“…What’s going to happen to our children, I can only imagine” – Toyol

Well, let’s try to imagine……….

What Big Joe earlier said is quite true that this is no big issue to Non Malay Upper and Middle Class (except that they’re paying taxes without equitable returns on educational benefits for children) but it may be an issue to the Lower economic/socio class depending on local education.

But really how bad it is – from primary to secondary level? (Try sending your children to go through the whole primary and secondary school system in these Western Countries and see how to turn out and what values they learn?)

The weakness of English in our system is, sure, one weighty consideration. But don’t forget the marguinalisation of Non Malay children has the compensating factor that many of our children become trilingual, learning Chinese in primary school (which gives an edge as China emerges economic power), Malay in secondary schools because it’s a necessity (which gives also an edge if you’re doing business here with UMNOputras and Indonesia) and English (supplemented by TVs and Internet and other sources freely available) making them extremely marketable in the globalised world – not to mention an exposure to confluence of diverse cultural influences.

Much also depends on how looks at what is prerequisites of education. In terms of acquiring knowledge especially the scientific and technical kind, you certainly can’t read Automotive Engineering or Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering and get a job here!

But if one looks at education in wider context of learning how to think in preparation of a successful life in all senses of the word?

The greater acquisition of technical facts and information available elsewhere does not necessarily translate to converting them to wisdom to be marshalled for life’s challenges.

You just have to look around you – does having a string of degrees from overseas necessarily make a person an “educated” person in thinking and wise terms? Even while the number of people waving advanced graduate degrees expands, we witness less and less ability to think rationally and logically…….

It is the University of Life that counts more and exposure it provides you and how you use this knowledge to effective advantage to make whatever you do a success.

It may not be the typical case but if you take YB Kit here who did not studying any institutions occupying Shanghai Jiao Tong’s top universities as compared to Son-in-Law (and some of the UMNO leaders who did), who do you think is a more educated and better man?

Even in this times of many people have access to education, most can’t think or won’t think, the small fraction who do try to think but mostly can’t do it very well. It is extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively, and without self-delusion — in the long run, these are the only people who count. And the fact that we lack the last category of people is why abusive and corrupt governments keep being returned to power decades after decades.

And if you want to select a good university of life ( not in Shanghai Jiao Tong’s list) in which to learn how to think and be streetwise and capable (from which you graduate only when you die), how does Malaysia offer one’s less?

Here you learn how to be marginalized for having wrong skin creed or political beliefs and how to fight every inch of the way to benefit from the very system that oppresses you [true, minorities are discriminated world over – the fact that the laws are made to protect against discrimination does not mean that it is not there in subtler form circumventing the law – but here it is better learning centre because it is legally sanctioned and institutionalized !) ; you can learn about corruption first hand and how to prevail in spite of it; you can learn about the hypocrisies of politicians and yet benefit from them and from their contracts that you could execute; here is a vortex of all kinds of experiences and funny going ons (eg murders with political undertones etc which will take pages to elaborate).There’s quite alot of knowledge and experience here too.
Is not such an environment also conducive for one’s intellectual, spiritual, physical and emotional development with the right approach?

Think about it. Things are not that bad – nevermind whether any of our universities is in the upper echelons of the 500 list. You need to have the right attitude and approach.

“To go through another round of marginalisation in job searching” – cg

Is that really true for Malaysian Chinese?

In my decades as an employer (private sector), the experience is that it is constant problem to get chinese staff and everytime one places an advertisement for staff at different levels we get lots of Malays and Indians unemployed looking for jobs, and when we get a Chinese it is so easy for other companies to take them away with better offers! They appear to be in demand in job market. I wonder who is marginalised.