Wikipedia states: Germany's goal for these operations was to split the British and American Allied line in half, capturing Antwerp (port in Belgium) and then proceed to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers’ favour. Once accomplished, Hitler could fully concentrate on the eastern theatre of war.
It was not only a desperate offensive but basically a salvage operations for Germany's interests. But it caught the Allies by surprise and provided the American military its bloodiest battle in Europe in WWII.
The German termed their offensive as Ardennenoffensive (Ardennes Counteroffensive). The US military also officially designated the battle as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, but due to a few technical-geographical anomalies and the preference of the American press, the conflict became more popularly known as The Battle of the Bulge, a description of how the Allied lines bulged inwards under the German offensive through the forested regions of the Ardennes.
Flash forward 70 years.
On 30 April 2013, a BN besieged by its enemies on several fronts and facing inevitable defeat, will launch a desperate offensive in the halls of Han Chiang College (HCC) in Penang on its North-Western Front.
The Malaysian Insider reported:
Najib, who is also BN chairman, is expected to grace the April 30 dinner event and to make two announcements to provide a fillip to the slow-starting Penang BN campaign.
“Najib will make two important announcements on Tuesday — restore Penang’s free port status and the approval of HCC as a university college,” Han Chiang’s honorary principal Datuk Dr Cheah See Kian was quoted as saying by theMalaysiakini news portal yesterday.
The PM had in February said Han Chiang’s application for the university college status will be considered, during the BN’s Chinese New Year bash on the grounds.
But Tan said today he was unable to confirm that Najib would be presenting Han Chiang with the promised university-college status.
“So far, we've not received any confirmation from the federal government, I only heard people talking about it,” he said.
If true, then the expected announcements will be very attractive. But the first issue that we should consider is whether the caretaker government under Najib can make these two announcements, namely, restoring Penang's free port status and approving Han Chiang College as a university college?
I am not a lawyer but I checked up on the practice of a couple of Commonwealth countries like Australia and India, besides what Rocketkini publishes. There's not much difference as we may expect from our common Westminster democracy, but I choose to highlight the Australian code for caretaker government as it seems to be the clearest laid out, as follows:
Major policy decisions. The Government will cease taking major policy decisions except on urgent matters and then only after formal consultation with the Opposition. The conventions apply to the making of decisions, not to their announcement. Accordingly, the conventions are not infringed where decisions made before dissolution are announced during the caretaker period. However, where possible, decisions would normally be announced ahead of dissolution.
Significant appointments. The Government will cease making major appointments of public officials, but may make acting or short-term appointments.
Major contracts or undertakings. The Government will avoid entering major contracts or undertakings during the caretaker period. If it is not possible to defer the commitment until after the caretaker period, for legal, commercial or other reasons, a minister could consult the Opposition, or agencies could deal with the contractor and ensure that contracts include clauses providing for termination in the event of an incoming government not wishing to proceed. Similar provisions cover tendering.
International negotiations and visits. The Government ordinarily seeks to defer such major international negotiations, or adopts observer status, until the end of the caretaker period.
Avoiding APS involvement in election activities. (APS or Australian Public Service is equivalent of our Malaysian Civil Service but not politically partisan like the Malaysian version, wakakaka) The Australian Public Service adopts a neutral stance while continuing to advise the Government. There are several cases, notably the pricing of Opposition election promises, in which the APS conducts an investigation and report for the benefit of the electorate at large.
Incidentally, read the part on '... in which the APS conducts an investigation and report for the benefit of the electorate at large'. That's what public (or civil) servant means. Here in Malaysia it's likely to be '... in which the MCS conducts an investigation and report for the benefit of UMNO', wakakaka and eat your hearts out Malaysians.
Anyway, let's start off with one of the two expected announcements, namely, Penang's free port status.
I believe the issue of Penang's free port status would fall under 'major policy decision' because it will involve taxes (government revenue), legislation and considerable resources to bring about and manage/control the free port.
Obviously Najib can't promise that. One question however - will it be within a caretaker government's right to slyly say 'I promise you that I will restore Penang's free port status ... with the agreement of Pakatan who I will consult as soon as possible and definitely after the election'?
Wakakaka, that will certainly put Pakatan, especially Lim Guan Eng, on the back foot. Maybe some legal experts can help here!
Just for discussions, let's assume it won't infringe the limitations of a caretaker government, and Najib makes the announcement about the free port status, insofar as Penangites are concerned, they will still assess how definite or how vague he presents the proposal, and with what strings attached.
They won't buy it if Najib says the free port status will only come with a BN state government, and believe me, that sort of 'lu tolong wa, wa tolong lu' announcement will be considered by Penang voters as insulting and thus rendering such a campaign offer politically counter-productive.
But while the free port status will be something nice to have, and even if true and can be implemented, it will only benefit Penangites. BN has a nation-wide problem, especially with the Chinese voters, so the free port promise will not have much value in boosting BN's prospects.
The more value-added promise will be the approval of Han Chiang College as a university college. Even then, it will be limited in its appeal, but let's not doubt that it may sway a few Chinese voters, especially the parents and students of HCC. I don't propose to discuss whether this approval will contravene a caretaker government's limitations for the obvious reason it's beyond my legal knowledge.
But look, if Najib really wants to break out of his 'Ardennes' like the German Army of 1944, and win over Chinese voters on both sides of the South China Sea, then he ought to arm himself with a powerful weapon that will shake Pakatan to its core, and give MCA orgasmic delights to no ends, if ...
... he were to announce that the government will, effective from 01 May 2013 [has to prior to the election otherwise the Chinese won't believe him, wakakaka) recognize the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) of the Chinese independent high schools.
I am not joking. Najib will win one hell of a backswing to the BN by many Chinese voters.
This is what Wikipedia has to say about the UEM:
The Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) is a standardized test for Chinese independent high school students organized by the UCSCAM* since 1975. The UEC is available in three levels: Junior Middle (UEC-JML), Vocational (UEC-V), and Senior Middle (UEC-SML). Examinations for the UEC-JML and UEC-V are only available in the Chinese language. The UEC-SML has questions for mathematics, sciences (biology, chemistry and physics), bookkeeping, accounting and commerce available in Chinese and English.
* The United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM, the association of Chinese school teachers and trustees, 马来西亚华校董事联合会总会, also known as the Dong Jiao Zong 董教总 coordinates the curriculum used in the schools and organizes the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) standardized test. Despite this, the schools are independent of each other and are free to manage their own affairs.
The UEC-SML is recognized as a qualification for entrance into many tertiary educational institutions around the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Australia, Canada and many others. It is not recognized by the government of Malaysia for entry into public universities, but most private colleges recognize it.
Because the UEC is not recognized by the Malaysian government, some Chinese independent high schools opt to teach the national secondary school curriculum (in Malay) alongside the independent school curriculum (in Chinese) and require students to sit for the government standardized tests (PMR, SPM or even STPM) as private school candidates, providing the students an opportunity to obtain government-recognized certificates.
Why do you think the Chinese have been pissed off with the BN when The UEC-SML is recognized as a qualification for entrance into many tertiary educational institutions around the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Australia, Canada and many others except the country of its origin Malaysia.
You work out the reason why the Malaysian authority choose to be the exception, and if you have difficulties doing so, just wait a wee while to read the case of the Indians and their problems with the Malaysian Medical Council in regards to their studies at the Crimea State Medical University.
According to Dr Kua Kia Siong in his book, Protean Saga: The Chinese Schools of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir as Education Minister must have hated the idea and existence of the UEC so much that when he heard about Dong Jiao Zong's plans for it, he summoned the Chinese educationalists to parliament and told the leaders "... that UEC had better not be held or else ... He did not ask for any response and dismissed the Chinese educationalists with a curt ... 'that is all'."
That was in 1975. Obviously Dong Jiao Zong didn't give two hoots to his nonsensical warning, and correctly so as the 60 independent Chinese high schools in Malaysia (with 23 in East Malaysia) have been funded privately by the Chinese community and philanthropists like the late Lim Lean Teng, who was Han Chiang's long time benefactor.
As for the Indians, note that in 2006 an UMNO Minister went to Ukraine to visit the Crimea State Medical University where many Malaysian students were studying there. He was reported to have said (words to the effect) “So many blacks here”.
Next, before we can say “Aiyoyo, black is beautiful lah”, our MMC issued a de-recognition of the Crimea State Medical University, just barely 4 years after it recognized it.
Malaysiakini reported that: Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek cited rape and threat incidents as grounds for the de-recognition but failed to furnish any details.
Chua said the government will not entertain appeals from CSMU as the university had not bothered to reply MMC’s earlier queries.
But the university has since denied all the allegations and provided Malaysiakini copies of a series of correspondence with the MMC since last August (2006).
In other words, the college was saying Dr Chua was 'not correct'.
So? Who’s bullsh*tting?
But the MMC couldn't explain why the de-recognition was not across the board. Certain parties’ degrees from the medical university were recognized whilst others (who came latter and were, according to the visiting UMNO minister, 'black') weren't.
Yes, what was the difference? Well, many suspected it was just pre and post “So many blacks here”.
For more, read:
But regarding the UEC, I afraid poor Najib has to overcome his mentor Dr Mahathir's bitter objection if he wants to take up kaytee's suggestion and recognize the UEC, wakakaka.
But by tackling what warms the cockles of the Chinese hearts, namely education, Najib will be on the right track. His only problem is credibility, to wit, how reliable will the Chinese view his promise? Thus it can't just be a promise to be effected only after the election, especially a conditional one.
As I mentioned, if he really wants to win over many of the Chinese (I dare not promise all Chinese, but certainly many Chinese, even if some Pakatan supporters may not agree with me), then he must make the recognition effective prior to the election.
Mind you, the Chinese voters can still play him out, wakakaka, but that's another issue and a risk he has to take.
I think he has some advisors who have guided him along this way because I read in TMI that In Kedah, BN ditches hudud for education, graft fight to win over Chinese.
