Jamil Khir, Minister in the PM’s Dept should be suspended or even removed as Minister for Jakim’s open insubordination and insurrection against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Religion on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, 4:55 pm
Senator Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in direct charge of Jakim, should be suspended or even removed as Minister if he cannot give a full and satisfactory explanation to Cabinet and the nation for Jakim’s open insubordination and insurrection against Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan and vision.
If the Cabinet tomorrow is not prepared to discuss and take strong action against Jakim and the civil servants involved in the open insubordination and insurrection against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept, then the Cabinet Ministers are not fit or qualified to continue in office.
Last Thursday, on the same day that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was launching the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Roadmap at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Thursday, JAKIM (Islamic Development Department) of the Prime Minister’s Department organized a forum for 800 civil servants which was tantamount to open insurbordination and insurrection against Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan and vision.
At this Jakim forum, speakers including civil servants like Zamihan Mat Zin from the Institut Latihan Islam Malaysia, Mohd Aizam Masod from Jakim’s research department and Mahammad Nasir Disa, deputy chief of Syariah Research Department of the Attorney-General’s office made speeches which were completely inimical and detrimental to Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan and spirit, turning the forum into an inflammatory and incendiary gathering going against all notions of a 1Malaysia objective and vision.
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MACC will not have a year to redeem itself as its public image may plunge to an even lower depth next few days
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Teoh Beng Hock on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, 1:26 pm
In an interview with Sin Chew Daily yesterday, the new Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim Mohammed was refreshingly frank when he admitted that the mysterious death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock at the MACC Headquarters at Shah Alam on July 16 last year had caused the MACC image and credibility to fall to the lowest point ever but he hoped to lead the commission out of the bottom and restore public confidence and acceptance.
This is a far cry from his predecessor, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan who could be so insensitive as to publicly declare: “Teoh Beng Hock’s case is nothing. It is a very small case” – a height of folly and irresponsibility which cut short his brief but ignominious tenure as the first MACC Chief Commissioner.
Abu Kassim has asked for a year to reverse the bad impression the MACC has made on the public so that he could convince Malaysians that the new anti-corruption body is “independent, transparent and professional”.
MACC will not have a year to redeem itself as its public image may plunge to an even lower depth in a matter of days if rumours on the grapevine are proven right that Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim would be arrested and charged for alleged “cow and car” corruption.
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Of Optimism, Opportunity & the Opposition
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh, Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, 1:14 pm
By Martin Jalleh
Is the Opposition coalition crumbling like a cookie? Is the door for real, relevant and radical change slowly closing in on us? Shall we just call it a day as we witness Umno’s final curtain of a failed State? Or shall we remain committed to a change in government no matter how challenging? Perhaps part of the answer begins with a review of the Opposition in 2009.
2009 saw the end of the euphoria that enveloped the whole country after the political tsunami of March 2008. It was a year during which the Opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat (PR), was brought down to earth and was forced to face the enormity of the challenge to deliver what they had promised during the elections.
It was also a year when the public increasingly perceived the fledging PR to be a “fragile”, “feuding”, “fraying” “faltering” coalition – one that was “not on a firm footing”. For some members of the public, trusting the PR enough to vote them in as the next Federal government was farthest from their minds!
One would have thought that PR, after having lost Perak to the BN in Feb. 2009, as a result of Umno’s subterfuge and scheming, would come to its senses and seek an inseparable synergy. But they continued on with their petty and puerile inter and intra public squabbles, spats and skirmishes, much to the surprise and scorn of the public and the satisfaction of Umno!
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Orang Asli call for recognition of their Ancestral Land
Posted by Kit in Augustine Anthony, Orang Asli on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, 1:10 pm
By Augustine Anthony & Bah Tony William Hunt
On 04.12.2009 it was reported in the New Straits Times that some 19,990 Orang Asli families will receive freehold land titles.
