|
|
Posted by nkkhoo on 17th June, 2012
- (Comments are closed)
UMNO flip-flopping the decision in less than a week after sensing Chinese community is truly angry with the Muhyddin’s status quo statement on the Chinese independent schools.
Wait a moment, you better make sure BN does not win 2/3 majorities, otherwise Mahathir will blame Chinese are communists again who only good to take advantage of GE.
Govt nod for Chinese school
GEORGE TOWN: The Federal Government has agreed in principle to the construction of a Chinese school in Kuantan and is awaiting for a proposal from MCA, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He said the proposal must meet existing guidelines.
“Whether the school will be an independent type or not, we will decide when we receive the proposal from MCA,” he said in Bayan Lepas yesterday.
In KUANTAN, MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the party would seek an approval for the school from the Government.
“MCA is very focused on getting this independent school established. We will push for a black-and-white agreement from the Government,” he said after holding a dialogue with Christian groups here yesterday.
Liow, who is also Pahang MCA chairman, had earlier met with Pahang Dong Lian Hui (Chinese Schools Committees Association) representatives to discuss a working plan for the project.
He said a schedule had been discussed during the closed-door meeting but did not reveal the timeframe for the execution of the project.
On May 20, thousands of supporters turned up at a rally here to push for the setting up of the Chinese independent school. A total of 4,374 signatures were collected during the rally.
On another matter, Liow told the Christian groups that he was against Lynas storing its rare earth processing waste in Malaysia.
“I want to reiterate my stand that Lynas must send its waste abroad,” he said.
Posted by nkkhoo on 6th June, 2012
- (Comments are closed)
English proficiency – they got it all wrong, http://www.nkkhoo.com/2007/07/07/english-proficiency-they-got-it-all-wrong/
Anyway, LGE’s shit is 1000 times more aromatic than my ones. It’s good for him to remind BN government again and again on English standard.
Make passing SPM English a must, says Guan Eng
KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — English must be made a core discipline that students must pass in SPM examinations if Malaysia is to keep up with an increasingly competitive world, Lim Guan Eng told the Education Ministry today.
The Penang chief minister (picture) pointed out that while the ministry had previously said that Malaysians must master English as a reflection of its status as the world’s most widely-used language for communications and knowledge acquisition, that did not go far enough and the language should be made a core discipline in the national school-leaving exam, which is the basic paper qualification needed for most jobs.
“Creating this incentive for students is necessary if the Ministry of Education (MOE) is committed to strengthening English language proficiency.
“Or else Malaysia will lose out in future competitiveness with deteriorating standards in English when other countries are improving theirs,” Lim said in a statement today.
The MOE had caused a huge outcry among educationists, students and parent groups with its decision to abolish a nearly decade-old national policy of the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) introduced in 2003 with another, Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening Command of English (MBMMBI), starting this year.
It claimed the PPSMI policy failed to meet its objective to raise the standard of English among Malaysian students, and was found to affect student performance in the subjects of Science and Mathematics in rural areas.
But Lim said the new education policy’s aims would not succeed in strengthening students’ mastery of the two languages if English was not also made a subject that they must pass, like Bahasa Malaysia and History.
He also drew attention to the unequal number of hours devoted to language lessons, with students given a maximum of 300 hours a week for English classes in national schools compared to 60 minutes extra a week for the national language.
Vernacular schools had it worse with only 150 minutes a week allocated to English compared to 300 minutes a week of BM classes, Lim said.
Southeast Asia’s top online search firm, Jobstreet, reported today that employers may offer fewer employment opportunities in the future after Putrajaya announced it would enforce the first ever minimum wage policy within the next year even as economists warn that Malaysia should brace for a significant economic slowdown due to rising linkages with China, the country’s No. 1 trading partner and the world’s second-largest economy after the US.
A Greek exit from the euro zone, which is a growing threat, would cause a second recession in as little as four years in Malaysia as the knock-on damage to Europe poses a threat to the global economy, which may impact the country’s aspiration to make the leap into a high-income nation by 2020.
Posted by nkkhoo on 13th May, 2012
- (Comments are closed)
Above article is about Gini Coefficient in Malaysia I wrote several years ago, I summarized its few points here for non-Chinese readers,
1. Malaysia is the second highest Gini Coefficient (second worst) in Asia.
2. 15% of have or rich people with GDP per Capita of USD 36,784 while another 85% have-not with USD 1,623 GDP per capita.
3. The rich to poor gap is 22.7 times.
I think this is another election-induced policy to bait some urban Chinese and Indians with cash.
UMNO’s sole goal is to create a huge number of Malays, Ibans and Kadasans who cannot read, speak and write English in the semi-urban and rural areas and another Malay, Chinese and Indian small elite group in cities.
The poor group continued to be brainwashed by UMNO for the power continuity by making 99% low and middle income Chinese and Indian as its punching bag.
I hope more urban Malays should work harder by “de-intoxicated” rural Malays tainted by UMNO propaganda machine.
Putrajaya scraps local student quota in international schools
By Anisah Shukry
KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — Malaysia’s ambitions to be a regional education hub has received a boost with Putrajaya scrapping the 40 per cent cap for local students to enrol in international schools nationwide “with immediate effect”.
The New Sunday Times today quoted Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong as saying the move is in line with the government’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).
“We have to compete with neighbouring countries in the educational field,” he said, pointing out that Singapore and Thailand had already lifted their quotas.