Now, as far as Chinese voters are concerned, that's more sensible where we read caretaker Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin saying before a crowd at Keat Hwa, a private secondary school in Kedah: “In Kedah, how many Chinese schools did the state government build and how much did allocation did they give? The federal government gave a lot, only last year it was RM500 million.”
Better still (because today financial inducement won't work with the Chinese), he should have said: "We will recognize the UEC with effect from 01 May 2013", and he would have been far more popular with the Chinese than Najib or Anwar Ibrahim, though he would have to face Dr Mahathir's wrath, wakakaka!
It's not so much Chinese vernacular education per se that the Chinese had wanted in earlier years but GOOD education, education that was of a HIGH RELIABLE STANDARD. Today they still want education of a good and reliable standard, and they believe with the nonsense in national type schools including BTN-ized racism, they can only ensure their children receive those in Chinese vernacular schools.
That's right, to Chinese parents then, the medium of the learning/teaching itself was irrelevant. The Chinese just wanted and still want quality education for their children.
The belief that Chinese Malaysians have been/are chauvinistic in supporting vernacular education is incorrect. If so, why would most Chinese Malaysians in the 50s and 60s send their children to English medium schools?
You know, whenever we hear about Malay unity, the proposal invariably comes with mentions of Malay nationalism and Islam and possibly the position of the rulers, to wit, bangsa, agama dan raja. As for Indian unity, you work it out with Waythamoorthy and his brother and if you wish, MIC.
But with Chinese political unity, there was, is and can only be one topic - EDUCATION!
I believe the last and ONLY time Chinese Malaysians got together ‘politically’ was on 11 October 1987, just prior to Ops Lallang, and which event unfortunately led to that draconian ISA exercise.
So I come to my final bit, my dear Najib - if you want to be like Field Marshal Gerd Von Rundstedt conducting the German offensive in its breakthrough the Ardennes, you will be on the right track if you announce at the BN gala dinner in Han Chiang on 30 April 2013 that the UEC will be recognized with effect from 01 May 2013.
End note: The German offensive Ardennenoffensive failed, but gave the Allies a great fright and a bloody experience.
If true, then the expected announcements will be very attractive. But the first issue that we should consider is whether the caretaker government under Najib can make these two announcements, namely, restoring Penang's free port status and approving Han Chiang College as a university college?
I am not a lawyer but I checked up on the practice of a couple of Commonwealth countries like Australia and India, besides what Rocketkini publishes. There's not much difference as we may expect from our common Westminster democracy, but I choose to highlight the Australian code for caretaker government as it seems to be the clearest laid out, as follows:
Major policy decisions. The Government will cease taking major policy decisions except on urgent matters and then only after formal consultation with the Opposition. The conventions apply to the making of decisions, not to their announcement. Accordingly, the conventions are not infringed where decisions made before dissolution are announced during the caretaker period. However, where possible, decisions would normally be announced ahead of dissolution.
Significant appointments. The Government will cease making major appointments of public officials, but may make acting or short-term appointments.
Major contracts or undertakings. The Government will avoid entering major contracts or undertakings during the caretaker period. If it is not possible to defer the commitment until after the caretaker period, for legal, commercial or other reasons, a minister could consult the Opposition, or agencies could deal with the contractor and ensure that contracts include clauses providing for termination in the event of an incoming government not wishing to proceed. Similar provisions cover tendering.
International negotiations and visits. The Government ordinarily seeks to defer such major international negotiations, or adopts observer status, until the end of the caretaker period.
Avoiding APS involvement in election activities. (APS or Australian Public Service is equivalent of our Malaysian Civil Service but not politically partisan like the Malaysian version, wakakaka) The Australian Public Service adopts a neutral stance while continuing to advise the Government. There are several cases, notably the pricing of Opposition election promises, in which the APS conducts an investigation and report for the benefit of the electorate at large.
Incidentally, read the part on '... in which the APS conducts an investigation and report for the benefit of the electorate at large'. That's what public (or civil) servant means. Here in Malaysia it's likely to be '... in which the MCS conducts an investigation and report for the benefit of UMNO', wakakaka and eat your hearts out Malaysians.
Anyway, let's start off with one of the two expected announcements, namely, Penang's free port status.
I believe the issue of Penang's free port status would fall under 'major policy decision' because it will involve taxes (government revenue), legislation and considerable resources to bring about and manage/control the free port.
Obviously Najib can't promise that. One question however - will it be within a caretaker government's right to slyly say 'I promise you that I will restore Penang's free port status ... with the agreement of Pakatan who I will consult as soon as possible and definitely after the election'?
Wakakaka, that will certainly put Pakatan, especially Lim Guan Eng, on the back foot. Maybe some legal experts can help here!
Just for discussions, let's assume it won't infringe the limitations of a caretaker government, and Najib makes the announcement about the free port status, insofar as Penangites are concerned, they will still assess how definite or how vague he presents the proposal, and with what strings attached.
They won't buy it if Najib says the free port status will only come with a BN state government, and believe me, that sort of 'lu tolong wa, wa tolong lu' announcement will be considered by Penang voters as insulting and thus rendering such a campaign offer politically counter-productive.
 |
| Ah Jib Gor, wakakaka |
But while the free port status will be something nice to have, and even if true and can be implemented, it will only benefit Penangites. BN has a nation-wide problem, especially with the Chinese voters, so the free port promise will not have much value in boosting BN's prospects.
The more value-added promise will be the approval of Han Chiang College as a university college. Even then, it will be limited in its appeal, but let's not doubt that it may sway a few Chinese voters, especially the parents and students of HCC. I don't propose to discuss whether this approval will contravene a caretaker government's limitations for the obvious reason it's beyond my legal knowledge.
But look, if Najib really wants to break out of his 'Ardennes' like the German Army of 1944, and win over Chinese voters on both sides of the South China Sea, then he ought to arm himself with a powerful weapon that will shake Pakatan to its core, and give MCA orgasmic delights to no ends, if ...
... he were to announce that the government will, effective from 01 May 2013 [has to prior to the election otherwise the Chinese won't believe him, wakakaka) recognize the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) of the Chinese independent high schools.
I am not joking. Najib will win one hell of a backswing to the BN by many Chinese voters.
This is what Wikipedia has to say about the UEM:
The Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) is a standardized test for Chinese independent high school students organized by the UCSCAM* since 1975. The UEC is available in three levels: Junior Middle (UEC-JML), Vocational (UEC-V), and Senior Middle (UEC-SML). Examinations for the UEC-JML and UEC-V are only available in the Chinese language. The UEC-SML has questions for mathematics, sciences (biology, chemistry and physics), bookkeeping, accounting and commerce available in Chinese and English.
* The United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM, the association of Chinese school teachers and trustees, 马来西亚华校董事联合会总会, also known as the Dong Jiao Zong 董教总 coordinates the curriculum used in the schools and organizes the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) standardized test. Despite this, the schools are independent of each other and are free to manage their own affairs.
The UEC-SML is recognized as a qualification for entrance into many tertiary educational institutions around the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Australia, Canada and many others. It is not recognized by the government of Malaysia for entry into public universities, but most private colleges recognize it.
Because the UEC is not recognized by the Malaysian government, some Chinese independent high schools opt to teach the national secondary school curriculum (in Malay) alongside the independent school curriculum (in Chinese) and require students to sit for the government standardized tests (PMR, SPM or even STPM) as private school candidates, providing the students an opportunity to obtain government-recognized certificates.
 |
| says some UEC subjects not up to SPM standard yet UEC recognized as a qualification for entrance into many tertiary educational institutions around the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Australia, Canada etc only Malaysia doesn't recognized it, hence above news headlines |
Why do you think the Chinese have been pissed off with the BN when The UEC-SML is recognized as a qualification for entrance into many tertiary educational institutions around the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Australia, Canada and many others except the country of its origin Malaysia.
You work out the reason why the Malaysian authority choose to be the exception, and if you have difficulties doing so, just wait a wee while to read the case of the Indians and their problems with the Malaysian Medical Council in regards to their studies at the Crimea State Medical University.
According to Dr Kua Kia Siong in his book, Protean Saga: The Chinese Schools of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir as Education Minister must have hated the idea and existence of the UEC so much that when he heard about Dong Jiao Zong's plans for it, he summoned the Chinese educationalists to parliament and told the leaders "... that UEC had better not be held or else ... He did not ask for any response and dismissed the Chinese educationalists with a curt ... 'that is all'."
That was in 1975. Obviously Dong Jiao Zong didn't give two hoots to his nonsensical warning, and correctly so as the 60 independent Chinese high schools in Malaysia (with 23 in East Malaysia) have been funded privately by the Chinese community and philanthropists like the late Lim Lean Teng, who was Han Chiang's long time benefactor.
As for the Indians, note that in 2006 an UMNO Minister went to Ukraine to visit the Crimea State Medical University where many Malaysian students were studying there. He was reported to have said (words to the effect) “So many blacks here”.
Next, before we can say “Aiyoyo, black is beautiful lah”, our MMC issued a de-recognition of the Crimea State Medical University, just barely 4 years after it recognized it.
Malaysiakini reported that: Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek cited rape and threat incidents as grounds for the de-recognition but failed to furnish any details.
Chua said the government will not entertain appeals from CSMU as the university had not bothered to reply MMC’s earlier queries.
But the university has since denied all the allegations and provided Malaysiakini copies of a series of correspondence with the MMC since last August (2006).
In other words, the college was saying Dr Chua was 'not correct'.
So? Who’s bullsh*tting?
But the MMC couldn't explain why the de-recognition was not across the board. Certain parties’ degrees from the medical university were recognized whilst others (who came latter and were, according to the visiting UMNO minister, 'black') weren't.
Yes, what was the difference? Well, many suspected it was just pre and post “So many blacks here”.
For more, read:
(a) Malaysiakini's Samy to meet CSMU students.
(b) MMC checks race of Malaysian students at CSMU
(c) The Big Medical Lie and because Indians like to be lawyers, also
(b) MMC checks race of Malaysian students at CSMU
(c) The Big Medical Lie and because Indians like to be lawyers, also
Can you see why very few non-Malay parents trust the government with their
children’s education?
