Assalammualaikum. =)
I had a terribly bad dream last night.
I can barely sleep, I had this "vision" and "feelings" where almost everything I studied was flashing, passing through my mind. It was almost as if I'm doing a full-blast revision in a night but, while sleeping. And I was very exhausted when I woke up, in fact I didn't feel like waking up. And I don't remember a single thing that "flashed through" my mind during my sleep. I'm pretty sure a lot of drug names came out.
I also had this weird dream of my friends while we're in KKB. Something REAL BAD happened to some of us, there were tears and tense, and I don't feel like writing about it.
I revised even during driving, with my notes on the front passenger seat, I was able to read it during the jam. Yeah, pathetic and dangerous, I know. =D
But once I reached IMU, somehow I felt better, although I walked into the hall feeling like I know nothing.
It's funny that we always feel like we do not know anything. It's like everything is just so blurr. But when the question papers in our hands, and the questions read, we know the answers (though not to all questions). I smiled to myself during the first two questions of EMQ (Extended Matching Q), I've just revised the drug names yesterday so they are still fresh in my mind. And when it came to the 3rd Q, I almost wanted to squeak. The theme was: "Blood Transfusion Reaction", and I studied NOTHING on that. I didn't even open the notes and flip through it. And that's how I totally, randomly "guess" the answers, and it cost me 25% of the whole paper.
Anyway, I don't think I wanna write much now. Just finished revising some anatomy and went through pathology pictures. I need sleep more than anything else now.
-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com
Monday 28th June 2010
11.57pm
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
In Dire Need of Liberation
Assalammualaikum.
1. I have about 13 books; fictions and non fictions to be read in the next one month. Hope I can finish them all.
2. I've been planning what to write in this post for a few days but when it's the time to write it out (which is now), I am blank.
3. I can't wait for 1st July, 2.30pm.
4. I have a lot of things to do for this one month, really I prepared a long list already.
5. My first project will be on this Saturday, July 3rd, just 2 days after my liberation.
6. I can't wait to go to a far far away place.
7. I've just finishedreading revising Pharmacology, and so all the drug names are jumbled up in my head now. Clopidogrel, lovastatin, digoxin, sotalol, aspirin...and the list goes on.
8. Everytime I read out a drug name, I remembered just how Prof Achike pronounced it in lectures, "PHE-NOX-Y-BEN-ZA-MINE" , "PHEN-TO-LA-MINE". His style of talking is just, unique.
9. I'll be sitting in the exam hall, trying to get all the facts out of my brain onto the papers in less than 12 hours from now (and I'm wondering why am I still writing this).
10. I think I rant a lot in this post, I've written a lot of posts on my exam eves. And I think most of them talked about my plans for the holiday. *I'm lazy to link all the posts here. Heh, sorry..*
11. I need to score in this exam because this exam will influence the country JPA will send me to.
12. I'm lucky because I'm staying at home and thus exempted from doing my own cooking, laundry and house-keeping. I wonder how my life will be when I leave home. p/s: My mum's very worried about that but I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. =p
13. One thing with staying and studying at home, I am not influenced, stressed or freaked out by how other friends are studying. If I am in a hostel with friends, I might be more tensed up, seeing other people burying their noses into lecture notes.
14. I am using a different font for this post, if you notice (which I bet you don't). So if you are not chasing for time, feel free to scroll down and compare the font I used for the post before this with this post.
15. I wonder how will my life change as semester 4 starts this August (provided I pass this exam). My life seemed to change abruptly every new semester, and by the end of the semester, things will change again.
16. I am pretty confident I will pass this EOS3, only the grade will make the difference. But hey, JUST ANYTHING can happen. Should I fail this exam, and have to re-sit (God forbid), I'll be ...................................
17. I readalmost everything in the syllabus but it's totally impossible to put EVERY SINGLE THING into my brain. And it's also impossible for IMU to ask EVERY SINGLE THING taught in lecture. Thus, it looked like it's balanced. I can remember 50% of what's been taught, and they'll ask only 70%(?) of what's been taught, and the passing mark is a little more than 50%. Means, very high possibility that I'll pass. But what if, what if the questions asked are from the 50% which I don't remember?
