PPSMI? Scrapped?? WHAT???!!!

Just thought I would make some time to give my penny's worth regarding a current issue in Malaysia - The abolishment of PPSMI. Before I continue any further, for those international readers of my blog who are asking, "What is this PPSMI?" PPSMI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPSMI) was a program to learn science and mathematics in English, initiated by our past prime minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, in 2003. I was a strong supporter of the PPSMI because of its objectives. the PPSMI policy was implemented based on the government’s concern on the nation’s human capital development towards achieving the standard of a developed country, as well as an early preparation to compete in the era of globalization. With the realization that the field of science and mathematics is mostly in English and also that the command of English that Malaysians have cannot be compared to a majority of people in this era of globalization, Tun Dr. Mahathir realized that we were on the losing end. In order to move forward, PPSMI was proposed, tabled, and accepted.

Worrying news happened recently. On Nov 3, 2011, the Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the abolishment of the PPSMI policy was final (http://malaysiakini.com/news/180393). This brought a whole range of different responses to the issue and I would like to add mine. I will base my response on my rebuttals on the Government's response towards the responses in this article they released: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/10/5/focus/9631026&sec=focus

One of the leading factors contributing towards the abolishment of PPSMI was the results of the different surveys and researches made by a number of universities and from the results, deemed PPSMI as flawed. Firstly, they found that only 4% of Mathematics and Science teachers used 90% or more of English in the teaching and learning of the two subjects. According to this results, "a majority of them used a mixture of Bahasa Malaysia and English. More often than not, the teachers had to switch to Bahasa Malaysia in their teaching because students could not understand their lessons in English." Other studies include one conducted by a group of educationists from the Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris (UPSI) that revealed that 70% of Form Two students found it difficult to learn Mathematics and Science in English as well as the study done by a Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) professor that concluded that PPSMI hampered students’ ability to understand Mathematics and Science concepts, hence resulting in their poor performance in the two subjects. I think for the reason stated above, my question would be how intensive and extensive was that survey? Does it really portray the student population in Malaysia as a whole? Let's use the statistics of the Form 5 students in 2010. The number of students each year can be approximated to around that number of students. In 2010, 467,970 students sat for the SPM (The article regarding the analysis of the 2010 SPM results can be found here). If we approximate the number to about 450,000 students each year, the 70% of Form Two students as set forth by UPSI would amount to approximately 280,000 students. Does this mean that the study by UPSI was done surveying a student number from different states, schools, race, etc. amounting 280,000, if not more? If not, how can they accurately say that 70% of the students find it difficult? If they only did the survey on about 2000-4000 students (which amounts to only 0.5-1% of the approximated student number) from schools in the same state, then they should not conclusively say that the 70% of Form 2 students represents the 70% of the students nationwide. If the survey is based on what the teachers think of parents think without directly asking students, then the results of this study is even more unreliable. The same applies for the UKM professor. On what basis does he conclude that the reason students cannot understand science and mathematical concepts is the language? Again, how extensive was his survey? How was that study done to begin with? Did students do much better when science and maths was taught in Bahasa Malaysia as compared to learning in English? Besides, this is only a temporal solution because when students graduate from high school and decide to pursue a career in the science or maths field, they will not be able to compete with the rest of the world of students from other nations as they will be learning things built on the same concepts but in English. They will struggle not only to understand what they are studying but to also learn again the English terms of the concepts they learned in High School (for example, sodium as compared to natium or potassium as compared to kalium, or even concepts like sublimation as compared to pemejalwapan). Imagine this scenario: students are supposed to have their basics before going into university as the university is not going to teach students basic science again but rather build on them. Imagine the student enters class and the lecturer uses terms like "sublimation". The student then has to put in extra effort to understand what the lecturer is saying and relearn all the new terms. If you say that they are able to put extra effort when they are in university and still be able to excel, and if the study is accurate that students are unable to understand the lessons taught in English according to the PPSMI policy, wouldn't you say that this is a contradiction? Why can't the students use the same effort when they are, say, in Form 1 or Standard 1 to master these concepts in English rather than wait until the work and assignment load gets heavier in university and then only start trying to learn the concepts in English. Imagine how competitive our students will be when it comes to presentation time. In fact, one statement made was that the current generation of scientist, technocrats, lawyers (why was lawyers brought into the picture? They need science and maths??), accountants and other professionals are products of our National Education System where Bahasa Malaysia is the medium of instruction in schools. Hey, take a moment to look. How competitive are our scientist and technocrats and mathematicians as compared to the rest of the world. Even if there were some who are competitive, what is the percentage of these competitive ones as compared to those who just cannot because of the language barrier?