But regarding the UEC, I afraid poor Najib has to overcome his mentor Dr Mahathir's bitter objection if he wants to take up kaytee's suggestion and recognize the UEC, wakakaka.
 |
| Ni men hao ma? wakakaka |
But by tackling what warms the cockles of the Chinese hearts, namely education, Najib will be on the right track. His only problem is credibility, to wit, how reliable will the Chinese view his promise? Thus it can't just be a promise to be effected only after the election, especially a conditional one.
As I mentioned, if he really wants to win over many of the Chinese (I dare not promise all Chinese, but certainly many Chinese, even if some Pakatan supporters may not agree with me), then he must make the recognition effective prior to the election.
Mind you, the Chinese voters can still play him out, wakakaka, but that's another issue and a risk he has to take.
I think he has some advisors who have guided him along this way because I read in TMI that In Kedah, BN ditches hudud for education, graft fight to win over Chinese.
Now, as far as Chinese voters are concerned, that's more sensible where we read caretaker Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin saying before a crowd at Keat Hwa, a private secondary school in Kedah: “In Kedah, how many Chinese schools did the state government build and how much did allocation did they give? The federal government gave a lot, only last year it was RM500 million.”
 |
| many sweeties were educated here wakakaka |
Better still (because today financial inducement won't work with the Chinese), he should have said: "We will recognize the UEC with effect from 01 May 2013", and he would have been far more popular with the Chinese than Najib or Anwar Ibrahim, though he would have to face Dr Mahathir's wrath, wakakaka!
It's not so much Chinese vernacular education per se that the Chinese had wanted in earlier years but GOOD education, education that was of a HIGH RELIABLE STANDARD. Today they still want education of a good and reliable standard, and they believe with the nonsense in national type schools including BTN-ized racism, they can only ensure their children receive those in Chinese vernacular schools.
That's right, to Chinese parents then, the medium of the learning/teaching itself was irrelevant. The Chinese just wanted and still want quality education for their children.
The belief that Chinese Malaysians have been/are chauvinistic in supporting vernacular education is incorrect. If so, why would most Chinese Malaysians in the 50s and 60s send their children to English medium schools?
You know, whenever we hear about Malay unity, the proposal invariably comes with mentions of Malay nationalism and Islam and possibly the position of the rulers, to wit, bangsa, agama dan raja. As for Indian unity, you work it out with Waythamoorthy and his brother and if you wish, MIC.
But with Chinese political unity, there was, is and can only be one topic - EDUCATION!
I believe the last and ONLY time Chinese Malaysians got together ‘politically’ was on 11 October 1987, just prior to Ops Lallang, and which event unfortunately led to that draconian ISA exercise.
And by getting together ‘politically', I
meant a congregation organized by Dr Mahathir’s bête noire, wakakaka, the Dong
Jiao Zong {comprising the Federation of Malaysian Chinese School Boards
Associations (Dong Zong) and the Federation of Malaysian Chinese School
Teachers Associations (Jiao Zong)} which brought together the MCA, the MCA's then real
nemesis Gerakan, the opposition DAP and other Chinese-based parties (presumably
SUPP etc).
 |
| Ops Lalang round up I recognize Chandra Muzaffar and Bhai Karpal |
As mentioned, nothing gets more under
the skin of a Chinese Malaysian than their children's education, which I had often termed as one
of the central pillars of Chinese culture.
Thanks then to a Minister of Education –
aiyah, me no name him, OK? so no get mad with kaytee lah wakakaka – the Chinese
community was really
annoyed, nay, not just annoyed, but damn bloody furious with that minister's (wakakaka)
appointments of around a hundred senior assistants and principals to vernacular
Chinese schools.
Now, what actually infuriated the
Chinese community, raising a 'storm of protest’, was the fact that those
appointed were not Mandarin language educated. The Chinese community saw that
as a deliberate attempt by that UMNO Education Minister, wakakaka, to dilute
the high standards of Chinese vernacular schools.
Chinese community meant votes to MCA, Gerakan and the DAP, thus they united for a while in October 1987, not because of Chinese-ness but for Chinese concerns about their children's education.
Chinese community meant votes to MCA, Gerakan and the DAP, thus they united for a while in October 1987, not because of Chinese-ness but for Chinese concerns about their children's education.
Ironically the Chinese vernacular
schools in the late '50s and early '60s were almost driven into extinction by
the lack of Chinese support. That, the diminishing need by the pragmatic
Chinese community for vernacular Chinese education and its eventual extinction or at least, near extinction, would undoubtedly have
occurred except for the unpleasant fact of successive UMNO Education
ministers and wannabe Education ministers (Dr Mahathir being one, and guess who’s
the other? Wakakaka) turning Malaya/Malaysia's once-famed education system into
a dirty political football, one that was kicked and thrashed around for their grubby political interests.
For more on how UMNO Education ministers
had ‘saved’ Chinese vernacular education from extinction read my letter to
Malaysiakini titled Chinese educationists must thank UMNO. Now, don't get angry
with me wakakaka because that was written more than several years ago.
I concluded that letter with “The truth
has been out there all this while”, meaning today's Chinese Malaysian obsession with
Chinese vernacular education had its Genesis, not so much in ethnocentric
cultural parochialism but more in ensuring good solid educational standards for
their children - which is why, no apologies for evoking that phrase again, education has always been a central pillar of
Chinese culture.
Yes, UMNO's repetitive nationalistic
kicking of the education football had ripped the guts out of our once-famed national education system until Chinese parents have come to see the vernacular
education system as the remaining hope for their children.
To cut a story short, thanks to UMNO Education Ministers pushing Chinese vernacular educationalists and Chinese parents together as a result of the country's worsening national education system, they ‘fell in love’ with each other. And the rest is history.
Thus it was UMNO which actually provided a vital lifeline to Chinese language schools, mind you, not directly or consciously but as a consequence of their Education Ministers' monumental f* up in our national educational system. Ironical, isn't it?
But from there, the Chinese vernacular system has incrementally metamorphosed from a purely issue of 'standards' into one of a cherished cultural identity, given the siege mentality the Chinese community has been indoctrinated with over the last 40 years.
But from there, the Chinese vernacular system has incrementally metamorphosed from a purely issue of 'standards' into one of a cherished cultural identity, given the siege mentality the Chinese community has been indoctrinated with over the last 40 years.
The rejection of English as the
language for Science and Maths was also been driven by a perception of fear and
suspicion that the UMNO-led authority has planned to sabotage the high
'standards' of the Chinese vernacular system, especially on the teaching of
Science and Maths subjects. It doesn't help when virtually everyone knows
Science and Maths aren't exactly the ideal or correct vehicles for the learning
of English language.
So I come to my final bit, my dear Najib - if you want to be like Field Marshal Gerd Von Rundstedt conducting the German offensive in its breakthrough the Ardennes, you will be on the right track if you announce at the BN gala dinner in Han Chiang on 30 April 2013 that the UEC will be recognized with effect from 01 May 2013.
End note: The German offensive Ardennenoffensive failed, but gave the Allies a great fright and a bloody experience.
Kaytee,maybe Najib is shooting a North Korean missile that malfuntion and made a u-turn and screw Umno in the ass.
ReplyDeleteWhy must Chinese interest be made more superior to Malaysian interest? Why are you so opposed to our children being together, grow together, and laugh together? Why must we separate our children by race? Why is it that people think that only to Chinese education is important and not to other races? Are other races stupid ke? Why is this chauvinistic attitude not racist?
ReplyDeleteIt's downright racist. If each other grow separately, do you expect them to suddenly think Malaysian first when they are adults? Put Malaysian interest first. This apartheid education policy has nothing to do with quality. DAP has been supporting this since day one when we were on English syllabus. Even now the syllabus is the same.
Now as a result of this chauvinistic policy, my children have no non Malay friends in class. Who gave you the right to deprive my children of befriending other races in school?
answer all in my post, as to the whys and wherefores of the popularity of vernacular education to particularly Chinese Malaysians.
DeleteIncidentally, Chinese vernacular schools are open to ALL, unlike some government (public funded) colleges and universities which are exclusively for one ethnic group ONLY
Now at least Ellese is making some sense. Being a parent, whether Malay, Chinese, Indian or East Malaysian, first & foremost is a PROPER education. Second, socially adjusting or in your words - making friends. We don't want our children to learn first hand what predujice means from their peers or lack of peers, their parents or even worst from the teachers (recent cases of making racist remarks but never punished).
DeleteWith a first class education in mind and national cohesion in place, by all means, remove the venacular schools. However, the education issue is mired in complexities and cannot be dismantled over night. Furthermore, it requires political will... not just in offending Chinese or Indians but also Malays. The reason being that the NEP is destroying the Malays first & foremost in education. They are getting substandard education in the name of passing everyone. Education can be cruel in that it weeds the good from the bad but in return, failure can also be seen as an educational tool in life.
In return, substandard graduates go back to teach another new generation, thereby perpectuating the cycle downwards.
Please read Kadir Jasin's latest posting... he is starting to realize that for an ordinary Malaysian to fulfill one's dream is starting to be an impossible task. He is succient in this posting & adds the element of education in one point... Angst is starting to be felt every where, even hard core BN supporters.
Sudah la... Ellese, repost this in your blog and we have a healthy debate.
DeleteMahu tunggu sampai bila. Tak berani ke?
Actually, I agree with Ellese on this (though not on the choice of words such as "It's downright racist" etc). I'm a Chinese too, but I believe that an integrated education environment is the way forward.
DeleteEllese: "Now as a result of this chauvinistic policy, my children have no non Malay friends in class. "
I agree, but I strongly question why only one side of the coin is mentioned. I studied in a national school, and by form 4 suddenly 95% of the Malays in my class went away to boarding schools. So I was suddenly deprived of Malay friends too. Although as Kaytee has mentioned, the vernacular schools are open to all races while the boarding schools are limited only to Bumiputera; so your accusation of racism is definitely untrue and extremely one-sided.