18. I haven't been logging into facebook lately, which is very good. In fact, I think I rarely log into fb this semester, compared to last semesters. And I think I know why; fb is just not as interesting as it was. So, to my friends who tagged @ commented @ posted @ just anything me on my wall, sorry for not replying to it. =p
19. This post have been edited many many times already. And I really am spending a lot of time on this. *sigh*
20. I sincerely hope and wish the best for all my friends sitting for the exam tomorrow. May Allah bless our hearts and minds tomorrow. =)
-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com
Sunday 27th June 2010
10.52pm
1. I have about 13 books; fictions and non fictions to be read in the next one month. Hope I can finish them all.
2. I've been planning what to write in this post for a few days but when it's the time to write it out (which is now), I am blank.
3. I can't wait for 1st July, 2.30pm.
4. I have a lot of things to do for this one month, really I prepared a long list already.
5. My first project will be on this Saturday, July 3rd, just 2 days after my liberation.
6. I can't wait to go to a far far away place.
7. I've just finished
8. Everytime I read out a drug name, I remembered just how Prof Achike pronounced it in lectures, "PHE-NOX-Y-BEN-ZA-MINE" , "PHEN-TO-LA-MINE". His style of talking is just, unique.
9. I'll be sitting in the exam hall, trying to get all the facts out of my brain onto the papers in less than 12 hours from now (and I'm wondering why am I still writing this).
10. I think I rant a lot in this post, I've written a lot of posts on my exam eves. And I think most of them talked about my plans for the holiday. *I'm lazy to link all the posts here. Heh, sorry..*
11. I need to score in this exam because this exam will influence the country JPA will send me to.
12. I'm lucky because I'm staying at home and thus exempted from doing my own cooking, laundry and house-keeping. I wonder how my life will be when I leave home. p/s: My mum's very worried about that but I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. =p
13. One thing with staying and studying at home, I am not influenced, stressed or freaked out by how other friends are studying. If I am in a hostel with friends, I might be more tensed up, seeing other people burying their noses into lecture notes.
14. I am using a different font for this post, if you notice (which I bet you don't). So if you are not chasing for time, feel free to scroll down and compare the font I used for the post before this with this post.
15. I wonder how will my life change as semester 4 starts this August (provided I pass this exam). My life seemed to change abruptly every new semester, and by the end of the semester, things will change again.
16. I am pretty confident I will pass this EOS3, only the grade will make the difference. But hey, JUST ANYTHING can happen. Should I fail this exam, and have to re-sit (God forbid), I'll be ...................................
17. I read
18. I haven't been logging into facebook lately, which is very good. In fact, I think I rarely log into fb this semester, compared to last semesters. And I think I know why; fb is just not as interesting as it was. So, to my friends who tagged @ commented @ posted @ just anything me on my wall, sorry for not replying to it. =p
19. This post have been edited many many times already. And I really am spending a lot of time on this. *sigh*
20. I sincerely hope and wish the best for all my friends sitting for the exam tomorrow. May Allah bless our hearts and minds tomorrow. =)
-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com
Sunday 27th June 2010
10.52pm
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Story 1: Rabbit
Ahmad has a rabbit. He kept the rabbit in a cage placed in the small garden behind his house. He likes to play with the rabbit, sometimes he will take the rabbit and put it on his study table while he reads. Sometimes he will sleep with the rabbit.
One day, Ahmad got too busy with his life. The rabbit was at first confused because Ahmad rarely play with it anymore and it has been for few days. Thus the rabbit will come and play on Ahmad's feet until Ahmad kicks it off. Then only the rabbit knows that Ahmad is busy thus he shall not be disturbed.
When the "busy times" come, the rabbit will play on its own. And the "busy times" seemed never-ending. Rabbit learns how to go out of the garden, and play near the small river behind the garden. But Rabbit will always come back to its cage late in the evening, and Ahmad knows that well. Sometimes though, the rabbit does not come back to its cage, for 2 or 3 nights. But one thing for sure, the rabbit will come back to the cage sooner or later. Nobody knows what it did out there nor where does it sleep. Sometimes Ahmad will come and find the rabbit to feed it and play with it for a while, then he'll get back doing what he was doing.
