Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- PAGE warns BN of polls backlash from PPSMI snub
- West a failed model, says Dr M
- Karpal: Crimes will rise under hudud laws
- DAP pushes for optional PPSMI
- Don’t let the sun go down on our rights
- English language policy still salvageable
- DPM: ‘Teaching Maths and Science in dual languages not feasible’
- In Kelantan, coming polls a referendum on Nik Aziz, Mustapa
- PM: Human rights cause split
| PAGE warns BN of polls backlash from PPSMI snub Posted: 29 Oct 2011 05:15 PM PDT (The Malaysian Insider) - Barisan Nasional (BN) risks losing votes in upcoming polls if it continues barring students from learning science and maths using English in schools, a parents lobby group said today. The Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) wants the 10-year-old policy of teaching science and maths in English at national schools (PPSMI) to be made an option for students in primary and secondary schools. "If it is political (decision on PPSMI) give us the PPSMI option in national primary and secondary schools, and we will give you the two-thirds majority, which you are making increasingly difficult for us to do. "Do not make us give the opposition our vote," said PAGE chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said in a statement to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today. "We would not like the Najib administration to be remembered for abolishing PPSMI, for not regaining the two-thirds majority and for making our children yet another lost generation," she said bluntly. Noor Azimah stressed that the government's past decision in introducing PPSMI in schools was not "flawed", adding it would empower students with the skills and knowledge needed to compete with other countries should the policy be retained. She criticised Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for saying yesterday that the education system will turn chaotic if parents were allowed to freely choose the medium of instruction for their children. Calling it "unacceptable", Noor Azimah charged that all science and mathematics teachers should be able to teach in either Bahasa Malaysia or English as the PPSMI policy had previously been in place for nine years. "If the number of schools that choose English are small, then it would be even easier to provide the teachers. The reasons should be addressed head-on and not swept under the carpet after spending RM3 billion of the rakyat's hard earned income. We want an explanation," she said. Noor Azimah said that the current education system only divided children according to race-based schools, a split that was slowly incorporating class differences as seen in the growing popularity of private and international schools. She stressed that PPSMI was not about learning English through science and mathematics, but to provide the context to put the language into practise.
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| West a failed model, says Dr M Posted: 29 Oct 2011 05:08 PM PDT The former prime minister says he made the right decision to introduce Look East policy. (Free Malaysia Today) - Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia and other Islamic countries should look to other Eastern countries and not the West as a model for their development. He said he believed he made the right decision in introducing the "Look East" policy of emulating work ethics and business techniques from Japan and South Korea during his tenure as the prime minister. "Right now, there are so many problems with Western countries. The problem in the West is that they have borrowed too much and cannot repay. You cannot have that kind of a country as a model. "If you see countries like (South) Korea, Japan and China in the East… China has US$3.2 trillion in reserves. They are swimming in money. Korea can come up with major products better than that produced by companies in the West. "Japan, as you know, is a country which lost a war… totally destroyed but as it rebuilt itself, it become the second biggest economy in the world. If you want to copy or learn something, learn from the successful people, not from the failures," he said during a question-and-answer session at the Third Langkawi Islamic Finance & Economics International Conference (LIFE 3), here. The three-day conference, with the theme "Islamic Banking and Finance: Waqaf, Zakat and Sadakah as Community Empowerment and Strategies for the Economic Transformation of the Ummah", began yesterday. Mahathir said one could not learn much from the West because it was a total failure. "So, we should continue to look to the East and not to the West. The West is going bankrupt," he said. He also said that he was personally against socialism because it would make everyone poor.