My idea for the future is an integrated, standard education system: removing vernacular schools as well as the science boarding school. The education syllabus will be based on the compulsory/elective subjects system like in college/uni. First, compulsory subjects using BM and English for everyone. Then each student is also required to take some elective classes - which will comprise among other Mandarin, Tamil, Arabic, Jawi, Islamic studies, Bible studies etc. In other words, dissociate the idea that certain subjects are exclusive only to certain ethnics.
-jenny
Continued from earlier.... if individuals like Ellese are seekers of the truth, then they must ask the right questions and be ready for the truth (unless the said is a paid blogger, then we will just keep to how many angels can dance on a pin head).
DeleteSince Tunku's time and more so, during Tun M's time, why didn't they just scrap the venacular system? Afraid of backlash from the Chinese & Indians? Yes, some educational systems may be better than others due to curriculum, philosophy of education, teacher quality etc.. but if you have a hard look, everything sucks these days. There are as many dropouts from venacular schools as there are from sekolah kebangsaan. Just oversimplying things... Chinese then do pimping, collect illegal 4 Ekor, sell DVD or become Ah Long. Indians join the every rising presence of gangs and Malays become Mat Rempit and bohsia.
Kesimpulaannya... the government doesn't care a shit whether which race you are from. Let education go to the dogs since the princelings are going overseas to be groomed as "Mat Sallehs".
So, once you nationalise everything, guess what the Chinese & Indian parents are going to do if there is a sudden slide in quality? This means bringing up the standards. That means, many, many students from... are not going to make the cut... get it? They want to keep their present system & standards and keep the Chinese & Indians off their backs by allowing them to do their "thing".
Nobody, yes nobody is going to stand up and say, they want change, let the head that pops up get cut off first. There are no LKY among us. So to circumvent more objections, they allow degree mills to mushroom as a panacea for a better system. These private colleges now become breeding grounds for cheap visas to Africans, Iranians & China Babies. Maybe our children can get life set skills from these foreigners especially on the use of the internet and direct selling...Wakakaka
But as KTee says in his replies in today's posting... some education ministers can't even spell "e-d-u-c-a-t-i-o-n"
"Why are you so opposed to our children being together, grow together, and laugh together? Why must we separate our children by race?" .....Ellese
DeleteDear Ellese, the problem is....sangat susah nak 'grow together and laugh together' when the ed guy who prefers being melayu first and malaysian second insisted on shoving Interlock down the throats of schoolchildren....insisted that his melayu version of the history syllabus be a must-pass subject......that sekejap English language for science and mathematics, sekejap tak boleh, sekejap lagi boleh, and finally tak boleh again....flip flop flip flop. Also, during the muslim fasting month, the school canteens must be closed and even non malay school children who bring their own food during that fasting month are not allowed to use the canteen facility to eat...got to hide around the corners of the school compound to eat their lunch. And when malay headmasters and headmistresses told off the chinese school children that they are pendatangs and that the indian school children wearing their cultural wrist bands are like dogs .....macam mana boleh kita grow and laugh together ? You buta dan pekak ke ?
Why must you insist on making school life hell for these non malay school children ? How to grow and laugh together when some are more equal than others? wakakaka
The last word for Ellese. Two case scenarios. A hardworking and intelligent Malay puts himself/herself through school. Pass brilliantly based on merit but enters the work force. How will future employer rate this person in comparison with other Malays that got a free pass? Any outstanding students even how good they are will blend in with the rest and show no significance because all just "pass" in the mind of others.
DeleteChinese or Indian who finishes government university and enters work force. Our impression? This person really passed the quota system and passed. Does not have rich parents to send overseas or didn't go to flaky private college that is degree mill. Worth a second look, maybe has merit.
Second case scenario. Malay student excels and wins Nobel prize later in life. Government claims credit because if not for BN, NEP, student did not have the opportunity to excel. All credit goes to government for giving people like him/her opportunity. What about the parents? How they struggled to put their child through education? The person himself/herself - their hardwork, struggling to excel etc...
Did the Chinese or Indian make this system? Are we racist to have such sublime impressions? The system does not recognise individual merit among their community and reward it accordingly. This saddens every educationist and punishes the deserving among the Malays. They are victims as much as other communities in a system that does not allow freedom of individuality and recognition of merit.
The idea to do away with venacular schools along with boarding schools or to fully open MARA/matriculation to all, though good-intentioned, will not materialise as the bumi-only institutions are one of the bastions of ketuanan/social-contract/article-153...
DeleteDidn't a Higher Education Minister Dr. Shafie Salleh once said he will never allow non-Bumiputra students to enter UiTM? (UMNO AGM 2004)? So whatever they do, the they will still maintain some preserves or inner sanctum that are off-limits-to-nons, in reverence to the sacred doctrine.
We can only give a resounding yes to this posting but there are several points that we can differ. Its too late for any game changers. The Chinese now have more options, ironically one path is UTAR like the pergi makan at ceramah but vote PR. Otherwise, due to the greed of Ali-Baba ventures, private colleges and their sub-standard degrees will suffice. Even, more horrifying as you mentioned, take the UEC and head overseas.
ReplyDeleteWhile education remains a focus point to the Chinese but now have more complexities. As some recent postings in MalaysiaKini, non-Malays just want to go about their own business (especially Chinese) without prejudiced sentiments. With the race based rhetorics coming more verbal in recent years especially from the rabid Perkasa, it has made more Chinese determined to "punish" BN.
Unfortunately, Najib's battle of the bulge takes on three juggernaut fronts. One with charisma and leadership skills. The other attacking the Chinese base and the last but most potent, mixing religion with nationalism.
Painting DAP as red and chauvinistic plays to a certain audience that already holds certain prejudice towards the Chinese. So that is nothing new but for MCA to sit on the sidelines silent has led to their demise. They also left what they do best (ie. education and finance)to fight DAP on other fronts. Its obvious that CSL wasn't born to be a street fighter and lost ground on the padang.
So dear KTee, Najib instead of focusing on Putra Jaya and other key states (like Kedah, Sabah, Johor & Selangor) is trying to enter the lion's den and repeat the failed "gangnam" yes/no tactic. One Han Chiang doesn't make a thousand victories, especially in the minds of Chinese.... wakakakaka....
UMNO has deliberately wasted Malaysian talent and manpower with its stupid attitude to educational opportunities available to all citizens by blocking out the non-Malays from their professions even when they are fully qualified internationally.
ReplyDeleteIf Najib has the balls to grant univeristy college status, well and good. It will save the incoming government having arguments about its priorities. As the for the Crimean State Medical University, it was the pervert Chua Soi Lek who said that too many Indians were becoming doctors. True, he was not the only one. Samy Vellu and gang then set up a "university" three year course to "save" those graduates by awarding degrees upon completion. The reason for the three years is that under international arrangements, a student must complete at least half his/her education at the institution awarding a medical qualification. Of ocurse it was an opportunity for MIC to build up a war chest with the fees it expected to charge.
UMNO has also introduced quotas to pass (like 10%) for those wanting to qualify as lawyers after doing the LLB from University of London. This was and has been a scandalous waste of our talented youth.
Hopefully, PR will win this election and clean up the mess left behind by UMNO and its dogs like MIC, PPP etc.
UEC recognition is already part of Pakatan Rakyat platform.
ReplyDeletePersonally I'm not a keen supporter of Chinese Independent Schools.
By all means they should continue to exist, but I'm not supportive of their expansion.
The 100% Chinese language,cultural environment and outlook they cultivate until adulthood is not conducive to future nation-building.
I don't particularly want to see a vast proliferation of SzuCheng-types.
Like it or not, this is Malaysia, not Greater China.
agreed, but an unavoidable result of UMNO Education Ministers messing up our once-great education system and the concerns of parents wanting a reliable high standard of education for their children, regardless of the medium of instruction - Malay, English or Chinese, where currently only independent Chinese education has won their confidence)
Deletemic, just curious then what about the vernacular school at primary level? and can u share with us what is your core concept of national building taking into the reality that islam might become the core ideology eventually.
Deleteshuzheng n helen ang type know very little chinese to present a much objective view, can disregard.
Yes, I believe that the existence of vernacular schools are not healthy for national building in the future. I do agree that it is a complex issue. But their expansion should certainly not be encouraged from here on. (similar to the boarding schools).
Delete@HY
My idea of the education system in the future is outlined in my earlier post above.
"shuzheng n helen ang type know very little chinese to present a much objective view, can disregard."
Statements like this angers me. Just because we were not educated in a chinese school, we are considered bananas or somehow now "chinese" enough. When I spoke of my idea of education in the future, a friend of mine questioned how much I know of chinese stuff etc. Like I'm a "lesser Chinese" who do not appreciate chinese culture - a sellout etc. How is this no different than when Umno engages in siege mentality that we need to defend their "culture" or when groups/parents protest against the use of English in education. Would you simply disregard the views of the people in PAGE simply because they do posses dazzling command of Malay, Chinese or Tamil (for each of the respective races)?
-jenny
Jenny, thanks for the comment and very sorry it is not my intention to make you angry, hence a little bit of clarification.
DeleteMIC wrote “I don't particularly want to see a vast proliferation of SzuCheng-types.”, therefore may I know do you read much of Shuzheng writes and the stance he/they portray themselves? KT don’t read and write Chinese (well) too but I didn’t include him in my list (yet), solely because I think he doesn’t share their view, I believe KT, and likely you, would perceive that vernacular school are product of politics, while Shuzheng and Helen would most probably think it is a rights, i however is in between.
My point is if one never went through the Chinese education system, primary level or CIS, do you think he/she could objectively tell the good and bad of this particular system, and further tell us we must preserve the system in it present form regardlelss what. I think most people can’t, can you?
Your idea is a good one and not much difference with the SSS advocate group, however may I know how you would propose to make it work? In short, what would you do to convince the Chinese parents who decide to enrol their kids into SRJKC now and future that the “integrated, standard education system” is the best for their children? Please bear in mind that in a democratic society, we can’t simply remove this and remove that.