Whenever Ahmad's friends visited the house, and if Rabbit is there, Ahmad will tie two of it's legs and make the rabbit hop around using 3 legs. And all Ahmad's friend will laugh looking at the entertainment. Most of the time it hurts Rabbit but Rabbit heals very fast. Maybe it's because of the food that Ahmad's mother gave to Rabbit whenever he forgot to feed Rabbit.
Deep in his heart, Ahmad knows that Rabbit will always be okay. Because he knows Rabbit has good genes. It's a well bred species of rabbit. And he knows that like dogs, Rabbit will never leave him. And so he rarely worries when Rabbit is not in its cage for few days.
Because Rabbit always come back.
That night, Rabbit went missing again.
Ahmad knows in few days time, he'll see Rabbit playing happily in the garden.
But he was disappointed, because Rabbit wasn't there.
He decided to continue with his activities, hoping that he will have time to play with Rabbit again.
One week later, Rabbit is still not back.
TWO WEEKS LATER......................................
ONE MONTH LATER.................................
THREE MONTHS LATER..........................................
It has been the fourth months, and Ahmad still has not found Rabbit.
No one knows what happened to Rabbit.
Could it be that the dog next door ate it?
Or could it be that Rabbit fell into the river?
Or maybe Rabbit lost its way?
Or maybe, Rabbit found another owner who played with Rabbit more often and never forget to feed it?
Ahmad regretted that he did not take care of Rabbit before this. And he blamed himself for that.
After six months, suddenly Ahmad saw another rabbit in the cage.
But that rabbit wasn't Ahmad's Rabbit. It's a different one.
So Ahmad decided to ignore it, because that rabbit might just leave the cage after a few days.
But, the rabbit kept coming back to the cage everyday even though no one fed it nor play with it.
And it has been going on for more than a month now.
One day, Ahmad decided to play with the rabbit, and he realised just how much he missed his Rabbit.
And he is happy that this new rabbit came to the cage.
Will Ahmad be able to take care of this rabbit better than how he took care of Rabbit?
Will he repeat the same mistake?
Theme of the story: Taking Things for Granted
-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com
Sunday 20th June 2010
7.28pm
One day, Ahmad got too busy with his life. The rabbit was at first confused because Ahmad rarely play with it anymore and it has been for few days. Thus the rabbit will come and play on Ahmad's feet until Ahmad kicks it off. Then only the rabbit knows that Ahmad is busy thus he shall not be disturbed.
When the "busy times" come, the rabbit will play on its own. And the "busy times" seemed never-ending. Rabbit learns how to go out of the garden, and play near the small river behind the garden. But Rabbit will always come back to its cage late in the evening, and Ahmad knows that well. Sometimes though, the rabbit does not come back to its cage, for 2 or 3 nights. But one thing for sure, the rabbit will come back to the cage sooner or later. Nobody knows what it did out there nor where does it sleep. Sometimes Ahmad will come and find the rabbit to feed it and play with it for a while, then he'll get back doing what he was doing.
Whenever Ahmad's friends visited the house, and if Rabbit is there, Ahmad will tie two of it's legs and make the rabbit hop around using 3 legs. And all Ahmad's friend will laugh looking at the entertainment. Most of the time it hurts Rabbit but Rabbit heals very fast. Maybe it's because of the food that Ahmad's mother gave to Rabbit whenever he forgot to feed Rabbit.
Deep in his heart, Ahmad knows that Rabbit will always be okay. Because he knows Rabbit has good genes. It's a well bred species of rabbit. And he knows that like dogs, Rabbit will never leave him. And so he rarely worries when Rabbit is not in its cage for few days.
Because Rabbit always come back.
That night, Rabbit went missing again.
Ahmad knows in few days time, he'll see Rabbit playing happily in the garden.
But he was disappointed, because Rabbit wasn't there.
He decided to continue with his activities, hoping that he will have time to play with Rabbit again.
One week later, Rabbit is still not back.
TWO WEEKS LATER......................................
ONE MONTH LATER.................................
THREE MONTHS LATER..........................................
It has been the fourth months, and Ahmad still has not found Rabbit.
No one knows what happened to Rabbit.
Could it be that the dog next door ate it?
Or could it be that Rabbit fell into the river?
Or maybe Rabbit lost its way?