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| Karpal: Crimes will rise under hudud laws Posted: 29 Oct 2011 05:00 PM PDT Criminals would prefer hudud laws because it will be impossible for the prosecution to prove its case without four witnesses, argues the DAP national chairman. (Free Malaysia Today) - Hudud laws will boost, and not deter, crimes because of the high standard of proof that would impede the prosecution from establishing its case, DAP national chairman Karpal Singh said here today. He said the rigid requirement to have four witnesses under hudud laws meant that the case must be proven with certainty. He said this was contrary to the current criminal legal system which only required the prosecution to prove a case beyond reasonable doubt. Moreover, he added that under the hudud legal system, the four witnesses must be upright and good practising Muslims. He said the prosecution would face a thorny task to produce four such witnesses to prove cases like adultery, zina, and khalwat or close proximity. "Criminals would prefer hudud laws because it will be impossible for the prosecution to prove its case. "Hudud will indeed set criminals to roam freely and crime will increase," Karpal told reporters during his visit to his Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency. Currently, the country is being governed by uniformed criminal laws for all enacted by Parliament. The state governments, however, have the power to enact Muslim family or personal syariah laws. Karpal brushed aside suggestions that hudud laws were God-made laws to deter crime and instill fear in the people, describing it as "a misconception". Referring to global human rights watchdog Amnesty International's declaration that the death penalty was cruel and unjust punishment, he questioned the severity of amputating legs and arms under hudud laws. "Hudud laws have no place in the country's legal system," he added. He was commenting on Kelantan state executive councillor Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah's call for the criminal laws to be made as severe as hudud laws to deter crime. Amar is deputy chairman of the state technical committee studying hudud enactments and the Kelantan government official spokesman on hudud issues.
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| Posted: 29 Oct 2011 01:04 PM PDT By Debra Chong, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — The Education Ministry must be more flexible and give students the option to learn maths and science in English, the DAP urged today, saying such a policy can help the country retain its best talents. The party threw its weight today behind a pro-English group in the tug-of-war over Putrajaya's decision to abandon the 10-year-old policy of teaching science and maths in English at national schools — better known by its Malay abbreviation, PPSMI. The growing row over the education policy has split the country along racial, political lines ahead of national polls likely to be called early next year. Vocal fundamental groups are using the issue to champion their version of nationalism. Several non-partisan civil societies have recently banded together to counter this tide but the powerful Malay-dominant political parties appear to be reluctant to commit to this hot potato issue ahead of the 13th general election. "The important principle that the Ministry of Education (MoE) must adopt is that advanced students should not be held back because of students who lagged behind academically," DAP publicity chief Tony Pua said today in a statement. "Secondly, and more importantly, every effort should be made to ensure that our schools are able to produce the best human capital for Malaysia as we seek to be part of the knowledge economy, to become a high-income nation," the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said. He was replying to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's insistence yesterday to replace PPSMI with a new policy designed to raise the position of Bahasa Malaysia, to be implemented in January next year with the start of the new school term. Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said yesterday the education system will turn chaotic if parents were allowed to freely choose the medium of instruction for their children.
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| Don’t let the sun go down on our rights Posted: 29 Oct 2011 12:38 PM PDT By Wong Chun Wai, The Star Any secular party would be a better pick than one whose politicians masquerade as religious leaders. IT'S becoming boringly predictable with PAS as it again plays its self-appointed role of custodian of morality by telling Malaysians what they can watch – mostly cannot watch, unfortunately. Just a few months ago, the Islamist party had attempted to project a somewhat liberal image, possibly believing that Putrajaya was within its grasp. That short flirtation has ended and it has now decided to return to its conservative image, rudely awakened by the reality that it was more important to try to hold on to its jewels – Kelantan and Kedah – and that hardcore supporters were loudly voicing their dissatisfaction. It now wants to be recognised for its main objectives – setting up an Islamic state and implementing hudud laws – and will surely have no tolerance for rock concerts, which it has dismissed as hedonistic. PAS surely does not want to see its Malay votes, the deciding factor, slipping away for non-Muslim votes. So it is now back to making the wearing of headscarves compulsory for women and punishing those who disobey the rule in Kelantan, and banning the setting up of cinemas in Bangi, Selangor, simply because a PAS state assemblyman objected. And the party is not even the dominant player in the Selangor government. No one can deny that, except for that brief