Firstly, I'm not saying the Chinese education system is bad - just that it's existence does not bode well for nation-building. Yes, they have produced very good students. Similarly the boarding schools for the bumiputera has very high standards and created excellent students as well.
DeleteIt's a matter that I observe when I stepped into a local uni, the obvious segregation and differences, especially those who came from vernacular or fully Malay schools. Everyone "tolerated" each other, as in just put up with, like what you do with acquaintances, but genuine mixing around is not there there. It's not so bad if you did your primary in vernacular and secondary in national school. One Chinese girl cannot wrap her head around the fact that I went to a national school.
"why did you go to a national school?"
"I just did, no big deal."
"But why, is there no Chinese school in your area?" (which is pretty funny since I'm from KL).
"Well who says it's a must for Chinese to go to Chinese school?"
"But why??"
In fact, most of us who went to national schools end us as an outcast group ourselves, not being able to fit in with our respective ethnocentric groups.
The lack of awareness on both sides is staggering - some Malays though the Chinese dialect are just 'slangs'. Some Chinese people have never seen or eaten ayam masak merah for example. If you look back at the good old day stories harped by the old folks freely mixing around, did you notice the key similarity is that most of these folks grew up together, and growing up you spend a lot of time in school and making friends there.
Therefore I'm not saying the vernacular education system is bad, only its existence. As MIC put it "Like it or not, this is Malaysia, not Greater China." As much as I dislike it, BN was right in saying that our diverse education streams are unique compared to our neighbour or most other countries - and I don't think it's a good thing.
I'm not sure what you mean by product of politic or rights - but for me the existence of vernacular schools is a priviledge, not a right as it is not mentioned in the Constitution. A parallel of this would be the "bumiputera rights", which is never mentioned in the Constitution just that they are given a special position. You can shout and argue about semantics to both these groups, but the entrenched thinking is that both groups think that it's part of their rights.
I never said it would be easy to make it work, but something must be done for the sake of the future. Your line on "Please bear in mind that in a democratic society, we can’t simply remove this and remove that." - nothing is ever easy. If we all subscribe to this, there won't be a the current wave of change now. UMNO can just say, "oh it's not easy to remove the quota system". Or "the issue of Allah is complicated and we cannot change the perception of the Muslims". We elect our leaders to take on difficult ideas and vision. Imagine if back then Abraham Lincoln gave up on abolishing slavery because it is the choice of people to keep slaves, "simply cannot remove this or that".
It would involve sacrifice from all parties, e.g. from the Chinese education system like Dong Zhong to the Malay education groups to the Indian group. We non-Malays can shout all we want that the extra scholarships, MARA schools etc are unfair and we are all Malaysians. Yet at the same time we dig our heels in on maintaining separate vernacular schools; can you see why extremists can easily utilise cries of "pendatang" etc to appeal to the lingering distrust in conservative Malays?
We should all see ourselves Malaysians first, and yes it will involve sacrifice from all of us. But it's something that needs to be done for the sake of our nation.
-jenny
SSS is doable. With fixed explicit deadlines , long enough for parents to make adjustments, and specific actions which are fair to all communities.
DeleteExample
a.In 7 years all vernacular schools will be absorbed into 1 National School system.
b. As interim measure In 2 years, a bridging syllabus will kick in in existing vernacular schools with 50% subjects currently taught in Vernacular converted to the National Language.
c. In 7 years, compulsory Mother Tongue Language classes will be made available in all National Schools for all Nons. Mother Tongue language examinations will be compulsory for all Nons.
d. In 7 years, English Language will be made a compulsory pass subject in all National Examinations.
Is it racist ? This is exactly what Singapore did when it phased out Chinese vernacular education. There are today NO Chinese Schools in Singapore, yet all educated younger generation Chinese Singaporeans are literate in spoken and written Chinese.
MCI
DeleteNo one say it is not doable, look at some facts first:
1)Singapore did it during a time when everyone worship English, and LKY is smart enough to turn Singapore into a anglophile city, and make English the communication language in government and business.
2)Singapore never close Chinese school, they just wait until the enrollment turn low and eventually reach zero.
3)Who dictate what action are fair to which communities? Malay deem NEP is fair.
4)Read the history on how Secondary Chinese School converted to SMJKC, and the 60 schools that insist no change and become CIS, where is the mother tongue language class as agreed? How do turn word into action is something we Malaysian lack of.
5)Again same question, what is the core values of our national school? I know Malaysia is not Greater China, but we are also not Great Britain.
It is not racist, we need one who have political will and sincerity to make it work. I dont know if PR could do it, but i am very sure BN can't.
Jenny, interesting write and experience.
DeletePerhaps you are new here and I doubt you read much about Shuzheng, Ellese and our host. But that is fine, I briftly make some introduction here. Shuzheng seem to believe that Chinese school and Chinese language is the best in the world, you can know more about him by visiting his blog, just google shuzheng. Ellese criticize DAP version of Chinese school (because DAP talk only since they have no political power yet) but rarely we read his comment on one that actually implement and manage the vernacular school ie BN ergo you must be very caution and do more reading before claiming that you agree with him :). And lastly our host, I believe he already provide a quite comprehensive justification (or excuse depend on one pov) why the existence/flourish of Chinese school, however I know for a fact that not many able to read his damn bloody long article in entirety, his fault, not yours.
I read “does not bode well for nation-building” a number of times but I doubt you have any facts to substantiate your claim that Chinese school is the cause beside some anecdotal experiences, perhaps you may provede us some reference, preferably those minority in other countries that attend the same school and speak the same language.
The major complaint for scholarship is it was not awarded base on merit, since Chinese school student attend the same exam similar to those National school student, so I don’t know how it is relevant, do you meant one school can solve the issue? How?
Lincoln solved the so called slavery issue by refusing secession and started a war that cause 3% USA population died, on the contrary our leaders, mostly are Malay (of course not Mahathir), have the visionary to implement a much inclusive policy to bind us together and move forward, pray tell who have the better wisdom by not simply remove this and that?
I said “Shuzheng and Helen would most probably think it is a rights”, thus I don’t see anything semantics about my statement.
Product of politics meant a quid pro quo of A153. Perhaps I misread you, that is fine.
1/2
Delete"Perhaps you are new here and I doubt you read much about Shuzheng, Ellese and our host."
Thanks, but it doesn't really matter. Just the fact that you simply dismiss the opinion of others who did not go through the Chinese education system.
"I read “does not bode well for nation-building” a number of times but I doubt you have any facts to substantiate your claim that Chinese school is the cause beside some anecdotal experiences, perhaps you may provede us some reference, preferably those minority in other countries that attend the same school and speak the same language."
By the same token, can you provide any statistics or actually, any explanation on how keeping the children in separate education systems for 6-11 years growing up, is better for creating a more integrated society? You may simply dismiss my opinion as anecdotal, but I have heard the same things being repeated by many folks who came from national schools and found a completely alien environment when they entered into a local uni.
From the first day of uni, I was told "oh we need to stick together, cos the Malays have these and that". Since when did it become "we people" and "they people"? I'd say one of the things lacking from growing up together, is that we fail to see them as people and persons just like us, and not simply as a group of 'different people'.
"preferably those minority in other countries that attend the same school and speak the same language."
This is the favourite argument I hear often, which attempts to insinuate that I'm proposing assimilation. But pray tell me, is there any justification for a national education policy that allows language and history of another nation to be put above its own language? Like MIC said, "This is Malaysia, not Greater China". And I don't know why you rebutt that with "not Greater Britain", since that doesn't make any sense. What would make sense, is a national education policy that prioritises BM (and subsequently, English) and then the other languages. I never proposed banning or abolishing other languages.
And, 2 person speaking the same language is the normal way to communicate, I'm not sure about you. In my national school, we mostly spoke BM and English in school cos there are Malays, Indians and even Chinese who don't understand Mandarin/Cantonese etc. But between ourselves, if we know everyone in the group understood, we spoke Cantonese. My point is, we try adjust based on who we are talking to. I actually find it quite disrespectful (when I entered uni) and we were all seating together for discussion and 2 chinese folks will start talking in Chinese, oblivious to other people in the table. Yes, both of them are not addressing the other people, but it does make the others feel left out. It's not a problem if in another case, everyone is at the table is from different countries who don't share a language, but in our case we're all Malaysians!
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Delete"The major complaint for scholarship is it was not awarded base on merit, since Chinese school student attend the same exam similar to those National school student, so I don’t know how it is relevant, do you meant one school can solve the issue? How?"
"Product of politics meant a quid pro quo of A153. Perhaps I misread you, that is fine."
I'm saying if we want to argue that it's not fair for bumiputera rights etc, the same can be argued for vernacular schools. What I'm saying is that the existence of vernacular schools, that prioritise the language/culture/history of another country, is a contributory factor for extremists who can shout 'pendatang' etc. It's fine if personally we want to learn all this stuff, but it shouldn't be prioritised or allocated by our education system.
"Lincoln solved the so called slavery issue by refusing secession and started a war that cause 3% USA population died, on the contrary our leaders, mostly are Malay (of course not Mahathir), have the visionary to implement a much inclusive policy to bind us together and move forward, pray tell who have the better wisdom by not simply remove this and that?"
So are you saying that it would have been better to keep slavery, since there were unfortunate deaths and people didn't like it?
So far you have not provided any rebuttals or explanations on how keeping different education stream and keeping the children in segregated learning environments, does a much better job for building a mixed society. You keep pointing out feasibility, "oh it's too hard, democracy won't allow this, we don't have leaders". The issue of leaders, well it's good thing Dato Jaafar Onn, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln etc were around back at those times, eh?
I can't provide all the answers, but I do think simply throwing our hands up because "it's too hard" is not going to solve the prevalent divisiveness in society, and the way going forward.
-jenny
Something to ponder... comparing apple with apple, then with orange. Looking at what our neighbours are doing...