Another thing I found quite hilarious was this: "In relation to this, the Education Ministry has taken comprehensive measures to improve our students’ command of English through the Strengthening

English Language (MBI) policy. We are improving the methods of teaching and learning of English in schools, increasing English hours and hiring quality English teachers, including from abroad, to help our students be proficient in English. We believe that there are many ways to improve English ability among our students and we are working very hard to realise this objective." First they say that it is difficult to teach Science and Maths in English because students are just unable to cope and follow, no matter what methods it may be and therefore resulting in teachers who have to mix Bahasa Malaysia in their teaching. Then, my question is, will increasing learning hours, hiring quality English teachers and implementing other methods guarantee a better proficiency of the English language when it failed for PPSMI?

I am no educationalist neither am I an authority in the field of education, but based on logical and rationale thinking, I can safely conclude that English is the international language today. It is the language that business talks are done in, contracts are written in, new inventions and research papers are written and presented in. In today's world, for Malaysia and Malaysians to be competitive, for the world to even begin to take Malaysia seriously, mastery of the English language is a definite must, more so for the area of Science and Maths. I personally have met a head of Mathematics department from a local university that will not be named here. He has a PhD in Mathematics yet is unable to converse in basic English. What more write papers in English? Though it may be hard at first but I believe that one day, once the learning of science and maths in english has become the social norm, students will be able to cope with studying in English. Even as I write, there are students who in primary school came from a vernacular school but did their high school in a national school (I personally know a number of them) yet they are able to switch from studying in their vernacular language to not only being able to pass but excel in high school even though it is in a language that they are not proficient in. For my batch of classmates, I had classmates from Chinese school who were not really proficient in Bahasa Malaysia yet scored in Bahasa Malaysia as well as all the other subjects even though they were taught in Bahasa Malaysia. A lot of them are today scholarship students sent overseas to further their studies. Is PPSMI that impossible? I guess the answer is a definite no. Are we putting down Bahasa Malaysia? Definitely NO! PPSMI is just preparing Malaysian students to be on the cutting-edge of their field, preparing them to be able to compete with the rest of the world. If students are able to switch and excel from Mandarin medium of instruction to Bahasa Malaysia, I see no problem with Bahasa Malaysia into English. And if we start them young, at the beginning of their formal education, it will not be that much of a problem. I think what it takes is a paradigm shift and a willingness to learn. Then only can Malaysia stand up proud and be able to compete with the rest of the world. Then only will Malaysia truly be progressing, not stagnant or even regressing. For this reason, I hope and pray that PPSMI will be retained and the MOE will look into ways of making the implementation of PPSMI smoother and more effective rather than to just abolish it. This, is my cry, alongside others, crying for PPSMI not to be abolished.

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Posted in: thoughts

Song Expedition

I think I will write a post about my songwriting journey. I started songwriting at the age of 14 or 15. As I mentioned in my music blog (visit it at www.azure-music.blogspot.com or www.facebook.com/azuremusicpage), I was inspired by a close friend to venture into songwriting. Before that, I was just playing instruments to different songs of different genres (at that time, I was playing songs by Maroon5, Ungu, Hujan, etc). Seeing this close friend write her first song pushed me to write more and more. So I decided to start writing and within that year, came up with enough songs for an album. I named that album "Acoustic: Waiting" because one of the first songs I wrote was entitled "Waiting" (I probably should get this recorded one day). Reason for the "Acoustic" series was that I only had my dad's Dell PDA to record on so instrument-wise, it was extremely limited. All I had was an acoustic guitar and bad sound quality recording. In any case, that was the start of my songwriting journey.

