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Putrajaya, the days of censorship are over

Malaysiakini Your Say | Jul 20, 11

‘Is this where our indelible ink from March 2008 went, to black out a report on clean elections rally? Shameful and pathetic.’

Economist report on Bersih rally ‘censored’

Lynn: Other than the obvious stupidity of blatant censoring, this also shows how bloated the civil service is – to have people on payroll sitting around manually blacking out thousands of copies of The Economist. What a waste of time and typical of the inefficiencies of our government today.

Jaguh: These cowardly acts indicate shallow thinking. Whoever suggested it has no brains. There is the Internet. This really reflects on the whole cabinet (they all should be in a ‘cabinet’) and frankly, compared to other countries, they have no class, no standards and no morals. A change is imminent.
Continue reading “Putrajaya, the days of censorship are over”

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The MIT factor: celebrating 150 years of maverick genius

By Ed Pilkington | Wednesday 18 May 2011
The Guardian

Yo-Yo Ma’s cello may not be the obvious starting point for a journey into one of the world’s great universities. But, as you quickly realise when you step inside the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), there’s precious little about the place that is obvious.

The cello is resting in a corner of MIT’s celebrated media lab, a hub of techy creativity. There’s a British red telephone kiosk standing in the middle of one of its laboratories, while another room is signposted: “Lego learning lab – Lifelong kindergarten.”
Continue reading “The MIT factor: celebrating 150 years of maverick genius”

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Malaysian universities improve ranking on Asian scale

By Boo Su-Lyn
The Malaysian Insider
May 23, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — Six out of seven Malaysian universities improved their ranking on the QS Asian University Rankings this year, with Universiti Malaya (UM) climbing three spots to 39th.

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) also jumped 20 slots to 57th out of 200 Asian universities.

No Malaysian university entered the top 10 ranks while the National University of Singapore (NUS) retained its third place.

QS also said in a statement the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) knocked the University of Hong Kong down to the second spot.

The global higher education information specialist noted that Malaysia had seven universities in the top 200 Asian universities compared to Thailand’s nine and Indonesia’s eight.

Japan was the best-represented nation with five universities in the top 10 ranks and 57 in the top 200.

In contrast, China had 40, South Korea 35, Taiwan 16, India 11, and Hong Kong had seven universities in the top 200 Asian institutions. Continue reading “Malaysian universities improve ranking on Asian scale”

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Fools No More, They’re Breaking Out

By Kee Thuan Chye   
 
MALAYSIAN university students must surely realize that they have more power now than they have ever had in the last four decades. This accounts for their robust participation in politics in recent days. Not only in university campuses, but also in the public sphere.
 
Suppressed for so long by the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA), introduced in 1971 because the ruling party feared the rise of student activism, today’s students are breaking out.
 
The political landscape that emerged from the March 8 phenomenon has no doubt been an encouraging factor. Inspired by the aspiration of a more politically aware rakyat demanding greater democracy, students have been challenging university and government authorities by taking part in political activities they are banned from doing so by the draconian UUCA. Continue reading “Fools No More, They’re Breaking Out”

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Budget 2011 : Malaysia towards a failed state and bankrupt nation 2019

2011 Budget not a child of New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited Mahathirish policies (Part 1 of 5)

On Monday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

It was also the start of a week which saw the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) suffering a triple blow.

The first blow was Monday’s tabling in Parliament of the 2009 Auditor-General’s Reports which continues to be annual tale of horrors of waste, mismanagement, misuse of public funds and corruption – as highlighted by headlines like:

  • Federal government debt hits five-year high;

  • KTMB mired in RM1.45 billion debt;

  • Only 18.2% of pupils bring free eBooks to school;

  • Stimulus funds used for chandeliers, home theatre, government audit shows;

  • PTPTN to face whopping RM46 bil deficit;

  • PTPTN okayed RM23 mil to students who didn’t apply;

  • Million-ringgit scanner stuck in KLIA, under-utilisation woes;

  • ‘Sandwich kosong’ for school kids, sardines missing.

Continue reading “Budget 2011 : Malaysia towards a failed state and bankrupt nation 2019”

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Why should MCA interfere with Utar?

by NH Chan
Centre for Policy Initiatives
06 October 2010

Human nature is such that there are two kinds of human behaviour when it comes to charity – the pretentious and the altruistic donor. I have always doubted the sincerity of those who give to charity by proclaiming it under the flashbulbs of press photographers. In these amusing photo ops, you see the donors posing with an enormous mock cheque to emphasize the size of the donation. If you’re truly charitable, why not dispense with the fanfare and write the amount on a normal cheque?

