Giving a choice of education to our students in Malaysian school systems

Malaysian school systems: http://www.globalchildhoods.net/index.php?page=malaysia

We can have many different school systems, as long as they all teach ways to acquire relevant skills and knowledge.

"Educational reforms must be driven by those who want to ensure that our future generations are able to be relevant in a global environment, earn good incomes and contribute to the nation’s prosperity."

THE Johor Sultan’s recent proposal for there to be a single school system for the country became the latest talking point amongst teachers last week. The Sultan’s proposal, among other things, entails the use of English as a medium of instruction.

In the public space, the discussion went off tangent straight away. Some were quick to defend the present system because they said we need to preserve the vernacular schools, which in turn are meant to ensure the preservation of Chinese and Indian culture and their respective mother tongues.

These supporters seemed to suggest that without vernacular schools, the people of these respective ethnic groups would lose their cultures and languages altogether.

There are some primary-level vernacular schools in rural parts of India that are intended for the continued use of their mother tongue. However, students have the flexibility of transferring to English-medium schools at the secondary level. This flexibility enables Indian education to be largely singular in its system, with a wide use of English as medium of instruction.

Unfortunately, our view of vernacular schools is tied to a political idea: that politicians of a particular ethnic group are required to defend these vernacular schools – regardless of their actual usefulness and value to their communities – as an indicator of their care and concern for the welfare of their communities. Education becomes a political tool.

Middle-class parents want the present system to be retained because the approach taken by successive Ministers of Education has essentially been to privatise education. Hundreds of licences for private schools have been issued, and even international schools are now open to locals with the means to afford them for their children.

So this wealthy group does not mind the present system because for them at least, education is now isolated from the mainstream ; and they are thus able to have what some of them believe to be a superior method of teaching children, and imparting the right kind of education.

Others who want a single system insist on vernacular schools being abolished, and in their place “a Malay (national) centric system” where schools can impart lessons on loyalty and patriotism with more vigour. They argue that we still need to instil patriotism, unity and racial harmony in our pupils and students.

They believe that a sufficient amount of indoctrination is necessary to turn our young into “true Malaysians”, while religious classes and adequate prayer halls will shape Malay children into good Muslims (since we now seek to be Syariah-compliant in everything we do).

We can safely say that under the present political setup, no government will dare abolish vernacular schools. So if national schools become more “Malay” and more Islamic, we can expect more vernacular schools to mushroom all over the country, keeping pace with private schools (local and international ) as they seek to attract ever-larger numbers of students whose parents have “no confidence” in the national school system.

We can have as many systems in our schools as we like, as long as the “one” overriding component in any system that matters is the idea that schools are for teaching students to acquire deep knowledge and skills relevant to the present world.

Schools of the 21st century do not exist primarily to build national unity, to foster narrow nationalism, or to protect any mother tongue. They are not designed to make you “a better person” or religious and sin-free, for that matter.

Today’s education is primarily about having the right skills to get jobs, as the effect of globalisation and new artificial intelligence will be taking a lot of our work away, and may ultimately make us all redundant if we are not prepared. In that context, education must be about giving our children relevant, useful and productive skills.

If the characteristics of the national school were to be modelled on those found in Switzerland, Finland or Singapore, for example, (with some modifications, of course), that would be acceptable because their focus is on producing students with skills that are useful in this present environment.

The diversity of available subjects, with options given to parents to decide on issues such as language, can accommodate different aspirations without compromising on quality or the schools’ central mission.

I recently met a Finnish teacher in Helsinki who was proud to tell me that almost all Finnish students speak three European languages, although there is no compulsion to do so in their school system.

According to this teacher, they have to be multilingual because then their job opportunities become much wider. Necessity always produces better education systems and methods.

Mother tongues can be kept alive through their regular use in a modern education system, without having vernacular schools. Let’s face it: having a poor and mediocre Tamil school system with low enrolment will not do much to help preserve the language and culture of the Tamil community. The only people who benefit are Tamil politicians.

Today’s education produces well-rounded children who will get jobs. It’s when they have no jobs that we worry, no matter how well they can speak their mother tongue.

Educational reforms must be driven by those who want to ensure that our future generations are able to be relevant in a global environment, earn good incomes and contribute to the nation’s prosperity.

By Zaid Ibrahim All kinds of everything

Former de facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim (carbofree@gmail.com) is now a legal consultant. The views expressed here are entirely his own.


Related posts:

Malaysia's vernacular schools not the problem

Those who oppose vernacular schools ... are driven by their desire to produce a society moulded in a way that they desire. Please keep e...

Barking up the wrong tree !!