My main genre then was more pop and ballad with a slight touch of rock. My main influences at that time were Maroon5, Nickelback, Josh Groban, Alicia Keys etc. I wrote songs for girls I had crushes on, wrote songs for weddings, and was requested to write few other songs for some events or personal interests. I was going on a songwriting expedition!

Over the years, music became an integral part of my life. Not so much as in listening to music but making music. I worked to improve my musical skills. I also pushed myself to break the boundaries. Push myself to do something different - something new.

As I see my songs now like "Cry", "I Love You So",  "On This Day", and the likes, as compared to my songs of the earlier years like "Waiting", "Miss You So", "Michelle's Dilemma" and so on, I noticed how my music and songwriting has evolved. Though both are unique in their own unique ways, there is still that one inexplicable thing that still remains consistent throughout. Something that words cannot describe. I don't even know how to explain it. If you listen to "Miss You So" as compared to "I Love You So", they are both different yet in a certain way the same. Probably the only phrase I can use to describe this is that my songs, even after its minute evolutions, still contain that "Bryan-ness". LOL~

Anyway, I strive to continue writing songs. My recordings would probably be better with a professional recording setup but till then, I would have to make do with GarageBand. Until then, here is my song for you to enjoy [details of the song can be obtained here]. I wrote it for a class final project (and scored an A for it!). Like what you hear, go to www.facebook.com/azuremusicpage and click "Like". Spread the music, spread the love, until then, stay tuned. Peace everyone!

Cry by Bryan Boo

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To love what is beyond what you can see...

I know, the title sounds confusing, quirky, you name it... But I feel this title really fits some of my thoughts recently. This is a VERY overdue post. I started having thoughts and reflections about this matter last week yet I took so long before I finally made myself sit in front of my laptop and blog about this. As you read this, I hope that you too will reflect upon yourself, how you would react towards certain things, reflect upon your expectations, and hopefully, you will be able to love what is beyond what you can see...

Subject matter of the day: children. Being young (some even when we were kids), we already envisioned how we want our future to be - marry an eligible bachelor (or bachelorette), work as a doctor or lawyer or business and be successful in whatever career path we choose, earn as much money as we can, buy a car, live in a considerably comfortable abode, and have children. Some of us even give names to our kids already! We want a boy and a girl, triplets, or even a whole football team! Whatever it is, we already have this in our minds. Question is, what if it doesn't turn out as how we envisioned it to be?

I was walking around in Kluang mall one night and I saw this little boy in front of a gift shop. His height was probably up to my knees and he was a thin, bald, Chinese boy. At first, I just passed him by until something caught my attention - he was wearing a hearing aid. Now, this boy should be no older than 7 years old. He was looking at a teddy bear that was almost his size. Pointing at it, he looked at the mother who was quite far off and all he could manage to say were not words but sounds. "Ahh... Ahhh...." was all he could manage. For someone who is deaf, I guess articulation of words is not something that comes easy. But his posture, his actions and his tone of voice were all "words" - I could understand what he was trying to tell his mother - "Mom, I want that bear" or "Mom, look at that bear". Seeing him brought many flashbacks of the encounters I had with kids that we tend to give them a second look - either one of compassion, of pity, or of disgust. I remember a child when I was helping in a pediatric clinic. This child came into the clinic with frantic parents. They were worried as they did not know what was wrong with their child. He would not respond to any calls and mentions of his name but reacts to the sound of the lorry passing by outside the house. The doctor's recommendation - to go to the hospital for some scan that plays music through the boy's ears and then see if there is a brain response. In other words, there can only be 2 possible outcomes - he is either deaf or autistic. Seeing that kid makes my heart break.

