tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34203402909262642372024-02-20T18:58:08.376-08:00Razing Borders Educationgarapanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04945556378060992476noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-64989616134038260832008-09-04T08:16:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.722-07:00Our Varsities: Good, Bad & UglyI'm not going to copy and paste the entire article here. But I thought its worth highlighting that one of our resident commentator on this blog, Shawn Tan has put together a group of young Malaysians at Cambridge University to discuss burning issues, the first being the state of our universities published in Malaysiakini.It's unapologetic, it's critical but it's not new. The fact that the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-3820812431256622008-09-04T05:52:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.722-07:0035% of Science and Math teachers lack English proficiencyIs it a surprise that the MOE is considering getting rid of teaching Science and Math in English when 35% of its teachers have a poor command of English? Again, this is one in a long line of bad implementation projects in the education system in Malaysia. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I read this line: The Government, he said, had provided all types of assistance to these teachers toAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-75050453451916023872008-09-04T05:34:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.723-07:00USM - the new Apex universityUSM has been named the Apex University, beating out UM. Among other things, being named as the Apex university will allow USM to have more 'autonomy in finance, service scheme, management, student intake, study fees and determining the top leadership'. I've always had more positive things to say about USM compared to UM partly because I think that the VC there - Dzulkifli Abdul Razak - is more Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-85942970518686259192008-09-02T18:46:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.723-07:00Not sure if I want to receive this Honorary PhDFound this NST advertorial from Lim Kit Siang's blog. I'll reproduce it below and let our readers judge for themselves. Whoever wrote this advertorial should be fired! HONORARY DEGREE AWARD 7TH CONVOCATION CEREMONY UNIVERSITY TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA TO YANG AMAT MULIA RAJA ZARITH SOFIAH BINTI ALMARHUM SULTAN IDRIS AL-MUTAWAKIL ALALLAHI SHAH D.K.II, S.P.M.J., S.P.C.M. Yang Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-26934233049715098142008-08-31T21:02:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.723-07:00Congrats Prof Khalid!Congrats to Prof Khalid Abdul Kadir for being the recipient of the first Merdeka award for Health, Science and Technology. Prof Khalid is the head of the Johor Baru Monash University Clinical School and his area of specialty is the treatment of diabetes. With so much depressing news of politicians seeking bogus PhDs and VCs having lousy CVs, it is good to read about a genuine academic who cares Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-51304084473311685272008-08-29T14:08:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.723-07:00Two years at Harvard Business SchoolJust read a book written by a journalist, Philip Delves Broughton, who attended Harvard Business School or HBS, as it is popularly known, and wrote about his experiences there. It's a much cheaper way to get a sense of what studying at HBS is like and definitely less stressful!There is no doubt that HBS is the most powerful brand name in terms of business schools (sorry Wharton). What I found Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-36180855291205301382008-08-28T21:21:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.723-07:00UM and possibly USM to become Apex Universities?Looks like UM is likely to get designated to be an Apex university which will allow it to get more funding and autonomy and perhaps USM as well. UKM and UPM will not be happy. My sense is that it probably makes more sense to have 2 universities designated as Apex universities so that there will be some level of competition. But without a radical restructuring of how research and teaching and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-52825036234149056532008-08-25T20:59:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.723-07:00HP and AMD scholarshipsHey guys, just got notification of this pretty cool scholarship being offered by HP and AMD. There are three scholarships worth RM25,000 each and as well as a HP notebook. (The last three laptops I've bought have been HPs and they've worked great for me. And no, I'm not being paid by HP to say this.:)) There are no bonds associated with this scholarship and the closing data is Sept 30, 2008. For Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-8054892250989482852008-08-22T08:11:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.723-07:00Bogus PhD confirmedWell, our suspicions have been proven correct. We first highlighted this issue here and Malaysiakini has confirmed it here. The BN candidate for the Permatang Pauh by-election, Arif Shah, was indeed enrolled in a bogus PhD program. Too bad the Malaysiakini article didn't highlight that we first brought it up here, thanks to Sree's sharp eyes. Also, in the same Mkini article, he said that he Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-73975847007204435692008-08-21T08:35:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.723-07:00Why do we go to universityI know that I said that I'll lay of the UiTM issue for a while but I can't help but publish this insightful letter written by Oon Yeoh, my partner in crime for our Malaysiakini Realpolitik podcasts. I've reproduced the letter in full below. Why do we go to university?Oon Yeoh | Aug 19, 08 5:08pmUniversity life seems like an eternity ago and I barely remember any of my professors or the subjects Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-75427874546453400872008-08-20T19:56:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.724-07:00Interested on US Undergraduate Education?Hear from current students and alumni!There's something all of us speaking at this panel have in common. We've had the benefit of an educational philosophy that emphasises more than professional training - an education system that avoids the mass production of cookie-cutter citizens, unlike the universities many other countries. We've enjoyed incredible opportunities to grow as individuals, and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-86859189980555067282008-08-20T13:07:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.724-07:00Banning Noraini's bookI read that Dr. Norani Othman's edited volume "Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism" has been banned by the Home Ministry on the grounds that it 'twisted facts on Islam that can undermine the faith of Muslims'. This is a bunch of crock. I know Norani professional and personally. I contributed a couple of articles in a recent book entitled 'Elections and Democracy in Malaysia' whichAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-34750873556134253022008-08-20T10:00:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.724-07:00UUCA - Innocent Until Proven