DeleteIndonesia - There is only one national education system. No quotas and preferences. Dominating factor to harmonize ethnic and religious groups - Pancasila. Main language - Indonesian
Philippines - Same as Indonesia. High percentage of college graduates but due to years of corruption leading to uneven economic growth and opportunities for high paying employment. Main language - English & Tagalog
Thailand - Same as the above countries. Nationalised education, some uneven growth but economy sustained in several industries. Main language - Thai
In these countries, Chinese & Indians easily and readily assimilate to the educational system and language. Very few would see themselves based on ethnicity but rather on nationality.
Needless to speak about Singapore - Main language: English, Mandarin or mother tongue (eg. Bahasa Melayu).
Please refer to the following top 100 ranking universities in Asia: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2012-13/regional-ranking/region/asia
#2 National University of Singapore
#55 King Mongkut in Thailand
#61 Mahidol University in Thailand
#82 Chulalongkorn University in Thailand
#87 University Kebangsaan in Malaysia
Any interpretation anyone? Look at demographs, population size as per geographical size of country, culture, national philosophy, history (colony or never colonised. Colonial rulers etc), political will for societal & educational change etc as keys for self analysis. (Indonesia & Philippines do not feature in the list).
you forget to add HK's universities - I believe at leasty 4 are among the top 100 around the world, not just Asia
Delete“Just the fact that you simply dismiss the opinion of others who did not go through the Chinese education system.”
DeletePerhaps you are right, to me if an opinion makes sense, I would say fantastic; if not, then it’s as useful as yesterday’s paper, for instance one at below :
##In the search for his poor soul, Ooi admits he is not Chinese: he doesn’t even know how to speak his own name in hanyu much less write it. If you’d ask him, however, then he would say he is a Malaysian, not a Chinese. Just like Kit Siang: being Malaysian is an accomplishment, a conversion out of being Chinese (or Malay). Both men, ill-educated as they are in the English language, can’t tell the difference between the individual (such as a Malaysian), who is the creation of the state, and the individual as an existential being who is hinged to his past, his culture, and his upbringing. And it is these variances in both ethnicities and cultures that make a Malaysian, who is not to be abused and spit at as if those differences are necessarily and mutually exclusive. In another way of rephrasing Ooi, he is actually saying he has made it — the proud Malaysian — whereas the rest are just stupid not to see the way he sees things; and worse, racist to boot. Ooi’s kind of bigotry confronts a dilemma: why is it that only Anglophiles, Christian Chinese mostly, but not Confucian Chinese or Muslim Malays, are saddled with the problem of the soul? That question is itself actually half the answer, that is, it is also self-evident. Hence, one sees the same existential angst among people very much like Ooi: people like Kit Siang, son Guan Eng, Hannah Yeoh, Helen ‘Aku Cina’ Ang, Anthony Loke, Tony Pua, Lisa Ng, Gerakan’s Rowena ‘Rowettlier’ Yam, Aussified KTemoc, Shannon Teoh, Mkini’s Steven Gan and so on. They might claim Chineseness, yet all would have been raised in the same fashion, having grown up in La Salle schools, fed on a diet of Sunday schools, toast and marmalade jam, speaking English, ignorant of what’s Chinese. They only know how to be white. So it is true, they are not Chinese.##
So if MIC or MCI continue his assertion that this writing is the result of study in our Chinese school, I would repeat the same retort.
“By the same token, can you provide any statistics or actually, any explanation on how keeping the children in separate education systems for 6-11 years growing up, is better for creating a more integrated society?”
Since you are one that making the claim, the onus is on you to provide proof, not me, this is the most basic in any debate. And If I have more time, I can share with you my experience, but that is just me.
“This is the favourite argument I hear often, which attempts to insinuate that I'm proposing assimilation.”
I think you misunderstood, I am requesting you to provide proof that preferably from any countries where the minority attend the same school and speak the same language and see how they bode well for nation building. And I see nothing wrong with assimilation.
“But pray tell me, is there any justification for a national education policy that allows language and history of another nation to be put above its own language?”
Of course no, but where did I said that?
“Like MIC said, "This is Malaysia, not Greater China". And I don't know why you rebutt that with "not Greater Britain", since that doesn't make any sense.”
If you believe Chinese School is a problem, what can’t you allow me to think that English School is likewise a problem? What PAGE is trying to achieve? Why can’t they learn M&S in Malay, do they have an issue to priorities Malay?
“And, 2 person speaking the same language is the normal way to communicate, I'm not sure about you……”
DeleteI am with many Malay almost every night, I believe most of them don’t find it disrespectful if I will to communicate mandarin/hakka/cantonese/tamil with another Chinese which we did, unless it is a formal occasion, and we always joke using all sort of Chinese term. I find most Malay are friendlier and kindful compare to Chinese especially the national school type, and perhaps because most of us are not university graduate and that make the difference? I don’t know, but that is my personal experience.
“I'm saying if we want to argue that it's not fair for bumiputera rights etc, the same can be argued for vernacular schools. What I'm saying is that the existence of vernacular schools, that prioritise the language/culture/history of another country, is a contributory factor for extremists who can shout 'pendatang' etc. It's fine if personally we want to learn all this stuff, but it shouldn't be prioritised or allocated by our education system.”
So you have no solution for scholarship? Fine. I have no problem with bumiputra rights (or you mean special position, which is which huh?) do you? The Chinese language and culture are our language and culture, and we study Malaysia history and of course history of others country as well, we study BM as one of the main subject, gosh, where the hell are you coming from? Just turun kapalterbang kah? Or are you a newly recruited CIMB for election purpose? You seem know nothing about us.
“So are you saying that it would have been better to keep slavery, since there were unfortunate deaths and people didn't like it?”
Dear, you started do sound like garbage the first time around.
“So far you have not provided any rebuttals or explanations on how keeping different education stream and keeping the children in segregated learning environments, does a much better job for building a mixed society. You keep pointing out feasibility, "oh it's too hard, democracy won't allow this, we don't have leaders". The issue of leaders, well it's good thing Dato Jaafar Onn, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln etc were around back at those times, eh?”
And again dear, you must learn how to read, and learn to debate what I said, rather than what you hoped I said, I agree with your assertion that we shouldn’t segregate our children, I am asking you how we could achieve this, and your reply is remove VS and Abraham Lincoln?
“I can't provide all the answers, but I do think simply throwing our hands up because "it's too hard" is not going to solve the prevalent divisiveness in society, and the way going forward.”
Now I should give you some credit for at least having the honesty to admit that you don’t know the answer. In fact if you reread KT, he already clearly spell out the answer, and Ellese love to say this, jangan malas membaca, now go re-read again KT piece.
KTee, intentionally did not included HK or Taiwan.. otherwise someone will say trying to give unintended message... Anyway, to be objective, HK & Taiwan are more homogenous societies (in a general sense). Therefore, better to have case study in multicultural-religious situation where Chinese & Indians are mingled in society. That is why also exclude India & Singapore (except for reflection on the chart in the latter's mention).
Delete1) Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia are nationalised educations systems. Malaysia is not. But why Philippines & Indonesia not on the ranking?
2) Can education be corelated to their main employment and export of labour?
3) Is education in these countries a corelation to the government policy making and general culture (eg. tolerance, open society, open or limited civil liberties - religion, gender etc)?
Maybe if Singapore had bigger land space & population, more will be mentioned. Forgot to mention, Nanyang Tech in Singapore is #11.
Aiyaah, just asking questions lah... No opinion... Form your own. Wakakakaka
PS. Indonesia was colonised by Dutch, Philippines by Spanish & US, Malaysia by Dutch, Portugese and finally British and Singapore, British only. Thai, never colonised.
Thailand shares similarity with Malaysia in that we have rulers. Majority of Thais respect their royalty as do Malaysians.
Hong Kong & India shares similarity with Malaysia in that all had British rulers.
By the way, Vietnam & Cambodia was occupied by French who also colonised many parts of Africa... Just a passing comment and that Indo-China loves baguette. Wakakakaka
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DeleteI tire of this roundabout "discussion", you clearly pretend to be obtuse and just attempt to divert each point. But this line shows me that you're still missing the point.
"If you believe Chinese School is a problem, what can’t you allow me to think that English School is likewise a problem? What PAGE is trying to achieve? Why can’t they learn M&S in Malay, do they have an issue to priorities Malay?"
"The Chinese language and culture are our language and culture, and we study Malaysia history and of course history of others country as well, we study BM as one of the main subject, gosh, where the hell are you coming from? Just turun kapalterbang kah? Or are you a newly recruited CIMB for election purpose? You seem know nothing about us."
This is not an issue with Chinese school alone, but all vernacular and boarding schools. It's fine if you think English school is a problem (which don't exist by the way, only national schools). It doesn't matter which type of school is the problem, the problem is the existence of these different type of schools. I'm only using Chinese school as an example since that is that is the one i'm most familiar with.
If somehow we are in China, the priority would be Chinese, then English and then the other languages. If we are in Great Britain, then we will take English. But we are not, we are in Malaysia and since BM is the official language.
The problems of vernacular/boarding/segregated education systems are two-fold:
1. Different emphasis. By diverting more time to Chinese/Tamil/religious studies etc, you have to take away from other subjects. The BM syllabus in vernacular schools are two years slower than national school, for example. This also creates another cultural-identity issue - if we are all Malaysians, why do some schools teach more Malay, or more Chinese or more Indian stuff? This only serves to reinforce the "chinese-ness" or "indian-ness" of different groups.
That's why my proposal is to provide everyone with an equal amount of focus on main subjects (including Malay and English), and electives for the rest.
2/2
Delete2. The segregated environments between the vernacular/boarding schools encourage a homogenous culture outlook and minimizes integration opportunities between different cultures/people. I think this point is clear, but if you still think this isn't a problem then that's clearly nothing I can say that can convince you otherwise.
By the way, I also disagree with PAGE's stand. I don't think learning science in English is important, but our English syllabus and teaching needs to be revamped.
"I am with many Malay almost every night, I believe most of them don’t find it disrespectful if I will to communicate mandarin/hakka/cantonese/tamil with another Chinese which we did, unless it is a formal occasion, and we always joke using all sort of Chinese term."