Chinese language advantage and education in M'sia; Don’t turn it into a political tool!

A new status for Chinese

I often take a long pause when I am asked about what I do in Beijing, especially if the person is from Malaysia. For the last two decades, more than 90% of Chinese Malaysian families send their children to vernacular primary schools. Those who do not read and write some…

Malaysia's vernacular schools not the problem

Those who oppose vernacular schools ... are driven by their desire to produce a society moulded in a way that they desire. Please keep element of choice for both parents and students.

AMONG those opposing vernacular schools, you can detect one umbrella argument that is continuously used by many parties. They say that the existence of vernacular schools is a threat to national identity and a hindrance to unity. Their fear is that this student segregation will lead to a fracturing of our society.

I disagree with this view. I think they confuse the purpose of education and there is also a lot of hypo­crisy going on.

Let us firstly look at the concept of schooling. Historically, the entity known as a school has its origin in Prussia in the early 1800s.

At that time, Prussians were looking at methods to produce citizens who would loyally work and fight for causes determined by their rulers. So they devised a system where, from a very young age, their citizens were trained to live a regimented life.

It did not matter what your abilities and interests were. As long as you were of the same age, you would be grouped together and forced to learn subjects determined by the elites.

Like the military, there was heavy emphasis on leadership by head teachers and teachers, while students were mere recipients of what was taught to them. That regimentation remains as the nature of modern schools.

After two centuries of bureaucratic evolution, schools these days are not about providing holistic education to support the child’s individual growth anymore. Instead it is about producing cohorts of citizens who can be easily grouped and compartmentalised.

Every one of us who went through the modern school system has been compartmentalised into groups based on our exam results.

And that is also why it has become the norm for those in power to use the school as a tool for social engineering. From day one, since Prussian times, the purpose of a school has always been about social engineering. Yet the vast majority of people today confuse schools with education.

In reality, you can still get an education without going to what have become our traditional schools. Education can be obtained from home, or in informal groups that come together for what is today known as “home-schooling”.

More interestingly, there is also a global interest in concepts such as unschooling, Sudbury schools, and democratic schools.

Those who oppose vernacular schools usually do not argue about the quality of education received by the students. They are not driven by the desire to catalyse social mobility by ensuring everyone has access to quality education. But they are driven by their desire to produce a society moulded in a way that they approve of.

The elites have a concept of what they feel society should be like and they want to use the Prussian factory-like model of schools to produce underlings who behave according to their pre-determined mould. To legitimise their mould, they label it as unity.

Note that their desire for unity has nothing to do with education. Their focus is on schooling. And this is where the hypocrisy creeps in.

Many of the people who want to promote their mould of unity have never attended any of our government schools. They don’t even send their own kids to our schools.

They step into our schools perhaps for a few hours a year for hyped-up visits, yet they speak as if they really know. More amazingly, they speak as if they actually have faith in our school system when their actions show otherwise.

In reality, these elites campaign for something that will never affect them. When it comes to their own families, they send their children for a “better” education elsewhere.

They want to limit our choices on schools because they know that they can always pay their way out and send their own children to a school of their choice.

This is the tragedy of some of the privileged. Instead of looking for ways to make sure everyone can afford school choices like them, they want to kill choice for everyone who cannot afford to pay.

Let me pose a rhetorical question.

If unity can only be achieved by making students from different backgrounds come together in one school, then why do they just want to close vernacular schools?

To be specific, data shows that Chinese schools have higher ethnic diversity than other schools. I can think of many non-Chinese schools that are completely mono-ethnic. If we are objective, it is not the Chinese schools that need to be closed down.

This is why I say that there is a lot of hypocrisy in the debate. Worse, that hypocrisy is clouded by confusion about whether we want to educate or we just want to have factory-like schooling.

The vernacular school debate is a debate of the elite. For us common people, our sole desire is to be able to provide our kids with quality education.

It is possible to provide school choices for the commoners, such as by using school vouchers so that choice is provided but schools are still free for the students.

Of course, it will take time to move towards this choice-based system. Until we get there, I beg the elites to stop trying to kill what few choices remain for us poorer citizens of this country.

By Wan Saiful Wan Jan The Star

Thinking Liberally

Wan Saiful Wan Jan is chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (www.ideas.org.my). The views expressed here are entirely
the writer’s own.

Related posts:

Separate the Attorney-General's powers to correct a flaw ... Jul 7, 2015 ... Wan Saiful Wan Jan is chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs ( www.ideas.org.my). The views expressed here are ...

 Fighting corruption must be serious !

Jun 23, 2015 ... Wan Saiful Wan Jan is chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (www.ideas.org.my). The views expressed here are ...