It would generally be expected that the Orang Asli communities will be elated with this announcement but strangely far from being overjoyed with this news, the Orang Asli communities are unhappy and restless.
They ask whether the “receiving” of freehold land titles from the government would mean that they are seen as abandoning their struggle in calling for the government to formally recognize their ancestral lands which they had occupied for generations.
Other concerns of these communities with this government initiative includes the likely breakdown of their traditional communal lifestyle where the land hereon will be treated as individual ownership as opposed to the long entrenched communal ownership practised by them.
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Karpal on the DAP
1 Feb 10 : 8.00AM
By Deborah Loh @ thenutgraph.com
DAP chairperson Karpal Singh is not one to shy from criticising his own political comrades and allies. For him, principles come first. And because of this, the fiery veteran has had no qualms about putting his colleagues in their places, often giving fodder to media speculation that the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is on the verge of collapse.
There was the time when Karpal told Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to quit the PR for promoting a culture of party-hopping. He’s also lambasted fellow party leaders, secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and adviser Lim Kit Siang, for not supporting his anti-hopping stand.
He has consistently resisted the idea of an Islamic state, calling on both PAS and Anwar to come clean on exactly what one would look like. And he called PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang an “embarrassment” over proposed unity talks with Umno.
In the second and final part of an interview with The Nut Graph conducted in Kuala Lumpur on 20 Jan 2010, Karpal talks about the DAP’s way forward with PAS and PKR. Read the rest of this entry »
MCA Ministers and leaders are the “politically walking-dead” in Malaysia
Surprise of surprises that there is a MCA Minister and leader who could bestir from their political comatose stage to notice current developments around them.
The MCA paper The Star today reported the MCA vice president Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha as commenting that “the ‘internal bleeding’ of Pakatan Rakyat is just the beginning of a more serious problem for the pact” and that “Normally, in medical terms, if there’s haemorrhaging in the brain, it will lead to a stroke”.
Thanks Kong for the concern, which must have been quite an exertion from a denizen of the “politically walking-dead” in Malaysia – the MCA Ministers and leaders.
Malaysians have ceased to ask why MCA Ministers have failed to pull their weight in Cabinet, as it is generally recognized that the “politically walking-dead” can have zero weight or input in serious matters of state – which is why MCA Ministers have nothing to say in Cabinet about national issues whether 1Malaysia, NEP, braindrain, corruption, galloping crime or recent issues as in getting the Cabinet to direct the Home Ministry to withdraw its appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment of Datuk Lau Bee Lan allowing the Catholic weekly Herald to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia edition and to convene an inter-religious conference to resolve the “Allah” controversy; the exclusion of Chinese and Tamil primary schools in the selection of the first list of 20 high-performance schools or the Jakim insubordination and insurrection in organsing a forum for 800 civil servants last Thursday which openly defied the 1Malaysia concept.
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Cabinet must condemn and take action against Jakim’s insubordination and open insurrection against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building on Monday, 1 February 2010, 11:00 am
In his opening speech for the International Conference on Religion, Law and Governance in South-East Asia on Saturday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the tremendous force of religion must be harnessed to advance social and national unity.
He said: “A sign of our times is that religious and spiritual values take on renewed importance for human fulfillment. This is most relevant for stability and peace in fostering new openness between religions.” (Star 31.1.10)
Yesterday, Najib called on Malaysians to stand united against crude attempts to disrupt harmony in the country including the recent spate of incidents on houses of worship. (NST 1.2.10)
It must be a matter of grave concern that while Najib is preaching the tremendous power of religion to advance social and national unity, calling on Malaysians to stand united as a people, another government agency is guilty of a very crude attempt to disrupt harmony in the country virtually mounting an insurrection against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept and vision and challenging the authority of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
In Parliament last November and December, the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) which had been given a budget of more than RM600 million since 2,000, was exposed as a government agency which had been guilty of anti-national activities, creating more racists than Malaysian nationalists with its divisive, racist and seditious brain-washing by pumping communal poison and inciting racial hatred and animosity in the guise of “national civics courses”.
