments, from the burning of churches to the whipping of a woman for drinking beer in public,” also cast a shadow on Malaysia’s “image as an open and tolerant society.”
The comparisons between UM and NUS is contained in a chapter entitled “The National University of Singapore and the University of Malaya: Common Roots and Different Paths.”
The chapter is authored by Hena Mukherjee, a former Universiti Malaya department head with a doctorate in education from Harvard University, and Poh Kam Wong, an NUS Business School professor.
According to the study, “at an early stage, the Singapore government realised the universities’ role in sustaining economic growth.
“In contrast, after 1970, UM’s institutional goals reflected the New Economic Policy, an affirmative action plan for ethnic Malays and indigenous groups, put in place in the wake of disastrous 1969 ethnic riots that took the lives of hundreds of people on both sides of the racial divide.,” the study found.
The authors said that apart from the student quota system, the NEP translated into more scholarships to Bumiputeras, special programmes to facilitate their entry into higher education institutions, and the use of the Malay language in place of English in the entire education system by 1983.
“In UM and in government, the policy impact spiralled upward so that Bumiputera staff members, over time, secured almost all senior management, administrative, and academic positions.
“As NUS kept pace with the demands of a growing economy that sought to become competitive internationally, with English continuing as the language of instruction and research, UM began to focus inward as proficiency in English declined in favour of the national language — Bahasa Malaysia — and the New Economic Policy’s social goals took precedence.”
The study noted however that there has been widespread recognition that the implementation of affirmative action policies in Malaysia has hurt the higher education system, sapping Malaysia’s economic competitiveness and driving some (mainly Chinese and Indians) to more meritocratic countries, such as Singapore.
In the broader study, the lead authors found that research was an important element in the making of a world-class university, as well as top-grade talent.
“We’re both convinced that serious research universities are important in almost all societies,” Altbach, who is the director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, told the New York Times last week in an interview.
Said Altbach: “Independence, luck, persistence, some kind of strategic vision, adequate resources — usually, but not always, public resources — good governance structures, good leadership, the ability to attract good students and so on. But we have found that the quality of the faculty is really crucial.”
Salmi, who co-ordinates the World Bank’s activities related to higher education, told the same newspaper of their new 390-page study, which will be released later this month, that their advice is like that supposedly given for a rabbit stew recipe: “First, catch your rabbit.” Only in this case the advice would be: “First, catch your faculty.”
“The difference between a good university and great university comes down to talent.”

Of Putrajaya, Malaria and Drunken British soldiers!

15th October 2011 marked the 20th running race I partook. This time around, I just tagged a friend along who 'chickened out' (okay, he had a big mullah yielding project to complete) on the Seremban 21km. I competed in the Putrajaya 10km night run, sponsored by Bank Simpanan Nasional - the first bank that most of us who grew up in the 70's started with our first savings book and ATM (automated teller machine) card.
Appa, however, has the pride of working with the bank which came out with the electronic card in the country - Hongkong Bank with ETC (electronic telecard)!
BSN started off modestly as the Post Office Saving Bank. My sisters and I were one of the earlier account customers (A/C 3472, 3838) who used to save our recess money to buy stamps to fill up a savings card. When the card was filled, the accumulated amount would be transferred to the respective accounts. I kept my accounts all the way till 2000 when I started noticed that their counter personnel were very happy whenever the system was 'off line' and there were more 'off-line' often than 'on-line'! Anyway, they had only the basic banking facilities and we had outgrown them requiring other banking needs like current accounts and loans.
Coming back to the run....
This time around, only Raj, Jack and I participated. After a day of business as usual, we took a leisurely drive to Putrajaya and a casual warm-up 2km from the car park to the starting point. We had a good 2 hours to idle off before the flag off at 8.40pm. The 10km track was something we were familiar with. Raj had cycled there with cycling buddies. I had run two runs here. I was wary of aggravating the muscle cramp that I had sustained the weekend before. This time around I was armed with 'tonic-water' filled water in my drinking canister. Tonic water was introduced by the British for its officers in the tropics to combat malaria. It contains quinine, a natural anti-malarial, and is morbidly bitter. To sweeten the bitter medicine, gin was suggested to be added to it, resulting in many happy malarial-free wobbly British soldiers. Quinine is a muscle cramp de-buster and I picked it up from one of the on line forums in cyberspace.
The race proceeded smoothly with the immaculate organization and we all completed the run in one piece. Jack 1h1m, me 1h2m and Raj 1h8m.(unofficial)
The night ended after a late Chinese hawker stall noodle meal to replenish the depleted glycogen stores in our muscle fibres at a road side stall at midnight near our other running kaki, Suresh, who was working. He joined us there. People outside Malaysia can only imagine eating outside their homes late into the wee hours of the morning but Malaysia Boleh! Eat your hearts out!

Poverty: A prerequisite to succeed in life?

