Malaysia Students Blog Comments

hie there melanie no.2 ;pi'm sorry it took me a wh...

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:24:00 +0000

hie there melanie no.2 ;p

i'm sorry it took me a while to reply yr comment. my laptop's keyboard is screwed so i have to rely on the screen keyboard which is really slow.
it's not a coincidence that we both had the same experience because i do believe a lot of students out there is in d same situation. We should be grateful that we had d chance and choice in our hands to switch becoz i know many of whom that wanted to switch bt was not allowed by either their schools or parents. i juz don't understand our fellow malaysians. what is so degrading about studying in ARTS?

i've said this gazillion times but that won't stop me from saying it another time that form 6 was the time of my life.

i'm really glad u enjoyed form 6 and most of all, happy and sure that yr decision of moving to arts was correct. i wish you all the best in your upcoming STPM , and do enjoy yr form six and have fun!

Best regards,

Melanie

www.chefmel.blogspot.com

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Let's put our dear reader in a situation where the...

noreply@blogger.com (Kell) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:45:00 +0000

Let's put our dear reader in a situation where the RACE ALLOCATION for a tertiary education scholarship is 10% (or was it 5?)In small font on the FRONT COVER of the application - "non-bumis have 10% allocation of placings".

Preferential laws were enacted in favor of the Malays because they wanted things to be fair. So to be fair, you made things unequal?

It's a little ironic, anonymous, that you should speak of non-bumis whining, yet complain (Oh no, not whine, my dear, merely complain) about the difficulties bumis face when they have already have preferential laws and racial percentage on their side, eh?

A language barrier is indeed a valid point. Would you hire someone who spoke nothing except Russian? If you refused to hire said person, can you be called a racist because your refusal was on the grounds that the Russian couldn't speak a particular language of your preference? Common sense.

Erm, may i know, how do the government choose stud...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:51:00 +0000

Erm, may i know, how do the government choose students to go from NS? Is it that every family must have someone who wil get chosen?

With reference to the issue you addressed, anonymo...

noreply@blogger.com (Misanthrope) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:50:00 +0000

With reference to the issue you addressed, anonymous - I for one don't believe that the whole "Language barrier - can't speak Mandarin" comment or opinion is actually solely based on racism. It is undeniable that knowing the additional language (or languages, depending) really does help in securing jobs for graduates in the sectors.

You could look at it this way, for one thing - it is irrefutable that China is growing to become a looming and increasingly influential powerhouse in many a field (business/economy, technology, science...) as of 2008. The graduates who know Chinese, particularly to write and speak the language (I know at least three different bumiputera friends who were Chinese-educated due to their more forward-thinking Malay parents foreseeing the potential in China, when it comes to business and the like) are more readily inducted into firms sometimes nowadays as long as they have a reasonable grasp of English as well, from what I've gathered.

Now, sir, or miss, or ma'am - you could very well be extrapolating if you were to say that the private sectors feel that bumiputras should only be clerical staff. I digress. If the number is as high as 45k, my fellow Malaysian (I will assume you're residing here?), then you really cannot attribute these graduates' supposed joblessness due to the race issue alone granted how they are given some benefits by the government, when all is said and done. There are brilliant graduates and there are the lacklustre ones - race is irrelevant.

Now, saying that non-bumis are solely asking the government to take them in to work for the civil service solely due to the salary would be inaccurate, anonymous. There're countless reasons why they could actually opt for working in civil service. Some are, contrary to what you might think, actually very patriotic. Some choose to not practice veterinary medicine overseas, privately, where the pay could be several times that back here, because they want to help the local SPCAs and the pets in Malaysia rather than stay overseas. Some just love this country and want the best for it. Not everyone is as callous or as shallow as you might think they are, or the way you perceive them to be simply because they are non-bumi.

Well, it is common knowledge that most universities here do allocate a higher percentage of places for the bumis. Cases of exceptional young non-bumi minds being rejected in favour of the few bumis who scored less (compare, for example, someone with straight As in STPM and a lesser girl with 2As. Yes, it has happened before, and is still happening. You cannot deny the numbers, as you are implying) are rampant. To dismiss that and make such a blatant statement as you have regarding how they are 'whining' to the papers about their suffering and plights is, on the other hand, very insensitive of you.

At the end of the day, education is more than just about the colour of your skin, and what kind of festivals you grew up celebrating. Does it matter whether you are Chinese or Malay or Indian in the pursuit of education? We are who we are inside, and I enjoyed my education along with my close Malay friends, my Chinese friends, Indian friends - mixed friends, what the hey.

Let us give the future generation a chance to pursue education fairly in every aspect, where no one is favoured, no one discriminated against. They deserve it - to have that opportunity to be who they truly are, without being limited by unnecessary constraints based on their cultural background.

I commend you for this article, AWhite. Very well-written. Salut!