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Anwar And Najib – Up Close and Very Revealing
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Bakri Musa, Najib Razak on Monday, 1 February 2010, 9:40 am
by M. Bakri Musa
The side-by-side commentaries by Anwar Ibrahim and Najib Razak in the recent Asian edition of the Wall Street Journal illuminated a couple of salient points, in particular, the state of Malaysian journalism and the quality of our leadership.
Consider first Malaysian editors, specifically of the mainstream media. They missed the essential point that the best way to intelligently inform their readers is to present them with contrasting and opposing viewpoints, as illustrated by what The Journal did. Respect your readers’ intelligence and treat them like adults.
Bernama mentioned the Journal’s articles as a news item but referred only to Najib’s piece. Obviously the Bernama editors’ instinct was to please Najib and protect his image. They see themselves less as professional journalists and more as propagandists for the state. Their reaction was predictable.
That the cue from Bernama was quickly picked up by the other mainstream editors too did not surprise me. They are after all from the same mold. What grabbed my attention however, was what the Sun Daily did. I remember that paper as one that had the courage right from the beginning to be a tad independent, and its journalists less willing to genuflect to the powerful; hence its success despite its recent entry into the business.
The Sun merely reprinted Bernama’s piece, again with no mention of Anwar’s contrasting viewpoint. The Sun’s editors had access to both commentaries (they are available on-line) but chose to follow Bernama’s lead instead of their own editorial judgment. That reflects the challenges in maintaining journalistic integrity in an oppressive environment.
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For Karpal, the personal is political
29 Jan 10 : 8.00AM
By Deborah Loh; The Nut Graph
FIVE years ago, in the blink of an eye, life changed for the Lion of Jelutong. A car accident close to midnight on 28 Jan 2005 now keeps Karpal Singh confined to a wheelchair and under constant supervision and assistance in order to perform the simplest of tasks.
That incident has not dampened the Bukit Gelugor Member of Parliament’s drive to serve in law and politics. Even so, Karpal, 70, considers his disability worse than detention without trial under the Internal Security Act, which he experienced for two years from 1987 under Operasi Lalang.
At an age and under circumstances where many others would have retreated to live quietly, the DAP national chairperson is still fighting — as an opposition leader, a crusader for justice, and against physical pain, which he tries to ignore by working. The Nut Graph spoke to Karpal at his law firm in Kuala Lumpur on 20 Jan 2010 while he was preparing for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s second sodomy trial which starts on 2 Feb.
TNG: What keeps you going in politics?
Karpal Singh: Making sure that government is held accountable. Once in a while we get into trouble, but that’s the risk we take. For example, I’ve been charged with sedition for saying that the sultan of Perak can be sued. Of course he can be sued. And even if I were wrong, it’s just my opinion. Does that amount to a crime?
During Anwar’s first sodomy trial, I was charged for what I said while discharging my duties in court. It was when urine tests on Anwar found that he had an excessive amount of arsenic in his blood. I made a statement in court that he had been poisoned, and that people in high places were responsible. Read the rest of this entry »
Khaled should not turn the clock back but boldly go forward to foster the spirit of academic freedom among university lecturers and students
Posted by Kit in Education, Election, university on Sunday, 31 January 2010, 12:42 pm
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
PR Penang greatest legacy – prove right policies can make Malays and Malaysians compete and succeed against the best
Posted by Kit in DAP, Lim Guan Eng, Pakatan Rakyat, Penang on Sunday, 31 January 2010, 10:14 am
by Lim Guan Eng
Pakatan Rakyat Penang’s greatest legacy to Malaysia and greatest threat to BN’s stranglehold on power is to prove that the right policies can make Malays compete and succeed against the best in the world. Ever since the Pakatan Rakyat Penang state government took power in March 2008, we have made integrity and CAT governance(Competency, Accountability and Transparency) the hallmark of financial administration.