Of course they won't mind, but honestly if you are sharing the same table and someone else keeps making throwaway comments and jokes you don't understand, indirectly you will feel left out. This is what I mean, I still think of this kind of integration as quite superficial.
"Aku Cina’ Ang, Anthony Loke, Tony Pua, Lisa Ng, Gerakan’s Rowena ‘Rowettlier’ Yam, Aussified KTemoc, Shannon Teoh, Mkini’s Steven Gan and so on. They might claim Chineseness, yet all would have been raised in the same fashion, having grown up in La Salle schools, fed on a diet of Sunday schools, toast and marmalade jam, speaking English, ignorant of what’s Chinese. They only know how to be white. So it is true, they are not Chinese.##
Thanks a lot - this is the kind of attack that I'm used to quite often. No my mandarin is not impeccable, I speak Cantonese, no I don't go to Sunday school and not Christian. I don't really watch TVB dramas these days (not my cup of tea), but used to watch lots of period drama and kungfu movies when I was younger. And yes, I do quite like songs by Siti Nurhaliza, Hujan and Peterpan. I don't like nasi lemak prepared by Chinese, they are usually a bit bland and not spicy enough for me, I like my nasi lemak prepared by Malays. Thanks for telling me I'm not Chinese.
But you know what, I'm fine with that. I will say I'm Malaysian first. I will say that the "real" Chinese, as you call it, as well as the other "real" Malays, Indians etc which cling strongly to your ethnoidentity, will continue to make a divisive society.
-jenny
how many times i have to repeat the statement i have no issue with one school that allow our children of all races to share their moment together? and how many times you want to share with us the good of one school? of course u r tiring bec u just go around in circles like a dog chasing her tail, fun to watch i suppose.
Deletei brought up page n eng school bec you mentioned page earlier, and u also said “that prioritise the language/culture/history of another country”, so what another country r u talking about and how am I missing the point? and what this has to do with china when the chinese school exist long before we get independence? many orang asli cant speak bm and why not u label them pendatang? kt in his post articulated the reason why failure of national school to become mainstream, and the prerequisite of government role ie education ministry to do more to ensure the parents could make adjustment with specific action (mci/mic words), which is not happening at all. u r like the rightist that talk talk talk until cow come and keep demanding for sacrifice but no action, almost everyone of my friends that criticize the vernacular system send their kids to chinese school, even my cousin sister, a assuntarian, who cant speak a word of mandarin that use to call chinese school a communist school send her kids to chinese school, so what sort of sacrifice you want from them? and what is the role of a democratically elected government in all this problem and dilemma? wait for the durian to jatuh?
i don’t know how often u mix around with the malay, the non-english speaking one, similar to chinese that from various dialect background, they are equally diverse, perhaps in johor u don’t see much difference, but among kelantanist, perakian, kedahan, they speak with an accent I cant fully understand, and it is common of them from the same place to speak the cakap melaka, cakap perak, cakap kelantan among themselves, shd I feel left out bec they dont speak std bm in front of me or shd i respect their rights and habit to speak whatever suit them better? i prefer to call this diversity, not divisive. we are not communist, we don’t have to move toward everything uniform n homogeneous, we shd treasure our difference, our diversity, like rainbow (ellese prefer depiction), as malaysian with a common objective, ada paham?
and now u call what shuzheng wrote an attack? i thought it was a opinion you feel oblige not to dismiss? funny la u.
Regarding the discussion of the ranking of universities, it is not just who colonised the countries the universities were located.
DeleteOur local universities have one extra factor - NEP.
I attended one of the 5 local government universities in the 70s, and saw students who are not fit to be studying there.
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Delete"how many times i have to repeat the statement i have no issue with one school that allow our children of all races to share their moment together?and how many times you want to share with us the good of one school?"
In that case what were we discussing about? What was your position again in the discussion? From posts like this:
"I read “does not bode well for nation-building” a number of times but I doubt you have any facts to substantiate your claim that Chinese school is the cause beside some anecdotal experiences, perhaps you may provede us some reference, preferably those minority in other countries that attend the same school and speak the same language.
"Who dictate what action are fair to which communities? Malay deem NEP is fair"
"Again same question, what is the core values of our national school? I know Malaysia is not Greater China, but we are also not Great Britain."
"I doubt you have any facts to substantiate your claim that Chinese school is the cause beside some anecdotal experiences, perhaps you may provede us some reference, preferably those minority in other countries that attend the same school and speak the same language."
"If you believe Chinese School is a problem, what can’t you allow me to think that English School is likewise a problem? What PAGE is trying to achieve? Why can’t they learn M&S in Malay, do they have an issue to priorities Malay?"
I assume you do not agree with my idea of a standardised education stream. So clearly you seem to switch positions when it fits to try to appear as being reasonable.
So then can I assume your position is only that as a Negative Nancy, saying that you agree with my idea but just that it is impossible to be done, as you posted below?
"In short, what would you do to convince the Chinese parents who decide to enrol their kids into SRJKC now and future that the “integrated, standard education system” is the best for their children? Please bear in mind that in a democratic society, we can’t simply remove this and remove that."
When I replied saying that well, a single education system has to happen (and I note again, apparently now you seem to agree with it) even though things might be tough/no leaders etc, with the example of Abraham Lincoln taking an unpopular task of abolishing slavery. You replied:
"Lincoln solved the so called slavery issue by refusing secession and started a war that cause 3% USA population died, on the contrary our leaders, mostly are Malay (of course not Mahathir), have the visionary to implement a much inclusive policy to bind us together and move forward, pray tell who have the better wisdom by not simply remove this and that?"
2/2
DeleteAnd then pretend to not understand what I replied earlier:
"I agree with your assertion that we shouldn’t segregate our children, I am asking you how we could achieve this, and your reply is remove VS and Abraham Lincoln?"
And of course, your condescending quips:
"Dear, you started do sound like garbage the first time around."
"And again dear, you must learn how to read, and learn to debate what I said, rather than what you hoped I said, "
"of course u r tiring bec u just go around in circles like a dog chasing her tail, fun to watch i suppose."
"Now I should give you some credit for at least having the honesty to admit that you don’t know the answer. In fact if you reread KT, he already clearly spell out the answer, and Ellese love to say this, jangan malas membaca, now go re-read again KT piece."
Well I did read KTs piece, but I agree with MIC's opinion on not expanding further the Chinese schools and disagree with KT that politicians should pander to Chinese community using Chinese education.
So I guess basically your position is that you "appear to agree" that different school systems are bad, but just that it is very hard to remove them. I put "appear to agree" since you have seemingly try to discredit mine and MICs opinion with round about issues, pretending to not understand, and using passive-aggressive condescending quips.
-jenny
if u want to know my position, u can always ask. i don’t take absolute stance in most issue including this one, i dont see the world in black and white. i am fine with one school (yours version plus reasonably quality), and all issues i raised is real that deter the one school objevtive, i don’t pluck it from the sky and that is why i am asking you how? if you have the answer, fine, if you choose to ignore them, fine as well, but as far as I’m concerned, your answer hasn’t arrived yet, and to remind you again, abrahim lincoln is not a answer.
Deletea little bit about lincoln and american history, emancipation was a military policy, lincoln is a racist base on today standard, and here is lincoln speech :
“I am not now, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social or political equality of the white and black races. I am not now nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor of intermarriages with white people. There is a physical difference between the white and the black races which will forever forbid the two races living together on social or political equality. There must be a position of superior and inferior, and I am in favor of assigning the superior position to the white man.”
if I will to use your argument, i can also say to preserve vernacular school is unpopular while one school is popular, therefore we elect our leaders to take on difficult ideas and vision, like what Lincoln did, to preserve an unpopular vernacular school, and as long as one are willing to sacrifice, a non std education system can also bode well for nation building. i personally think this sort of rhetoric is laughable if not childish, what do u think?
...cont....
....cont...
Deleteback to my position, i wish to state that i am also fine with what we are having now ie to let the market dictate as long as we can improve our education standard and quality. don’t forget vernacular school is only at primary level, and cis is private school, 90% chinese actually attend national school in secondary level, thus there is 5-7 years or up to 11 years if include tertiary for “bode well for nation building?”, which again you have no answer what is that beside telling us your personal experience. so which part i pretend not to understand u?
and where did i ever claim it is impossible to be done? i said “we need one who have political will and sincerity to make it work. I dont know if PR could do it, but i am very sure BN can't”. see, when i told u to debate what i said and not what u hope i said, u grumble i am being condescending, and again very funny it is okay for u to use term like roundabout which i assume is round, and the moment i mentioned run in circle then u protest as if my circle is a square one. in fact yours n mic/mci tone were pretty bigot and prejudice toward those from chinese school, or shall i say sort of genaralisation and stereotyping?
if u has no answer on the ‘how’, i suggest u give yourselves a break n rest until kt come up with a post on the same subject, then we continue our discussion?
if Najib would announce immediate recognition of UEC as well as revival of English medium secondary schools as well, funded by government, BN would probably get enough last minute swing votes to scrap through. Otherwise, it is going to be very hard for BN this time. Given a choice, most Chinese and a large proportion of Indians, and may be half of Malays, would opt to go to English medium schools, just like old days. Polarization would be reduced and certainly those Chinese independent schools would slowly be less prefered by Chinese. If PR does not do these things after their take over, they would not last. This is what I believe because the national schools are so bad these days that very few would want to go given a choice. Najib or Anwar were Education Ministers previously. They should now better what is really good for the nation in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Najib was ever Education Minister; his cousin was
DeleteNaji , Education Minister of Malaysia 1995 - 1999
Deletehttp://www.pmo.gov.my/?menu=page&page=1926
thanks
Delete1) I doubt any last minute announcement help to get more votes.
ReplyDelete2) "But from there, the Chinese vernacular system has incrementally metamorphosed from a purely issue of 'standards' into one of a cherished cultural identity, given the siege mentality the Chinese community has been indoctrinated with over the last 40 years." - Not exactly, the last 20 years is more about standard.