Barking up the wrong tree !!

In "civil liberties"

Chinese language advantage and education in M'sia; Don’t turn it into a political tool!

In "civil liberties"

A new status for Chinese

I often take a long pause when I am asked about what I do in Beijing, especially if the person is from Malaysia. For the last two decades, more than 90% of Chinese Malaysian families send their children to vernacular primary schools. Those who do not read and write some…

In "Main"

Related:

Can liberalism save Malaysia?

Do we want peace or unity?

Bad politics in mosques

Taxes must not be too taxing

Answering to the people

State more dominant in business 

Ringgit Malaysia slides to lowest vs USD: fears of low oil prices, rate hike, rethink study options

PETALING JAYA: The ringgit has fallen to its lowest against the US dollar since August 2009 amid concerns over the impact of low oil prices on Malaysia’s economy and the timing of US interest rate hike.

At 5pm yesterday, the ringgit was quoted at 3.5425 against the US dollar, which has been gaining strength against all major currencies in the world. That represented a weakening of 10.81% for the ringgit against the US dollar in the last six months.

According to independent economist Lee Heng Guie, the ringgit would likely remain under downward pressure as investors were concerned about the impact of falling crude oil prices on Malaysia’s economy.

Malaysia, which is a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum, is seen as the biggest loser in Asean of lower oil prices.

“Being a net oil and gas exporter, it will cause a sharp slowdown in oil and gas investments and affect the Government’s ability to spend as it struggles to manage its fiscal deficit on account of falling oil revenue,” RHB Research Institute said in a recent report.

Low oil prices would result in some loss of income for Malaysia through lower dividends from state oil producer Petroliam Nasional Bhd and lower tax and excise duties. Petroleum-related revenues account for around 30%-40% of total government revenue each year.

Savings from recent subsidy reforms might not be sufficient to offset the loss in income for the Government that was looking to cut its fiscal deficit to 3% of gross domestic income (GDP) in 2015 from 3.5% of GDP this year, economists said.

There were divided views as to whether Malaysia would momentarily slip into twin deficits, a situation where an economy is running both fiscal and current deficits, in the coming months.

Brent crude oil, an international benchmark, fell to a fresh five-year low at 5pm yesterday when it was quoted at US$54.23 (RM192.11) per barrel. That represented a decline of more than half from the peak of around US$115 (RM406.80) per barrel in mid-June.

Investors are expecting the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in the coming months, following the end of its third round of quantitative easing (QE3) programme last October.

QE3, which was launched in September 2012, involved the buying of long-term US Treasury bonds to push long-term interest rates low to support the country’s economic recovery.

In the last six months, the ringgit had also weakened against other regional currencies, including the Singapore dollar, against which it fell 3.63% to 2.6493. The ringgit fell 0.91% against the South Korean won to 0.3184; and 2.9% against the Indonesian rupiah to 0.02801.

Nevertheless, the ringgit had appreciated against the British pound, euro, Australian dollar and Japanese yen over the last six months.

Yesterday, the ringgit was quoted at 5.4080 against the pound, 4.2249 against the euro, 2.8541 against the Australian dollar and 2.9397 against 100 yen.

By Celilia Kok The Star/Asia News Network

Weakening ringgit forces parents to rethink study options

PETALING JAYA: Parents planning to send their children to study overseas, particularly the United States, are beginning to feel the pinch with the ringgit continuing its slide against the greenback.

Many are reconsidering their options by looking at other destinations for their children’s higher studies.

Some are also planning to shorten the study period of their children to cope with the extra costs incurred, while there are those who are thinking of asking their children to take up part time jobs to help finance their education.

The ringgit has slipped to its lowest since August 2009 at 3.5280 to the US dollar.

A media practitioner said he enrolled his daughter for an American degree programme with a local college two years ago.

“She’s doing a twinning course with two of the four years to be spent in the US. At that time, the ringgit was holding up fairly well against the US dollar.

“With the ringgit’s slide now, I’ll have to cough up much more to finance my daughter’s studies in the US,” he said.

Retired pilot Wong Yoon Fatt, a father of two, said he planned to send his 18-year-old daughter overseas as he had saved up funds for his children’s education.

“However, if the ringgit continues to weaken, I may shorten the duration of their studies abroad. From three years, I may consider cutting it to just a year or two abroad,” he said, adding that he would encourage his children to take up part-time jobs during their vacation.

Housewife Noorhaidah Mohd Ibrahim, 61, said if the economic situation worsened, she was prepared to send her 21-year-old daughter Tasneem to study at a local university.

“If we can get the same quality of education here, then why not?” she said, adding that she was planning to send Tasneem to pursue higher education in Britain.

