Weekend

First week back at uni, and it's flashed by so fast. Met some old friends, made some new friends. Nothing much to report back yet though.

There's gonna be a weekend outing to Box Hill, thanks to New Careers, the IESS sponsor. Unfortunately they won't be sponsoring our food bills up there, so it should be Vietnamese food and laser tag on the agenda, I guess.

And by the way, 250 blog posts, yay!

Survey: Students have no qualms about bribes

For original article go here: link

This tells us how badly society affects us students nowadays. It is an old adage that tells us, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
And now even university students don't mind taking bribes. Really, so many things have failed in Malaysia, and now the latest failure is the concept of integrity. It has mysteriously disappeared. Good luck with Vision 2020.

Demotivators

They're good ideas. Heck I should make more of them.

The only problem is finding a good supply of photos to use.

MLIA 2

I just realised that I do a lot of things just to please everyone [well, if not everyone then at least most people] and to save my own arse.

This isn't helping me, I'm getting more and more constricted and squashed out of any shape I have now. It doesn't help that I lack a stress release mechanism.

And what do you do when the girl you like acts like a spoilt brat when you're hanging out with all your friends?

Linear Algebra

Its called that, but you deal with matrices. Which is like back in SAM again, doing Maths again. To think that the lectures are overfull is kinda weird, since I'd expect people to skip some of the lectures.

Oh wait. Not everyone is as mad as me yet.

Command and Conquer 4

The end of the Tiberium saga.

The end of the Kane-GDI rivalry.

The conclusion of what started in Tiberian Dawn.

Reset

Once again, the holidays end too soon, and we're back for classes. Another 2 months to the next break, time does fly.

It takes the writer to know what his characters will do.

Library

I love visiting the City Library. It's quietly tucked away in one corner of the city, and at least it offers the books I enjoy reading - WWII and Cold War conspiracies which lead up to the present day.

Jack Higgins anyone?

MLIA

Go figure. If you guys stay over tonight, that's just it.

Sometimes I don't like being younger than the crowd. Look at it, if being born in the fourth quarter of the year isn't enough, try being one year younger as well.

GAH

MLIA.

Return

With everyone coming back from holidays, I run around a lot more now.

Dinner later at 7. I guess it will be one of the earliest times I eat nowadays.



I'm bored.

Discrimination

Whites see us Asians as separate categories based on skin colour - Chinese, Vietnamese, Malays, Indians, Indonesians, Africans. That's actually quite simplistic. Being Asians, we tend to see other things as well.

Especially Malaysians. Common misconceptions made by some white folks:

All Malaysians are Malays.
All Chinese come from China.

So Malaysian Chinese like myself get discriminated against because we look like mainland Chinese. We do NOT look like them. And more importantly, we don't sound a bit like them when we talk. At least we don't mangle English that badly.
Ah well, the price we pay for coming overseas.

Birthday

Gags are purely for fun only. Can't believe we actually made David do that last night. Rocking party, enhanced by music. Although one thing missing was the mingling. IE people more or less kept to themselves. Damn sad. I think the room should have been smaller to make up for the number of people.

Potatoes

Never deep fry mashed potatoes in a wok.

Reading

Finished of the last of the 3 books I bought... wait. 12 days ago! That's less than 2 weeks. Looks like the next stop for me has to be the City library. Or I'll soon be bored out of my wits again.

Yesterday's cooking session yielded some expected results - no charcoal or ashes. Haha.

Kyp out.

Cooking

Simple matter of looking in the kitchen, then finding whatever you have and bunging that into the oven/pot. Which really describes the normal student's way of finding food to eat.

Now some brave souls want to experiment. I hope nothing becomes charcoal, since we're gonna be the ones eating what we've cooked.

That sinking feeling...

...that you get when you find that it's less than a week to your next deadline, and you've barely made any progress on your work.

Comments:
Feeling will be amplified by random comments from other people. Especially comments which say "I did what I wanted to do."

Newsletter

It's coming along now. Not much, but yeah, there's still something to show for the modest [read: nonexistent] amount of work done during the first 3 weeks of the holidays.

At least all that's missing now is the photos and the president's welcome. Well, I might add a joke or two, or a comic strip. Nothing in stone yet though, don't hold me to anything I say here.