New measures implemented includes competitive and public open tender, payments directly to recipients without going through middle-men, priority given to Penang contractors, e-tender through the internet and a 2 week objection period to ensure that successful contractor no longer need “political cables” but “computer cables”. There is no doubt that competitive open tenders saves costs and improve quality.
Many contractors have been liberated with the implementation of open tenders at all levels. For Class F contractors which is only open to bumis, open tender system has allowed non-UMNO linked contractors in Penang to get contracts for the first time. In the past contracts are usually reserved for UMNO cronies and those outside the state. Clearly the competitive open tender system of PR is more transparent, accountable and beneficial to the people compared to the negotiated tender system for BN cronies.
What is more surprising is the outcome of the open tender system open to all races. Instead of perception that Malays cannot compete and that the non-Malay contractor would win all open tender contracts, this is not true. Since the new PR government took over, Penang Development Corporation(PDC) had issued 23 tender awards, of which 7(30%) were won by non-Malay contractors and 16(70%) won by Malay contractors. Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang(PBAPP) had issued 66 tender awards of which 22(33%) were won by non-Malay contractors as compared to 44(67%) by Malay contractors.
The performance by Malay contractors in an open tender system with non-Malays proves that Malay contractors can compete with others and win tender awards on their own merit. Clearly it is not the race that is an issue but failed policies that encourage dependency especially when it helps BN maintain the status quo and its grip on power. Read the rest of this entry »
Disappointed Doctor
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, public service on Saturday, 30 January 2010, 10:04 pm
Letter
I am a medical doctor who was educated overseas and worked in Australia for several years and recently decided to return to Malaysia to serve the country.
As a professional working overseas I heard about the ‘Program bagi mengalakkan warganegara Malaysia yang berpakaran yang bekerja di luar negara pulang ke Malaysia’ and therefore applied for it. I was very disappointed when they rejected my application on the grounds that it was sent after I returned to Malaysia. Apparently it was meant to be sent whilst I was still in Australia.
I find this a very poor excuse given the fact that Malaysia is trying to lure back its citizens to work for them. It discourages professionals such as me from having to bear the burden to return but not have any perks or encouraging incentives. Furthermore, my parents bore my exorbitant medical tuition fees and I did not receive any governmental loans whatsoever. The “least” is something anyone would expect.
Besides that, it took me a great deal of an effort to locate the abovementioned application form which was hidden in the catacombic archives of one of the governmental websites. Talk about purposeful inconvenience or perhaps voluntary neglect. Read the rest of this entry »
Khaled – Hands off! Respect and uphold University of Malaya Vice Chancellor Ghauth Jasmon’s decision on moratorium and suspension of campus polls
Hands off! Respect and uphold the University of Malaya Vice Chancellor Ghauth Jasmon’s decision on the moratorium and suspension of University of Malaya campus polls.
This is the message all Malaysians hoping to see the restoration of academic freedom and excellence in our public universities, particularly University of Malaya, want to send to the Higher Education Minister Datuk Khaled Nordin.
Khaled has already jumped into the campus fray by questioning the judgment of the University of Malaya Vice Chancellor in suspending the campus elections and his decision to resolve the campus poll controversy, viz:
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appointment of an IT consultant by the pro-students group to test the e-voting system – a re-election to be held if it is proven that elements of fraud or abuse exist.
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investigate allegations that deputy vice-chancellor of student affairs (HEP) Azarae Idris misused university funds to quarantine HEP sponsored candidates at a hotel, the night before nomination.
I call on Khaled to endorse the decision and judgment of Gauth Jasmon, taking into account legitimate complaints about the campus electoral process.
Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan Rakyat – what next
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat on Saturday, 30 January 2010, 3:02 pm
Pakatan Rakyat won a renewal of public confidence and trust with the successful holding of the Pakatan Rakyat national convention in Shah Alam on Dec. 19 last year and the demonstration of greater responsibility and maturity as compared to Umno and Barisan Nasional in the response to the “Allah” controversy which had further marred the image and reputation of Malaysia, both locally and internationally, since the new year.