Mass communication student S. Samhitha, 21, said she had a choice of continuing her final-year overseas but opted to stay back because of increasing costs to study abroad. “I can still get the same degree here. However, the thing I will miss is the exposure of studying in a different country,” she said.

Law student Janani Silvanathan, who is in Britain, said she would feel the pinch of the weakening ringgit in her next term when she would have to travel back and forth from Bristol to London weekly.

“Transportation will be more expensive. A train ticket from Bristol to London costs RM180 each now,” the 24-year-old lamented. A 20-year-old film making student who identified herself as Stephanie said she was planning to study in Canada but would have take up a part-time job.

“The depreciating ringgit will not severely affect me but my parents will definitely incur higher costs,” she said.

Law student Lisa J. Ariffin, 25, who is studying in Cardiff, Wales, said she was more careful in spending money, even on food.

“I can’t eat out as often and will always look out for good bargains or offers,” she said.

By Yuen Meikeng The Star/Asia News Network

Related articles:

• Silver lining for property owners in US and UK

• It’s not all that bad for inbound tourism, says MATTA 

Related posts:


Oil & Gas lead to wealth crunch, Malaysian Ringgit beaten and dropped..

 Oil enters a new era of low prices: Opec vs US shale, impacts, perils as Petronas cuts capex

Oil Enters New Era as OPEC Faces Off Against Shale; Who Blinks as Price Slides Toward $70? How Oil's Price Plunge Impacts Wall S...

Crude oil prices fall: subsidy needless, ringgit weaken, fiscal health affected

Malaysia's iconic Twin Towers are seen in the background of the Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas logo at a petrol station in Ku...


Malaysia's petrol price hike when global crude oil prices declined to 3 years low, a reflection of poor financial management!

Timing of latest fuel subsidy cut a surprise PETALING JAYA - The latest round of

Treasures of the heart; Happy Teachers Day

Many fall into the trap of ‘loving things and using people’, but it is the unseen treasures that matter most.

PULAU Nangka off Malacca may be unknown to most of us, but not to treasure hunters who have been working to unearth a multi-billion ringgit loot that is believed to be buried somewhere on the island.

It’s the kind of stuff Indiana Jones would be interested in. So when it was announced that two ancient coins – supposedly from the Malacca Sultanate era – were found last week, the newspapers went to town with the news.

But in dealing with the discovery of lost treasures, dinosaurs and religious artifacts, it is never wise to celebrate too early.

The find at Pulau Nangka is awaiting authentication, but the circumstances with regards to the timing of the discovery have thrown up many questions, which leads one to conclude that this may be a false alarm after all.

People in general are always on the hunt for treasures. Okay, few of us would venture into jungles or dive to the bottom of the sea.

But if we examine our own lives, we may actually find that the material wealth that we have accumulated over the years is like an inventory of treasures.

They can be major assets like property, cars, stocks or jewellery. Or they can even be minor, everyday items. We can laugh about Imelda Marcos’ collection of shoes but frankly, isn’t there a bit of Imelda in everyone of us?

Be it shoes, handbags, clothes, phones or computers, we go hunting in the malls, collect what we desire, use them for a while and then store them away.

Many are reluctant to let go of their “treasures” and give them away only when they run out of space, by which time the shoes cannot be worn anymore and the computers can no longer run.

There are many recycling booths in my neighbourhood, and it is sad to see that they are mainly used as garbage dumps.

I have gone around to collect things from people who want to donate to charity but more often than not, I find that I am just transferring them to a dump.

What’s the point of giving away things that are no longer usable or which may even pose a danger to the people we supposedly want to help?

That’s the problem with earthly treasures. They have a definite “use by” date and are subjected to wear and tear.

Worse, because we love our things so much, we cry buckets when thieves cart away our latest smartphones and electronic gadgets. Or when we get a tiny scratch on our new luxury car.

We tend to “love things and use people” when material possessions are our treasures.

Fortunately, there are real treasures in life that are worth accumulating. Even Christie’s and Sotheby’s cannot put a value to them.

My dear friend rushed from an official function to hold my hand when I struggled during one chemotherapy session. A warm embrace between a Muslim and a Christian – that was a treasured moment.

I am indeed blessed with many treasures bequeathed to me from family, friends and total strangers. They do not take up space in my house, but they fill up every nook and corner in my heart.

> Executive editor Soo Ewe Jin (ewejin@thestar.com.my) wishes all mothers Happy Mother’s Day, mindful that “when someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure to always hold in your heart”.

The value of teachers

WE often hear stories about kiasu parents in Singapore who go to great lengths to ensure their children are enrolled in top-notch schools.

