Education for the masses. To go or not to go?
There have been several things that have been constantly nagging me from the back of my mind lately. Sad to say, it's been taking a toll on my mental health due to an over-excessive amount of thinking as these thoughts are not of sugar-high unicorns with horribly annoying voices, Korean boy bands or leprechauns with crocks of gold at the end of a rainbow.
One of the things I'd like to bring to light is the education system which is quite frankly, causing a lot of grief for the likes of primary and secondary school students.
After attending a talk today that was conducted by the alumnus of DJ, namely former winner of the Dublin Literary Award, Andrew Loh and co-founder of tinkosong.com Ng Eng Han, I just felt a need to question the education system that is currently in place and its way of working with the so-called Future of the Nation.
Needless to say, I was rather impressed by their vim for the subject matter of continuing one's education further in the USA.
With sentences that were peppered with words like liberal arts philosophy, need-blind admission and the ever-famous Ivy League, I could not help but feel rather...well, intimidated by the very thought of going to America to pursue a tertiary education.
However, at the same time, I felt rather exhilarated just by imagining myself surrounded by students from all over the world, coming together in a single campus in order to pursue their passions and/or to find out what it is they really want out of life by taking different courses at once.
Ah, the freedom a student has in the United States! The joys of tertiary education in the land of the free! How I long for it! How I yearn for the promises that colleges and universities in the United States made to be fulfilled! How I languish for the experience I could gain by leaving this peninsular and never looking back!
How I dream of the financial means and the smarts.
Now, here is where all the doubts come pouring in.
Yes, I am aware that the r i c h colleges are perfectly capable of providing a full tuition to the students who require it with no strings attached.
Sounds too good to be true doesn't it? Sadly, in most cases like these, there is always a catch.
A L W A Y S.
For one, you would have to be academically successful. Two, you would have to be active when it comes to co-curricular activities.
One of the things I'd like to bring to light is the education system which is quite frankly, causing a lot of grief for the likes of primary and secondary school students.
After attending a talk today that was conducted by the alumnus of DJ, namely former winner of the Dublin Literary Award, Andrew Loh and co-founder of tinkosong.com Ng Eng Han, I just felt a need to question the education system that is currently in place and its way of working with the so-called Future of the Nation.
Needless to say, I was rather impressed by their vim for the subject matter of continuing one's education further in the USA.
With sentences that were peppered with words like liberal arts philosophy, need-blind admission and the ever-famous Ivy League, I could not help but feel rather...well, intimidated by the very thought of going to America to pursue a tertiary education.
However, at the same time, I felt rather exhilarated just by imagining myself surrounded by students from all over the world, coming together in a single campus in order to pursue their passions and/or to find out what it is they really want out of life by taking different courses at once.
Ah, the freedom a student has in the United States! The joys of tertiary education in the land of the free! How I long for it! How I yearn for the promises that colleges and universities in the United States made to be fulfilled! How I languish for the experience I could gain by leaving this peninsular and never looking back!
How I dream of the financial means and the smarts.
Now, here is where all the doubts come pouring in.
Yes, I am aware that the r i c h colleges are perfectly capable of providing a full tuition to the students who require it with no strings attached.
Sounds too good to be true doesn't it? Sadly, in most cases like these, there is always a catch.
A L W A Y S.
For one, you would have to be academically successful. Two, you would have to be active when it comes to co-curricular activities.
Do I look like someone who is good at both of that?
Didn't think so.
But, I digress.
The whole idea of pursuing an education in the US is to broaden your horizons. To bring out something in you that you have never known of until now. To help you understand what is it you really want to do for the rest of your life. To gain some extra knowledge concerning a subject that has fascinated you for the longest time ever. A far cry from what's being drilled into us at the moment.
The question of "How many A's did you get?" has been nothing but common ever since our primary school days. Which brings us to a different question, what does having over 4830948603 A's mean in Malaysian society?
I don't really see the point in having 18 A1's. Sure, it paints a rather pretty picture on that little slip of white paper, but with the standards gradually decreasing over the years, I can't help but question the situation.
Thus, race is dragged into this giant mess of a canvas.
Racial discrimination has been constantly tied together when education is brought up (or at least that's what I'd like to think!). We hear more and more stories of Malay students getting more privileges when it comes to well, pretty much everything!
Even before we were born, when Tunku Abdul Rahman signed that piece of paper that would grant us the freedom that we were fighting for, Bumiputras were the ones in charge. Armed with special rights, they were the big kahunas, the Godfathers of our country sans the Italian accent and murderous tendencies, the Zordon to our Power Rangers.
That was a rather immature way of describing it, but you get the drift.
The point of this is that Bumiputras are still the ones who are getting the most privileges and opportunities. So, I really can't blame the Chinese for finding ways to get out of this country and obtaining PR statuses in other countries.
Here is an excerpt concerning various controversy's that involve the Bumi's;
But, that was then and this is now.
Once againd, I digress. Back to the subject of education in the US.
People keep asking me why on earth do I want to pursue my education there? Why not Australia or Singapore?
For one, if you knew me well enough, I have been true to my word of making music the only thing I will ever do in my life. I don't have any backups at this point and I am absolutely certain that I want to go to Williams College of Music. Mainly because it is extremely prestigious and I'm allowed to take a minor. Second, Wang Lee Hom also went there.
You heard me. One of my biggest musical inspirations went there and that's why I want to go there.
Oh, how shallow and obsessed of me.
But, if push comes to shove, Berkelee always makes a great second option.