Or maybe, Rabbit found another owner who played with Rabbit more often and never forget to feed it?
Ahmad regretted that he did not take care of Rabbit before this. And he blamed himself for that.
After six months, suddenly Ahmad saw another rabbit in the cage.
But that rabbit wasn't Ahmad's Rabbit. It's a different one.
So Ahmad decided to ignore it, because that rabbit might just leave the cage after a few days.
But, the rabbit kept coming back to the cage everyday even though no one fed it nor play with it.
And it has been going on for more than a month now.
One day, Ahmad decided to play with the rabbit, and he realised just how much he missed his Rabbit.
And he is happy that this new rabbit came to the cage.
Will Ahmad be able to take care of this rabbit better than how he took care of Rabbit?
Will he repeat the same mistake?
Theme of the story: Taking Things for Granted
-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com
Sunday 20th June 2010
7.28pm
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
JPA Scholarships?
Assalammualaikum.
Just from the title of this post, I think many readers will know what I would be talking about.
I talked about my ignorance in how the money in Malaysia had been spent and now, after announcing the reduction/withdrawal of subsidies, another announcement was made.
Few days back, I'm pretty sure it was on Monday, I heard of the news that JPA will no longer sponsor students doing first degree overseas. And I was totally shocked. As a JPA-sponsored student myself, I'm fully aware of the benefits not only me, but my whole family is getting from the scholarship. I can't imagine how hard my parents will have to suffer to work to put me where I am studying now, if it wasn't for the sponsorship by JPA. And I am also aware of the neck-to-neck competition I went through before securing myself this scholarship. And I really hope my siblings will get a chance to secure themselves a scholarship too.
And now, JPA is going to PHASE OUT the scholarships.
According to the New Straits Time (June 14th 2010), the government will be phasing out the scholarship and offer more scholarships for courses in local universities. Click here for news from The Star.
However, the minister mentioned that undergraduate students who secured a place in top foreign universities such as Oxford or Cambridge may apply for the scholarships. And there will also be scholarships for postgraduate studies.
And the move was made because: THERE ARE COMPLAINTS THAT THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OUTSTANDING SPM LEAVERS.
Funny, there were not enough scholarships so, reduce the scholarships instead of increasing them?
The minister also said that by cutting off the burden of funding undergraduates overseas, the country will have more money to fund students locally. And he said it's impossible to increase the number of scholarships as we do not have enough money. The amount of scholarships offered currently is 1,500. 300 are allocated for the Perdana scholarships. That left only 1,200 places. Only 1,200 places for more than 15, 000 applicants. (Source: NST and The Star). And that has NOT INCLUDED the "back door" people. There are bound to be people using "cables" and "contacts" to get themselves scholarships no matter how "transparent" JPA tried to claim to be. If not, explain how come some of the JPA scholarship receivers are from very rich families? I thought the scholarships are supposed to be only for mid to low-income families?
On June 15th (one day after the deadly announcement),
1) MIC and MCA urged JPA to retain the scholarships (source: The Star)
2) JPA emphasised that reducing the scholarships will not bring bad effects to the country, instead it will help the development of local universities. (source: NST, Utusan
3) UMNO Youth urged the government to revise the move to drop the scholarships offered for students. Source: Utusan.
As for now, 56% of the scholarships under the race quota are allocated for bumiputeras while 44% are for non-bumis (source: NST).
I believe that there are at least 3 most important components in building a good country; the army, the leaders and the people.
Other than occasional news about Malaysia buying new submarines or training our soldiers, I am not sure how good our defense is. Seriously, I don't know and I better not comment on it. But if it really is outstanding, why not send some for the Gazans. Heh =p.
The leaders; okay let's not talk about them. Some of them really are trying to help the people, congrats. But some of them are busier attacking their colleagues than taking care of their own responsibilities, thank you.
The people.
Although education is not the only way to success, but one can never deny the importance of education, at least to most of the people. Thus, by depriving the people from the chance of studying overseas, won't it not hasten the development and progress of our country?
Ok fine. Some might argue that studying overseas and in local universities do not bring much difference. Even the minister asked why are we doubting the quality of our local universities?