But there is one school in the island republic that is also in high demand, but for a different reason.

Northlight School, which has earned itself a reputation as a school of opportunities and possibilities, only admits those who have failed the Primary School Leaving Exami­nation (PSLE) at least twice, and are deemed unable to progress to secon­dary-level education.

I heard about this school for the first time at a gathering of Klang Valley teachers held in Petaling Jaya last Tuesday in conjunction with Teachers Day.

The motivational speaker from Singapore kept everyone in awe as she shared about the success stories from that school – how a pool of dedicated and compassionate teachers transformed the lives of so many because of their belief that “Failure in an exam is not failure in life”.

I love teachers who educate and not just teach their students. These are the teachers who help shape the character of their students because they value effort, creativity and strength of character. And because they care, they will always be remembered.

Our Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh shared about the late Cikgu Fatimah, a former headmistress at SM Tengku Mah­mud, in his hometown of Besut, Terengganu (“Always in sight, forever in my heart,” The Star, May 16).

“During her life, she’d always visit her students and their parents at their homes and would help them solve issues faced not just by the students but the family as a whole. She’d provide guidance, support and motivation to them even after school hours, going well beyond the call of duty,” the minister wrote.

“When Cikgu Fatimah fell sick, her students took care of her until she passed away. Such is the reciprocal love and care of the students to their teacher who led by example.”

How touching. Coming from that generation, I also have many such stories to share, but we must not think that these stories only happen in the good old days. Maybe they are imprinted more deeply in our minds because we had fewer distractions back then.

I know of many teachers still in service in various parts of the country who reach out to their students be­­­­­­­yond the classroom. Where others see despair, they see hope. And so they plod on, amidst the many challenges, to make a difference in the lives of their students.

And we are not just talking about schools in the outback but also those in the urban centres. Those who go to top schools but always end up in the so-called bottom classes will understand what I mean.

When the school goes rah-rah over the super-duper achievers, it takes a special teacher to see the worth in a young student in the lower class who will never get that kind of attention.

The seeds of encouragement she sows may take a while to blossom, but they will.

I was glad to recognise a number of such teachers in that gathering on Tuesday. They may not be getting the headlines, but they do not labour in vain. Happy Teachers Day.

Contributed by Sunday Starters, Soo Ewe Jin The Star
> Executive editor Soo Ewe Jin (ewejin@thestar.com.my) wishes all mothers Happy Mother’s Day, mindful that “when someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure to always hold in your heart”.

Related articles:

Be positive and count our blessings

4 May 2014

We can whine and complain about things, or we can review the many luxuries we have conveniently classified as essentials. To be positive is not to deny the negative. It is simply acknowledging that there are many people in worse circumstances than us.

Trees are vital in the circle of life

27 April 2014

Their towering importance literally is reflected in what they signify in our lives figuratively. It is the trees lining our roads, which grew from little seeds, that give us shade.

Sow love where there is hatred

20 April 2014

The language of love is much stronger than the language of hatred. You need to look with your heart, and not just your eyes, to have a fresh perspective.

The heart and soul of learning

13 April 2014

As education can be eroded by misguided manipulation – teaching is and always will be a noble and inspirational profession.

Changing lives, one person at a time

6 April 2014

Poverty alleviation means empowering the poor and enabling them to find ways to improve the quality of their lives.

The heart of real conversation

30 March 2014

One may hold discussions online but when people are not physically together, the body language, an essential component of real conversation, is missing.

Men, stand up for women

23 March 2014

If we are to look at the bigger issues involving women in the public domain, we need to understand fi rst our role in the home.

Let us be united in hope and love

16 March 2014 THESE are trying times indeed. Flight MH370 vanishes, and after a week, it remains, as the DCA chief puts it, “an unprecedented aviation mystery”. The new information revealed yesterday has taken the search into new territories but the closure that we so desire will still be some time coming.

Al-Shabaah terrorist members enter Malaysia as students and tourists!

Key arrest: Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Unit officers detaining the 34-year-old Somali, believed to be a member of Al-Shabaab terrorist group, in Selangor.

Hunt on for more Somalis

KUALA LUMPUR: The police counter terrorism division has launched a manhunt for at least five other members of the Somali terrorist group Al-Sha­baab who entered the country as college students and tourists.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ah­­mad Zahid Hamidi said the hunt was to ensure that Malaysia did not be­­come a training ground for militant groups.

“Malaysia has never compromised when it comes to militant activities. This (efforts to hunt terrorists) is done continuously,” he told reporters after visiting the Kamunting Pri­­son yesterday.

“We are hunting down several individuals. Some of them are married to local women. They have not set up bases in this country but they share the ideology.”