Guilty?I have written earlier on the constitutionality as well as enforceability of the University and University Colleges Act amendments.While UUCA decriminalised offences, i.e., students who breached its laws are no longer subjected to court action and be punishable by fines or jail sentences, they are still subjected to university disciplinary hearings, which may or may not be more fair.At the same Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-54605328404370056632008-08-19T09:21:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.724-07:00UUCA - UnenforceableThe second point with regards to my speech on the amendments to the University and University Colleges Act has to do with their enforceability. There's really no point putting up laws which are impossible to enforce or are meaningless in nature. Unless of course, the laws are meant to be used selectively to prosecute only those who goes againts the wishes of the vested interest parties.Tuan YangAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-90417413356383852902008-08-18T09:45:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.724-07:00UUCA - ConstitutionalityThe Act to amend the University and University Collges Act 1971 will be tabled either at the end of this week or early next week for debate in Parliament. I will leading the team from DAP to debate on this act. Each of us will probably get approximately 20 minutes to debate the issue, maybe less depending on total time allocated to debate the bill.Our key objective is to have the bill postponedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-30782519185301773512008-08-17T20:43:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.724-07:00UiTM - The Political AngleThis will be the last post I will make on the UiTM issue unless something new crops up. In a piece written by myself and Oon Yeoh in Malaysiakini, as part of our regular Realpolitik podcasts, we examine the political angle of Khalid's statements. Selangor MB's unnecessary honestyOng Kian Ming & Oon Yeoh | Aug 16, 08 10:39amSometimes, politicians make remarks which are calculated to win over Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-40487761975589920672008-08-15T18:48:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.724-07:00Spotlight on UiTM - The IssuesAfter focusing on the UiTM VC previously, I want to touch on the issues highlighted by this recent controversy. Let's step away from the politics of the statement and examine the its implications. If the VC and some of the UiTM students want to maintain UiTM as a mono-ethnic institution, then they have to consider the following. They should abandon any pretense of trying to achieve a 'world classAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-88364877002399462972008-08-14T07:16:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.725-07:00Fake Degree in Permatang Pauh?Thanks Sree for pointing this out to me. Disclaimer first: I am not commenting on the record of political service of the BN candidate in the upcoming by election in Permatang Pauh - Arif Shah Oman Shah. I am merely pointing out his academic credentials, which were listed in the Star recently. It says that he has a Diploma in Civil Engineering (no university / college given) and that he's Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-46324365166574403442008-08-12T08:14:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.725-07:00Spotlight on UiTM VCAfter reading about UiTM students protesting against the Selangor MB's proposal to open up 10% of the places at UiTM to non-Malays, I decided to do a bit of 'investigative reporting' on UiTM. Initially I wanted to write about the philosophy of UiTM and how it might or might not be compatible with allowing non-Malays into UiTM. I'll write about this in part II of this spotlight but for Part I, I Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-59334354214019214092008-08-11T15:37:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.725-07:00Closing in on those with fake degreesRead this piece in the Straits Times concerning the crackdown on fake degrees not only on the part of foreigners in Singapore but also among Singaporeans as well. One of the companies which does investigations into fake degrees, IntegraScreen, has an office in Penang. With the penchant for shortcuts to get degrees, I think they should be doing pretty well. Hundreds with fake degrees nabbed 10 Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-55795899444451922982008-08-11T15:29:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.725-07:00Update on ManipalAn update on an earlier story concerning medical degrees from Manipal.It's good that MMC has issued a clarification on this issue. The worst position to be in is that of the Malaysian students who are currently studying there and in the Melaka Manipal Medical College and also those who are planning to go there in the near future. Perhaps the Melaka Manipal Medical College should consider 'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-73531063415106117442008-08-09T11:54:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.725-07:00NST piece on the UUCA amendmentsGood NST piece on the UUCA amendments. One of the posts from this blog was quoted. OPINION: 'Superficial' changes to UUCA Bill criticisedYONG HUEY JIUNThe highly anticipated Universities and University Colleges Act (Amendment) Bill has generated much interest among academics and varsity students alike since it was tabled in Parliament on July 16. YONG HUEY JIUN examines the core issuesSTUDENT Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-2113586382924089692008-08-07T19:40:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.725-07:00I'm "BODOH", it seemsI sent a previous post on the UUCA as a letter to Malaysiakini. Apparently, someone took it seriously (other than no name) and called me the most "BODOH" citizen in Malaysia and said that my mother should have been banned from giving birth to me. I don't hold anything against EC for not getting satire but instead I applaud him for feeling incensed that someone would actually think like this. I'm Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-41121341079223236612008-08-07T19:30:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.725-07:00Manipal degrees no longer recognizedLooks like the Medical Council of India (MCI), the equivalent of the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), will no longer recognize medical degrees from the Manipal University. This is bad news for Malaysians since this is a popular destination for Malaysians who want to study medicine. In addition, there is a twinning program between Manipal University and the Melaka Manipal Medical College, which Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420340290926264237.post-80263509128913027412008-08-07T14:42:00.000-07:002012-05-11T22:49:23.725-07:00UUC more permissive : An alternative viewA different take on the changes to the UUCA by Prof Faruqi. He argues that there have been significant changes made to the UUCA. Trusting students with freedomsREFLECTING ON THE LAWBy SHAD SALEEM FARUQIThe spirit of the law is one of evolutionary change towards more open, free and democratic campuses.AFTER a gestation period of nearly two years, the long-awaited amendments to The Universities andAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com0