Glazed Dreams

Bridges - Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace is a running event held by the International Peace Foundation. So far, the biggest news out of this is the drama surrounding Shrin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace laureate from Iran.

This event will bring the best academic lectures we have seen in this country, from James D. Wolfensohn to Robert Mundell, a pioneer of neo-classical economics.

What I am most perplexed by is the failure of my alma mater, Universiti Putra Malaysia, to be part of this event. The rest of the so-called top 4 Malaysian public universities are hosting events.

So much for improvement.

UiTM

Until recently, my view on the state of the Malaysian construct was one of misalignment. The voices of the people are misaligned with the thoughts and wants of our leaders. Today, those views have disintegrated with the scene of UiTM students demonstrating for their right to remain exclusive.

My first thought on the negative reaction to the Selangor MB’s suggestion was one of natural indifference. Politicising and attacking mere thoughts are a trademark of Malaysian mainstream psyche. But watching the student’s protest cast a dark shadow over any hopes of a new outlook for our country.

Being a student of UPM, and seeing the people around me shaping a new Malaysia, I have held on to a feeling of optimism on the future. To know now that my compatriots in UiTM are against a new dawn, I am broken. But I have close friends there and I know the views of those demonstrating are not shared by everyone. There could have been an element of herd mentality causing thousands to turn up.

It is a travesty that politicians have encouraged the demonstrations, and the minister in charge even fanned the flames with his statement soon after Khalid’s. I find it hard to imagine that any of the students demonstrating will have any action taken against them through the AUKU.

I guess the only way to show these people is by hitting them where it hurts. I know for a fact that UiTM grads are the least in demand of any public university for jobs except for government posts. Any company believing in a new Malaysia should freeze employing all UiTM graduates.

But let me put it bluntly to UiTM.

Even if you open up 1% intake to non-bumiputras, I don’t know one non-bumi who’d even consider walking through your doors.

Machines

If you want to show the world that you’re stupid, get straight As in your SPM, and get in the newspaper saying you want a scholarship.

We seem to be living in a world of wants today, with less care for needs. We want everything, when we need nothing. It comes with progress. When you have your first-order needs satisfied, you tend to go higher-order. Read more.

When there is no food on the table, nobody thinks about injustice. When you don’t have a proper roof over your head, you’re not thinking about the constitution.

RM 3000 a month doesn’t give you the right to anything more than the next person. In fact, you’re privileged.

Now, the education system is broken. I can say that having been a product, an input and an observer for most of my conscious life. It’s not all broken, I’ve said before, being a pretty alright product myself and knowing quite a few pretty alright products.

Real poor students.

The part that’s broken is the sense of entitlement people seem to have being products. The SPM is a nothing exam. Its nothing. STPM is said to be the 4^th hardest in the world, but I’d like to think it is the hardest, the government papers say it’s the 4^th hardest to cool people down.

What the system has done is encourage kids to work hard, memorizing (a dirty word, isn’t it), rote-learning, and closing their eyes to everything but money and pride. Machines of a vibrant society? And these are the kids who believe deeply that they are entitled to having their dreams made true for them.

The Public Services Department should concentrate on what they are, the hirers and firers of government servants. Our vibrant society machines believe deeply that they should be rewarded for the irO-level efforts with a bond to public service out of taxpayer’s pockets.

No one is entitled to anything. You work for all that you have. The government gives out 2000 scholarships overseas out of 6000 applicants every year. The Kuok Foundation gives out a few hundred to ethnic Chinese Malaysians every year. Dozens of corporations give out scholarships.

For O-level achievers to hold the government to ransom are symbols of stupidity, and what they have become - machines.

The solution is for the government to be a lot more fair when dealing with these people and everyone going through Malaysian education.

• Raise standards on SPM.
• Be fair in pre-university. Matriculation is a fallacy. STPM should be the standard.
• Put smart people in public universities. We need better people in our local institutions to get them out of the worst universities list.
  
• Stop giving scholarships to kids out of SPM. Focus on the higher-standard STPM, and focus on post-graduate study.

Get the machines to shut up.