His comments came a day after a suspected Somali terrorist belonging to the Al-Shabaab group, which is active in Africa and the Middle East, was arrested in Selangor.

The 34-year-old was also on the most wanted list Interpol.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said the man was believed to have entered Malaysia using student passes two years ago and studied in a private college.

Deputy IGP Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said police were using all resources to search and detain the remaining members.

Contributed by Malaysia Police nab man linked to Somalian terrorist group By G. Prakash - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/police-nab-man-linked-to-somalian-terrorist-group#sthash.CzfpTtok.dpuf “We are focused on capturing these dangerous people,” he told The Star yesterday.

According to a source involved in the operation, the counter terrorism unit had been closely monitoring a group of five Al-Shabaab members who had entered the country using altered passports and signed up as students of top private colleges and public universities using fake identities and documents.

“There are strong indications that the group was trying to set up a base here to remain below surveillance.

“We believe authorities in Africa and Europe were closing in on them, forcing some members to flee to Malaysia,” the source said.

Asked why the militant group picked Malaysia, the source said the perception was that the country was “too welcoming”.

“Security at our entry points is deemed to be lax and this is luring the wrong kind of people. It is about time the systems in place are re­­vamped,” the source said.

So far, police have found no signs to suggest that Al-Shabaab had been attempting to recruit Malaysians or forge any form of cooperation with home-grown militants who were detained recently.

The arrest of the Somali man is not believed to be linked to the arrest of 11 Malaysians for involvement with militant groups in Syria and southern Philippines.

- Contributed by Farik Zolkepli

Visas only for qualified foreign students

PETALING JAYA: Foreign students coming into the country must have the required academic qualifications before they are issued student visas, said Education Malaysia Global Ser­­vices (EMGS) chief executive officer Mohd Yazid Abdul Hamid.

He said EMGS served as the first level of screening to ensure that only genuine students who had fulfilled the academic requirements were admitted and that the institutions that they appled for were pro–perly accredited.

“Once they have passed the academic screening, the Immigration department will conduct a security screening on the applicants,” Mohd Yazidsaid yesterday.

The EMGS is a one-stop-centre for international students and manages all aspects of their application.

This includes student passes, review of documents, compliance with academic requirements, issuance of student visas, medical screening and insurance coverage.

Mohd Yazid said records kept by EMGS served as a data bank to track the performance of the students.

“There are cases of those who abused their student visas. For such students, the colleges must submit attendance and academic results for yearly renewal of student visas.

“In this way, we can weed out visa holders who are not genuine students,” said Mohd Yazid.

He said foreign students had to achieve 80% class attendance and the minimum cummulative grade point average 2.0 to qualify for renewal of student visas.

- Sources: The Star/Asia News Network

Police nab man linked to Somalian terrorist group 

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said the individual was picked up by Bukit Aman’s special branch counter-terrorism division in Selangor. ― file picture

PETALING JAYA, May 9 — The arrest of a 34-year-old east African man, believed to be a member of Somali-based militant group Al-Shabaab which has links to Al-Qaeda, has raised questions on how he managed to enter the country and if he was involved with other local militants detained over the past few days.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin, had in a press statement yesterday, said the individual was picked up by Bukit Aman’s special branch counter-terrorism division in Selangor yesterday and is believed to be linked to the Somali-based Al-Shabaab terrorist group.

“He was listed under Interpol’s Red Notice wanted list for his alleged involvement with Al-Shabaab in east Africa,” the statement read.

“Police are investigating his activities in the country to identify if there were any Al-Shabaab terrorist links or members in the country or conducting activities that could jeapordise the nation’s security.”

He is being investigated under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act.

Sources say the suspect, arrested at 4pm, has been in the country for “several weeks” and are not discounting the possibility of more Al-Shabaab members in the country.

Nine individuals, aged between 55 and 22, were arrested by the counter terrorism division on April 28 for their alleged involvement in militant activities.

Three of them were picked up in Kedah and six in Selangor. Another individual was arrested in Kuala Lumpur the following day while another suspect was nabbed in the city on May 2.

They were believed to have been planning to participate in the on-going civil war in Syria. Al-Shabaab enjoys close ties with Al-Qaeda and are believed to have aided Boko Haram militants in the attack on Nyanya Motor Park in Abuja last week claiming the lives of over 200 people.

It remains unclear if the foreigner was connected to the 11 locals arrested. Sources say it is highly unlikely but police will probe the matter.

IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had, in recent days, stressed the nation’s laws were adequate to protect Malaysia from militants and warned members of militant groups not to recruit Malaysian youths to join them.

