USM...to infinity and beyond!!!

USM to conduct its own entrance examination for admission for this year and next year! That is history in the making for our higher institution. It's the only APEX university right now and has been given the autonomy to do this! Many of the world's prestigious universities have their own entrance exams! NUS also conducts their own 'entrance exams' and interviews for certain courses.

If conducted fairly, this would means that only those who meet their criteria will be admitted. No more going through the UPU. Wah! I see far reaching effects.... maybe for once we'll see real meritocracy; provided the politicians don't meddle or start another round of 'keris' waving and lament about how certain-certain groups need all the help they can get, blah, blah, blah!

And maybe, just maybe, for once the entrance exam will also give a more level playing ground for STPM students. They're always pitted unfairly against the Matriculation students; Matriculation being an internal exam and covering a more limited scope. These days it is more difficult for STPM students to get into the courses of their choice simply because the CGPA of the Matrics students are generally higher.... how to compare when both platforms are not the same?

So, pardon me if I am a little excited about this development. There may still be hope for our institutions of higher learning to scale greater heights, hope that we may stop the slide that our institutions are in. Maybe for once, we can finally have a university dedicated to quality and true ability. I'm all for this to work!

Are teachers still relevant?

Was prompted to write this after reading this from Education in Malaysia. Are they? I'm inclined to think so... not so much in the sense of imparting knowledge...nah! that is more for the gen before when books were hard to come by. All of us know that the internet age has put knowledge at our fingertips. Information??? ...they're just pushes of buttons or a file swap away. Google, Wikipedia, Ask are just few in a long list of Digital Helpers, ever ready to spew out anything you want to know....add that to help made possible by Social Networking sites....the possibilities are infinite. For the highly motivated ones, the internet has given them empowerment not experienced by the generations before. And I find it quite wonderful!

So are teachers still relevant? I think so cos they can impart life's lessons through the own experiences; I call it the shortcut to wisdom. Experience is something that is invaluable cos we can never know or understand everything.

Of course for those who are not motivated... it's status quo. Still need teachers to spoon feed. So, for these, the primary role of teachers remain as before.

The motivated ones do not need teachers to tell them what a book says. The internet probably contains more info than a teacher's gray cells. All the student needs is just some perseverance and an internet connection and the www becomes their playground.....and it's a really interesting playground.

So, what with the teacher today? I think a good teacher should be able to merge the objective and subjective realms into something that helps the student.

A good teacher inspires and is able to make them see beyond the obvious and make new practical sense of the information they acquire. Learning becomes an adventure of sorts .... one which will build character, create new ways of perceiving things and extend/expand possibilities. He revives the curiosity in each child to explore new frontiers. Like the master weaver, he's able to weave the awe and wonderment of life into each child and makes learning an exciting journey in life. It's not easy for the teacher cos he needs to be on top of things as well as have a good sense of balance of things.

Teachers today have big shoes to fill and tall orders to meet. Teaching knowledge is easy.... imparting wisdom is not. The approach is no longer the one size fits all thingy today. So I think we should make sure our teaching profession is made up of people with a passion for young people apart from being resourceful; people who make it their business to shape the next gen. It's a big shoe to fill.... But these days, the rot seems to have set in the teaching profession.

Next .... teachers who made a difference in my life!

Tired....

Only four days into the term...one word sums it up for me. Tired! ...physically. Getting up earlier than usual, the rush on the road, the demands of work, the rush after school hours.... the body needs some time to adjust. But manageable!!!

Mentally.... where teaching is concerned; enjoy the challenges, the flexibility. I like teaching language cos it is not static. But the bureaucracy is stifling. Too much emphasis on show! Sometimes I feel like we're zoo exhibits; we're the animal shows. Then, when we perform well, trainer gets the applause, animals get food bits.... as reward. Animals got not much say, already caged up...have to work for their morsels mah! LOL!

Too much talk. In essence not much substance. A boss who doesn't even know the name of his subordinates to top it. It's not that there're hundreds of us. Nice looking paperwork but hours wasted on meeting after meeting. Hours of listening to almost the same mantra, same stuff from different mouths. One would think that teachers do not have the ability to think.... brains that function only at minimal levels, existence at primal level only...... so, we've to be very yes-(wo)man type! On a related note.... even our MBs, former MBs send their children to national-type schools. They don't trust the national schools to educate their children??? Interesting, don't you think? One reason why languages other than BM and English are seldom taught successfully in national schools is because of the lack of commitment from the administrators.

Plan without foresight. Execution rife with problems which could have been avoided. Tested and tried methods discarded simply because they want it done their new way. Notice how we keep building new stuff to replace the old? Sheesh!! I am beginning to sound like I'm anti-establishment!

And instead of teaching moral courage, we're more concerned about introducing theological flavours; in the process sometimes instilling 'I'm holier than thou' attitude in our young....... Why do we segregate them through the use of such theological flavours? We should teach them to be Malaysians first instead of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, Muslims, non-Muslims... yet our schools go for the latter. If there's a need to introduce theological flavours, why not a 'Malaysian' theological flavour? Like what some schools have bravely done...invite, priests, pastors, iman(s) to come together for that theological flavoured programme. Integration through example.