Well, in my year (2007), there were 1,800 scholarships being offered, and of that 80% are for science-based courses. Of this, 50% are for medicine. (Source: The Star) Ok, let me do the calculation, 720 places out of 1,800 places are for medical course. And 200 medical students in a single batch is considered A LOT, believe me. Doctors are not supposed to be produced like water bottles. There should be a quantity limit to a class. Thus, with this 720 new medical students per year, with 7 local national universities offering medical course (UM, UKM, UPM, UIAM, USM, UMS/Unimas and USIM) PLUS the numbers of students not receiving the JPA scholarship but doing medicine, does our country really have the capacity to accommodate us?
In an article entitled "Mushrooming Medical Schools Pose Concern" published in Malaysian Medical Resources (http://medicine.com.my), the quality of local medical graduates are questionable. So, this small country of ours actually STILL DO NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY to produce good doctors in huge amount, which was the reason medical students being sent overseas in the first place. I know the article did not suggest sending students overseas but, to develop our country, won't we need to do the best we can first? And that certainly is not by producing medical students like mushrooms. Undoubtedly, numbers of students interested in doing medicine will never decrease as years pass, thus there will never be shortage of medical students enrolling in med schools. And where there is demand, there will be supply. What need to be concerned off are the quality of "these supplies" that are created when there is excessive demands.
(I'm talking based on experience and I'm also giving medical course as an example because I'm in it. I do not know how the situation is in other courses)
Apart from that, do you really think there is no difference between a local and overseas graduate? An overseas (or at least JPA students) graduates were sent out there to live on their own with friends, facing all the challenges and exposures by themselves. And that made them a different person compared to what they were initially. Not to say local graduates are not exposed but, accept the fact, the exposures ARE different. Hence, Malaysia will not have only "one type" of people; those who graduate locally. With students graduating overseas, Malaysia will have a pool of variety professionals, and is that a bad thing?
And do you know that many people are amazed that Malaysia actually provides scholarships for the outstanding students to study abroad?
Isn't that giving Malaysia a better image?
Some of the people I know, from less developed countries were very much amused and "jealous" that Malaysia can afford to send us overseas.
And the government want to take that back?
I thought we are always working 24-7 to make sure Malaysia has good image?
With the growing number of population, isn't it just logic that the resource is expanding, and the numbers of scholarships available increasing?
How come we have not enough money left to fund deserving students?
Where had all the money been spent to?
The publicity of 1Malaysia?
The diplomatic visits all around the world by our leaders?
The feasts, dinners and festivals?
The luxury of "some people"?
And all that were done on the expense of scholarships of students?
I wonder where do all these ministers sent their kids to?
Local universities or overseas?
I'm asking. Just some questions. Full stop.
To not receive any complaints from the public on being "left out" or being "done injustice to" is impossible. But, to cancel off the scholarships because you can't satisfy everyone?
It's like killing all the chickens in the barn just because one or two of the chickens died of hunger.
In case I have not made my point clear, I totally disagree with the move of phasing out the scholarships.
We still need that.
For further readings:
Some of the blog posts by Dr Mahathir on the money of Malaysia:
1) Malaysia's Generosity on April 29, 2010
2) Not So Generous? on May 3rd, 2010
Zainul Arifin in his article in the New Straits Time on June 16, 2010 agrees with the move that the overseas scholarship shall be reduced. To read his opinions, click here.
p/s: I spent a very long time writing this post, when I should actually read on Lung Cancer. This news had been bothering me ever since it was announced.
And I hope the government will do the correct decision and change the announcement for the benefit of all people.
And JPA stands for Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam or Public Service Department (PSD) in English.
-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com
Wednesday 16th June 2010
10.59pm
Just from the title of this post, I think many readers will know what I would be talking about.
I talked about my ignorance in how the money in Malaysia had been spent and now, after announcing the reduction/withdrawal of subsidies, another announcement was made.
Few days back, I'm pretty sure it was on Monday, I heard of the news that JPA will no longer sponsor students doing first degree overseas. And I was totally shocked. As a JPA-sponsored student myself, I'm fully aware of the benefits not only me, but my whole family is getting from the scholarship. I can't imagine how hard my parents will have to suffer to work to put me where I am studying now, if it wasn't for the sponsorship by JPA. And I am also aware of the neck-to-neck competition I went through before securing myself this scholarship. And I really hope my siblings will get a chance to secure themselves a scholarship too.