The nation’s porous borders have been highlighted since Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 after two Iranians entered the country and boarded the Malaysia Airlines plane with fake passports.

Earlier this year, police rescued several Myanmar nationals smuggled into the country by a human trafficking syndicate through Thailand.

A series of kidnappings, abduction and robberies in Sabah’s waters, and the influx of foreigners entering the state, has also irked many parties, including Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, despite the establishment of the multi-million ringgit Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) after the Lahad Datu incursion early last year.

- Contributed by G. Prakash MalayMailOnline

 Related posts:

Philippine police fired at Chinese fishing boat; gunmen kidnapping farm manager and tourists...

Captain recalls attack by Philippine police "They rushed toward us in a boat and fired at us," He Junting, captain of the f...

MH370 deepens mystery !

Four names on manifest considered suspect on plane disappearance Video: KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Military radar indicates ...

Terrorist attack on missing MH370 not ruled out

Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the chief of Malaysia's civil aviation, said hijacking has not been ruled out as a cause of the plane's ...

Winning education: America and China!

Providing a student with a taste of life in two of the most powerful and dynamic nations in the world is a winning combination.

I AM always being asked by anxious parents about where they should send their sons and daughters to school or university.

As a graduate of a British university, most people would expect me to be a big promoter of UK institutions.
In the past, that would have been the case, but nowadays I’m no longer so convinced.

Indeed, the smartest Malaysian parents have already anticipated changing trends, sending their offspring to the United States, especially schools on the East Coast (and Ivy League colleges).

At the same time, virtually every young Chinese Malaysian scion is expected to spend at least a year or so brushing up his or her Mandarin in Beijing.

Some even attempt courses at the city’s prestigious Peking University.

To my mind, it’s a winning combination: providing a student with a taste of life in two of the most powerful and dynamic nations in the world.

This doesn’t mean that I think American graduates (even Ivy Leaguers) are cleverer than their British counterparts.

If anything, they’re just more articulate and confident.

These are qualities, however, that tend to evaporate the moment they put pen to paper.

Indeed, I’ve never understood the educational value of multiple choice tests so in vogue in the American education system.

Why is this trend occurring?

Well, for one thing, American universities really score in terms of the money at their disposal and the incredibly diverse student body.

This in turn creates a superb and influential network for the future for their students.

At the same time, one of the most high-profile recent British graduates was Bo GuaGua, the son of disgraced Communist Party apparatchik Bo Xilai.

The young Bo studied at the elite British public school, Harrow, followed by Oxford University’s Balliol College.

When his father and mother fell so spectacularly from grace, GuaGua’s ostentatious ways and flamboyant educational choices were viewed as evidence of his parent’s waywardness and lack of discretion.

With China now the source of the world’s largest number of overseas students (surpassing even India), GuaGua’s disastrous stint in the UK may well prove to be a powerful disincentive for other parents in Beijing and Shanghai.

Indeed, a million Chinese students were studying abroad by the end of 2006 and in 2011 alone, 340,000 students headed overseas.

The shift may well take time as London remains an important financial capital despite its fading diplomatic leverage.

Still, the Great Power rivalry across the Pacific means that the United States possesses a powerful allure for Chinese parents as they seek to prepare their children for the future.

The children of China’s new rich can now be found in places like the Phillips Andover Academy (founded in 1778, the alma mater of President George W. Bush), its rival Phillips Exeter (1781) and the Groton School (1884, where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt studied).

They’re attractive to Chinese parents because it gives their children the edge for entry to Ivy League universities like Harvard or Yale.

Even Bo GuaGua headed to the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) to study public policy after Oxford.

US Department of Homeland Security numbers indicate that there were 6,725 Chinese students in American secondary schools in 2011, compared to just 65 in 2006.

Overall, more than 157,000 Chinese students studied in America that year – a full 22% of the total number of foreign students there.

China again surpassed India as the largest source of overseas students for America in 2010.

Malaysia, in contrast sent just 6,190 students to America that year.

It would seem that many Malaysians still hanker for British educational institutions – perhaps to our disadvantage.

As this is being written, the best and brightest minds from the world’s two superpowers are rubbing shoulders in the schoolyards and lecture halls of America as well as, increasingly, China.

It’s always a good thing when young people come together.

Perhaps the long-feared clash between China and the West may not materialise after all as children from both compete in their respective elite institutions instead.

  Ceritalah
By Karim Raslan

Related posts:

Tianhe-2, Chinese supercomputer named as world’s fastest

Beware of Malaysian Chinese school leavers being lured into dubious degree and diploma programs ! 

Taikonauts teach from space  

Studying hard to save

If a student studies hard and keeps his results consistently high, he ends up paying very little for his degree at a private institution.

