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Public Forum : JPA Scholarships – Seeking A Fair & Equitable Policy

Watch live video from DAP Malaysia on Justin.tv

JPA Scholarships – Seeking A Fair & Equitable Policy
Venue: KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (MAP)
Date: 19th May 2009 (Tuesday)
Time: 8.00 pm

Live webcast : http://tv.dapmalaysia.org

The panellists will include:

  • Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor,
  • Anthony Loke Siew Fook, MP for Rasah and DAPSY Chief,
  • Tony Pua, MP for Petaling Jaya Utara,
  • Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, PAS Research Centre Director and MP for Kuala Selangor
  • Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Selangor ADUN for Seri Setia

Dr Goh Cheng Teik, eminent academic, former deputy minister and interviewer for Harvard University admission programme in Malaysia will also be a special guest for the evening.

In addition, for students and scholars who are not able to make it for the forum (e.g., if you are overseas or if you live outstation, you are welcome to submit written submissions to the panel. Please write to: dapscholarship (at) rocketmail (dot) com.

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Anifah broke new ground as Foreign Minister – admit internationally Najib’s credibility problem because of Mongolian C4 murder case

New Foreign Minister, Datuk Anifah Aman broke new ground when he admitted internationally the credibility problem faced by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak because of the Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu C4 murder case but he failed to bring it to a closure.

It was remarkable that Anifah raised the subject although he was not specifically asked about the Mongolian murder case in his joint press conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Friday, as the question posed to him was for his comment on Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim facing another sodomy trial, starting from July 1 and fixed for 24 days, which the US State Department in the annual human rights report described as “politically motivated”.

Apart from declaring “utmost faith in our judicial system”, Anifah launched into a political attack on Anwar. Anwar had responded to it through his lawyers.

What interests me is that without being asked specifically, Anifah raised the Altantuya Shaariibuu C4 murder case, yet failing to address the host of serious questions and allegations haunting and hounding Najib about his involvement in the murder case.
Continue reading “Anifah broke new ground as Foreign Minister – admit internationally Najib’s credibility problem because of Mongolian C4 murder case”

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PSD scholarship awards – noon meeting with Ismail Adam scheduled

A noon meeting with the Public Services Department Director-General Tan Sri Ismail Adam in Putrajaya has been scheduled on the subject of another round of injustices in the PSD scholarship awards, out of line with the “1Malaysia” slogan of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The subject has provoked national debate and soul-searching. I reproduce three emails below: Continue reading “PSD scholarship awards – noon meeting with Ismail Adam scheduled”

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Enhance, Not Review the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English

by M. Bakri Musa

Minister of Education Muhyuddin Yassin is doing our nation a great disservice in further delaying the critical decision on the of teaching science and mathematics in English (TSME, or its Malay acronym, PPSMI –Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik Dalam Bahasa Inggeris) in our schools. His indecision merely compounds the uncertainty, especially among educators, parents and students.

What he should be doing instead is to explore ways of enhancing the implementation of the policy, not review it. He should be focusing on finding ways to get more competent teachers, explore innovative teaching techniques, and provide inexpensive textbooks. He should also be busy eliminating such expensive but ineffective teaching gimmicks as the “computerized teaching modules” with their laptops and LCDs that our teachers are unable to handle. Those machines are now either stolen or crashed because of viruses and dust.

The conditions of our students today have not changed from 2003 when the policy was first introduced. If any they are worse. Whatever the rationale was for adopting the policy back in 2003, it is still very much valid today.

Today’s many critics of the policy are latecomers. Where were they when the policy was first mooted six years ago? These critics have yet to answer the basic question on whether the policy itself is flawed or that the deficiencies are with its implementation. They are unable to answer this important question as they are entirely confused over the issue. Their opposition is based more on emotions rather than rational thinking. Continue reading “Enhance, Not Review the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English”

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Why is Zambry getting ‘special treatment’?

(When I spoke at the public forum “From May 13 to 1Malaysia – The Future of Malaysian Nation Building” at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre on Wednesday, 13th May 2009, I had posed two questions, viz:

1. Why the Court of Appeal could fast-track to hear within three hours Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir’s application for “stay” of Justice Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim’s landmark judgment delivered on 11th May that Nizar was the lawful Perak Mentri Besar and grant it in another hour; while it was snail-pace in needing five days to hear Datuk Seri Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin’s application to discharge Zambry’s “stay”; and

2. Whether Malaysians can expect justice in cases involving top Umno leaders when there is an Umno Chief Justice, Tan Sri Zaki Azmi?

This proved to be an understatement, as last Friday, it was announced that Nizar’s application to set aside the stay order, filed on 13th May, was postponed from May 18 to May 21 – the hearing date for Zambry’s appeal.

Zambry required less than three hours after filing his application to get a single-judge Court of Appeal to hear his “stay” request, while Nazry requires eight (from the earlier five) days to get his application to discharge the “stay” order heard.

Is this justice.

No wonder Leong Cheok Keng, Nizar’s solicitors, raised a very pertinent question in his six-point statement below, framed by Malaysiakini as “Why is Zambry getting ‘special treatment’?”: Continue reading “Why is Zambry getting ‘special treatment’?”