Day: December 18, 2012

By Stanley Koh | December 18, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

In 1995, when DAP suffered the worst electoral defeat in its history, pundits and other soothsayers lost no time in predicting the demise of the then 30-year-old social-democratic party.

Even Lim Kit Siang could not hide the tinge of despair in his heart. “Reform or die,” he told his party.

As it turned out, the supremo’s call rang out clear and loud among the party faithful. A year later, at their national congress, delegates endorsed a thorough review of the party’s political strategies. This resulted, among other things, in the recruitment of some 800 young professionals to help carry out the political renewal.
Continue reading “DAP polls a bitter pill for rivals”

I really do not know whether to laugh or to cry – the standard of English in Malaysia has really fallen to a disgraceful and abysmal low after four decades of Umno/BN rule.

Last week, Malaysia suffered national and international humiliation when the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study ( TIMSS) 2011 reports were released, as the nation’s ranking in eighth-grade Maths fell from 20th in 2007 to 26th in 2011 while its ranking in Science fell by an even greater margin, from 21st in 2007 to 32nd in 2011. Our average Maths score fell from 474 in 2007 to 440 and our average Science score fell by an even greater degree from 471 in 2007 to 426 in 2011, both far below the international average for both subjects in TIMSS 2011.

What is even worse, Malaysia also suffered the shame of being only one out of 6 countries out of 42 countries participating in the Maths study and 45 countries participating in the Science study to see falls in both our Maths and Science scores and ranking! Most of the other countries either improved their scores and rankings or stayed at their previous levels.

But the poor attainments of our students in maths and science when compared to international student achievements is not the only bane of the Malaysian education system.

Another equally critical area where the Malaysian education system has failed miserably is the English subject, which was poignantly illustrated in the past 24 hours, placing me in the position of not knowing whether to laugh or to cry. Continue reading “I do not know whether to laugh or to cry – the standard of English in Malaysia has really fallen to disgraceful and abysmal low after four decades of Umno/BN rule.”