Selasa, 18 Januari 2011

Kopitiam Bang Nan

Kopitiam Bang Nan

Actually..hmmm...Khusrin is bad for economy...hehe!!

Posted: 18 Jan 2011 06:56 AM PST

Poor English skills bad for economy
NEWS/COMMENTARIES
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
By Stephanie Sta Maria, Free Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR: A nation's economy is only as good as its education system. So powerful is education that even the subtlest tweak has the propensity to either elevate or relegate a nation on the global stage.

Policy-makers therefore tread with great care when proposing policy amendments, acutely aware of the staggering impact their decisions would have on the country's future.

Malaysia's policy-makers, however, appeared to have lacked this attention to detail when deciding to reverse the teaching and learning of Science and Maths in English (PPSMI). And that move has placed Malaysia's economy on shaky ground.

Cheong Kee Cheok, a Senior Research Fellow with the Faculty of Economics in Universiti Malaya, expressed grave concern over the system's failure to produce the human resources needed to propel the country forward. And this, he warned, would severely cripple the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Malaysia.

"One of the benefits a country reaps from FDI is the acquisition of technology," he said. "But we can only acquire it if we speak the language of technology, which is English. Unfortunately, we are losing out to the Thais, Vietnamese and Chinese in our ability to communicate in English."

"We have enjoyed FDI for 30 years but what technology have we acquired? To a certain extent, piracy is a key indicator of a country's technological prowess. China is able to pirate almost anything whereas our piracy is limited to DVDs."

The inability of a nation to acquire a certain strength leaves it no choice but to be dependent on other nations. This stagnancy will gradually reduce its competitiveness and eventually ease it out of the economic supply chain altogether.

"Our lack of technological expertise will dissuade technologically capable industries from investing in Malaysia," Cheong said. "Right now we are still locked in a supply chain but our position will shift as other nations become better."

Fear of backlash

Another professor, who declined to be named for fear of backlash from the Education Ministry, revealed two other flaws in the education system. Both are related to the Public Service Department scholarships.

The first flaw, she said, was a shortage of scholarships for physical sciences. The second – and more alarming – flaw was that these scholarships were being awarded to students who either didn't have the aptitude or the interest to pursue a career in physical sciences.

"Malaysia produces less than 20% of physical science graduates," she stated. "Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and China produce 30% to 40%, which increases their preponderance for acquiring technology."

"And because most of our graduates weren't interested in physical sciences in the first place, they carve careers in other industries upon graduation, which further dilutes our already limited resource pool."

She blamed the political powers for handicapping the country by using its education system as a political tool, especially in the PPSMI reversal.

Pointing to Vietnam and China as examples of governments with foresight, she said that both countries had each launched an all-English government university.

"Their governments recognised English as an international language, not a colonial one," she emphasised. "And they essentially told their people that if they didn't like it, then they didn't have to come. But that opportunity was there for those who did want it."

"Malaysia has a myopic vision. We look inwardly to see how fast we have improved without taking into account how our competitors are faring. Our education system is not producing people who can think, which is fundamental to a country's growth."

But it is not just the science and technology industries that are suffering the butterfly effect of the PPSMI reversal. Even the food industry is fearing for its future in the global market.

English terms

At a recent public forum organised in support of PPSMI, an entrepreneur who only wanted to be known as Mazidah related the struggle she faced in her food-processing business.

"Our previous interns weren't exposed to Science and Maths in English and had problems understanding industry terminologies," she recalled.

"Their working papers were downright embarrassing. I recently found out that many have opted not to pursue a career in the food industry after all because they can't cope with the English terms."

Willing buyer willing seller...temberang punya jawa!!

Posted: 18 Jan 2011 06:50 AM PST


'Seller of Khir's mansion got RM273 mil in projects'

Companies owned by Shamsuddin Hayroni, who was jointly charged with graft with former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, received projects worth a whopping RM273 million during the period BN ruled the state.

The startling revelation was made by the current menteri besar's political secretary, Faekah Husin, in a statement today.

Faekah said that the state exco on Dec 16 decided to reveal details on the projects awarded to Shamsuddin's companies to absolve the current administration of any links to the businessman.

According to the statement, five multi-million ringgit projects were awarded to a company called Majulia Sdn Bhd.

A breakdown of the projects is as follows:

•Construction of phase one of the civil servants quarters in Section 16, Shah Alam (RM22.9 million),
•Construction of phase two of the civil servants quarters in Section 16, Shah Alam (RM61 million),
•Proposal to design, construct and complete the Selangor Maju Library (RM71.08 million),
•Proposal to construct and complete the road from Simpang B15/B11 in the Sepang district (RM73.75 million), and
•Proposal for a stadium project, electric substation, two chambers and one sewerage facility at the sports complex in Dengkil (RM15 million).
Two other projects were awarded to two companies through privatisation.