Cost-saving route: With a little homework, students with good grades will be able to secure a partial scholarship at private institutions.

IT is so competitive out there that private universities and colleges are practically beating a path to the high achievers' doors to recruit them.

The better their results, the higher the “discount” in the tuition fees at pre-university level. An SPM student with 8As may get RM4,000 to RM8,000 in scholarship, depending on the institution and course.

In the words of a marketer, “we are almost paying them to study with us.”

Most partial scholarships start with 6As and above, and results like that are pretty common among urban schoolchildren. In fact, one premier private university estimates that 50% to 60% of its students enrol with six to eight distinctions.

And yet, many parents and students are ignorant of how easy it can be to secure partial scholarships if only some homework is done.

For a start, students should make their school counsellors their “best friend”. The counsellors are a gem of information and resource as they are the contact point for foreign and local institutions as well as corporations that wish to offer financial assistance. Every top university targets counsellors of premier schools!

Hence, counsellors at such schools can really make a difference. Those who are committed and passionate ones know what are on offer and constantly hound their good students to put in their applications and go for scholarship interviews.

They know, for example, that a high achiever with strong co-curricular and is able to impress at the interview can secure between RM3,000 and RM18,000 in tuition fee waiver months before he even sits for his SPM exam.

The amount may prove a significant percentage of a pre-university course that is priced at RM18,000 to RM25,000 (tuition fees only).

The best time to get cracking is when private institutions set their “school team” on the hunt in July (till September) to “lock in” the best students for their following January intake. One top university targets 300 schools during this period.

For this “early bird” scholarship, institutions take into consideration the student's first term and mid-year results. And if the actual SPM results prove even better, the university will top up the scholarship quantum. But if the results are worse, there's no refund.

So, students should make it known to their counsellors that they are on the lookout for specific scholarships and be persistent till the end. Most universities won't advertise their scholarships, as they prefer to go through schools.

However, most students only start checking out scholarships after the SPM exam, only to find that deadlines for applications and interviews have come and gone.

Perhaps one reason for their tardiness is that they are still clueless about their area of interest while scholarships are often discipline specific.

If money in the family is tight, seriously consider saving the pre-university fees at private institutions by opting for Sixth Form.

A sixth former also has the benefit of having two pathways before him: public universities and private institutions. If he chooses the latter, what is saved in the pre-university fees can go towards the first year of a private degree.

Note to undergraduates listen, listen, listen

If you've made it to pre-U with a partial scholarship, keep up your grades because that will continue to literally earn you thousands of ringgit each year.

An institution is usually more generous with its scholarship for a continuing student from a pre-university or foundation course into its degree programme, so avoid switching institutions to maximise your scholarship.

For a business degree that costs about RM80,000 over three years, the savings can be 30%, 50% or 75% per year in tuition fees if you keep an average grade of 60%, 65% or 70% respectively. Not a difficult feat, according to a top private institution, as many of their students qualify for 30% to 50% scholarship bracket.

But here's the catch: you have to reapply for the scholarship every year if you meet the grade.

If you don't apply for it, it's your loss! Many just don't realise the “reward” in store.

At one university, a student who maintains a grade average of 70% could end up paying RM26,000 instead of RM78,000, a savings of almost RM60,000 over three years.

If you're not just book smart but also streetwise, you'll find yourself in very good financial standing as a PTPTN (National Higher Education Fund Corporation) loan recipient.

As a business degree undergraduate from a middle income family with several siblings, you may qualify for up to RM16,000 in loan each year, banked into your account. If you spend all your time mugging in the library instead of mucking around and qualify for a 75% scholarship, you end up collecting close to RM50,000 in loan over three years but paying only half of that in fees!

Can you get a better deal than that?

Think what you can do with the difference between the loan amount and the fees that you actually paid. Maximise the 15-year tenure that you are allowed to pay off your loan at PTPTN's current 1% per annum flat rate.

This translates to just RM320 a month based on RM50,000 principal and RM7,500 in interest.

The 1% flat rate that the Government has been offering since June 2008 is so much better than the 3% and 4% per annum on reducing balance prior to that. The interest undergraduates were paying then worked out to be twice the amount.

The 1% flat rate works out to be an “effective” or real rate of 1.9%. Compare that to the effective rate of 5% for a car loan and a mortgage rate of 4%.

It beats any consumer loan you'll ever get and with zero collateral to boot!

So who says a fresh graduate can't have his cake and eat it too?

Note: With the SPM results just out and many still shopping for their courses and scholarships, the writer wishes them “bon appetit”! Feedback is welcome at leanne@thestar.com.my