So, you see how much I want this? How much I want to be able to fulfill my dreams? Dreams that cannot be fulfilled if I stay in this country.
I hate being all philosophical at times like these.
I should be a bimbo. I could so pull it off. I could dye my hair blond and make seafood poses.
OH MY GOD, I BROKE A NAIL.
See? Point proven. :)
I so just invented a word to describe myself.
Bimbo + Philosopher = Bimblosopher.
I'm a freaking genius.
But, I digress.
The whole idea of pursuing an education in the US is to broaden your horizons. To bring out something in you that you have never known of until now. To help you understand what is it you really want to do for the rest of your life. To gain some extra knowledge concerning a subject that has fascinated you for the longest time ever. A far cry from what's being drilled into us at the moment.
The question of "How many A's did you get?" has been nothing but common ever since our primary school days. Which brings us to a different question, what does having over 4830948603 A's mean in Malaysian society?
I don't really see the point in having 18 A1's. Sure, it paints a rather pretty picture on that little slip of white paper, but with the standards gradually decreasing over the years, I can't help but question the situation.
Thus, race is dragged into this giant mess of a canvas.
Racial discrimination has been constantly tied together when education is brought up (or at least that's what I'd like to think!). We hear more and more stories of Malay students getting more privileges when it comes to well, pretty much everything!
Even before we were born, when Tunku Abdul Rahman signed that piece of paper that would grant us the freedom that we were fighting for, Bumiputras were the ones in charge. Armed with special rights, they were the big kahunas, the Godfathers of our country sans the Italian accent and murderous tendencies, the Zordon to our Power Rangers.
That was a rather immature way of describing it, but you get the drift.
The point of this is that Bumiputras are still the ones who are getting the most privileges and opportunities. So, I really can't blame the Chinese for finding ways to get out of this country and obtaining PR statuses in other countries.
Here is an excerpt concerning various controversy's that involve the Bumi's;
In 2004, Mohd. Johari Baharum, parliamentary secretary of the Prime Minister's Department, stated that the PSD scholarships would remain quota based. He added that there were no plans to convert this to a merit based system, and that the total value of the PSD scholarship since 1996 was 2.4 billion Ringgit.[8] There have been reported cases of students who failed to get PSD scholarships, but were later admitted to leading universities.This sure doesn't look like equal rights to me.
In an autobiographical book, "A Malaysian Journey", by Rehman Rashid, the author claims that the teachers are pressured in the universities to give favorable grades to the bumiputra students, even if they have inferior answers compared to the non-bumiputra students. He also suggests that the grants given by private corporations to students may in fact be unofficially earmarked to bumiputra.
But, that was then and this is now.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad has bemoaned the extreme reliance of Bumiputras on their privileges: "We have tried to tell them if you depend on subsidies, you are going to be very weak. But they don’t seem to understand. We tell them if you use crutches, you will not be able to stand up. Throw away the crutches, stand up straight because you still have the capacity. I have talked about this thing and as a doctor I know very well the meaning of crutches but somehow or rather they want the easy way out. If I get an AP and I sell it and make some money, it’s all right, they say."Its about damn time, I say! Thank you for at least attempting to change the way the education system is being run.
Mahathir (who was also education minister previously) also said in 2004 that Malay graduates tend to have low employment rates because "the Chinese graduates choose the right subjects so they are employable. We find that the Malay graduates, especially those from the Malay stream, can’t speak English at all. No matter how much value you put on a certificate, the fact remains that an employer wants somebody with whom he can communicate. The employer is not Malay, he is a foreigner. And if he’s not going to be able to communicate with you, he will not take you."
Furthermore, the Malay students, with Government-issued scholarships and study loans, tend to take up subjects like Syariah Law, Islamic History and other Islam-related subjects. Instead of choosing to learn English and taking up subjects that are of more secular tangible benefits (e.g. Engineering, Medicine, etc.) some have gone to great lengths to further their studies in Middle Eastern countries, learning Arabic in the process. The results of this stunning lack of pragmatism is unfortunate - in June 2006, it was revealed that a batch of 169 students sent to the Al-Azhar University in Cairo had difficulties with the Arabic language, resulting in only 5 students making it through their course.[9] The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had strongly criticized this trend among Malay students to choose "simple subjects" which are worthless in the job market.
The current (2006) Minister of Higher Education, Mustapa Mohamad, has stated that that he wants public universities to recruit more non-bumiputra academic staff in order to "strive for world-class institutions", which may signal a move toward less racial profiling in academia.
Once againd, I digress. Back to the subject of education in the US.
People keep asking me why on earth do I want to pursue my education there? Why not Australia or Singapore?
For one, if you knew me well enough, I have been true to my word of making music the only thing I will ever do in my life. I don't have any backups at this point and I am absolutely certain that I want to go to Williams College of Music. Mainly because it is extremely prestigious and I'm allowed to take a minor. Second, Wang Lee Hom also went there.
You heard me. One of my biggest musical inspirations went there and that's why I want to go there.
Oh, how shallow and obsessed of me.
But, if push comes to shove, Berkelee always makes a great second option.
So, you see how much I want this? How much I want to be able to fulfill my dreams? Dreams that cannot be fulfilled if I stay in this country.
I hate being all philosophical at times like these.
I should be a bimbo. I could so pull it off. I could dye my hair blond and make seafood poses.
OH MY GOD, I BROKE A NAIL.
See? Point proven. :)
I so just invented a word to describe myself.
Bimbo + Philosopher = Bimblosopher.
I'm a freaking genius.
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