And now, JPA is going to PHASE OUT the scholarships.
According to the New Straits Time (June 14th 2010), the government will be phasing out the scholarship and offer more scholarships for courses in local universities. Click here for news from The Star.
However, the minister mentioned that undergraduate students who secured a place in top foreign universities such as Oxford or Cambridge may apply for the scholarships. And there will also be scholarships for postgraduate studies.
And the move was made because: THERE ARE COMPLAINTS THAT THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OUTSTANDING SPM LEAVERS.
Funny, there were not enough scholarships so, reduce the scholarships instead of increasing them?
The minister also said that by cutting off the burden of funding undergraduates overseas, the country will have more money to fund students locally. And he said it's impossible to increase the number of scholarships as we do not have enough money. The amount of scholarships offered currently is 1,500. 300 are allocated for the Perdana scholarships. That left only 1,200 places. Only 1,200 places for more than 15, 000 applicants. (Source: NST and The Star). And that has NOT INCLUDED the "back door" people. There are bound to be people using "cables" and "contacts" to get themselves scholarships no matter how "transparent" JPA tried to claim to be. If not, explain how come some of the JPA scholarship receivers are from very rich families? I thought the scholarships are supposed to be only for mid to low-income families?
On June 15th (one day after the deadly announcement),
1) MIC and MCA urged JPA to retain the scholarships (source: The Star)
2) JPA emphasised that reducing the scholarships will not bring bad effects to the country, instead it will help the development of local universities. (source: NST, Utusan
3) UMNO Youth urged the government to revise the move to drop the scholarships offered for students. Source: Utusan.
As for now, 56% of the scholarships under the race quota are allocated for bumiputeras while 44% are for non-bumis (source: NST).
I believe that there are at least 3 most important components in building a good country; the army, the leaders and the people.
Other than occasional news about Malaysia buying new submarines or training our soldiers, I am not sure how good our defense is. Seriously, I don't know and I better not comment on it. But if it really is outstanding, why not send some for the Gazans. Heh =p.
The leaders; okay let's not talk about them. Some of them really are trying to help the people, congrats. But some of them are busier attacking their colleagues than taking care of their own responsibilities, thank you.
The people.
Although education is not the only way to success, but one can never deny the importance of education, at least to most of the people. Thus, by depriving the people from the chance of studying overseas, won't it not hasten the development and progress of our country?
Ok fine. Some might argue that studying overseas and in local universities do not bring much difference. Even the minister asked why are we doubting the quality of our local universities?
Well, in my year (2007), there were 1,800 scholarships being offered, and of that 80% are for science-based courses. Of this, 50% are for medicine. (Source: The Star) Ok, let me do the calculation, 720 places out of 1,800 places are for medical course. And 200 medical students in a single batch is considered A LOT, believe me. Doctors are not supposed to be produced like water bottles. There should be a quantity limit to a class. Thus, with this 720 new medical students per year, with 7 local national universities offering medical course (UM, UKM, UPM, UIAM, USM, UMS/Unimas and USIM) PLUS the numbers of students not receiving the JPA scholarship but doing medicine, does our country really have the capacity to accommodate us?
In an article entitled "Mushrooming Medical Schools Pose Concern" published in Malaysian Medical Resources (http://medicine.com.my), the quality of local medical graduates are questionable. So, this small country of ours actually STILL DO NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY to produce good doctors in huge amount, which was the reason medical students being sent overseas in the first place. I know the article did not suggest sending students overseas but, to develop our country, won't we need to do the best we can first? And that certainly is not by producing medical students like mushrooms. Undoubtedly, numbers of students interested in doing medicine will never decrease as years pass, thus there will never be shortage of medical students enrolling in med schools. And where there is demand, there will be supply. What need to be concerned off are the quality of "these supplies" that are created when there is excessive demands.
(I'm talking based on experience and I'm also giving medical course as an example because I'm in it. I do not know how the situation is in other courses)
Apart from that, do you really think there is no difference between a local and overseas graduate? An overseas (or at least JPA students) graduates were sent out there to live on their own with friends, facing all the challenges and exposures by themselves. And that made them a different person compared to what they were initially. Not to say local graduates are not exposed but, accept the fact, the exposures ARE different. Hence, Malaysia will not have only "one type" of people; those who graduate locally. With students graduating overseas, Malaysia will have a pool of variety professionals, and is that a bad thing?
