When we cane, we have FAILED

PARENT WHO CARE: STOP THE CANING

Caning in schools is NOT RIGHT! Infact, CANING IS NOT RIGHT! It should be abolish if we can are serious about making schools learning and knowledge centers. It is a place where children learn or at least be provided the opportunity to learn. It is a platform for the young to be nurtured to be better people. By caning students, we have gone against our educational policy of "...developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonic....". How can you teach people as you beat them up? How will their self-esteem be after caning? How do other students see them? More importantly how will teachers see them?

Instead we are preparing children who are fearful, unthinking in an environment which is unforgiving and at times heartless. If we cane (and expel, practised today) what message are we telling our children? One message is clear is that: "It's the child's fault!" They cannot change, they have committed a mistake. Where did children their behavior from? From the moment they are born or from us adults? Are we conveying the message that we it is okay to hurt another person if they cannot change or do not agree with you - no fault of theirs?

Let us think about why we cane? Is it because nothing else works? Or is that we have given up trying and take the easy way out by pulling out the cane? Is is because teachers have no time, to counsel, talk and to the students and/or their parents? Counseling surely takes time - people cannot change overnight. Does school teachers/counselors have the time? Some teachers will say, the kids are rotten, bully and break every rule in the school. My message to the school authorities is: " In that case, just shoot them! It will save the country a lot of money and the police will surely not have to deal with it 10-20 years down the road".

I see it as a failure on the school (and to a great extent) the parents as well. As teachers and parents we have failed to listen when we decided to use the cane. Sure some will turn out good but most will not.

Most importantly, the message given to the younger children is that "violence is okay" - this is a scary thought.

In this aspect, schools have failed.

Schools need to find the solutions to the problem of the young, not pass it on to the future and lets others (police) handle it. As difficult as it may be, it has to be done. Stakeholders need to come together and work out the solutions. The Minister need to drive change and bring commitment to educate the children with that same fervent energy as he raises the kris (and defends it). It would be really refreshing if out Minister defend children - give them the due respect and recognition they deserve.

The path is difficult but can be done. if we put our minds and hearts to it and focus on our children. They do not deserve this at all.

Time to make a change.

Something for our minister to think about:
Kenya Outlaws Caning in School

More news on this topic in
Malaysiakini
New Straits Times

Detained children to be 'rehabilitated'???

For those who just woke-up, on November 10,2007 Malaysia witnessed its first major peaceful "demonstration"/march/walk (whatever it is called) to drive electoral reform. The event was organized by BERSIH (http://www.bersih.org)

I can understand what the police locked down the entire city on that and had to spray acid laced water and shoot tear gas at the people (not that I agree) but I CANNOT UNDERSTAND why the children (as young as 6) had to be detained and have their statement taken! Now these children will have to be rehabilitated. See Detained children to be 'rehabilitated'. Is this desperate or a stupid move? Who are are real people who needs to be detained (if they really need to)? The police have summoned the four key political leaders involved in the event for statements to be recorded - why the children?

For photos click here. For more information, click on BERSIH above or check this out for tons of links and photos.

FREE THE CHILDREN AND LEAVE THEM ALONE! GO CATCH THE BAD GUYS!

Mental Litercy in Schools?

Malaysian National News Agency :: BERNAMA

Do really need this or does somebody else need this more? Mental Literacy. Mental literacy is a pseudoscientific and popular psychological term coined by Tony Buzan. First thing that came to my mind was "Mind Map" - I think he made a lot of money selling this. Interesting, Hishamuddin had nothing to say, to busy waving this kris elsewhere?

I wonder when can we stop introducing piece-meal initiatives (aka half-baked) and start looking a the bigger picture and vision of our education system and process? Do our leaders have such a vision, any vision for the future of education?

A Breath of Fresh Air, but can there be real changes

Education articles usually catch my attention in the local papers. On the October 16th New Straits Times, it featured an interview with the Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom (Director General of the Ministry of Education) on the topic of cluster schools. For the still uninitiated the cluster schools was one of the main trust of Education Blueprint unveiled by our education minister. What caught my interest was not the the interview but a commentary by Professor Emeritus Datuk Khoo Kay Kim. Professor Khoo is a member of the Cluster of Excellence Advisory Board.