Lisa Kelly - trucker extraordinaire

After the recent passing of Steve Jobs, his touching meaningful speech at Stanford had been making its rounds again on radio, social media and blogs. And everybody now knows about his unwed mother giving him up for adoption and how she reluctantly signed the adoption papers after months after she discovered that the intended adopted parents were not university graduates, as in her mind, only graduates become successful in life. And how he had to travel 7 miles to have free Hare Krsna food! We have also heard of the story of Lincoln Murthi in previous blogs about his roller-coaster escapades from the clutches of poverty to succeed in life. And the list just keeps on going, from AJ Kalam all the way to God knows who!
Just the other day, my buddy and I were discussing whether Steve Jobs would have still done what he did for the computer world and Apple if he indeed had been adopted by a lawyer or a doctor. Would he still have brought in changes in the IT world if he had grown up in the luxury of American life?

Recently I managed to catch the concluding episode of a realimentary (reality documentary) series on History Channel named IRT: Deadliest Roads where truckers were sent on assignments to transport sensitive cargoes along the scary roads in the Himalayas amidst the harassment of the horn blaring happy irritating courtesy challenged Indian drivers. Surprisingly, a rose (a petite 28 year old) emerged victor among the thorns (big beer bellied mustachioed bald tattoo displaying monster truckers) after the final tasks. She braved the icy mountain roads to supply aviation fuel for helicopters in a God forsaken place in the Himalayas!
In her last departing prophetic dialogue in that episode, Lisa Kelly, 28, the only North American trucker to have driven the amount of miles in that part of the world had to say, "We have to be stretched in order to grow!"

The Big Bad Wolf came to town!

Last Friday afternoon was a bonding time of sorts for father and son. Danny is an avid reader who finds pleasure in knowing things beyond his tween age of 11. So when news came that Big Bad Wolf was coming to town, I thought of exciting him by bringing him there. Now, the Big Bad Wolf, as the name suggests, is a book warehouse sale put up by the Big Bad publication house of unsold but fairly new books to be sold at dirt cheap prices. Malaysian who find it hard to miss a bargain were turning up in droves in suitcases to carry their bargain home. Paperback bestsellers of Amy Tan, Jeff Archer and Nora Roberts, to name a few, were going at unbelievable price of RM8! (Normal retail price: RM35-40). Hard cover coffee table books were on for RM20!
After goggling the venue, we headed to the sale. We, the tech-savvy people, decided to use the 3G GPS technology to good use. All was fine until we were barely 1 km from the venue. The map told us to go straight when the road was leading to a dirt road and a brick wall! So much for modern technology! Without much choice, we had to use the technology that Christopher Columbus did not use when he discovered The New World - we asked a passer-by. And we reached there...
After parking the car in a vast car-park and walking toward the exhibition hall, we were instructed to take the free tram car which was provided (even though the exposition hall was just visible in stone's throw distance. The tram took one big circle perimeter around the compound just leave us at a distance barely 500 metres from where we started. But we there.
As expected, the fresh crispy smell of new page permeated the hall air and we joined the rampage. Getting a few books for each member of the family (and extra), we could hear a massive storm brewing outside from the splatter of rain drops the PVC roof of the hall. And it poured cats, dogs and the whole barn.
Coming back from the hall was challenge. Whilst parking the car, we were debating whether to bring an umbrella along. Weighing the pros and cons, we made the obviously wrong decision in retrospect. For some unknown reason, the tram was dropping passengers but not picking them. Probably they were worried that the flimsy machines would be swept off the road by the winds!
We finally made it to the car in one piece. We were wet but our loot was still dry still smelling crispy new. Thanks to the marvelous invention of Man called plastic bags in spite the bad publicity of late. It is just like they say, "Guns do not kill people, people do!"

Have you found it?

I remember a time circa 1972, when the streets around my primary school was plastered with billboards bearing the words 'I found it!' - with the letter O written in heart shaped manner. Nothing else was written on these billboards, stirring the curiosity of man that killed the cat! A couple of weeks later, the rendezvous was flashed across billboards without indicating the purpose of the meeting except with messages like "I found it, have you?"
That got more people more curious and the dead cat twitched too! And the curiosity mounted to a climax as time went on. People started asking each other what that was all about. Was it a new wonder medicine which was the panacea to all human woes? Or a new shopping mall? Whatever it was, they knew that it was all a business strategy.

Never in their wildest dream did they expect to see what they saw when they saw it anyway. It was a mass congregation of souls in a field to listen the gospel word of the Lord by a world famous Man of God who had worked wonders with his brand of evangelism with his congregation back in his hometown where he preached.
That is the beginning of the realization of the power of advertising.

The Eye in the Sky will get you!