So much for nation building.... depressing!!!!

Am I whining too much???? Or our education system is really in distress!!!! If not, then I am the one in distress. LOL!

Staying in touch...

No man is an island... we're social creatures. In the last couple of months, I've been constantly reminded (directly and indirectly) that life is about relationships. One friend aptly summed it up...vertical and horizontal relationships. Vertical - with God, horizontal - with man. Can't disagree with that. Think I'd go cuckoo if I live in solitary confinement. That's why, I supposed, in Kamunting and jails, solitary confinement is one form of punishment meted to inmates.

Staying in touch is a breeze these days...

The mobile phone is one such tool... smses. It's a great way to send messages of all sorts. I enjoy getting messages too. With Twitter I think mobile texting which is already a hit will take off some more. With it you can let your friends know what you are doing almost instantly. This I haven't gone in, though....time factor.

I use Skype. This is a great tool also to get connected. Very much like MSN (which I also have but rarely log on because I'm too lazy to download a Mac version) it allows my friends to catch me whenever I am online. I've been able to 'chat', talk and see my two young friends from across the Pacific Ocean very regularly the last hols via Skype. Had tonnes of fun with them! Even watched them play piano....how much better can it get?

Then during the hols too, I jumped onto the Facebook bandwagon...been a treasure trove cos it has reconnected me with really, really old chums from school days! I've been able to 'reconnect' with my schoolmates, some of which I've not seen in years! 8) That alone is already cause for celebration! After using it for a couple of weeks, I finally understood why it's such a hit with users. There are other similar sites but for now, I'll stick to this.

And finally there's the email. Used not to trust webmail service...only started using Gmail in earnest this year. Via Google Talk, had a nice chat with Linda who is on the other side of the Pacific Ocean too.

But I do wish there is one single aps for all this.... cos I have to log in so many sites now... However, I am not complaining too much....cos all these apps....they've allowed me to reconnect with people in ways my parents' generation could never possibly imagine! To be able to reconnect with others is a blessing in life. For that I'm thankful. Anyway, who knows, in a couple of years, communication as I know it now may undergo another transformation, one that would be even more mind boggling! 8)

To build it takes....

It took more than four years for oil to go from US$35 per barrel in 2004 to just above $147 in July last year, but less than six months to go all the way down again. Today's price is $47. The data fascinated me cos it reinforces in me yet again today that positive trends take longer to build. Once you move into the negative zone, it's akin to coming down the ski slope super fast.

That's how life is like too... to build a character, relationships.....just practically anything that requires building, seems to take forever and requires a lot of work. To destroy.....just one word, one deed.... quick and easy.

Everything on this planet of ours is kinda inter-related in one way or another. Lotsa lessons to be learned either way.

And the wheel starts to crank again...

School finally begins... and the wheel starts moving again. Jumping out of the bed early in the morning and getting on the road while it's still dark.... My 'bento' is making a comeback after a 7-week hiatus. It means getting up early in the morning and going through the mad rush again... 8) But it's not really a complain.

This morning's fare..... turkey sandwich.... No time to take pics cos I'm a little rusty after 7 weeks. It was quite chaotic! Turkey is from Christmas dinner leftover, everything else from Tesco! LOL!!

My bentos probably will not have that sort of elaborate decos and arrangements cos I work within a 35 minute time frame.... so it's cook or prepare and pack....kinda limited time what with the limited brain functions at that time of the day!

Got to school early today. And one of the first things we had to do was the Akujanji. I mised the earlier one.... Had to do it like an oath thingy. I actually feel it's kinda silly! Those who missed it had to do it while the rest watched on. These days we have to keep professing our 'loyalty' and 'tekun-ness' I supposed. I wonder whatever happened to quiet conscience??

Streamyx Combo...More than that meets the eye

A friend recently subscribed to the Streamyx Combo plan.... application went fine enough. The phone line was fixed quite promptly. And friend was so happy that she had signed up for the Voice Plan that she called everyone far and near to sembang.... unlimited sembang. 10 days down the road, still no sign of the modem and she was still happily hanging onto the phone.

Me, being impatient for her to get everything done started bugging her to get the modem even in the first few days... finally she went and to her horror, found out that they had not activated her Voice Plan even though the package she signed up was the Streamyx Combo plan. It would be a hefty phone bill she'll be looking at most probably.

I find the advertisement to be misleading. No where does it say that unless and until the Streamyx has been activated, the normal phone rates applied. Then the CRO told us that anyway, the phone cannot be used to make calls... but she could call out after the second day! After 2 weeks nothing had been done.... another excuse was it being holiday season! So, is TM cekap or not?

Learned one thing.... people say read the fine prints.... I'd say ask beyond the fine prints.