Having said this, I can now tell you about the truly altruistic gesture of philanthropist Koon Yew Yin. He made an offer of RM30 million, quite gratuitously, for the building of hostels for University Tunku Abdul Raman (Utar) students in Kampar.

Ever since the university was founded, its students have had to find their own accommodation outside campus. In many cases, they have to pay exorbitant rents far beyond the means of poor or even middle- class students.

The generosity of Koon was brought to my attention by the unflattering headline ‘Tycoon wanted seat on council’ in theSun (Sept 3, 2010). The article’s sub-headline was ‘Koon also wanted Utar residential village named after him, says MCA division chief’.

The MCA division chief in question, Ipoh Timur’s Thong Fah Chong, had said Koon’s requests were not acceptable as they had “exceeded the university’s jurisdiction and [could be] deemed an interference in the management of the university”. Thong added that hostels could not be named at one’s whim and fancy.

In his immediate response, Koon countered that although it was correct that while the facility was to be named after him, what he had specified was that the hostel blocks should be named after the fundamental rights such as Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Freedom, or the qualities of integrity such as honesty, justice, etc.

Koon also categorically denied he had ever requested a seat on the Utar council, clarifying instead that he had agreed to Utar’s counter-proposal for a task force to oversee the construction of the hostels.

He said his requests, including for a seven-man task force (four from Utar and three to be nominated by him) to oversee the construction of the hostels, and for all construction contracts exceeding RM10,000 to be open to competitive tenders, were to ensure everything was done in the interest of the students. He said it was not meant to interfere with the management of the university. Continue reading “Why should MCA interfere with Utar?”

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RM30m for UTAR not taken up

By Teoh El Sen
Free Malaysia Today
SAT, 25 SEP 2010

PETALING JAYA: In August 2009, philanthropist Koon Yew Yin offered to donate RM30 million to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) to build hostels with recreational facilities at its Kampar campus in Perak.

But there has been no response from Utar to the generous gesture. Koon, 77, then withdrew his offer on Sept 12, this year.

However, on Sept 13, Utar’s board of trustees and council said it did not accept the RM30 million donation because of the “many conditions (imposed) such as setting up a foundation where he (Koon) will be chairman and be in full control over the spending of his money”.

Then on Sept 14, Utar issued a statement saying it did not turn down Koon’s offer but was still discussing it.

But Koon, who called for a press conference here yesterday, rubbished the claim he wanted to exercise full control over his money.

“Ever since I made my written RM30 million donation offer on Aug 18 last year, the Utar authorities have been using various means to delay accepting my offer. Now they have informed the public that the delay is because I want full control over the spending of my money,” said Koon.

“This is factually incorrect and misleading. Even if I had wanted control, common sense would dictate that I should have some control. But I did not say that,” he said. Continue reading “RM30m for UTAR not taken up”

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Malaysian universities falling out of top 200 universities in QS World University Rankings 2010 latest proof that Najib’s NEM are just empty words lacking political will and leadership necessary to effect Malaysia’s economic transformation

Malaysian universities have again fallen out of the top 200 universities in the latest QS World University Rankings 2010, with University of Malaya falling from last year’s ranking of 180 to 207.

This is the latest proof that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s New Economic Model are just empty words lacking the political will and leadership necessary to effect Malaysia’s economic transformation to escape the decades-long “middle-income trap” to become a inclusive and sustainable high-income developed country by 2020.

The Najib premiership is fast developing a split personality – plugging the NEM for international consumption with its recognition of human talents as the most valuable national assets in the era of globalization while ignoring NEM locally for fear of evoking extremist opposition to its proposals on new affirmative policies based on meritocracy and needs.

During the Sibu by-election in May this year, I had referred to the latest QS Asian University Rankings 2010 where the country’s premier institution of higher education, University of Malaya had dropped two places to 41st this year from 39 last year while Universiti Sains Malaysia, which was granted Apex status in 2008 only managed to maintain its ranking at 69, and lamented Malaysia becoming the “sick man of South-East Asia”- Continue reading “Malaysian universities falling out of top 200 universities in QS World University Rankings 2010 latest proof that Najib’s NEM are just empty words lacking political will and leadership necessary to effect Malaysia’s economic transformation”

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Chorus of disapproval against UUCA .