On another occasion, I once knew of a family who used to be my neighbors. They had a son who had down-syndrome. He could not function like how his peers could at the same age. He needed alot of care from the family in terms of feeding, changing, bathing etc. But I saw the patience in the mother and how she loved the child the same as how she loved the other child who was normal. She took time to feed him, care for him, even discipline him. Yet, underlying it all, I saw something beautiful - a love of a mother for her child.

All these caused me to take a moment and think. We all have dreams and how we want our kids to be and grow. But if I get a child who belongs to this category, will I still love the child the same was as I would love a normal child, if not more? Would I be able to ignore the social stigma and prejudice that society has for such children and see the beauty beneath the child's disability?

All of us have one chance or another at meeting such children. Questions for you to ponder: 1. Will you be able to accept your child as he or she is, even if the child is disabled? 2. Will you take a step out of your comfort zone and accept these children as who they are? Will we choose to see beauty instead of disabilities? 3. Will we be able to love beyond what we can see? If we can all love beyond what we can see, the world can be a better place, even if its just a little.

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Posted in: thoughts

Mr. Jones' Graveyard Shift

As usual, click the little penguin button

at the end of the post to download.

Enjoy!

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Mr Jones, after retreating to the country with his trusty canine companion, realizes he's lonely. A call from his old friend Mimi cheers him up, and she invites him to join her in the Caribbean. Provided he can spruce up his own wardrobe, bring her some jewelry, buy a house, and raise a massive amount of spending cash. A "helpful" flyer suggests he run his own graveyard to make money, so Mr. Jones grabs a shovel and starts digging.

                     

Mr. Jones' Graveyard Shift is a curious combination of a free-form simulation, tycoon management, and time management game. Customers drive in on the right side of the property. Meet them at the gate and see what kind of memorial they are interested in. At first, most customers want something cheap with just a few niceties on the side. Later, however, you'll get big spenders who demand perfection for their loved one's final resting place. Each day ends with Mr. Jones going to bed and, if you like, depositing cash in the Mimi fund. When morning comes, customers come in and Mr. Jones is back to work. A shopkeeper stops by at the crack of dawn and offers more headstones, flowers, and miscellaneous structures for you to buy. It's a good idea to stock up on everything you can afford, as you never know what the next customer will request.

                      

Personally, I feel that this is an upbeat and a humorous game. Death has always been a depressing subject but this game really makes it light-hearted and takes the depression all away. If you don't mind playing a game about digging graves, Mr. Jones' Graveyard Shift is a superb blend of time management and simulation genres. Because it's so open-ended, it actually scales itself to meet your gaming needs, providing more challenge if you want it, or resting on its laurels while you soak in some casual gameplay. The visuals are well above average and there are plenty of unique items to buy. You'll unearth lots of satisfaction from this lengthy, quirky game! Trust me. I rate an 8/10.

                                     

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Posted in: games review

Malaysia, oh, Malaysia

First of all, I have want to say that I make no apologies for what I am about to blog. Initially, I wanted to just keep silent on my blog about the matter but as more and more news come, I cannot help but blog about some Malaysian's response toward the cataclysmic disaster that hit Japan.

As some of you would already know, there are some really insensitive comments posted on facebook about the disaster and how it is a retribution for the Japanese people with regards to their past etc. Man, how insensitive can people be? With a natural disaster at a scale so great hitting Japan, with so many deaths, with despair looming among the people, some people are able to stand back and laugh and taunt those who are suffering. Goodness! Do they not have a slight bit of compassion?

