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While Putrajaya spends, now Malaysian universities not even in Times rankings

by Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
October 03, 2013

Although Putrajaya continues to spend billions on education, Malaysian universities are not benefitting from it. If it’s any indication, for the third year running Malaysian universities have failed to feature in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Meanwhile, universities in Thailand and Singapore continue to track higher as shown in the 2013-14 Times survey.

Last year alone Putrajaya allocated RM38.7 billion in its budget for education, with emphasis on improving quality and standards.

One of Putrajaya’s goals is also to make Malaysia an education hub for the region and attract some 200,000 students to local universities by 2020.

But these latest rankings show that for all the money spent and all of Putrajaya’s efforts, Malaysia’s institutions of higher learning are falling behind. Continue reading “While Putrajaya spends, now Malaysian universities not even in Times rankings”

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Former sports minister denies Khairy’s statement, says concert fee came from sponsors

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (18)
The Malaysian Insider
October 03, 2013

A day after Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin admitted that his ministry had paid RM1.6 million to bring three K-pop groups to Malaysia for a youth concert last year, his predecessor is insisting that the money did come from sponsors.

Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, in direct contradiction to Khairy’s statement, claimed the ministry had received RM20 million from domestic and foreign corporate sponsors for the event.

He said the money was banked into the National Sports Council’s account by the sponsors, which the auditor-general’s department had failed to take into account.

“The auditors only looked at the amount that came out of the ministry’s account,” he reportedly wrote in his Facebook posting, and called the department “culas” (not diligent).

“It was not taxpayers’ money that was wasted as alleged by the opposition based on the summary contained in the auditor-general’s report,” Ahmad Shabery added. Continue reading “Former sports minister denies Khairy’s statement, says concert fee came from sponsors”

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Memugar sokongan di negeri Melayu

A Shukur Harun
The Malaysian Insider
October 01, 2013

Kenyataan yang dibuat oleh Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng bahawa sokongan pengundi Melayu kepada Umno/BN dalam PRU yang lalu telah merosot di empat negeri, memberi makna yang besar kepada dinamika politik negara ini di masa depan.

Dalam ucapannya di Kongres Khas Kebangsaan DAP bagi pemilihan semula pucuk pimpinan parti itu di Petaling Jaya kelmarin, Lim menyatakan bahawa sokongan undi Melayu kepada Umno/BN telah merosot, iaitu lebih dari 3% di Terengganu dan Perlis sementara 1% di Pahang dan Pulau Pinang.

Ini berlaku, kata Lim, walaupun Umno/BN mempunyai sumber kewangan yang banyak, mengawal media, meniupkan semangat perkauman dan lain-lain, tetapi undinya tetap merosot.

Kenyataannya ini yang tentunya datang dari hasil kajian partinya membuktikan bahawa politik di negara ini sangat dinamik sifatnya. Ia tidak statis atau beku, tetapi pantas berubah. Oleh itu, siapapun, baik pemimpin dan pendukung parti politik dalam Pakatan Rakyat serta individu yang berminat politik memikirkan dinamika politik ini.

Walaupun perubahan di empat negeri itu kecil saja kelihatannya seperti yang disebut oleh Lim, tetapi sudah ada “gegaran” di kalangan pengundi Melayu walaupun bersekala kecil. Boleh jadi dalam PRU akan datang, “gegaran” itu akan bertambah besar. Continue reading “Memugar sokongan di negeri Melayu”