What exactly is the difference between an A and an A+???!

Recently Wee Ka Siong made a good point when he commented on the Cabinet decision to reward all students who scored 8A+ and above in the SPM 2010 with a PSD scholarship. He continues to mention that parents and students should not be quick in criticising the selection process.

However recently this has been proven to be untrue as Wee Ka Siong admitted that 363 straight A+ scorers had failed to secure scholarships. Moreover, the government failed to mention what courses will be offered to student with 8A+s. This has led to disgruntled students who did not get their chosen field of study despite their “impressive” results!

One example is Selwyn Jong of Kuching who scored 9A+ but instead of a university placement, was given matriculation – a place he could have secured with 5As. Another example is P. Kugnethran from Selangor who scored 12A+. Instead of getting the medical course he so wanted, Kugnethran was offered a diploma in animal husbandry from Universiti Putra Malaysia while those with less than stellar results won choice courses at top varsities abroad.

One of the worst example I have see is Heamanthaa Padmanaban, 17-year-old from Seremban, who scored 10A+ and 1A in last year's SPM examinations and was an all-rounder in extra-curricular activities.

She qualified for cross-country runs and played hockey at state level, and was a school champion in chess and badminton. In April last year she was among those chosen to participate in the Malaysia-America Soccer Exchange programme with 12 other women.

Instead of giving her the opportunity to study medicine or biotechnology (which was her choice), PSD offered her a Diploma course in English at University Pendidikan Sultan Idris .

What makes matters worst is when you hear of unworthy recipients getting PSD scholarships. An example of this is Chai Sheng Min from SMK St Joseph in Kuching, Sarawak who obtained 10As was offered a scholarship to study engineering at Universiti Technology Petronas, however his two friends with 4As and 5As respectively were awarded scholarships to pursue science degrees in the United States.

Datuk Wee Ka Siong also mention (arrogantly), “Before you do that, make sure you understand the difference between 10As and 10A+ in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).

This is a very good question which I the Deputy Education Minister should explain to all Malaysians!

What is the cut off mark between an A+, and an A grade? Is this cut off mark consistent for all subjects offered in the last SPM examination? If this is not the case, why!?!?

This is an extremely important issue to be clarified since the BN government has placed such great importance on the A+s with regards to the PSD Scholarship selection process.

Is rewarding the PSD scholarship solely on 8A+s a fair process? Especially when you consider the fact that there is a perception that the standard of awarding the A+ and A grades vary greatly between difference subjects in the SPM examination.

Can the Deputy Education Minister dispel this negative perception?

Why is there this negative perception in the first place? Could it be due to the fact that there has been complains that the Chinese subject in the SPM examination has questions of STPM difficulty? How about the fact that the Ministry of Education did not originally award a single A+ to any student who took Bible Knowledge last year! This is rather hard to believe, when you consider how generous the government has been with regards to awarding the As and A+s for the certain subjects in the last SPM examination.

Perhaps the single most suspicious problem is the length of time the Education Ministry took to release the SPM results!

How is it that while internationally coordinated examinations such as O Levels and A Levels takes only 1 month to release their results, it takes the Education Ministry nearly 3 full months to release the SPM results!

Why it that the Education Ministry only released the SPM results on the 23 of March 2011 when SPM markers were instructed to finish and submit their markings by the end of Dec? What was the Education Ministry doing with the marks for almost 3 months? Were they adjusting the marking curve for certain specific subjects?

Could it me that the government was adjusting the grades to please certain section of the population

Did the Education Ministry manipulate the marks and grades to ensure that only certain amount of people would get 8A+s?

Wee Ka Siong as the Deputy Education Minister needs to be open and transparent with the marking scheme of all the SPM subjects! He has to defend the integrity of the SPM grading system.

Especially after his arrogant remark to parents of last year SPM students , asking them if they know the difference between an A and an A+. The answer is NO! We don’t know the difference between an A and an A+! Please do explain it to us!

Is the cut off point for an A+ in Additional Mathematics the same as the cut off point for Moral Studies? It is not a far fetch idea that the BN government is using the PSD scholarship and the SPM results to gain political points for themselves. Or is it just a coincidence that every time a general election looming nearby, the SPM results seem to obtain an “improvement” in the statistic.

A government teacher explain to me that if the government gives out a lot of As in the SPM examination the students will be able to bring home proudly such “fantastic” results to show their parents. Thus those parents who are not aware of their child’s actual academic standards will perceived that the government is doing a good job educating their children.

This sad scenario is exactly what is happening to our country now and as a result we produce lawyers that can’t ever speak proper English (just watch the You Tube video of the Malaysian lawyer who question Dr Porntip with regards to Teoh Beng Hock case as an example).