Before I go any further, let me give you an update on the situation in Japan so that you know how bad the calamity was. The Star reported today (read the full news here) that the officials fear that more than half of Otsuchi's population of about 19,000 is buried under the rubble. As many as 10,000 people are thought to have been killed. Kyodo news agency said 2,000 bodies had been found on the shores of Miyagi prefecture, which suffered the brunt of the damage. Do read the full news to get the severity of the situation there. Here are some videos and pictures for you:

Video of the tsunami hitting Japan:

Video of the devastation in Japan after the tsunami:

Pictures of the devastation in Japan:

And even amidst these hopelessness and devastation, we Malaysians can still make insensitive statements like these. To take the embarrassment a step higher, Malaysia was highlighted in the international news (CNN) with regards to Japan's disaster, not for the good, but for the bad (Read the news here). Our own Malaysian artist would draw such a drawing to mock the Japanese (whether intentional or not intentional, a little sensitivity would be nice) and the shock of it all, how could the editors of the newspaper allow this to be printed?! Do they not care of how the Japanese would feel? Instead of rallying people to help Japan, or inviting them to keep Japan in prayer irregardless of whatever religion you ascribe to, or instilling compassion to our Malaysians (especially the children), they end up mocking and showing insensitivity. What would the children learn? Possibly this: "When other people are in need or are facing tough times, we laugh at them." Quite feasible huh?

Let's take it a notch higher. I just saw a press statement by our First Lady, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor with regards to this issue. She did TRY to show some sensitivity but I believe it was just a facade. Why would I think so? I justify my position with the following reasons:

1. She seems to be putting the blame on the Japanese people, as if they were the one who caused the earthquake and tsunami.

2. She does not know her facts when she makes her statements.

The following is the video of her press statement:

The following is my response toward her statements:

There was a statement made: "tragedi tsunami dan gempa bumi di Jepun adalah akibat kelalaian negara itu melaksanakan pembangunan mesra alam" (roughly translated: the tragedy of tsunami and earthquake hitting Japan is because of their oversight in using ecofriendly development). She made a statement saying "apa-apa (negara lain) pun mereka nak buat ataupun sebarang pembangunan yang mereka ingin lakukan seharusnya mengkaji dulu keadaan sekeliling dan mengaitkan dengan 'climate change' dan 'green technology'" (roughly translated: whatever (other nations) would want to do (in the future) including any development they would like to do, they must first research their surroundings and consider climate change and green technology). Firstly, who says that Japan is not ecofriendly in their policies, including those with regards to development. In fact, when compared to Malaysia (of whom Datin Seri Rosmah is from), Japan is way more advance in their implementation of ecofriendly policies. According to Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, Yale University, Japan was ranked 20 in their 2010 rankings of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) with a score of 72.5 whereas Malaysia is ranked 54 with a score of only 65.0 (see the rankings at epi.yale.edu). In terms of implementation of ecofriendly laws and policies, Japan has done it and is the top 20 among all nations when it comes to their implementation. Another point to note is that Japan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire. This means that earthquakes and volcano eruptions are common and bound to happen in Japan. There is a reason we call these occurrences as "natural disasters" - simply because it is nature taking its own course. I would think that Japan knows that they are in the Pacific Ring of Fire and would have considered the fact that earthquakes are bound to happen in their nation and would develop accordingly. In fact, I must salute them in terms of their construction of buildings for being designed to be able to withstand earthquakes. With such a construction and development in their science and tech, I would feel that it is rather unfair to say that they did not consider their odds as well as the implementation of "green tech" in their development. Also, how do you prevent something that happens naturally? Let me pose another question. How can we prevent death? We cannot. Isn't it the same when asking people to prevent natural disasters from happening? Yes, I do agree that development and progress does affect the occurrences of these natural disasters but to (seemingly) place the entire blame on the Japanese is simply unfair.

