Stress

Haven't felt like updating much now. Exam stress is upon me again. Why does the State Library close so early on Fridays, 3 hours earlier than usual? At least that's a place where I can study, unlike at home, where all I do is switch on my laptop and start playing and chatting.

Better yet, I just realised that my Creative Writing final assignment is 300 words short of the 1500 word count. Gotta do that up then. So I've got to switch gears, summon my artistic side in to do that job for me.

EPIC PHAIL of the Malaysian education system

The Star, Malaysia
Thursday June 4, 2009
Why 10 subjects is enough for SPM

KUALA LUMPUR: There are many positive reasons to limit the number of SPM subjects to 10, including the fact that it could overcome the shortage of teachers, Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

He said statistics showed that almost 90% of students took 10 subjects anyway.

“It all comes down to how we want to manage our education system so that we can produce students who are capable and not only in exams,” he told a press conference yesterday.

Asked whether opposition to the idea would lead to the proposal being shelved, he said:

“There are many who agree and they come from the education system.”

Muhyiddin said by limiting the subjects, the students could focus on core subjects as well as participate in other activities that would open up their minds.

“Apart from this, it can help teachers. With the reduced number of subjects, their energy can be focused on core subjects and the shortage of manpower could be somewhat overcome.”

Muhyiddin said that students also pursued more subjects just to add a few more As to their score.

“There are 111 electives, and some of these are not taught in school but require tuition outside of school. This means only those who can afford the tuition will benefit,” he said.

Producing students who are capable, not only in exams is a dream. As long as you retain the current ailing and failing syllabus, you won't be getting anywhere near achieving that dream of yours.

And what the hell are core subjects anyway? Look at the stuff we get fed in Malay. Your literature has a long history of being good, yes I agree with that. But it doesn't encourage lateral thinking.

"Patutkah Hang Jebat menderhaka terhadap Sultan Melaka?"

When the day comes when we students can say "Patut, seratus peratus patut!" to that question, then only will I say there is an improvement in anything you suggest.

And when you look subjectively at Moral Ed, think. Just think. And I'll prove that you will fail, Muhyiddin. You will bloody well fail if we asked you to take the Moral Ed exam for SPM. Civics is another subject which has practically nil value. How in the world are you supposed to teach patriotism and civic duty when the newspaper is full of stories of corruption and lawlessness? Don't think that students nowadays are so into games and studies that they neglect to look at current affairs. How are you supposed to teach good values when there are so many out there who don't practise what they preach?

And what sort of "other activities" will help to open up their minds? I will not be shocked or surprised to know that 90% of your students have parents who invest in piano education for their children. I have yet to see adequate proof that playing music is good for the mind. Sure, I have close friends who play the piano and consistently get good grades in exams and such. But there are those who don't play any music instruments and still get better grades. And talking about open minds, what counts? Does participating in political rallies count as "open minds"? Does participating in F1 research count? Does being national champion for Under-18 golf tourneys count? Does emerging as the runners-up in SEA DotA championship count?

Gah. And to think that I came from this sort of education system. I'm only lucky that I read outside of the syllabus for enjoyment, or life would be a constant torment.

Engineering

We are the slackers united. How is it possible that compared to the psych students, the commerce and the science students, we seem to have so much time on our hands before exam time? And we thought we were stressed. I have my doubts about uni now. Who actually judges whether a course is difficult or easy? Students or public opinion?

Oh well. Maybe I should enjoy while it lasts.

SAM results out

I still hate TM dial up for denying me fast news. Press one button, and it takes the page a minute to load. So it took me half an hour just to find my results on the SACE page. Bloody hell.

Anyway, ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is pure heaven. I got a TER of 99.65. It simply means that I got a result above 99.65% of students sitting for SAM finals '08. Being in the top .35% isn't too much special. You can't differentiate these students on the road if you meet them.
At least I got an A for English, which is better than my trial result.

Oh well, now I've secured a place to university. Now to cure my DotA problem. This Sunday's gathering won't help it too much. Never mind that then.

perpetually slacking

What do you do when the exams are only 5 days away and nothing much has been done?

Simple: do more studying. But what if there IS nothing else to study? What if there IS nothing more to do?

Even simpler: slack.

So that's what I seem to be doing now. LOLOLOLLOL.

Except that I am busy. Tomorrow I need to teach maths. The day after is majlis perpisahan at Catholic High, so I shall go to see and take part in the "merriment". Then after that I have an appointment to visit Matthew for a study trip to his house. Technically, this is NOT slacking.

But I seem to be doing nothing much at home either. Either I am DotA-ing, or else RO-ing, or else doing physics past year, or else spec maths past year, or else... nothing else.

I'm just bored. Every time a major exam draws near, I find that I get too bored too easily.




How damn sad. Someone help me from this chasm of depression please.

Can't wait for November 21st. At least it will be sweet release, pure heaven.

On the M'sian education system

I was reading the morning papers when I came across this report on Moral. So, here are my views on the report.

#1. Moral is not a useless subject. Right now the debate is about Moral exams and the painfully rigid marking scheme. I, for one, suggest that the marking scheme be revised completely. Stifling creativity is one thing our education system is famous for. And secondly, the exam style HAS to be revamped. I mean, you can't ask subjective [personal view] questions in an objective [syllabus based] exam. Marks won't be awarded based on the creativity of the answer, rather marks will be awarded based on the accuracy of the answer in relation to the syllabus. Thus the familiar words come to echo and haunt us: Correct answer, but not in the syllabus.

#2. Who ever heard of memorising values to prove your moral worth to society? I agree with one of the students interviewed in the report. Quote [slightly paraphrased]: Some of my friends who are better behaved didn't do as well as me in the Moral exam. The major problem with the Moral exams is that again, subjective questions are expected to be answered with objective answers.

#3. Datuk, please be sure that your facts are accurate. It is comforting to know that students are only required to know keywords. But what happened between the top and the markers at the bottom? Has the message been altered in transmission? Because I clearly remember my Moral teacher reminding us to memorise value definitions word for word.

There is no substitute for Moral as a subject, only a substitute in the teaching of the subject and the exam system for the subject.

While on the topic of education still, I think History is another subject with the same problems as Moral, namely the problem of asking subjective questions and expecting objective answers in return. For example:

Question: Imagine you are a sultan of a 18th century Malay state. Your kingdom is about to be colonised by the British. What will you do?
My answer: Let them come in and take over, then learn from them, then throw them out eventually.
Correct textbook answer: Use force of weapons to repulse the British.

So, this tells us that martyrdom is a way of life of the Malays. Referring to the textbooks again, every Malay state under British rule has had its fair share of rebels. All of them died in the end. So, martyrdom IS the way of life of the Malays. How bloody sad, that we have martyrs as our role models. No wonder most of us look to Anwar or RPK to free us, rather than stick with the ruling coalition of BN.

4 days plus to trials

God save us all. We all hate massive exams, don't we? It's always a gentle reminder from our teachers that its time to kill ourselves.
No more late nights online chatting, only late nights with coffee and our notes.
No more staying back to fool around with friends, only staying back to study with friends.
No more free time, only study time.
No more slacking, only studying.
No more sleeping, only reading.

I hate exams, they totally destroy any plans you've made.