Saturday, May 23, 2015

From riches to rags, from pandai to bodoh

From Malaysiakini:

Our performance facts the PM has forgotten



MP SPEAKS
Has Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak forgotten that Malaysia was second in Asia, after Japan, in prosperity and income when we achieved independence in 1957?

That we have been overtaken by Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and even South Korea, all of which became high-income countries 20 to 28 years ago?
***

Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea, and of course Japan are also at the top of world rankings on those nations' students in science and maths performance.

Being born in 1953, PM Najib might have forgotten our 1957 prosperity but really, which of our PMs was the one who brought us down to our lamentable position vis-a-vis prosperity and income in Asia through profligate wastage, ironically and especially when we came into oil discovery and possession.

I have always believe our oil has been a curse rather than a blessing because it gave us or rather our national leaders an arrogant sense of wealth, temporary and fickle as that wealth will be, and thus an unbridled excuse to fling money around boastfully, wastefully and stupidly like a teflonized rich man's son, even unto 'satisfying' personal chips on shoulders.

"Our" oil has also been a curse for a second reason, when its so-called national revenue has been unaccountable. Perhaps it's not "our" oil after all but those of a very private circle.

And again, which PM destroyed our educational standards?

12 comments:

  1. i think the outcome is the essense of socialism, albeit a race base one.

    what is the point for u n rpk to keep on criticize mahathir past deed, while close an eye for those that handle the current portfolio, or one that still exercise such executive power?

    u never worry u might insult the human pride, culture and social values? or u think mahathir n his follower have no pride no culture n no social values?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. did I mention mahathir? you are the one who has done so

      secondly, past is known, current is yet to be confirmed - why so impatient and unfair?

      Delete
    2. no u didnt, but did i guess wrongly? an aussie blogger that support dap cannot be helen ang right? or a pro umno blogger that love dog more than rohingya cannot be kt right?

      1mdb n 52 in 2015 pisa is deemed yet to be confirmed? hmmm......ok la, i pacify myself with some music lo.

      Some day somebody's gonna make you want to
      Turn around and say goodbye
      Until then baby are you going to let them
      Hold you down and make you cry
      Don't you know?
      Don't you know things can change
      Things'll go your way
      If you hold on for one more day
      Can you hold on for one more day
      Things'll go your way
      Hold on for one more day

      Delete
    3. well my dear HY you have to make up your mind whether I support DA{P or am pro UMNO, wakakaka

      as for your "... blogger that love dog more than rohingya" that's terrible, where you become worse far worse than looes74 in your wild reckless accusations, tsk tsk

      Delete
  2. hahahahaha.........I felt that this news are even more interesting.

    http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/penang-in-the-dark-about-putrajayas-rohingya-plan-says-cm

    Soon, Jibby would betray ktemoc by imprisoning him in sungai buluh jail

    ReplyDelete
  3. In 1957? The malays were poor and uneducated and please add on Kaytee. In 1957 who were the rich and educated people? How many malays were in the university? Who were the university's lecturers? Who opened up Felda and contributed income to the nation? Who started Petronas with just RM10.0 million? How many malays are considered educated and ok lah in terms of wealth (of course a few more than ok) today? Therefore, I would agree witb HY... it is indeed the essence of socialism... and the malays are still given certain privileges... it is ok lah tu Kaytee. Who are very thankful to BR1M? They are simple and contented people. PR can have a 55% popular votes in GE14 but BN would still cross the finishing line first.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. my dear bro hasan, you do have a point there, but be that as it was and disregarding race for a moment, shouldn't we collectively with our wealth in oil resources become even MORE wealthy, more intelligent in world educational rankings? How did we allow puny dots like HK, Taiwan, Sing and war-torn S Korea to accelerate ahead of us? Next competitor for us to watch out for would be Vietnam, mark my word.

      Delete
  4. Which PM destroyed our educational standards?
    To me, it is all the PMs from 1975 onwards until now. No doubt the foundations of the rot we laid in the earlier decades, and the PM who served longest carries the greatest guilt. The extinction of the English School system took 12 years, completed in 1982, 1 year after Mahathir became PM. The later PMs are equally culpable for continuing the damaging policies and not taking resolute action to correct the rot..
    With great power comes great responsibility.
    Similar blame attaches to successive Education Ministers. Today, for example, hardly anybody realises that Najib was Education Minister for 5 years, during the 1990's. No significant initiative came from his time, no corrective action that anyone can remember. Najib just warmed the seat. Rumour has it Najib was energetically chasing other things, but I will not go into that here.

    Oil was really a mixed blessing. A retired headmaster who served in a semi-rural English School in Johor back in the early 1970's BO (Before Oil) recounted to me the situation at the time. Teachers were dedicated then. The profession attracted good quality people who wanted to be teachers, not just a 2nd or 3rd choice because they couldn't get any better job, as is often the case now. The exams, LCE and MCE were highly regarded at the time.
    The were many negatives as well. Government funds were so tight at the time it wasn't funny. The dilapidated school building comprised wooden buildings with Asbestos roofing. Classes were overcrowded, well beyond the official recommended maximum. Not enough classrooms, Not enough Teachers. Tables and Chairs were in poor condition and there was no budget to replace them. Toilets were ghastly, and no money to renovate them.
    Malaysia actually had less than 1/2 the current student population today, but the education system was bursting at the seams in the 1970s.
    AO (After Oil) thanks in large part to Oil Revenue, especially in the 1990's the hardware is a lot better. The rural school he taught in has been completely rebuilt, the old school existing in name only.

    The problem with the Education system was the "Software" was allowed to deteriorate, some of it deliberate policy, some of it unintentional, but real.
    The destruction of the standard of English was deliberate policy, created by Race Warriors who saw promoting Bahasa Malaysia as a zero sum game vs. English. Many saw the English Language as the tongue of the hated Penjajah.
    The Razak Report was the Holy Grail of the National Education Policy for 40 years.
    What they totally did not foresee was a Flat, Globalised world in 2015 where the most valuable currency is information , and most of that flows across borders in English. And the overwhelming presence of the World Wide Web , whose Lingua Franca is English.
    Yet, everyone in the Education Ministry is still essentially working based on the dusty, desiccated Razak Report.

    I leave with a very good piece of advice I once read. The past is but a bucket of ashes, the future is just a dream in the mind. For good or bad, for better or worse, the battle of life is fought in the Now, TODAY.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. strangely you left out AI's role as Education Minister

      Delete
  5. Nothing strange about it.
    I deliberately left out any mention about Anwar Ibrahim, to try to cast some light into other areas which may be blind spots of yours.

    About 80% of your blog is given over to the Evils of Anwar Ibrahim, ad infinitum.
    There is plenty other Evil committed in this country, other than the perceived Evils of Anwar Ibrahim.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. a blogger like me prefers to blog on what are known as well as political hypocrisy

      Delete
    2. what about big mama called rosmah mansor? she is known as flom

      Delete