Free Malaysia Today
Mon, 24 May 2010 16:29 . .By Ken Vin Lek

KUALA LUMPUR: Student NGO, Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia, today called for the University & University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA) to be repealed with immediate effect.

The call comes in the wake of four University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) students who were charged under Section 15(5)(a) of the act for allegedly for taking party in political activites.

The four are Muhammad Hilman Idham, Muhamad Ismail Aminuddin, Azlin Shafina Mohamad Adzha and Woon King Chai, all political science students.

They were detained by police when they were in Hulu Selangor on April 22 to observe the by election campaign. The four were released after police found no evidence of mischief.

They now face disciplinary action and have been asked to attend a disciplinary hearing on June 3 at the UKM campus.

“Students, as one of the stakeholders of a university, should be given an opportunity to exercise academic freedom in the pursuit of knowledge and excellence,” said the NGO in a statement

“They should not be demonised and punished for exercising their inalienable right to pursue knowledge in their chosen fields.” Continue reading “Chorus of disapproval against UUCA .”

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Khaled should not turn the clock back but boldly go forward to foster the spirit of academic freedom among university lecturers and students

Higher Education Minister Datuk Khaled Nordin should not turn the clock back but boldly go forward to foster the spirit of academic freedom among university lecturers and students by supporting University of Malaya Vice Chancellor Ghauth Jasmon’s handling of the campus polls controversy.

Khaled should not undermine Ghauth’s authority as UM VC by attacking or criticizing the latter’s decision to suspend the controversial campus election to allow an independent testing of the e-voting system as well as to investigate allegations of bias and partisanship of the deputy vice chancellor of student affairs (HEP) Azarae Idris.

There is talk that Khaled is so unhappy with Ghauth that moves are afoot to replace him with a new Vice Chancellor for University of Malaya.

Khaled should quash such talk and deny any such moves without any delay as any such arbitrary and high-handed Ministerial interference in university autonomy will have far-reaching consequences and bring to nought all recent efforts to restore University of Malaya’s status as one of the world’s Top 200 universities.

It is open secret that UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders were blatantly involved in the recent as well as previous campus elections, not only in University of Malaya but also in other public universities – not only directly but also through their proxies in the various university administrations.
Continue reading “Khaled should not turn the clock back but boldly go forward to foster the spirit of academic freedom among university lecturers and students”

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Tomorrow D-Day for Malaysian universities – THES-QS Top 200 Universities Ranking 2009

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak went before the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Paris yesterday to extend his 1Malaysia motto to 1World.

Four years ago, at the University of Malaya’s centennial celebrations in June 2005, as Deputy Prime Minister, Najib threw the challenge to University of Malaya to raise its 89th position among the world’s top 100 universities in Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) ranking in 2004 to 50 by the year 2020.

Instead of accepting Najib’s challenge with incremental improvement of its THES ranking, the premier university went into a free fall for two years followed by completely disappearing from the Top 200 Universities ranking in the past two years.

After being ranked in 2004 at 89th position in the THES-QS World Top Universities, University of Malaya fell to 169th in 2005 and 192nd placing in 2006, and in the past two years of 2007 and 2008 rankings, not only University of Malaya but Malaysia fell out of the 200 Top Universities altogether!

We can only hope that Najib’s 1Malaysia and 1World calls will not be as dismal as his call in 2005 to University of Malaya to be among the world’s top 50 universities.

Tomorrow, Malaysians will know whether Malaysian universities could redeem themselves and get back into the World Top 200 Universities ranking when the 2009 THES-QS World Top Universities ranking is released, or whether Malaysia has fallen into the “black hole” of international university competitiveness stakes, unable to prove their academic quality, excellence and worth in the international arena. Continue reading “Tomorrow D-Day for Malaysian universities – THES-QS Top 200 Universities Ranking 2009”

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USM Apex Uni admission foul-up – USM shld put online full list of 4,574 students forwarded to UPU

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Khaled Nordin said the special committee headed by Higher Education Ministry deputy chief secretary (management) Omar Abdul Rahman to investigate the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Apex University student intake foul-up is expected to complete its report by end of this week.

