Cold War and Frozen Minds

There should be an intellectual renaissance to open up and liberate the minds of students, and this should start in the universities, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“Our education system must chan­ge. Our children are just not curious enough. They must be curious about the world. They must ask questions,” the Deputy Prime Minis­­ter said.
He cited a question at his daughter’s university that asked if the Cold War had ended, a question which even he would have difficulty answering.

The Star, Nov 14, 2008

So at last someone's talking about that huh? Then, walk the talk. Make sure we're not penalize when we speak up. You can have liberalized mind just for academic purposes can you? To be liberalized, I believe, is to be able to see things in perspective and not be biased towards the crowd favourite. We shouldn't be cowed into accepting completely/blindly policies and implementations by the government right? Then the AUKU must go. Or if it's not possible (never will be), then review it.

To be curious about the world eh? Are you people in Putrajaya ready to answer our queries and satisfy our curious minds? Are you ready for criticism or will you use the ISA? If you speak of liberalization, it's more than just for academic purposes. Can you open up the market and expect international traders not to influence the Ringgit?

As I suspected, even if this liberalization do occur, it'll be nothing more than a partial one. Half-hearted. Lukewarm.

Allow me to digress to ponder on an interesting question. Has the Cold War ended? I'd say yes since the collapse of the Soviet Union but judging from today's events, the tension is always present. North Korea, Iran, China, India, and now US-Eastern Europe-Russia. The latter being attributed to the proposal to set up a missile defence installation to be placed in Eastern Europe (Poland and Czech Republic). The Russian responded that they'd take some sort of military action if it goes ahead. The Cold War has ended but even so, there's always tension between the two. Although the active espionage, propaganda, military coalition, and weapons development activities that marked the Cold War era are absent, there are some going on below the radar. Everyone today is racing to be superior in economy and a recognized military might.

Coming back, I tend to agree with Datuk Seri that the education system here is merely for the sake of passing exam. It's normal to hear sophomore student saying, "I studied that before but forget already". No one bothered to look up anything other than the ones involved directly in an assignment to get the highest grade. Sometimes, the lecturers' response killed any remnant interests left for a subject. They'd say, "Can't you understand my language?" or "Go and find out". The latter is understandable but not each time they're asked a question. Maybe they're like us too - difficulty in answering.

Then there're talks that English in Science and Math may be scrapped. Just because they haven't got the hang of it? Remove the crutches if we'd want to see Malaysia emerge a strong nation. But after 50 years, we're still lagging aren't we?

Of exams and expectations

Sipping the freshly prepared soybean milk and sitting on the couch after a scrumptious dinner felt so good. And better still, the 8pm news has just begun...

I was, instead, served with a tragic event that made me lose interest in mum’s soybean. A UPSR candidate has committed suicide after failing one of her Bahasa papers. Only a day earlier, I stumbled upon a picture of a few girls so elated with their strings of alpha. Happy. Jubilant. Fists raised high. Countenance frozen in time, all screaming out: WE DID IT. So what?

It’s just another public exam where they test you on how good your memories are and how you’d be able to put those words in line correctly although they know exactly what you’re trying to convey. I got a C for writing and go on to (always, I may add) obtain above 75 during my secondary years.

The deceased’s parents looked like very nice folks; just like mine, where they tell you to study hard but hey, no problem if you didn’t do that well. After all, we’re not waiting for you to put food on the table.

During my days in the 90s, I begin to see most of my peers going for tuition classes and today, it’s an absolute necessity; or so it appears. Parents aside, students are putting tremendous amount of pressure on themselves to score high since failing isn’t an option. It’s scary to think that these fellows don’t understand their own ability and hence the impossible targets that they started to push themselves a tad too much over the edge.

It’s just Bahasa Malaysia. Never mind if you didn’t pass. All schools are regulated by the Education Ministry, boys and girls. Don’t be fooled into thinking that if you enter into a better school (so to speak) then you’ll be a great achiever in the near future. Put a lazy teacher into the best school and see what happens. Yes, students will then go to tuition centres. Bah!

Test scores (and results) are not the only yardstick to do determine such standards. A school, I believe, will be the best school if it: teach students how to value themselves, instill morality in them, is a safe place to learn and grow, and produces respectful students. Not the school with the most computers, biggest libraries, a legacy of record-breaking Alpha achievers.

I’m not a sour grape and though I’m not an Alpha Leaguer, I think I produce better quality works than my peers here in varsity. It doesn’t matter what you get. It doesn’t matter how bad you results are. It absolutely doesn’t matter what your peers think; as long as you’re able to understand that each person have his or her strength and limitations and strive to be a useful person.

Oh, it doesn’t matter if major exams are abolished or not since students now are trained to learn by rote and not trained to think. Whether there be exams or not, unless the education system changes, we’ll still get the same products. Follow this LINK if you have the time.

My heart goes out to the family of Subashini Sivakumar.