He added the decision also followed requests from Malaysian parents for more places for their children in international schools, which number almost 100 nationwide.
The weekly also quoted Sri Kuala Lumpur International School chief executive Hanif Othman Merican as saying that while he welcomed the move, they had not received an official directive from the ministry yet.
But Parent Action Group for Education president Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahman told The New Sunday Times that she opposed the move as it would create “a new social divide between communities of different socio-economic levels”.
She said that only children who cannot afford the international school fees will remain in national schools, which will result in reduced competitiveness among the students there.
Posted by nkkhoo on 19th April, 2012
- (Comments are closed)
They all supported PTPTN when Anwar tabled the bill in the parliament, but they are the same ones who wanted to write off PTPTN loan indiscriminately.
This is why I always say I trust prostitutes who deliver service after being paid more than politicians.
I do not support to cancel repayment for PTPTN loan because the money is from our pocket and unfair to those already repaid PTPTN loan. Every single cent loaned out has to be returned to rakyat under the full accountability principle.
I propose below formula for new government for future education policy,
- 100% free education including tuition fee and living expenses should be limited to families with less than RM3000 monthly household income.
- For families with income in the bracket RM3001 to RM4000 are entitled to 70% subsidy, 60% for RM4001-5000 and 50% for RM5001-RM10000.
- Zero subsidy for families with more than RM10,001 household monthly income and all foreign students.
The Parliament’s hansard showed DAP Adviser Lim Kit Siang and his son Guan Eng had supported the bill of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN), when it was tabled in the parliament in 1997.
The hansard, dated 14 May, 1997 stated that, Kit Siang and Guan Eng had both proposed that a higher allocation be provided for the PTPTN instead of RM100 million startup as proposed in the bill.
The hansard reads: “(Tuan Lim Kit Siang [Tanjong]: Tuan Yang di-Pertua, saya mengalu-alukan Rang Undang Undang Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional untuk memperuntukkan satu tabung bagi membenarkan anak-anak kita berpeluang melanjutkan pendidikan tinggi dan menyediakan bantuan kewangan melalui pinjaman pendidikan atau selainnya kepada pelajar yang menuntut di institusi-institusi pengajian tinggi.(Tuan Lim Kit Siang [Tanjong]: Tuan Yang di-Pertua, I welcome the Bill of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) to provide the opportunity for our children to pursue higher education and provide financial assistance through loans or otherwise to the education of students who are studying in institutions of higher learning.”)
The hansard had stated that Kit Siang had said that the RM100 million startup allocation for the PTPTN as contained in the bill was insufficient and it should be increased to RM500 million.
His son Guan Eng was reported in the hansard of proposing a higher quantum than that by his father.
Guan Eng, was recorded as saying: “RM100 million is not enough. If the government is really sincere, they should consider to start at least with the amount of RM1 billion”.
The bill was then tabled by Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak who was the Minister of Education.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who had raised issue with the PTPTN and had promised to abolish it if the opposition takes over the nation’s rule, was the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister when the bill was tabled in 1997.
In fact, he was the acting Prime Minister then.
This was pointed out by Dr Mahathir who said he was on a two-month leave when the bill was tabled and Anwar was then the acting Prime Minister.
Dr Mahathir in a Bernama report, said: “That is Anwar. He doesn’t know what is he talking about; he is forgetful”.
Source: http://www.mole.my/content/hansard-shows-opposition-supported-ptptn
Posted by nkkhoo on 17th April, 2012
- (Comments are closed)
Billions saved from subsidies in tuition fees given to foreign students will be able to pay for a big chuck of PTPTN.
All foreign students have to pay 100% costs compared to current 5-10%. Foreign students including Malaysians have to pay hefty tuition fees in China, UK, Australia, etc.
Abolishment of PTPTN may impact on education cost – Mahathir
News 2012-04-16 16:11
KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 (Bernama) — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said students who wanted the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) to be abolished should return their loans or refrain from taking it, rather than take to the streets to demonstrate.
The former prime minister said, those who suggested that the government do away with the PTPTN, should look into ways of supporting these students financially.
He said, the abolishment of PTPTN would have an impact, not only on the cost of education, but also in distributing the benefits which would also benefit the rich.
“If you abolish it, you have to replace it with something else that could be more costly, for example, giving free education to everyone. In this case, even the rich will enjoy,” he told reporters here today.
Earlier, Dr Mahathir chaired a high level strategy session for the select group titled, ‘Drivers of the New Economic Landscape on the Home and Global Front – A Malaysian Private Sector’s Dilemma’, organised by the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia here today.
Dr Mahathir said the aim of PTPTN was to help the poor get better education at university level, adding that it was the responsibility of the Malaysian Government to help the poor.
“The idea of having PTPTN is to help people who are unable to pay for a good education, but if the fees are free, the rich will also receive the same benefit, and this is not fair to the poor.
“Why should we help the rich? We should help the poor, PTPTN is for the poor,” he stressed.
On the abolishment of the Internal Security Act (ISA) for replacement by the Security Offences Act tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today, Dr Mahathir said he did not want to comment on the new law since he had not studied it.
On the ISA, he said: “It is not the ISA which was the problem. It is the way it was implemented.
“As you know, the Americans have a much tougher ISA than us, they have detained (detainees) without trial. The people in Guantanamo Bay, for the past 10 years, have not faced a trial and nothing…what more, they allowed torture while being detained (under detention).”
|
|