Yes, the reasons for the inexcusable USM student intake foul-up, where the names of all the 8,173 pre-qualified applicants were incorrectly uploaded on its website as successful when only 3,599 were successful, leaving 4,574 students roller-coasting between euphoria and despair in a matter of hours, should be thoroughly investigated and publicized; and those responsible dealt with severely.

But this should not distract the higher education authorities from the proper things that they should do.

The first thing that must be done is that USM should put online the full list of 4,574 victim-applicants it has forwarded to UPU for selection to other public universities so that the students could personally verify to make sure that there will not be another foul-up. One cannot run away from the fact that the foul-up has created a confidence problem in the integrity of the USM administration. Continue reading “USM Apex Uni admission foul-up – USM shld put online full list of 4,574 students forwarded to UPU”

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Cabinet meeting yesterday a double-disappointment on university education – PSD S’ships and USM Apex Uni fiasco

The Cabinet meeting yesterday was a double disappointment on university education particularly to the young generation of Malaysians which must be rectified in a special Cabinet meeting on university intake as well as PSD scholarships for SPM students with 12As.

I am very disappointed that my call for a colour-blind JPA scholarship system has not been heeded by the Cabinet. Clearly, the Cabinet Ministers themselves have yet to fully understand the meaning of 1Malaysia which the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has adopted as the slogan of his administration.

Furthermore, my specific proposal to resolve this year’s public ruckus over the unfair and discriminatory award of JPA selection of foreign degree scholarships has also not been acted upon.

I had proposed that all students with SPM 9A1s and above should be awarded PSD scholarships – which would mean an increased allocation of RM300 million for JPA scholarships budget from RM700 million to RM1 billion this year.
Continue reading “Cabinet meeting yesterday a double-disappointment on university education – PSD S’ships and USM Apex Uni fiasco”

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Cabinet assurance needed – all 4,574 student-victims of USM foul-up will be given places in other public universities

From the statement of the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamad Khaled from Yemen and my discussion with the Higher Education Department director-general Datuk Prof Radin Umar Radin Sohadi, no concrete assurance is forthcoming that the 4,574 student-victims of USM Apex University student intake fiasco will definitely be given places in other public universities.

Although Khaled described the foul-up by the country’s only apex university as serious and directed that an independent committee be set up to investigate the matter, he has no assurances for the 4,574 student victims.

All Khaled said was that students who were rejected by USM will get another bite of the cherry, as they will be considered for placements in other public universities by the University Admissions Unit (UPU).

This is scarce consolation for the 4,574 students who went through emotional havoc over the USM foul-up.
Continue reading “Cabinet assurance needed – all 4,574 student-victims of USM foul-up will be given places in other public universities”

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End the NEP in the universities as the first step to restore a world-class university system

Malaysia is losing out in the unrelenting battle for international competitiveness among nations, with Malaysian universities even losing out to Southeast Asian universities in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines and to universities in Africa and South America – something completely unthinkable in the first three decades of our nationhood.

For the second consecutive year, Malaysia had fallen completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2008 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) – Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.

The national shame of Malaysia falling completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2008 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) – Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings is being compounded by the ignominy of Malaysian universities losing out not only to top universities in Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea but also to other South East Asian nations like Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines, as well to those in Africa and South America – like the University of Cape Town (No. 179 in 2008 THES-QS ranking), the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil No. 196) ) and the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina No. 197).

For the second consecutive year, there is not only not a single university in the 2008 THES-QS Top 200 Universities list, there is also not a single university in the separate ranking of Top 100 Universities for five subject areas – Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities; Life Sciences and Biomedicine; and Technology. Continue reading “End the NEP in the universities as the first step to restore a world-class university system”

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Khalid – End gender discrimination against women academicians or face RM10 salary cut

The Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin should answer the serious charges by former Vice Chancellor of University of Malaya Datuk Rafiah Salim concerning the “kurang ajar” manner of her termination and gender discrimination against women university academic staff.

Even if Rafiah’s appointment as VC of University of Malaya is not to be renewed, why was she treated so shabbily as to be shunted around from pillar to post without knowing her fate until the very lasi minute? This is clearly a most shameful and ungrateful way to treat a person who has given 34 years of her life to public service.

I have said in Parliament that there is no transparency whatsoever about the Search Committee for the new VC for University of Malaya, why it was conducted in such secrecy that nobody in the university – not even Rafiah – knew that a new VC was being selected!