experiment, PAS has always been consistent with its Islamist objectives and has never strayed from its purpose of wanting to set up a religious and puritanical society. For many, due to their anger with the Barisan Nasional as well as for political expediency, they are prepared to pretend decisions made by PAS will not affect them, brushing them off as minor matters or merely distractions for a larger interest. That was what the Iranians thought when they dumped their Western-backed but corrupt monarch for the ayatollahs. Thirty-two years later, however, many are wondering whether they gave up their human rights and secular lifestyles too. There is an elected government in Iran but it is the theologians who call the shots, invoking laws in the name of religion and according to their interpretations, which not many of the faithful are prepared to challenge. In the case of the minorities, their voices are easily suppressed and they are dismissed curtly for their religious ignorance. Even in Tunisia, after the euphoria of its recent first elections, secular Tunisians are wary about the Islamist-dominated assembly and fear that their civil rights legislation will be reversed. In Malaysia, we could head down that dangerous road if we are not careful because some of us are being convinced that PAS alone cannot redraw our legal systems. PAS has decided to go ahead with the implementation of hudud laws in Kelantan, claiming that non-Muslims would not be affected. One does not need a doctorate in law to know that there can never be two kinds of laws, particularly in civil and criminal matters. So there is no such thing as hudud laws would not affect non-Muslims. The PAS Supporters Club has been jolted and it is finally realising that this was not part of the bargain. Better late than never, it can be said, but then the PAS Supporters Club had organised tours to Kelantan and persuaded voters to elect more PAS candidates by claiming non-Muslims would not be affected, thank you very much. Any objection to PAS' agenda these days risk being rubbished as propaganda, abused, rebutted or named-called as abuses involving the Barisan. Objecting is surely not for those wanting to seek popularity. The point is any secular party, whether Umno, the MCA, the DAP, PKR or PPP, would be a better pick than one whose politicians masquerade as religious leaders, insinuating that their words cannot be questioned because they are "men of God". Malaysia may not have the best system but we have one that works and functions. There are politicians who claim we are already an Islamic country but the Federal Constitution is pretty clear about the fact that we are still secular. Our legal system is also pretty clear and intact. For sure, I cannot take seriously those who think Elton John's song Can You Feel The Love Tonight, soundtrack for the film The Lion King, could be a gay anthem. By the way, one of his hit songs is Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me – it's sun, not son. |
| English language policy still salvageable Posted: 29 Oct 2011 12:22 PM PDT By Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, The Star All education stakeholders are urged to lend their support to the campaign to make the Government allow for the PPSMI to be retained in schools that want it. THE Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) is on its last leg in appealing for the visionary policy of the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) to be given as an option in national primary and secondary schools where parents wish it. The Education Act 1996 stipulates that "pupils are to be educated according to the wishes of their parents", not teachers, not principals, not PTAs and, most definitely, not politicians or deluded national language linguists. Prior to the Sarawak polls, the Prime Minister said: "Let us consider the option" and this was immediately backed by the Deputy Prime Minister/Education Minister, although rather awkwardly for the Government, it was not echoed by the Deputy Education Minister II. However, six months have passed and the Education Ministry continues to drag its feet, knowing full well that time is running out for us, parents, taxpayers, voters, we who pay their salaries. When PPSMI was conceived in 2002, its objective was to address the poor employability of graduates, in particular the Malays. It was vital for young Malaysians to acquire scientific knowledge, and be renowned in the field, before we could even envision Bahasa Malaysia as an international language, let alone a language of scientific knowledge. Fortunately, the language of knowledge is English, which we have been exposed to for half a century, unlike many other countries that continue to struggle. The then Cabinet endorsed the decision for students to be taught these two constantly evolving subjects in its lingua franca. Many of the same Cabinet ministers who agreed with PPSMI then continue to sit on the same Cabinet that abolished it. The Academy of Sciences Malaysia was sought by the Government for their professional advice. While sourcing for scientific material in Indonesia, the largest Malay-speaking country in the world, the scientists there suggested that we should just stick to the English references, as they did not have any to show themselves. The academy still stands by its opinion that PPSMI should continue. The president, in a column in May, wrote: "Much of the scientific references are in English. A recent announcement to review the policy is welcome." The then Education Minister, the only technocrat ever to lead the Education Ministry and who holds seven honorary doctorates in science to date, was adamant that the policy would succeed. He set in place an implementation committee, which he headed as chairman, encapsulating a strict regime of controls and intervention