Getrahomd Sdn Bhd was said to have received a privatisation project worth RM16 million in 2000 for a commercial project on a 134.57 acre piece of land in Dengkil.

Kanasutra Sdn Bhd was awarded a project for the development of a housing and commercial project, also in Dengkil, in 2005 worth RM14 million.

However, Kanasutra's project was withdrawn by the state exco on Jan 27, 2010.

'Helping investigators'

Faekah said that the state administration hopes that this information will help the authorities in their investigation.

"This information is revealed to ensure that the state government and civil servants are not linked to the trial of Khir and Shamsuddin.

"This is also in line with the state administration's principle of accountability and responsibility, as promoted by Pakatan Rakyat," she said.

On Dec 6, Khir and Shamsuddin were jointly charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code with bribery involving two plots of land in Section 7, Shah Alam.

Khir was alleged to have bought the land from Shamsuddin at a heavily discounted price. This was regarded as a form of gratification.

Shamsuddin faces an additional charge for abetting Khir.

Khir's mansion currently sits on the land. His ownership of the mansion first turned into a controversy when Sekinchan state assemblyperson Ng Suee Lim claimed that the property was beyond Khir's means.

Ng also alleged that the Shamsuddin is Khir's buddy.

Khir had denied the allegations and claimed that the land deal was done on a "willing buyer willing seller" basis

Pariah....

Posted: 18 Jan 2011 12:52 AM PST


Aku tak baca buku Interlok. Tapi yang aku dengar ia kecuh sebab di dalamnya ada terkandung perkataan "pariah."

Marah bebeno masyarakat India dengan perkataan pariah sekarang ni.

Hairan bin ajaib kenapa jadi begitu?

Sedangkan dalam Wikipedia ataupun kamus dewan memang ada perkataan itu...

Sejarahpun membuktikan kasta pariah ni memang wujud. Takkan nak dipadam sejarah tu dei...?

Cumanya teman nak cakap...pariah tak pariah sesuatu bangsa atau seseorang itu bergantung kepada conduct bangsa atau individual itu sendiri.

Kalau rasuah, pariahlah dia.

Kalau merogol amahnya sendiri, pariahlah dia.

Kalau membunuh nona Monggolia, pariahlah dia.

Kalau menipu orang Felda, pariahlah dia.

Tetapi yang bestnya ini....

Kalau RELA ditipu....pariahlah mereka. He he...

Nasihat aku....tak payahlah payah2 nak padam sejarah...sejarah akan tercatit sendiri samada kita ni pariah ataupun tidak!!

Najib: Saya bukan takut bini....hmm...bini saya tak takut saya!! He he...

Posted: 17 Jan 2011 11:41 PM PST

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak berkata beliau tidak gentar untuk berdebat dengan Ketua Umum PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, tetapi ketua pembangkang itu terlebih dahulu perlu 'menyelesaikan masalah peribadinya', khususnya tuduhan liwat sebelum campur tangan dengan urusan lain.

"Kenapa saya harus takut berdebat dengannya? Saya adalah perdana menteri. Saya ada semua maklumat. Kalau saya dedahkannya... adoi... dia akan demam," perli Najib sambil disambut gelak ketawa oleh lebih 7,000 peneroka di Felda Chemplak, Tenang hari ini.

"Perlukah saya berdebat dengannya? Tanya Najib dan kali ini disambut dengan jeritan "tidar" oleh para hadirin.

Anwar mencabar Najib supaya berdebat dengannya apabila perdana menteri memperlekehkan rancangan reform 100 hari Pakatan Rakyat yang dijadual dilaksanakan sekiranya mereka menawan Putrajaya.

Najib juga menafikan dakwaan kerajaan merancang memerangkap Anwar dengan menjadi dalang dalam kes liwat II yang membabitkan bekas timbalan perdana menteri itu.

"Bukan kerajaan yang membuat laporan polis. Saiful yang membuat laporan itu," katanya merujuk kepada pengadu kes berkenaan Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

"Anwar kata Saiful adalah budak pembancuh teh. Saya tidak tahu jenis teh yang dihidangkan. Mungkin the jenis khas," kata Najib yang berkias dan sekali lagi disambut gelak ketawa hadirin.

"Ini adalah masalah peribadi. Dia ada masalah peribadi. Tolong selesaikan masalah peribadi anda sebelum membuat perkara lain," kata Najib.
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