The Annual Heartbreak Season

And so it begins. The yearly ritual of top students getting rejected. I have written about this here before. Kian Ming’s very well thought through suggestions on how the system needs to be overhauled seems to be a way out of this terrible situation. Also, I think Kian Ming is right – the government should stop dishing out these overseas scholarships to SPM holders but only offer them when the candidates have gained admission to a top university abroad.

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She scores 12 A1s but gets 0 scholarship

SHE has a stellar academic record, and is among the top in her cohort in the most recent Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) national exam.

SPM is equivalent to O levels.

But 17-year-old Cai Bao Yuan, who scored an impressive 12 A1s in the national exams, will not fulfil her dream of studying overseas on a Public Service Department (PSD) scholarship, Sin Chew Daily reported.

Bao Yuan, who is from Pahang, wrote to the press after she found out her scholarship application had been rejected.

Mara makes offer to student who scored 20As in SPM

It’s always nice to read a story of a student from a humble background made good. But this story is troubling on a couple of levels. Why is the Minister Noh Omar by passing the formalities of the interview and the form filling? Why do the rules apply to some and not to others? Also, what is the rush of sending this student to the UK to do her A-levels? It might be better for her to do her A-levels in Malaysia as she might suffer a culture shock in the UK. Of course, we remember the disparity in treatment between this case and the case of the late Chiang Ti-Ming who received no help from the governement whatsoever.

Be that as it may, I wish Nik Nur all the best in her studies.

Monday March 16, 2009
Mara makes offer to student who scored 20As in SPM

KUALA LUMPUR: Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) has offered the nation’s top SPM scorer Nik Nur Madihah Nik Mohd Kamal a convertible loan for her to pursue her studies overseas.

Nik Nur Madihah, who scored 19 1As and one 2A, will be sent to do her A-Levels in Britain if she accepts the offer.

STPM and SPM 2009

Congrats to all who did well in STPM and SPM. You might want to check out my previous writings here, here, here and here.

Remember not to let the deadlines slip if you are thinking of applying to Singaporean universities.
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Hard work pays off
SMK METHODIST ACS, Ipoh, students N. Jothiswaran and Loh Kah Yee were a bundle of nerves before they stepped forward to receive their STPM result slips from their teachers earlier this week.

But after a quick look at the slips, their anxieties vanished and they started smiling from ear to ear.

Jothiswaran had scored five As, and Loh, four. They were among nine candidates from the school who achieved a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.0 each.

Mercedez Benz

Mercedez Benz

Janis Joplin

oh lord, won’t you buy me a mercedez benz
my friends all drive porches
I must make amends
worked hard all my lifetime,
no help from my friends
oh lord, won’t you buy me a mercedez benz

oh lord, won’t you buy me a color t.v.
dialing for dollars is trying to find me
I’ll wait for delivery
each day untill three
oh lord, won’t you by a color t.v.

oh lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town
i’m counting on you lord,
please don’t let me down
prove that you love me, and buy the next round
oh lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town

oh lord, won’t you buy me a mercedez benz
my friends all drive porches
I must make amends
worked hard all my lifetime,
no help from my friends
oh lord, won’t you by me a mercedez benz

We can be truly global if we do it all in English

Some eminently sensible words from a young man. Proof that wisdom is not monopoly of the old.
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We can be truly global if we do it all in English

I AM a second-year medical student studying in Universiti Malaya. During my secondary school years, Science and Maths were taught in Malay. Upon entering local matriculation, the two subjects were taught in English and many of us had problems adjusting to the language. Some lecturers had problems teaching in English too.

Pact to link funding with projects

Instead of designating an apex university, Malaysia could have gone the Australian way of linking funding to specific research projects and centres of excellence. That means universities would have to compete for funding by proving that they have a worthwhile project or a track record of research excellence. There is nothing like competion to raise standards.

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COMPACT agreements between the Commonwealth government and universities that link funding to specific missions will be introduced as part of the Government’s shake up of higher education, research minister Kim Carr said today.

Wrong Partnership for UM

This comment is a little late in coming. But this arrangement with Unisim is, in my view, the wrong kind of partnership for University Malaya. With respect to the staff and students at Unisim, the fact is that Unisim is not a research university like NUS, NTU and SMU. It is not a very strategic move for UM, the premier research university in Malaysia, to be collaborating with Unisim. Perhaps, in future University of Malaya will try to form meaningful research collaborations with NUS, NTU or SMU.

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Sunday February 8, 2009
Pact signed

Dr Ghauth (third from left) exchanging documents with Prof Cheong. Also present are (from left) UM’s Dr Mohamad Mokhtar Abu Hassan, Deputy Director, Academy of Malay Studies, Prof Dr Azirah Hashim, Dean, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, and UniSim’s Provost Prof Tsu Kai Chong and Registrar Assoc Prof Yip Woon Kong.

UNIVERSITI Malaya (UM) has agreed to collaborate in advisory and training services with the Singapore Institute of Management University (UniSIM) for the latter’s Bachelor degree in Malay Language and Literature.

Loans for varsity staff

This is frankly bizarre. Tell me again why is USM offering micro-credit? I thought USM is a university not a bank! And this scheme is not an incubator scheme which is found in some universities. This is a complete waste of tax payers’ money. The VC has some explaining to do. Perhaps, Malaysiakini can chase down this story.

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Loans for varsity staff

2009/02/05

GEORGE TOWN: Universiti Sains Malaysia has become the first public university in the country to offer interest-free loans to its clerical staff. With a repayment period of two years, a total of RM37,500 was given out to 10 USM employees recently to upgrade their small businesses.

USM vice-chancellor Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak said the USM micro credit project is important to assist enterprising staff in view of the economic downturn.

“It is our duty to fulfil the financial needs of the USM employees during these challenging economic times,” Dzulkifli said after handing over the loans to the first group of recipients.

UM Launches Alumni Chapter In Singapore

Some good news to report for once. VC Jasmon seems to be making the right moves with regard to connecting with the alumni. I have written before on how important it is to re-connect with the alumni before here. I wonder whether my musings on this modest blog had some influence on this latest move by University of Malaya. Or am I being too big headed?

In any case, well done University of Malaya! Contributions in Singapore dollars by UM alumni will surely go long way in Malaysia.

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February 28, 2009 19:36 PM

UM Launches Alumni Chapter In Singapore

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, Feb 28 (Bernama) — University of Malaya (UM) today launched an alumni chapter for its graduates residing in Singapore, the first one to be set up outside Malaysia.

The chapter was launched by UM’s Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Ghauth Jasmon at Shaw Foundation Alumni House at the National University of Singapore (NUS) here.

VC chosen based solely on race

From Malaysiakini. If I am not mistaken, all the Vice Chancellors in Malaysia are Malay. I guess the answer to Prof Ramasamy’s question is pretty obvious.

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‘VC chosen based solely on race’
Rahmah Ghazali | Mar 2, 09 12:45pm
P Ramasamy (DAP-Batu Kawan) questioned the process of appointing vice-chancellors of public universities, asking if candidates are considered only from among bumiputeras.
MCPX
Deputy Higher Education Minister Hou Kok Chung denied this, however, saying that a search committee appoints the vice-chancellor “based on qualifications and experiences rather than race”.