Chappell School is a World Language Magnet Cluster School located in the north side of Chicago


Several things he said caught my attention. First, the need to create creative and bilingual students, not students who follow rules. This is interesting as rules and its adherence has always be a pillar of schools today. Secondly, Professor Khoo stressed that schools must not operate in isolation, they must involve parents. Third, facilities are not important, its the teacher. He gave the example of Plato and Socrates produced some of the best students under a tree. It seems to be an acknowledgment that a "school" is not as important. It's the teacher and the learning process.

Perhaps it is time for a shift in paradigm and move away from schools. True creativity and thinking our of the box of our education system, not necessarily build bigger boxes.

When will we can break out from the walls schools?



Read the NST articles here and and Prof Khoo's piece here.

FREE BURMA

DEAR DPM........

It pains and hurts me to read the DPM say that "since the NS Training Programme was introduced in 2004, only 14 trainees had died and not 20 as reported by a local daily" (emphasis the author's). Read full story in Bernama here.

The extract of the story is produced below before Bernama decides to "update the content".


Meanwhile, he clarified that since the NS Training Programme was introduced in 2004, only 14 trainees had died and not 20 as reported by a local daily.

Of the 14, six deaths were due to illnesses suffered by the trainees themselves such as heart disease, asthma and liver infection. Meanwhile, he said four deaths occurred during training, two died as a result of accidents, one trainee died while on vacation and one died three days after the completion of training. Of the remaining two cases, one drowned while on holiday and the latest case at the Cheneh Cemerlang Camp in Kemaman was being investigated, he said.

"ONLY 14"???????? - How cold and heartless can you be dear DPM?!!!??? Not only are you heartless, your statement implies that the NS is not responsible for the death!

How more many more death will it take for you to know that parents celebrate and jump with joy when they realize their children do not picked for national service?

How many more death will it be enough to for you realize that each one of these persons were somebody's child - a Malaysia and that the suffer greatly?

How many more death will it take to realize that we you, as DPM need to stand up and take the courage to STOP the national service program and make radical changes, report the changes publicly and make the process transparent to the us the Rakyat.

How many more death will it take for you to know that most people have LOST confidence in the National Service program?

Will you just issue another statement the next day to say you were misquoted or the press reported out of context?

I dedicate this song to you, "Blowing in the Wind" by Bob Dylan. The most relevent lines are:

Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

May you continue to hear this in your all your dreams and quiet times in the day, everyday. We will pray you realize that 14 death is ENOUGH!

I am upset.

ANOTHER NATIONAL SEARVICE DEATH

This time its Mohd Rafi Ameer, 18. Died after suffering from fever and having a fall. It seems that the NS camp took too long to send the him to the hospital. It was alleged that his aunt was denied access to see him or take him to the hospital.

Bob Dylan asked:
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Here in Malaysia, it seems that it not blowing in the wind, its blowing in HOT AIR!

National Service (NS) Training Department Director-General Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil:
"We're waiting for the outcome of the post-mortem for the cause of death,"
" A committee headed by the deputy Training Operations Sector director-general, Jamaluddin Masrin, would be set up to investigate the case including the complaint.."
[Bernama]

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak:
"an inquiry into the incident would be thorough and any responsible party found to have been negligent would be punished
[NST]

Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye is STILL the Chairman of NS Program. No action, no responsibility, not bothered. Refuse to take resign or take any responsibility. This time no pictures in the the local press of him crying and sobbing, maybe waiting for the next death?

Perhaps Tan Sri might like to look at this post by TECheah in the Malaysian Medical Resource site for some answers.

If you missed those whole news while busy celebrating out Merdeka Celebration, check out the following news and blog sites:
Bernama
New Straits Times
e-sinchew-i.com
The Star
3540 Jalan Sudin
Rocky' Bru
English Section.com

A Breath of Fresh Air.....MERDEKA is meaningful again.

It was heartening to know that there is yet hope for our country. It was refreshing to hear what Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said in his recent speech in a public lecture to inaugurate the Khazanah National Development Seminar in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 2, 2007.


Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin

In a time when I turned the pages of our local press it was for laughthers (or cry) depending how we want to react to sometimes nonsensical statements by our local politicians (note: NOT leaders) who pretend to be leaders. The lack the depth and maturity to go beyond the murky waters of politics and shine in the sunlight of statesmanship is sometimes too obvious. Just watch the going-ons in our Parliment and you will understand. If the Parliment is a place from which key policies are debated and changes are initiated, think again. I posted something here, click on it to have your laughs.

This year is our 50th anniversary of our nation's independence. Unfortunately, it is also this year that I wondered what the roles of the courts is to dispense justice or to please people. It is also thsi year that the entire Malaysian Cabinet decided took notice and punished a young man from Muar - for singing the Negara Ku in his own style (and much more), and more more stories. Raja Dr Nazrin Shah's speech on Sept 2 is indeed a breath of fresh air.

If you missed it, its here in The Sun. The full text can be downloaded here.

There's hope, let's cherish it!

Happy 50th MERDEKA Malaysia!

MERDEKA!

FINALLY! I am free from the MERDEKA programs, MERDEKA news and MERDEKA postings about what MERDEKA should and shouldn't be, MERDEKA messages, MERDEKA advertisements and MERDEKA whatever (7 times, right?) to focus and reflect on what i think the meaning of MERDEKA.



It is also time to look around, acknowledge that we are all different in many ways, and to give that respect and space to others who may not be like us. Even better, learn from them. I will try my best to be more tolerant and understanding with the hope that our society will be a happy one for ourselves, our children and future generations. Let's not argue about or fight abotu what state Malaysia is, and focus on building a peaceful and harmonious state.

Let's all look at out 50th Merdeka not to our past alone but make it a gift to our future generation!

Salam MERDEKA my friends and may we all be well and happy!

SHUT UP? NO WAY! HELPS ON THE WAY!

I must congratulate the Malaysian Cabinet. Yes the Cabinet who has taken valuable time away from pressing matters such as the state of sports in the country, the worst bus accident in Malaysian history, the failure of PKFZ and other minor things such as the rate crime in our country and the economy - just to help this creative student promote his music to the world!

How many world leaders and their Ministers really take the time to help creative local musicians onto the world stage, providing wide publicity to his works. A chap from Muar by the name of Namawee has been given this privillage - a privillage even stars like Siti Nurhaliza and Jac Victor did not get. Namawee now is world famous, his hit single now has exceeded over 1,000,000 hits (not counting the other sites hosting his song) and I can say probably many times more. I think there is not a single office in Malaysia that has not heard or circulated the URL to his hit single, Negarakuku. In the real world, it would have been a record - a platinum hit in days!

The Malaysian Cabinet Ministers deep understanding and appreciation of the internet technology has definitely helped in this effort. In singing praises to the Cabinet, we should not forget the local mass media for their kind generosity and magnanimity. I do not think Namawee spent a single sen on advertising to drive traffic to his song and his blogsite. Very rarely do we get this level of generosity from the press. I tried to get a discount to advertise a not-for-profit event some time back and of course, I did not get it. The wonderful thing is that ALL the local papers came together to give unprecedented mileage to this wonderful young man. The latest I have heard is the legal fraternity is jumping to do his bit starting to make this young man famous. Leading this initiative is the Attorney General himself! Great work!

All it takes now is for Namawee to go take the world by storm and make Malaysia proud. Go get a recording contract or start to sell you songs online via i-Tunes. You should not waste the efforts of our Nation's leader to working so hard to see you successful.

If you have just woken and missed the entire episode, here's the hit single below.



I personally like this on, Kawanku

Happy Birthday Malaysia!

SHUT UP!

Malaysiakini reported that The Internal Security Ministry has confirmed that they have given a directive to all mainstream media not to publish any news on the issue of Malaysia being an Islamic state.

The reason given was that it's sensitive and can cause tension. When are we going to grow-up as a nation? We will be celebrating 50 years of Independence as we are still being treated worse than kids. Imagine being to told to "shut up" every time you want to say something.