Just the other day, I visited my long lost schoolmate for Raya. There he was in his bungalow with 2 Porsche parked majestically in his posh porch (Cayenne and a 911) with a 24 hour security guard stationed in front of his house which was already sitting in a guarded community housing estate. Understandably, his sensitive position as a high flying executive in his line of work warrants such an arrangement.
After living and working in the US for more than 10 years as well as living flamboyantly in the fast lane, he returned home to settle down. And here he was sitting down with me and other old schoolmates.
I noticed that he had become quite private in his outlook. He does not have many friends. He does not have a Facebook account for fear of intrusion of daily activities! Eh, does he have more that he needs to hide? Maybe...
Later, we were discussing about his toys - his Porsches and their performance! He had apparently hit 240km/h on the highway! When asked about speeding tickets, he answered to the affirmative. The worse part, however, was when a summons was sent to his house with an ensuing digitalized 'mugshot' photo-shoot depicting him and another temptress who was not his wife driving along in SUV. And he was supposed to be in a meeting, not enroute to Port Dickson where the shot was taken. Now we understood the privacy and secrecy!
With the advent of internet, Google and the World Wide Web, nothing seem to be sacred or secret anymore. The tentacles of the web will spread its stuff like what spiders do into all nooks and corners to expose everyone's secret lives. Just like how MCA's feeble attempt to draw youngster into its wing fell flat on its face. Everyone went agog when a bevy of beauties claiming to be party members paraded shamelessly to the assembly to entice the roving eyes to join the party something like how the mice followed the Piped Piper of Hamelin.
Leave it to the Netizens, a few days later, the full expose of the said members were out in the open, complete with pictures to match. As predicted, these beauties ranged from lingerie models to pit stop babes! Go ahead, try to make out who is who. They are look alike to me! All straight hair and manga inspired heroine's eyes!

Autobiography in the making?

I am just toying the idea of coaxing my uncle (LM) to start writing his biography. It may not be much but may be of value in the family in generations to come.

1955

He started reminiscing his old times, as he always does, when his sister (my mother) gave him a courtesy call recently. And for the umpteenth time, (as if I, the little child in his eyes, have not been told before) he retold a part of his childhood stories. This time he started talking about his famous chicken pox episode!

55yrs later

There he was, after changing from school to school more often than they do 'dress change' in Tamil cinema, on the eve of his Lower Certificate of Education (LCE)....
A bit of background...
His mother had succumbed to the dreaded malignancy of the mammary gland a year earlier. His father, the man who lived for the moment, was busy looking for a new bride. He called in a family meeting (basically the 2 sons and himself, as 2 daughters had been married off in haste and Amma had to fend off for herself at the mercy and handouts of others) on the future of the sons as he had found a suitable young victim as a bride.
The boys (15year olds) were asked to work to supplement the income of the family. The younger one obliged. LM told his intention of continuing his studies. His father warned him, "Don't you ever come to me for money! You'll get a sound walloping, that's what you'll get." Back to the eve of LCE....
So, this young 15 year old boy with his vision nicely mapped in his mind, managed to get a place to stay from the kindness of a kind soul and ironed clothes to pay for his school fees. And life rolled on...

It was the eve of the LCE. LM was down fever and papular rash over his body. His heart dropped when he self diagnosed himself to have small pox (it was not eradicated yet). He rushed to his school master's house in desperation as he knew he would be barred from the exams. On hearing the mention of the word 'small pox', he shooed him away and promised to apply for a refund of his fees. He was told, "Nobody can help you!"
Feeling miserable, he walked home. Somebody suggested he called the Director of Schools, a Mr. Shortland. Armed with courage in his heart and the disappointing thought of having to do a whole years' ironing again to finance his schooling for another year, he pleaded his case with Mr Shortland. "It is not within my jurisdiction" - the first time he heard that word in his life - I guess LM must have used it many times in his adult life later as a barrister.  Feeling pity on the young chap's desperation and pure zest in this young man, Mr Shortland must have told, "Think carefully young boy! We can refund the money before the exam. If you sit for the exam and are not able to complete it at any time, you will forfeit the fees." Mama answered assertively to the affirmative.
Mr Shortland then told him, "Well, it looks like chicken pox. You get admitted and I will make sure that sit for the exams!"
Sure enough, early next morning, a convoy led by the State Medical and Health Officer followed by officers from the State Education Department marched into his quarantined ward. And the first hurdle was crossed...
The next day, the National Echo was screaming with a picture of young boy sitting for the LCE in the confines of the General Hospital. The master who had earlier asked LM to go back home and sit for the exam the following year was seen smiling ear to ear posing in the same picture. In the text, he was relating how he arranged with the State Department for the exams!
On the third day, LM actually collapsed during the test. It was not due to the advancement of the disease but rather due to hypoglycemia after missing breakfast! Everything was okay after a short break of bread and milk! Before he knew it, this trying time was over.
When the examination results were out, much to astonishment, he passed with flying colours (Grade 1 and 2 distinctions). He was jubilant, only saddened by the fact that he could not share his joy with pillar of strength - his deceased mother.
He rushed to Mr Shortland's house to thank him. Mr Shortland smilingly told him, "Son, I knew you could do it. Congratulations!"