Another day, another week, another month. I miss you.

Let the spam begin

With the next semester timetable out, the spam is beginning to flood in. Everyone requesting swaps and stuff.

And we'll be prepared for the funny stuff which can come in. Last semester showcased the "swing flu" spam. What's in store this semester, nobody knows yet. We're gonna be waiting around for that.

Boredom

It's like a drug. It gets to your head. Slowly, it spreads from there. The limbs, the torso, the organs. One by one, slowly but surely.

In the end you don't feel like going anywhere, or doing anything.

Depression

I'm headed down that road already if nobody can help me out.

Clayton + Australian synchrotron

Went down to Clayton today to meet up with Andrew. For one thing, I must say that Clayton is a little boring. It's like Mont Albert, but Monash Uni being there gives it some difference, I guess. Having nothing to do except lunch in town [the Indian food there is surprisingly delectable], we decided to tour the Monash Clayton campus.
And that led to the Australian synchrotron up along Blackburn Road. One thing surprised me regarding the synchrotron which doesn't show up in the photos. There's a lot of barbed wire around the fence, yet the gate is wide open.

Lucky thing I got back before the storm blew into Surrey Hills. It was bad enough in Clayton, and it definitely sounded worse here.

Anyway, pix.

That's the synchrotron seen from a distance.

The inside of the synchrotron

The frontage of the Australian synchrotron

L-R view of the Monash football field

Signboard advertising the Australian synchrotron

The Forgotten - part 8

Night.

Time of the great silence
the unknown lurks around.
Watching, waiting.
Anywhere, everywhere at once.

Unforgettable, the things that stay with us.
The good times, they pass too soon.
The bad moments, they stick
and haunt our dreams.

I do not fear night.
Stronger in the darkness,
my dreams take shape.


The Forgotten walks again tonight.

Regarding the policy reversal

[Disclaimer: the author is a product of the Malaysian education system. Any comments he makes here are true and not embellished in any way.]

After 6 years of implementation, 6 long years, now the policy has been reversed. I will tell you the same thing proponents of the policy say: Don't waste our money on changing plans back and forth. And now a quick shoutout to all those blithering idiots supporting the reversal.

To the Malay nationalists:

No, teaching Science and Maths in English is a good concept. It will not weaken the position of Malay, seeing that the standard of SPM Bahasa Malaysia questions are extremely high compared to the parody of an exam you call the SPM English 1119 paper. And there are already so many subjects taught in Malay, so there is no need to teach every non-language subject in Malay.

To the Chinese traditionalists:

If you enjoy Chinese so much, go. Just leave Malaysia. I have seen with my eyes how the Chinese in Australia adapt to using English in schools. Yes, I know they are forced to do it because of the system. But they are adapting to the system, not forcing the system to change every few years. Besides, Chinese students have been beating the crap out of the Malaysian education system, consistently scoring many A1's in SPM. So if our students have been able to do it when the mode of instruction was in Malay, and they did it again when Science and Maths were taught in English, why not let them continue? Why the resistance? Why can't we prove that the Chinese are flexible? Besides, why do you even support Malay at secondary school levels? Shouldn't you campaign for Chinese education to be available at all levels?

Technology

One of the best ways for parents to nag you about stuff, and also interrogate you about exam results.

GAH

Doncaster SC

A bit of a let down, really. I'd say it's like Subang Parade, without the arcade. Even then, who goes to the arcade in Parade? Certainly not me, even though I'm a proud Subang resident. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Books, books. Just finished off a historical conspiracy theory story. Due to the historical nature of the story, it is damned sad when you get to the end of the story and read that the heroes have to die so that spacetime continuity is preserved. But all in all, I must say I enjoyed the read.


-Solace in the strength of the winds.-

Paydirt

After searching high and low in discount warehouses and in bookshop discount bins, finally. Finally some luck. Managed to get hold of not 1, but 3 books for $15. As sweet as it can get here.

Now I can read a lot again. Haha.

Posts

Long posts do not appeal to most readers. How sad.

Ah well. Maybe that's why newspapers no longer appeal to most people as well. Reading online articles might be easier for some, I guess.