But in a matter of days, these hard-won gains for the Pakatan Rakyat were largely undone not by the acts of our political adversaries but by the deeds of Pakatan Rakyat standard-bearers.
As a result, there is now a new round of public questioning as to whether Pakatan Rakyat can be trusted with the great responsibility of federal power in the next general elections.
This internal haemorrhaging, at a time when the Umno-led Barisan Nasional is intensifying its political offensive with a new round of abuses of the national institutions and instruments, must end.
This will be the challenge of the Pakatan Rakyat leadership council when it meets tomorrow. Read the rest of this entry »
Instant rejection of proposal for Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia GTP – cannot withstand public and parliamentary scrutiny?
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, nation building, Public policy on Saturday, 30 January 2010, 12:32 pm
I am very disappointed that my proposal yesterday for the establishment of an opposition-headed Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme was given the immediate short shrift by the second KPI Minister, Datuk Idris Jala who rejected the proposal out of hand.(Sin Chew)
I find this very revealing but ominous as the instant rejection of the proposal for a Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia GTP shows that the two KPI Ministers Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon and Idris have no confidence that the GTP Roadmap can go very far out of the laboratory stage to withstand public and parliamentary scrutiny.
They are probably right and it will be most tragic if all the interests of GTP is focused at the laboratory stage more as “academic exercises” than in translating them into actual policies and programmes subject to public and parliamentary scrutiny.
The virtually total absence of public interest in the 1Malaysia GTP Roadmap Launch exhibition at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre yesterday, to the extent that I felt very embarrassed both for myself and for the KPI Ministers when I paid it a visit with DAP MPs Fong Kui Lun (Bukit Bintang) and Tony Pua (PJ Utara), is proof that despite 10 months and tens of millions of ringgit of publicity about the “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” concept, Najib’s Government Transformation Programme has failed to catch fire and is in danger of failing like a damp squib. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Najib to immediately abolish the practice of support letters for contracts to demonstrate his commitment to zero tolerance for corruption
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak, UMNO on Friday, 29 January 2010, 5:07 pm
When I visited the Lab Open Day of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) in Sunway on 18th December last year, I raised the question about the government’s seriousness and commitment to declare an all-out war against corruption and asked why nobody in government, starting from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had ever talked about “zero tolerance for corruption”, and this question remains as valid today as seven weeks ago.
It is no use the GTP lab on “fighting corruption” referring to “zero tolerance for corruption” when nobody in government, from the Prime Minister downwards is prepared to embrace it.
The GTP Roadmap makes grandiloquent statements and proposals about fighting corruption but the political will to implement them are sorely lacking.
It proposes the gradual reduction of the “practice of support letters, which are used to exert undue influence on civil servants to circumvent standard policies and processes in obtaining contracts”.
It said:
“Often, these interventions do not necessarily originate from politicians themselves, but from vested individuals who use the support letters as leverage to negotiate with the Government.
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Establish opposition-headed Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme Roadmap to exercise parliamentary oversight if Najib, Tsu Koon and Idris are serious about major government reforms
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Najib Razak, nation building on Friday, 29 January 2010, 4:13 pm
I embarrassed Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, the KPI Minister and Chairman of Pemudah and Datuk Idris Jala, the Second KPI Minister and CEO of Pemudah when together with DAP MP for PJ Utara Tony Pua and MP for Bukit Bintang Fong Kui Lun, I visited the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Roadmap exhibition just after noon.
Apart from Idris, the GTP Roadmap exhibition staff and the media, there was hardly a soul from the public. Reporters said that the venue was as empty yesterday except for the official launching ceremony of the GTP Roadmap by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
It is almost ten months since Najib became Prime Minister, and apart from his dazzling “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” slogan and concept, Malaysians have not felt and could not perceive that there is any meaningful change in their daily lives.