And do you know that many people are amazed that Malaysia actually provides scholarships for the outstanding students to study abroad?
Isn't that giving Malaysia a better image?
Some of the people I know, from less developed countries were very much amused and "jealous" that Malaysia can afford to send us overseas.
And the government want to take that back?
I thought we are always working 24-7 to make sure Malaysia has good image?
With the growing number of population, isn't it just logic that the resource is expanding, and the numbers of scholarships available increasing?
How come we have not enough money left to fund deserving students?
Where had all the money been spent to?
The publicity of 1Malaysia?
The diplomatic visits all around the world by our leaders?
The feasts, dinners and festivals?
The luxury of "some people"?
And all that were done on the expense of scholarships of students?
I wonder where do all these ministers sent their kids to?
Local universities or overseas?
I'm asking. Just some questions. Full stop.
To not receive any complaints from the public on being "left out" or being "done injustice to" is impossible. But, to cancel off the scholarships because you can't satisfy everyone?
It's like killing all the chickens in the barn just because one or two of the chickens died of hunger.
In case I have not made my point clear, I totally disagree with the move of phasing out the scholarships.
We still need that.
For further readings:
Some of the blog posts by Dr Mahathir on the money of Malaysia:
1) Malaysia's Generosity on April 29, 2010
2) Not So Generous? on May 3rd, 2010
Zainul Arifin in his article in the New Straits Time on June 16, 2010 agrees with the move that the overseas scholarship shall be reduced. To read his opinions, click here.
p/s: I spent a very long time writing this post, when I should actually read on Lung Cancer. This news had been bothering me ever since it was announced.
And I hope the government will do the correct decision and change the announcement for the benefit of all people.
And JPA stands for Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam or Public Service Department (PSD) in English.
-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com
Wednesday 16th June 2010
10.59pm
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Read Malaysia
Assalammualaikum
As I have mentioned earlier, I was involved in manning the chicken rice stall in Book and Education Fair held in Malaysia International Exhibition and Convention Centre (MIECC) from 4th June to 13th June 2010. Despite the tiredness of juggling the time spent there and studying for my upcoming end of sem exam and spending almost RM100 for books and stationeries, I gained precious experiences from the 10 day book fair.
Academic Excellence is Certainly Not Everything
There was this one foodstall near ours.
It was manned by teenagers whom I think they are siblings with another couple of adults
And when asked, the woman said the youngsters are her children and one of their cousins.
That foodstall is not her main source of income.
She has another book stall in the same bookfair and when I checked the stall out, the word "stall" is an underestimate. A store is more likely. The compound of her "book store" was huge, and all the books sold are chinese books.
She said she rented the foodstall and let her kids man with the intentions of teaching her kids how to do business, let them know that life is not easy; they have to work to earn their living. Despite teaching those basic living skills, she's also making sure her children did not spend the first 10 days of their holidays playing computer games, sleeping or some other time-wasting activities. The eldest of her children is 17 years old. I think the youngest is around 10 or 11, they look almost the same age. But I rarely see the youngest child. Maybe he/she's at home.
The booth is fully under her children's care, once in a while she and her husband will come and help them out. They also have one Indonesian worker, doing all the washings and cleaning. They sell delicious ice-creams, hot coffee and desserts. The lady paid her kids RM50 per day. Wow... That's a lot... She said she knows this foodstall will not bring much profit to her, it's more for her children's benefit and education rather than money.
And I think this lady deserves my respect.
Don't you think so?
As much as she loves her kids, she made them work hard for that 10 days.
And it's not a working-under-the-hot-sun work, it's just managing a dessert stall for 12 hours a day for 10 days.
And she taught her children the lesson of life.
Educate Your Child!
Ahah.. This is yet another funny topic.
In this fair, there are lots of learning aids aimed for small kids.
Ranging from electronic dictionaries, to e-books, to interactive educational CDs to "light and easy schoolbags".