-All it takes to destroy the world as we know it is for the good people to stand by while evil takes charge.-

Mixed feelings over switch, eh? Go screw yourself, says the wise one

Yet another change to the education system, yet another way of wasting taxpayers' money.

Define "mother tongue". Is it:

a) the language you first spoke at home?
or
b) the language of your race?

I remember some of us trying to debate this question with a lecturer last year. Sadly, to some people, as long as:

a) you aren't white,
b) you don't have a white parent,
c) you weren't born in an English speaking country, and lived there for more than 3 weeks,

you automatically don't qualify to say English is your mother tongue. Which is really unfair for those of us who've spoken English more than any other language since young. Hey, in case anyone high up reads blogs from the masses, understand this: we demand our rights too. Don't leave us out just because we aren't the majority. Our parents still pay you taxes, and I simply hate to see their hard-earned money going down the drain caused by the government changing plans every decade or so.

And why do the politicians need to come out to welcome the move? This seems like a sign that political pressures still rule this country of ours, that students are just pawns in the chess game of politics. So, in future, if you really want to change the lives of people, don't be an engineer or architect or scientist. Go and be a POLITICIAN. Even though you'll be cursed by everyone for failing them, you get to see your stuff implemented. You'll be happy, your supporters will be happy, your enemies will be happy, it's all a win-win situation, eh?

English is, and will be, the language for disseminating information throughout the world. General English is for communication purposes only. If you can't read and write technical terms in English, don't dream of going to any white man's land. Stay at home. Do your degree locally, feed the local education industry, earn lots of ringgit and make Malaysia proud. UTAR needs students. UiTM needs students. Go make them happy. Stay at home and make more champs. Then at international meetings, the only Malaysians you'll be seeing will be those who fit any one of these categories:

a) went to international schools
b) were born overseas, educated overseas since young
c) were through some distant relative, linked back to Malaysia

In short, the ones who will make us proud are the ones who ran away from the hopelessly failing education system. They will carry our flag, hidden in the shadows of another bigger flag.


To Muhyiddin, I don't know whether you enjoy this switch, but have fun facing criticism. To the Cabinet ministers who voted "Nay" to the change, I'm with you. To those who voted "Aye" for the change, I hope that your next trip in a bus ends up over a cliff. Hopefully while your contingent goes up to Genting, your driver fucks up. Good luck with facing rotten eggs anyway. Don't forget, the ones who understand more will end up with the world. Like Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, Buddha. Not politicians.

Math and Science back to Bahasa, mother tongues

The Star
Published: Wednesday July 8, 2009 MYT 2:42:00 PM
Updated: Wednesday July 8, 2009 MYT 3:55:24 PM
Math and Science back to Bahasa, mother tongues

KUALA LUMPUR: The Cabinet has decided that the medium of instruction for Maths and Science will revert to Bahasa Malaysia in national schools and mother-tongue languages in national-type schools from 2012 onwards.

The reversal of the Teaching of Math and Science in English (PPSMI) policy will be done in stages, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said on Wednesday.

He however added that there will be greater emphasis on learning the English language.

English literature will be re-introduced, as will subjects on grammar and composition.

Beginning 2012, students in Year One and Year Four in primary schools, and Form One and Form Four in secondary schools, will learn Math and Science in Bahasa Malaysia.

The change will not affect those in Form Six and Matriculation.

The two subjects will be taught in two languages until 2014 for other students, he said.

“The gap between rural and urban students has widened since PPSMI started.

“Only 19.2% of secondary teachers and 9.96% of primary teachers were sufficiently proficient in English,” he said, explaining the Government’s decision to revert to the old system.

On efforts to emphasise the learning of English, the number of English teachers would be increased by 13,933 -- retirees would be hired, as well as foreigners if need be.

Primary schools will also increase English classes by 90 minutes a week.

There have been calls from various groups for the policy to revert to before 2003, when the subjects were taught in Bahasa Malaysia in national schools, and either in Chinese or Tamil in national-type schools.

The issue has seen a rare alliance between Malay and Chinese educationists, who are against the switch, although there are also calls by many parents and entrepreneurs for English to be maintained.

Thank goodness my brother and sister escape the horrors of reverting to BM and mother tongues for Science and Maths. They're just one year ahead of this epic reversal stunt pulled off by the Cabinet.