This has compounded the offence of the Deputy Higher Education Minister, Datuk Idris Haron in casting aspersions on her tenure as the first woman Vice Chancellor of University of Malaya, for which Idris must retract and apologise unconditionally unless he could justify his insinuation against Rafiah in Parliament. Continue reading “Khalid – End gender discrimination against women academicians or face RM10 salary cut”

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Idris vs Rafiah – more important is the sharp fall in standards of Malaysian universities

Higher Education Deputy Minister Datuk Idris Haron should either defend his insinuation against Datuk Rafiah Salim in Parliament implying that the former University of Malaya Vice Chancellor was lacking in “high level performance” or he should be gentleman enough to apologise if he could not stand by his statement.

Malaysians concerned by the continuous drop and decline in standards of Malaysian universities must be distressed by the unnecessary diversion from what should be the sole focus of all involved in higher education – that Malaysian university standards have fallen so low dangerously that we are even losing out to universities in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines – something completely unthinkable in the first three decades of our nationhood.

For the second consecutive year, Malaysia had fallen completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2008 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) – Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.

The national shame of Malaysia falling completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2008 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) – Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings is being compounded by the ignominy of Malaysian universities losing out not only to top universities in Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea but also to other South East Asian nations like Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines. Continue reading “Idris vs Rafiah – more important is the sharp fall in standards of Malaysian universities”

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Malaysian universities losing out to Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines

Malaysia is losing out in the unrelenting battle for international competitiveness among nations, with Malaysian universities even losing out to universities in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines – something completely unthinkable in the first three decades of our nationhood.

For the second consecutive year, Malaysia had fallen completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2008 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) – Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.

The national shame of Malaysia falling completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2008 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) – Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings is being compounded by the ignominy of Malaysian universities losing out not only to top universities in Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea but also to other South East Asian nations like Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines.

The 2008 THES-QS rankings should be a “wake-up” call to the Higher Education Minister and the Cabinet of the advanced crisis of higher education in Malaysia, but I have given up hope that the Barisan Nasional government is capable of “waking up”!

For the second consecutive year, there is not only not a single university in the 2008 THES-QS Top 200 Universities list, there is also not a single university in the separate ranking of Top 100 Universities for five subject areas – Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities; Life Sciences and Biomedicine; and Technology. Continue reading “Malaysian universities losing out to Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines”

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Why no transparent search committee to pick new University of Malaya Vice Chancellor?

I congratulate former Multimedia University (MMU) Prof Dr. Ghauth Jasmon on his appointment as University of Malaya Vice Chancellor and hope that he could be successful in his tenure to restore the university’s international academic reputation in getting it back not only into the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) Top 200 Universities bracket, but even among the Top 100 Universities.

There have been good reports about Ghauth’s leadership of MMU for 11 years and the circumstances of his departure from MMU reflected adversely on the university than on him.

I have no criticism of Ghauth’s appointment except to question why the process of selection of University of Malaya Vice Chancellor has not been as transparent and above-board as promised by one Higher Education Minister after another.

Nobody seems to know that Datuk Rafiah Salim was to be replaced as UM Vice Chancellor and she herself was given 48 hours’ notice. In fact, nobody knew that a search for a new UM Vice Chancellor was taking place, who sat on the Search Committee and the candidates being considered. Continue reading “Why no transparent search committee to pick new University of Malaya Vice Chancellor?”

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University of Malaya medical student intake

Letters
by cat

A Background Introduction

Entering the Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur is still the prized aspiration of many doctor-wannabes. The medical degree conferred by UM is the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) which is the title awarded by universities in the United Kingdom and Australia. Other local public universities like University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) confer medical degrees in the acronym of MD which stands for doctor of medicine (Latin: Medicinæ Doctor).

Contrary to the common but erroneous perception among pre-university students, there is no difference between the MBBS and MD medical degrees.

Up till 2001, University Malaya along with other local universities practised an intake of medical students based on a quota system. Under the quota system, the ratio of medical students was in the order of 6:3:1 that is, 60% of places for bumiputeras, 30% for Chinese Malaysians and 10% for Indian Malaysian students. Bumiputera students comprised both Malays and the non-Malay bumiputeras from Sabah and Sarawak.

Continue reading “University of Malaya medical student intake”