In parenting programs, psychologists and educationists expounds that parents and teachers allow children to speak their minds and express themselves. When they do that, we adults can understand the problems the kids face and address them accordingly. We are taught to LISTEN and to communicate - basic respect for our children. If our leaders do not have the wisdom to understand and appreciate this, how can we deal with bigger things, how can demonstrate leadership in the international arena. Forget the Nobel Prizes, go play "gasing" in space, make the world's first inter-galactic "roti canai", keep making and breaking ridiculous like the biggest dinner, the longest coin line. We are fifty years as an independent nation, on our social maturity level, in reality, we have regressed to the time before independence.

As long as we have blogs, keep the discussion going. Keep talking about it!

I wonder when the Internal Security Ministry will issue directives to ban the internet followed by kopi-tiams, and later ban the gathering of two or more persons. It we keep this up, it may not be long before we get a directive not to talk. There might come a time this directive will come - "DO NOT THINK".

This is our country, we are 50 this year.

What's the Role of Courts?

Picked this up in the NST on Saturday. Just wondering if the role if the Courts to dispense justice or to "appease everyone". This was quoted by Ahmad Jailani, Lawyer to Siti Fatimah who seek to renounce Islam. Instead she was asked by the courts to undergo counselling and "learn more about Islam". Read more about it here The New Straits Times Online.

I am confused: Am I living in an Islamic state?

These were the words of our Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak

‘Malaysia is an Islamic state and not a secular one’
‘Islam is the official religion and we are an Islamic state’
‘We have never been secular…’

I am confused?

I have read about the Reid Commission responsible for drafting the Constitution and how we were taught taught in school about the equality and human rights and that we were (at least until last week) not an Islamic state.

Our first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman said on the occasion of his 80th birthday as reported by the Star in February, 1983.:

‘The country has a multi-racial population with various beliefs. Malaysia must continue as a secular State with Islam as the official religion’.

Tunku was not alone.

This how the report in the Star reads :

‘Former Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn has supported Tunku Abdul Rahman’s view that Malaysia should not be turned into an islamic state…”The nation can still be functional as a secular state with Islam as the offical religion,” he said’

[Source: The People's Parliament]

Looking at Islamic states today in the other parts of the world, not only am I confused, I am also afraid. Afraid of what the future would be here. I am not surprised when many if my friends tells me they are either in the process of emigrating, planning to emigrate , thinking of it and for those who are not so well-off, dreaming about it. Anyone not in any of the above state of mind - raise your hands! Wonder how many hands we will see.

How do you feel? Confused as I am?

Perhaps if we all read and learn about our Constitution, we will be less confused. Not sure if our politicians ever read them - I doubt it. You might want to read it and send a copy to them for them to read.

I think you can purchase it from the Malaysian Law Journal or some of the following sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Malaysia
http://confinder.richmond.edu/admin/docs/malaysia.pdf
http://www.pogar.org/publications/other/constitutions/malaysia-e.pdf
http://www.gov.my/MyGov/BI/Directory/Citizen/LegalMatters/Constitution/**
http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/our_malaysia/government/constitution.cfm**
**Cannot find the Constitution proper, let me know if you can find it

More readings at The Malaysian Bar Council

Rebirth of Malaysian Soccer?

I thought I could be a little positive (or as positive as I can be) relating to this issue. I guess the last straw is the current Asian Cup tournament - it so painful to watch our Malaysian team play like school kids. It's also really depressing as well. Much has been said in the local media already.
Perhaps I would like to say this to the President, " I do not think you are a coward, just not competent" - please resign and have professionals run FAM"

I look forward to the day I could take my children to the soccer stadium, experience the sights and sounds - of course watch great matches by our national team. Alas, I guess I may not see it again this life time but I hope my children will. FAM have buried the glory past and when the President said that he will not step down - the last rites to Malaysian soccer. As of to day our ranking slipped another 5 points to 154. So, to the people and FAM: "Just Leave!"

An observation though, the interesting thing about this whole episode is how the press, particularly the NST went after the FAM, seeking the justice people demand. This is indeed a rare occasion, it would really be good if the NST couple tackle corruption with this same determination of even hit on our education systems to drive changes. But when I browsed the NST today - the same meekly news (if some can be called "news") showed up. Sigh.