Let's look at something I find interesting:

The issue has seen a rare alliance between Malay and Chinese educationists, who are against the switch...

Do you really think that they are allied against the teaching of Science and Maths in English for the same reasons? I don't think so. The two groups may be allied in their stand, but one thing has been clear from the start: They each have their own agendas. As far as I understand [and this understanding may be biased or flawed], the Malays feel that the "superiority" of their language is being threatened by English. On the other hand, the Chinese educationists believe that the majority of Chinese students are not making much headway with Science and Maths taught in English. It's basically two different groups of people, with different reasons for uniting against a common problem. What they plan after that is another point entirely. Which worries me. Will another different group of people demand something else again later on? And how will the Cabinet decide this time round?

Conspiracy theories aside, all I can say regarding this piece of news is that the education system in Malaysia is just another step towards generating failures. "Malaysisa", one of the most common spelling mistakes for "Malaysia", might soon become fact rather than fiction, if we keep spewing out "sisa" like the person writing the letter in the post below this.

Malaysian English

Malaysia-Today
Why English should not be taught in Bahasa Malaysia
Posted by admin
Tuesday, 07 July 2009 15:20

There is currently a brouhaha going on about the proposed teaching of Science and Maths in English. Some would like these two subjects to be taught in Bahasa Malaysia. I am not too concerned about Science and Maths. I am more worried about English. I feel English should no longer be taught in Bahasa Malaysia.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

And why do I think that English should not be taught in Bahasa Malaysia? Well, maybe this circular from one of Malaysia’s leading universities would explain everything.
*************************************************

4th UiTM INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FIESTA
19 – 23 November 2009 FUTSAL-RUGBY 7- TENPIN BOWLING-BADMINTON

Dear Sport Friends,

Regarding about the global issue H1N1 happens around the world, sadly to be informing that our UiTM International Sports Fiesta will be postponing to 19-23 November 2009.

For all teams which have been confirm to participate in our events, we have to say sorry for this announcements and our Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Health also advise to us to change the date for this current situation.

By the date have been confirm incoming this November hopefully your teams still can participate in our event and don’t hesitate to contact us for further information.

And again, we would like to say sorry about the date change for the sake of our health among us.

See you in this November at UiTM Malaysia!!

Regards,

Mr. Mustaza Ahmad
Director
Sports Centre
Universiti Teknologi MARA
Malaysia

I have nothing more to say about this other than:

EPIC FAIL

Government monitoring blogs closely, says Rais

Tuesday July 7, 2009 MYT 7:27:00 PM
Government monitoring blogs closely says Rais

KUALA LUMPUR: Special units have been set up under both the Home, and the Information, Communications and Culture Ministries to monitor blogs and ensure that the content adheres to local laws.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, who is in charge of the communications portfolio, said both ministries would also exchange information between themselves to ensure maximum monitoring.

Besides monitoring, Dr Rais said his ministry also held meetings and dialogues with bloggers and website operators to inform them about government policies.

“We inform them about the various laws that they should be aware of when they blog, especially those relating to racial harmony and national security.

“We also remind them about the existence of legislation such as the Sedition Act, Defamation Act and Internal Security Act,” he said.

Earlier, he told both Shamsudin Mehat and Datuk Dr Yeow Chai Thiam that the Government would adopt an “open approach” towards the new media.

“The Government encourages people to use the internet to search for information and knowledge as this helps to increase the broadband usage in the country,” he said.

Dr Rais said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission also organised programmes to promote awareness on proper usage of internet, such as cyberspace security, publication of articles, interviews in electronic media and in advertisments.

To a question from Ahmad Hussin whether the Government intended to draw up a code of ethics for bloggers as they had the power either to unite or wreck society, Dr Rais said the Home Ministry would monitor the bloggers under the Printing and Publications Act.

“My ministry will monitor these blogs under the Communications and Multimedia Act,” he said.

Hmm. Seems like we kids won't be in much trouble over these sort of acts. But thinking about it, do we really need police in the Net? [I refer, of course, to the Net policing and monitoring Rais refers to.]

I don't think that all of us are that naive to assume that everything on the Net is true.