I believe that such statements made from all levels of society is rooted in a supremistic ideology. It is the simple thinking that Malaysia is way better than Japan that allows people to make such statements instead of words of compassion. Really, open up your eyes and you will see that the Japan is far more supreme when compared to Malaysia in terms of development, progress, and people's intelligence as well as living conditions. They are also very ecofriendly despite their constant progress. But the responses of Malaysians such as these show me that Malaysians need a whole lot more of compassion, not only for those we can relate or of those we consider our brethren but to mankind as a whole, no matter what skin color, no matter where they come from, or what language they speak. Because at the end of it all, we are all the same. I once read a quotation from a friend's blog (quoted from Farish A. Noor's book) that goes something like this: "'racism' does not exist, because as far as the strictest technical definitions goes; there is only one race. The human race." Yes, let us not have compassion for only certain people but for the whole human race. Simply because we are the same race - the human race.

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Posted in: current issues,philosophy,thoughts

Kuroshitsuji II

As usual, click the little penguin button
at the end of the post to download.
Enjoy!
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This is the first time I uploaded a TV series (in this case, an anime) for you all to download. I will categorize such posts under TV Show/Movie/Anime Review and you all can download there (though uploading in this category may not be as often as there is alot of bandwidth required to upload these). For now, I have uploaded one anime which I personally enjoy. Kuroshitsuji was really nice. It is the story of a nobleman named Ciel Phantomhive and his butler, Sebastian Michaelis. As the title of this anime suggests, Sebastian is a black butler (as I do not want to be a spoiler, you will have to watch it yourself to understand it better). Those of you who watched the 1st season would know the contract between Sebastian and Ciel. The ending of season 1 was sad (for those of you who watched, you will know what I am talking about).

Season 2 builds on the story line of season 1. In fact, it is a continuation of season 1. The plot is surprising and unpredictable. In this season, enters two new main characters, Alois Trancy (who is known as the Queen's Spider, as opposed to Ciel, who is the Queen's Watchdog) and his butler, Claude Faustus. The setting of season 2 is one year and three months after the ending of season 1. I shall not elaborate further so as to not become a spoiler. You will have to watch the anime to discover how Alois and Ciel's path intertwine, discover the story behind Claude, Sebastian and how it relates to Alois and Ciel's pasts, and finally, discover the ending of season 2.

I have uploaded the 12 episodes of Season 2. Whether or not there will be a season 3 is still a big question, but till then, enjoy Season 2! (Sorry for the folks that have not watch Season 1. I am unable to upload season 1 as something happened and I lost the files.) I would rate this anime a 8/10. (Oh, I would recommend you all watch D.Grey-Man as well. I will not be able to upload it as there is a total of 103 episodes to date. But trust me, I rate it a 9.5/10. Great anime! I am awaiting the continuation of it.)

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Posted in: TV Show/Movie/Anime review

Fireflight - For Those Who Wait

As usual, click the little penguin button
at the end of the post to download.
Enjoy!
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I have always been more of a rock music kind of person and one genre of music that I particularly enjoy are those of Linkin Park and Evanescence. I love the tone of the voice (like that of Amy Lee of Evanescence) with the music, whoa... blows my mind. I still hold on to that the Japanese are still better in a musical sense (those of you who are musical will probably enjoy the musical composition of High & Mighty Color, of which I will upload soon. Oh, take a moment here to pray for Japan. The earthquake and the tsunami that hit them, major disaster...) but the English music are not too far off. I was once introduced to Fireflight's music but I did not pay much attention to it until end of 2010 when I got a hold of the album. Man, I was blown away! Fireflight is a Christian band and their music belongs to the genre (or even in the same league) as Evanescence or Linkin Park. In this album, I particularly loved the song "For Those Who Wait". The music blending together with the vocals is just musically amazing. If I were to rate this album, I would give it a 9/10. Try it. For those who likes the music of Linkin Park and Evanescence, trust me on this one - Fireflight will not disappoint you.

Track List:

1. For Those Who Wait
2. Desperate
3. Fire In My Eyes
4. Core of My Addiction
5. What I’ve Overcome
6. Name
7. New Perspective
8. You Give Me That Feeling
9. All I Need To Be
10. “Recovery Begins”

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Posted in: music review