programmes, which, if conformed to, could have made a tremendous success of the policy. The PPSMI unit in the ministry was the place to be and the envy of many. Knowing full well the challenges, such as teacher competency and proficiency, coupled with poor computer literacy, ICT was introduced on a large scale and relied upon to bridge the shortfall between resources available and needed. The latest in hardware and carefully designed software which were pedagogically correct were acquired, and numerous short courses in English were embarked upon. On top of that, a cash allowance was offered to the science and mathematics teachers to use the money to further improve their English proficiency. Sadly, in 2004, the technocrat minister completed his term, and PPSMI was abandoned without the leadership it so badly needed. Come late 2007, rumblings were heard. These were not from the rural folk but from self-acclaimed clerics, linguists and politicians. In 2008, the not-so-new Education Minister sought views from stakeholders on the policy. In 2009, the policy was abolished by the Deputy Prime Minister/Education Minister, three months into his portfolio and well before a government and an education blueprint was put in place. Now the Government is talking of an education transformation. The transformation was already taking place before their very eyes, initiated by the Government itself, before it was prematurely decapitated – a case of self-infliction. Yet the students continue to perform in Science, Mathematics and English without relegating Bahasa Malaysia. The rural students even outperform their urban friends in science, as has been pointed out by the director-general. As we understand it, a government policy is to be carried out by the minister and his/her respective ministry. As far as the Education Ministry is concerned, the teachers should have been prepared and required to ensure the policy succeeds, as is stated in their code of ethics. Instead, the ministry faulted its teachers for being incompetent when the ministry itself had failed to ensure the controls which were already in place were strictly adhered to. Naturally, by the time studies were conducted to review the success of the policy, it had reached a stage of declination. PAGE believes PPSMI is still salvageable. And we are not alone. Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM), which represents rural parents, also feels the same. JMM has an incredible online Malay base that is not to be underestimated. The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), Malaysia's second leading think tank, has fallen in line too with its founder president, giving the much needed royal endorsement. Together, we believe that the option must be given to parents to represent their children, and no one else. Parents in Penang and Malacca are very restless. Parents in Selangor are gathering themselves together again. So are those in Kuala Lumpur. Do not underestimate the parents in Perak and Johor either. We urge all education stakeholders to e-mail us your support as we want to collaborate with groups of influence to show to the Government that we are not all urban and neither are we isolated. Let us put the past behind us and begin afresh. Let us instead start small, with the schools that parents want PPSMI to be retained, but allow the option to other schools to be able to do the same in the future. Double the cash allowance for the Science and Mathematics teachers who enjoy and want to continue teaching these subjects in English. Visit www.pagemalaysia.org to vote for the "Yes to PPSMI Option" and send the link to everyone you know, students included. Also look out for the Facebook poll "1M Malaysians Say Yes to PPSMI as an Option", add your friends to the group, and get your friends to do the same. Make it viral. Let us turn this into a success story for our children, for Malaysia and for many under-developed and developing countries to emulate. PAGE is a national education watchdog. Kudos to our past Education Ministers for enlightening us on the benefits of a good education which we have enjoyed and now want for our children. |
| DPM: ‘Teaching Maths and Science in dual languages not feasible’ Posted: 29 Oct 2011 11:44 AM PDT By Florence A Samy, The Star KUALA LUMPUR: The situation will be kucar-kacir (chaotic) if parents are given the option to decide if they want their children taught in Bahasa Malaysia or English in the learning of Science and Mathematics in schools, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said. "It will be hard for the Education Ministry to plan. How are we going to do it if one school wants it in English and another in Bahasa Malaysia? |
| In Kelantan, coming polls a referendum on Nik Aziz, Mustapa Posted: 29 Oct 2011 11:15 AM PDT By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider KOTA BARU, Oct 30 — The fight for Kelantan in the upcoming national polls will see PAS and Umno pit Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and federal minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed against each other to see who is the more popular choice for the state's mentri besar post. The Malaysian Insider understands both parties have embarked on aggressive campaigns to promote their respective candidates for the state's top spot ahead of the general election that is expected to be called by early next year.
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| Posted: 29 Oct 2011 11:05 AM PDT By Mazwin Nik Aziz, The Star PERTH: Commonwealth countries have yet to decide on the appointment of a High Commissioner for Democracy, Rule of Law and Human Rights, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said. But its members have agreed on the need to strengthen these principles, he added. |
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