Do not trust Wikipedia 100%.
-Ray Dagastine-

Although you do have one or two mishaps, not all of us will believe that there is a Father somewhere in Malaysia attempting to convert Muslims. What more to stories of slaughter and bloodshed. For that, we need more than one reliable source to actually start thinking that something real has happened/is happening.
As for politics, I will not delve into that deeply, since that is beyond the normal, politically unconnected Malaysian. We can only speculate. We can't say anything. Anything we say is, really, hot air until it's confirmed by someone in the right areas.

Top Gear

MSN PMs are a good place to find interesting stuff. This evening I watched Jeremy, James and Hammond try to make better police cars. Now I'm watching them trash the Satria Neo and the Myvi. Check them out!

Just for fun

在这里住了快要五个月了，我不觉得这儿像洋人的地盘。假如你到市中心走一趟，你会看到一大把华人。
对某些人讲，这里就很像家乡，根本都不需要走很远就碰见同乡的人。

唉。太久没用华语了，虽然遇到大陆来的，他们跟我们大马来的多数就是用英文谈天。

Crysis: Warhead

Finished Crysis: Warhead last night. Verdict: No replayability value if you take the same route through the game.

I'm bored again. Crysis really takes a chunk out of my laptop, and I can't afford to run Crysis all the time. Better get out and go exploring again.

Books

It's hard to find a book that I really enjoy reading, since I filter books before actually buying/borrowing them.

Good plot? Check.
No cliched characters? Check.
Good thickness? Check.

If I get hold of books like that, I'll be happy. But even in a warehouse like the one in Collingwood, I still can't find much to interest me. Self help? Nah. Autobiographies/biographies? Not that the people featured are worth reading about. [eg. Katie Price]

Oh well. Looks like I should go exploring more places instead. Melbourne is so big, there's so many places to go. Hmm.

Solace in boredom

Quite the oxymoron in the title. But then again sometimes boredom brings more interesting things to light. Like the fun of playing DotA or Crysis Warhead.
Or the simple joy of exploring suburbs, finding the fascinating stuff to enjoy.
Ha. What some of us love, others miss out on.

May we kiss whom we please, and please whom we kiss.
-Toast-

The Star
Friday July 3, 2009
Some lost in both languages

IT is a known fact that our younger generation is weak in English and I am happy to know our Government is addressing this issue.

Sadly though, I have not heard anything about the level of proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia. Are we happy with the command of Bahasa Malaysia among our youths, especially the non-Malays?

We have used Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction for more than 30 years, and yet I can still find many who are below 30 years old who are weak in Bahasa Malaysia. Despite going through school and passing examinations, this group of people cannot converse in Bahasa Malaysia.

There are many local graduates who are neither proficient in Bahasa Malaysia nor English. They cannot speak, write or debate in both languages.

In short, for all its strength, our education system has created a portion of society who can neither speak our national language nor the international language i.e. English.

Why do we talk about mastering English to compete globally when we cannot even master our own national language?

RONIN TAY,

Kuala Lumpur.

Well said. Focus on one, lose the other. Focus on the other, lose the first one. Focus on both simultaneously, lose everything.

Wandering

Went to Chadstone today for the sake of stretching my legs. A lot of sales on now. Didn't buy clothes though. Managed to get hold of Crysis Warhead, so I'm going to be playing that first.

My mind wanders as much as my body does. In fact it goes further.

Drafts

It's unbelievably difficult to write up a simple letter nowadays. Introduction, body, ending. I hate it, since it gives the feel of an exam. Without the grades, of course.

Oh well, one simple remedy - procrastination.

"When I first saw you I thought you were some high school student."
"What..."
-random quote from yesterday-

Market research

Went to South Melbourne for some market research stuff. I can't believe that you can hide modern stuff inside an old furniture warehouse.

*recalls Old Engineering building*

Then again, maybe you can. But anyway, market research is always secret. I hate that sort of secrecy crap. "Sign here, and here, and swear not to tell anyone until this product hits the market."
Focus group was 5 Malaysians, 1 Singaporean, 1 German and 1 Canadian. Asian domination ftw. Other than that, I really can't say anything more. Mainly because someone in the group kept staring at me for the entire 2 hours.

Frank open stares are inviting.