And there was also a stage, provided for the educational company people to advertise their products. Or basically, it's something like a "parenting talk" where at the end of the talk, they'll recommend you their efficient tools for your kids' success.
And I almost laughed my heart out at the products.
Oops, sorry.
Not to say that I'm totally opposing these products but, I really think books are better learning aids than computers.
My mum used to make me sit with her and learn to read using one thick book full of words from A to Z. And that book was also used for all my other 3 siblings.
Nowadays, parents rarely have time to sit with their kids thus, this is when all the interactive, self-learning electronic learning aids come in handy. And they certainly are not cheap.
Make the young kids stare on the screen for hours a day, they'll wear spectacles way earlier than they are supposed to.
Seriously, even adults will have extremely tired eyes after staring on the screen for hours. Won't they?
So, in my opinion, reading books are way better method of learning for small kids than those interactive computer CDs in which the kids are supposed to match synonymous words, match pictures and sentences etc etc. Hahah..there you go. Parenting tip from me. =p
Hurm, I think I should end this post here and continue studying.
Because life is a test
-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com
Tuesday 15th June 2010
4.51pm
As I have mentioned earlier, I was involved in manning the chicken rice stall in Book and Education Fair held in Malaysia International Exhibition and Convention Centre (MIECC) from 4th June to 13th June 2010. Despite the tiredness of juggling the time spent there and studying for my upcoming end of sem exam and spending almost RM100 for books and stationeries, I gained precious experiences from the 10 day book fair.
Academic Excellence is Certainly Not Everything
There was this one foodstall near ours.
It was manned by teenagers whom I think they are siblings with another couple of adults
And when asked, the woman said the youngsters are her children and one of their cousins.
That foodstall is not her main source of income.
She has another book stall in the same bookfair and when I checked the stall out, the word "stall" is an underestimate. A store is more likely. The compound of her "book store" was huge, and all the books sold are chinese books.
She said she rented the foodstall and let her kids man with the intentions of teaching her kids how to do business, let them know that life is not easy; they have to work to earn their living. Despite teaching those basic living skills, she's also making sure her children did not spend the first 10 days of their holidays playing computer games, sleeping or some other time-wasting activities. The eldest of her children is 17 years old. I think the youngest is around 10 or 11, they look almost the same age. But I rarely see the youngest child. Maybe he/she's at home.
The booth is fully under her children's care, once in a while she and her husband will come and help them out. They also have one Indonesian worker, doing all the washings and cleaning. They sell delicious ice-creams, hot coffee and desserts. The lady paid her kids RM50 per day. Wow... That's a lot... She said she knows this foodstall will not bring much profit to her, it's more for her children's benefit and education rather than money.
And I think this lady deserves my respect.
Don't you think so?
As much as she loves her kids, she made them work hard for that 10 days.
And it's not a working-under-the-hot-sun work, it's just managing a dessert stall for 12 hours a day for 10 days.
And she taught her children the lesson of life.
Educate Your Child!
Ahah.. This is yet another funny topic.
In this fair, there are lots of learning aids aimed for small kids.
Ranging from electronic dictionaries, to e-books, to interactive educational CDs to "light and easy schoolbags".
And there was also a stage, provided for the educational company people to advertise their products. Or basically, it's something like a "parenting talk" where at the end of the talk, they'll recommend you their efficient tools for your kids' success.
And I almost laughed my heart out at the products.
Oops, sorry.
Not to say that I'm totally opposing these products but, I really think books are better learning aids than computers.
My mum used to make me sit with her and learn to read using one thick book full of words from A to Z. And that book was also used for all my other 3 siblings.
Nowadays, parents rarely have time to sit with their kids thus, this is when all the interactive, self-learning electronic learning aids come in handy. And they certainly are not cheap.
Make the young kids stare on the screen for hours a day, they'll wear spectacles way earlier than they are supposed to.
Seriously, even adults will have extremely tired eyes after staring on the screen for hours. Won't they?
So, in my opinion, reading books are way better method of learning for small kids than those interactive computer CDs in which the kids are supposed to match synonymous words, match pictures and sentences etc etc. Hahah..there you go. Parenting tip from me. =p
Hurm, I think I should end this post here and continue studying.
Because life is a test
-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com
Tuesday 15th June 2010
4.51pm
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