3) From a national education policy pov in term of cohesive and quality, i prefer a one examination for all to enter into public university, having said that, i also believe the trend could move toward diversity, ie let the parent, school and university to decide what they want.
education should be more than just passing an exam, but an opportunity to mould the kids into good citizens and good human beings a la the Confucian ethics.
DeletePakatan has to put their ego aside avoid being too political with BN. It only makes hard core UMNO to be harder and drives them on a recruitment campaign to bring in the fence sitters.
ReplyDeleteWithin Pakatan, it is still not as rosy too. PAS ego begin to show again on the first sign of blood (figuratively speaking, but I hope someone ears would be cut on 6th May)
Pakatan leadership whom are mostly concern about their sex videos and trying to increase their team members for internal party election, the mother of all elections for the ADUNs and MPs is not the GE 13th, it is the party election. It is clearly seen in the selection of candidates for the 13th GE.
The Rakyat, the fence sitters are the third force to be consider, the hard cores already accepted Allah and Jesus Christ, nothing we can do about it. The fence sitters are the decider for the outcome of GE 13th. Now they are weighting between BN and Pakatan's manifesto to decide. The fence sitters are not Malays, Chinese neither Indians, they are Malaysian, nevertheless mostly Chinese already converted to Pakatan friendly. Eat that UMNO.
If I were in Pakatan leadership (I mean The Three Stooges) not a Pakatan whacker, This what I would announce...
"We are going to vote on 5th May 2013, after 56 years of UMNO regime, I have to humbly admit that BN did a lot of good for our nation without looking at the evils that UMNO has done. In the past one year, you have been getting goodies after goodies from BN. I would have done the SAME if I were in the federal government (taking credit from UMNO). I would say I would endorse quite a lot of BN manifesto for GE 13th and whatever Aku Janji that is going to come out the next few days (including Han Chiang), if it is do able, Pakatan will do it for the Rakyat (taking credit from UMNO)
I believe what is in BN Manifesto which are the Rakyat demand and interest, it will also be in Pakatan Manifesto (taking credit from UMNO). That means in summary, what good policies that you are going to get from BN, Pakatan would offer the same, if it is good for nation.
But Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to tell you this, what Pakatan is going to offer, UMNO is never to going to offer in a million years. Not in a million years.
Are you ready for what Pakatan is going to offer?!
YES
Are you ready for what Pakatan is going to offer?!
YES
Are you ready for what Pakatan is going to offer?!
YES
1. Eradicate corruptions
2. Eradicate nepotism, cronyism and offer transparency
3. Prevent privatization of national interest
Ladies and Gentlemen, in a million years BN is not going to offer you this. Whatever Aku Janji, we Pakatan can do it.
Are you ready for Pakatan?!
YES
Are you ready for Pakatan?!
YES
Are you ready for Pakatan?!
YES "
-End-
Well, will The Three Stooges be cool enough to say this, instead of playing politics. I doubt it, ego is high now and they want to compete on manifesto. BN has all the money, which Pakatan is handicapped by, BN will win hands down. Pakatan only get to offer their virtue which is priceless, of course there is a price for people like Hee Yit Foong. Will The Three Stooges, understand that, that is the only virtue that is priceless to them now. They have to amplified it every single day till 5th of May. First they have to learn to bodek UMNO (taking credit from UMNO).
Hmm...okay now... er... how to get rid of those sex videos?
Re your "The Rakyat, the fence sitters are the third force ..." the rakyat is never the 3rd Force but THE ONLY FORCE, the voters which vote political parties (or coalitions) into being the 1st Force, 2nd Force and yet to be seen in Malaysia, 3rd Force.
DeleteRegarding the proposed freeport for Penang, the intended impact may not be as expected:
ReplyDelete1) The likes of Mahathir & Ibrahim Ali will raise hell of the government giving concessions to ungrateful Chinese, and the Malays in the rest of the country, being the majority not benefiting from this free port, will vote against BN. Remember, the mainland are mainly Malays who will be angry over this move.
2) Since the lifting of free port status, many goods have been exempted from tax (such as electronics), how much benefit will Penangites get from free port ? Liqour? Imported luxuries?
I supposed the free port is granted on condition BN wins both federal & Penang state.
Anyway, if Penang is freeport again, be prepared for long queues at the customs check points at the 2 bridges and the ferry. Will tax-free cars have unimpeded travel outside Penang?
Dr Mahathir will object like hell to prevent Penang as a free port siphoning off tourist from his pet tourism project, Langkawi which he endowed with free port status
DeleteFarc man if chinese all swing back to BN. The oppos especially DAP must be fast to remind the chinese that there are many more BIGGER reasons why BN has to be defeated! Freedom of press, 2-party system, removal of corruption, better education in all schools, stopping racism, etcetc.....
ReplyDeleteChinese will support BN forever and ever as long as
ReplyDeletea) Their kids can still attend Chinese school
b) Their right to gamble and get drunk on Arak is protected
c) They can still get business done by bribing Bumi officials and buy their way through various BN Machais.
Najib understands the Chinese very well.
Malays will support UMNO forever and ever as long as
Deletea)Their malay kids only for certain public-funded colleges and universities
b)Their tongkat are intact and their wheelchairs well-oiled
c)Their mosques be made even bigger and more ornate with public funds
d)Their right to raise the kris with seditious yellings whenever things don't go their ways
e)Their right to corner all big biz and contracts via arm twisting and closed tenders
f)Their right to print lies in Utusan and tell lies on public TVs
g)Their right to buy lotteries and get drunk on tapai is protected
Mahathir, Najib and gang understands the Malays very well.
Pakatan should Expect a Massive counteroffensive by Najib in the next few days. Read for example his throwaway promise to resolve the Rawang TNB overhead cables deadlock - TNB has refused to consider any alternative for 5 years - THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TNB told the New Villagers and the Selangor State Government, now Najib says it will be solved.
ReplyDeleteMany reports indicate the momentum is swinging towards PR, including even in the "Heartland". Don't just read the Ball carriers publishing in the MSM.
BN will not give up their 55 year hammer-lock on the Federal Government easily.
Last line of defence will be on polling day itself - the CIMB party will be in full force- CIMB as in Cambodians, Indons, Myanmars, Banglas.
"the CIMB ........ as in Cambodians, Indons, Myanmars, Banglas."
DeleteWakakakaka
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/eyeing-big-johor-win-najib-approves-another-chinese-school/
ReplyDeleteNajib approves new Independent Chinese School campus in Johor Bahru.
I've my doubts about the legality of this caretaker PM making the announcement, but what the heck....
I can already hear Auld Lang Syne being played for Lim Kit Siang....
Bye Bye Kit Malam...you won't be missed.
The Johor Chinese will vote for BN in droves now 100% sure...
it proves my point in this post that Najib has finally realized that the only way to woo Chinese is to use educational issues - school okay but approving UEC will be a killer blow to Pakatan
DeleteI think Najib will announce it in the next few days, when it is too late for DAP/PKR to spin around it.
DeleteKiller blow to PR.
Barisan Nasional forever
next few days would be too late as most voters will have made uop their minds, apart for the necessity of time for new information to reach them.
DeleteTonight is Najib's last chance to announce recognition of the UEC to be made effective by tomorrow, though I would agree to an extent with looes (see below) that "he had a chance while meeting up with the Chinese educationists. He just simply blew his chance", but there is still a small window left, that is, tonight, for him to shock a& awe, wakakaka.
If Najib make the UEC announcement, pakatan can also do the same... This is not an issue. At this late stage, I think all najib can hope for is for pakatan to make a serious error. Of course, BN is cool, they have back up plans to boost their votes.
DeleteKaytee,please do not insult the Nazi's.Umno is no where near the nazis'(be boo ean).
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what kaytee wanna drive at but then again, Najib should have recognised UEC when he had a chance while meeting up with the chinese educationists. He just simply blew his chance. Supposingly Najib can spring success from this scheme, together with nambikei from his colusion with Yindians, Najib may even 4/5 majority. One interesting question.....what the hell would happen to Madhater then. You think Madhater would allow that to happen
ReplyDeletehttp://www.malaysiakini.com/news/228474
You see I don't fully subsribe to ktemoc arguement
"You see I don't fully subsribe to ktemoc arguement"
Deleteu agree only when it suit u wakaka. i think the fact is there are more malay voter than chinese voter. and pr already said they will recognise uec if elected much much earlier. kaytee think chinese are mostly opportunist wakaka
pragmatic lah, not opportunistic
DeleteAnnounced all they like.Umno/BN will be exterminated on 5.5.13
ReplyDelete"Never underestimate the capacity of voters to be bought..."
Delete...Tun Dr. Mad-hater and sidekick Latuk Silly Naaji
As expected.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/han-chiang-college-given-university-college-status-with-rm1mil-grant/
Gigantic crowd welcomes Najib in Rifle Range.
Lim Guan Eng better spend more time defending his turf in Penang...PR's hold on the state is getting shakier by the minute.
Military historians consider the Ardennes offensive as Nazi Germany's last maneuver battle.
ReplyDeleteWW 2 in Europe continued for another 4 months but after that, all remaining military operations by the German Army were purely localized defense and retreat. Germany no longer had enough tanks , no fuel for the tanks, lack of trained crews , not enough professional soldiers, not enough ammunition, no air cover.
The End and Surrender.
Is BN facing The End ?
Najib says BN will get 2/3 majority, which will likely mean the end of PR.... who to Believe ?
Najib (like Germany) might be able to develop the atomic bomb code-named EC [ EC for Explosive Calamity], wakakaka
Deletewhen will we see the end to racial politics. Stop the system which require us to fill in the form Malay, Chinese, Indian and others. There is no Malaysian race until today. There is no national unity. UMNO, MCA, MIC played the race card and the threat of May 13 and it is not working anymore. We Are Friends Mah! Put an end to this nonsense about race. Race politics will die in the end. A boy holding an IC with Chau Lai Fatt on may look like a Malay, Chinese, Indian or a combination of the genes of a parent. Stop the race bias and accept all as Malaysian.
ReplyDelete