The 261-page “1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme” would make an impressive thesis on nation-building and government transformation but the national challenge today is not who can produce the best-sounding thesis but have the political will to implement meaningful changes in all aspects of national life.
In fact, there could not be a worse time for the launching of the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme when for the past month, the Malaysian image of a united, harmonious and progressive nation had suffered prolonged battering in the international media because of the failure of find a quick solution to the “Allah” controversy.
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PM Najib must institute good governance before the country can achieve high income economy
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Dr. Chen Man Hin, Economics, Najib Razak on Friday, 29 January 2010, 4:11 pm
by Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life adviser
PM NAJIB MUST INSTITUTE GOOD GOVERNANCE BEFORE THE COUNTRY CAN ACHIEVE HIGH ECONOMY FOR THE PEOPLE.
Dr. Zakaria, executive director of MIER at an economic conference on 26th January, stated that for Malaysia to become a high income country, it must liberalise the economy to attract both foreign direct investments as well as domestic investments. This is a hopeful statement, from a dedicated public servant, who wants to see his country prosper.
Unfortunately, he is going to be disappointed, not for lack of trying, but because the political and economic realities do not encourage both foreign and domestic investors to put money in this country.
Widespread corruption, racial prejudices and over regulation of the economy are unfriendly and deter investors to invest. Under an unstable cloud, the investors will not deem the climate here favourable to investors. In fact, this has led to a huge outflow of capital from the country.
DISASTROUS CAPITAL FLIGHT
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Middle Malaysia
Posted by Kit in DAP, Dr. Chen Man Hin on Thursday, 28 January 2010, 8:21 pm
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life adviser
THE EVOLUTION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF MIDDLE MALAYSIA.
Actually, the evolution of Middle Malaysia was spontaneous when about 50% of the electoral votes of 2008 general election supported a minimum common programme of the PKR-DAP-PAS coalition.
March 8th 2008 was a turning point for the country when the coaltion achieved a resounding victory by capturing five States and denied the Barisan of a two thirds majority. It signified that half the electorate wanted a Malaysia that was democratic, just, transparent, with religious freedom and rule of law – all the prnciples of the common programme of the Coalition of PKR-DAP-PAS.
The momentous victory for the coalition marked the spontaneous birth of a MIDDLE MALAYSIA.
THE 8/03 VICTORY SPURRED THE FORMATION OF PAKATAN RAKYAT.
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Which were the top 20 schools in the early years of the nation?
(How many of the 20 high-performance schools picked by Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin would have been your choice?
May be, lets open a debate as to which were the top 20 “high-performance” schools when the country achieved Merdeka in 1957 and became Malaysia in 1963, how many of them are in Muhyiddin’s Top 20 schools and why the rest have lost out in the placings?
Reproduced below is one view by Lee Wei Lian in Malaysian Insider)
The tragic tale of Malaysian education
by Lee Wei Lian
Malaysian Insider
January 27 2010
What do Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Malaysia’s founding father Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s second richest man T. Ananda Krishnan and YTL chairman Tan Sri Francis Yeoh have in common?
The answer: all four studied at once famous schools that are now glaringly absent from the list of 20 high performance schools recently announced by the government.
Victoria Institution (Ananda, Yeoh), St John’s Institution (Najib), Penang Free School (Tunku Abdul Rahman) and others like Malacca High School and St Michael’s Institution are all storied schools that have been allowed to fall behind until they are no longer counted as among the elite educational institutions in the country.
Just imagine if Eton College in the UK or Raffles Institution in Singapore was not recognised as one of the top schools in their respective countries.
That is the equivalent of what has befallen what were once the most respected schools in Malaysia. Today, they do not even rate a mention on a list of the top 20 high performance schools.
It is a crying shame as these schools produced many leaders that were influential in the development of Malaysia and to a lesser extent even in Singapore. Read the rest of this entry »
