Listening to:
Thinking of:
Its a case of "Asalkan Bahagia," or As Long as You're Happy... But clicking through a Malaysian online paper, one stumbled on a story where joyous stories of straight A scoring students celebrating their UPSR results (UPSR is a primary school exam mandatory for students of primary schools in Malaysia, not sure which schools are exempt but bet ISKL is one of them... anyway)So there we have a bunch of 12 year old kids all smiles and jolly faces and parents cheeks soaked with happy tears. For a 12 year old Malaysian, there is almost no greater achievement (unless you're one of um' child prodigies who've made their million by 10 years of age).
"My parents were so supportive..." blah blah blah chatter...
Lets not forget about the tuition teachers and the extra classes that were involved. Or, more so... parental bribary. Call me a jealous old man, but a 2000 ringgit cellphone (approx 300 pounds), a trip to Hong Kong and a BIG Ang Pau (red packets usually with money inside)should the kid attain a straight score of all As?! I mean if money is not an issue, its your kid to spoil. But personally, that's the largest chunk of bull in the papers... Well, won't let you in to my reward package when I was taking that exam...
On another education issue,
Most Malaysians by now would have been saturated with the news that University Malaya has lost 80 places to 169th place in the Times Higher Education Section list, and caused something close of a national outrage. And everybody knows about the scandalous PR machine and the spin doctors trying to make it sound like a good thing by advertising that the university is indeed in the top 200. But a quote I liked about the whole thing came from the Sun (its a respectable newspaper over there in the east)
"AT ITS most basic, a university is a degree-conferring institution of higher education that provides instruction and conducts research in various fields of knowledge.
That is like saying a chocolate cake is nothing more than a mixture of flour, eggs, water, sugar and cocoa, baked at a set temperature for a certain period of time. Or that sex is merely the act of procreation between the male and female of a species.
None of these definitions are wrong; it's just that they do not acknowledge the intangible heart of the matter.
A good chocolate cake should be able to delight the senses with an indefinable sensuality. Just like sex. If done properly.
A university, too, is much more than what is suggested by the Oxford English Dictionary definition above. Yet, in recent press statements, it appears that those who are in power do not seem to understand this. "
It might be the beginning of the article and safe from the "big word" overload... but in summary, I have to concur with the author with the elements that make a good university and oh, the chemistry! Trivialize it and it all taste yucky... like chocolate cake.
Thinking of:
Its a case of "Asalkan Bahagia," or As Long as You're Happy... But clicking through a Malaysian online paper, one stumbled on a story where joyous stories of straight A scoring students celebrating their UPSR results (UPSR is a primary school exam mandatory for students of primary schools in Malaysia, not sure which schools are exempt but bet ISKL is one of them... anyway)So there we have a bunch of 12 year old kids all smiles and jolly faces and parents cheeks soaked with happy tears. For a 12 year old Malaysian, there is almost no greater achievement (unless you're one of um' child prodigies who've made their million by 10 years of age).
"My parents were so supportive..." blah blah blah chatter...
Lets not forget about the tuition teachers and the extra classes that were involved. Or, more so... parental bribary. Call me a jealous old man, but a 2000 ringgit cellphone (approx 300 pounds), a trip to Hong Kong and a BIG Ang Pau (red packets usually with money inside)should the kid attain a straight score of all As?! I mean if money is not an issue, its your kid to spoil. But personally, that's the largest chunk of bull in the papers... Well, won't let you in to my reward package when I was taking that exam...
On another education issue,
Most Malaysians by now would have been saturated with the news that University Malaya has lost 80 places to 169th place in the Times Higher Education Section list, and caused something close of a national outrage. And everybody knows about the scandalous PR machine and the spin doctors trying to make it sound like a good thing by advertising that the university is indeed in the top 200. But a quote I liked about the whole thing came from the Sun (its a respectable newspaper over there in the east)
"AT ITS most basic, a university is a degree-conferring institution of higher education that provides instruction and conducts research in various fields of knowledge.
That is like saying a chocolate cake is nothing more than a mixture of flour, eggs, water, sugar and cocoa, baked at a set temperature for a certain period of time. Or that sex is merely the act of procreation between the male and female of a species.
None of these definitions are wrong; it's just that they do not acknowledge the intangible heart of the matter.
A good chocolate cake should be able to delight the senses with an indefinable sensuality. Just like sex. If done properly.
A university, too, is much more than what is suggested by the Oxford English Dictionary definition above. Yet, in recent press statements, it appears that those who are in power do not seem to understand this. "
It might be the beginning of the article and safe from the "big word" overload... but in summary, I have to concur with the author with the elements that make a good university and oh, the chemistry! Trivialize it and it all taste yucky... like chocolate cake.
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