JPA Scholarships and the SPM examination should not be used as a political tool to gain popularity and any government who is willing to sacrifice the long term future and growth of its citizens and country just to gain short term popularity has no business running this country!

In a sense the BN government is caught in a tough dilemma. If they don’t give a lot of As out, their charades of improvement in the education system will be destroyed. Now that they give a lot of As out, they are stuck with too many “qualified” SPM student but not enough PSD scholarships.

This whole SPM As and PSD scholarship has been nothing but one big public relation stunt which has failed badly for the BN government. The fact that out of the 4000 PSD scholarship given out, only 300 were given based purely on merit and over a thousand scholarship were given out on a race based selection criteria only reinforce the idea that the government is not sincere in their 1Malaysia concept and that they are colour blind!

So Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, please tell me what exactly is an A+ and an A? I would like to know what grade to give the BN government, or does the BN government deserve an F for running this country’s education system to the ground!

Randomness!

Last month (April) my beautiful, pregnant wife had craving for spegatti/pasta. So we went to some nice but expensive spegatti restaurant at Empire Shopping Centre, Subang Jaya. I forget the name of the restaurant but they give you free bread with olive oil .

It wasn't too bad in the end as the set had quite big portion. But it still cost around RM80 for all that. So is it expensive? The Chicken and the Tomato on the bread is nice!

Another random thing last month was me having to spend a whole week in April in the Star Office to help shortlist Scholarship candidates .

It was such a heavy responsibility and I had such a heavy heart at doing this because I there were so many very good applicants. How do I shortlist them? Most of them have 9As and above. A lot of them have very good curiculam vitae as well. Only other thing is based on needs. It was really heart ache to choose only 15 student from over 60 quality applicants (per course!)

Well the shortlist had been done and the interview had been completed and the candidates selected for the Scholarship! I just pray and hope that I have done my part proper in terms of choosing the right and worthy Scholarship candidate!

This process has given me an insight to PSD/JPA scholarship process which I will write an article on soon!!!

Amway vs God's Way

NETWORK 21 Conference at PGRM

Last weekend was an extremely long and eventful weekend. It started on Friday and Saturday night at a Network 21 (Amway) conference followed by my (Faith Christian Center) Church camp (in MBS, Rawang), which ended on Wednesday (18 May). Wow! It was definitely an extraordinary weekend as both events challenge me to commit my time and money to improve the quality of life for myself, my family and those around me! So which way is better? Amway or God’s way? I have limited time and money. So which takes priority?

First let’s examine what I have learned from the Network 21 conference! It was indeed a very interesting conference and its guest speaker was Dr Porntip from Thailand. (No! Not the same one that testified in the Teoh Beng Hock case.)

The speaker talk about having passive income and using Amway to gain financial freedom so that we and those we love can be free of the “rat race” and to be free from being a slave to our jobs!

The intention is indeed noble! Financial freedom will enable you to spend more time with your family and to help other people. She stress that this is especially important because we don’t know when we will die or when our love ones will pass away.
If I didn’t know better I thought I was in some Christian Conference! The values, theme and strategy they used are almost exactly identical with the Christian mentality.

Here are some other examples:

1. Network 21 (NW21) talks about sharing 1 (Amway) plan a day to one person.

(Wow! Can I even share the Good News to one person a day? This is better than XEE and Alpha Course put together!)

2. NW21 tells its members to share this wonderful system (which they have discovered) to their love ones so that they can help their love ones too!

(That sounds like U must share Jesus to those you love so that they can go to Heaven)

3. NW21 talks about changing your mindset and the need for your brain to unlearn and relearn things.

(The Bible in Romans talks about renewing your mind too!!)

Perhaps the most telling similarities was the quote I got from the NW21 speaker. She said that “The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is the courage to change.”

When I got to my family camp I realize that my Camp Theme was “FREE!” (Freedom). Wow what a coincidence! Not only was the theme similar, but both the Church Camp and Network 21 speakers had a lot of similarities in their talks!!!

Now my camp speaker is a real special person from Vietnam! His name is Dr. Paul Ai. He was a former Buddhist monk turn witch doctor, turn Missionary! He has tattoo all over his body because he had attain the highest rank for witch doctor in Vietnam! He has got to be one of the most interesting person I have ever met! His faith in God is incredible and he comes across as a very humble person!(Check out his book! Incredible stories of faith!)

Paul I talk about financial freedom as well but the difference is the system. Network 21 is base on work. I.e. being discipline, setting goals, strategy and targets. However Paul I talks about faith in God and challenge us to ask about our “treasure’ (there our heart will be also).

The NW21 speaker showed us countless slides of her many travels around the world on holidays and Amway conference (and tells us how success in Amway can leads to these rewards). In camp Paul I too showed us many pictures of his travels around the world. Only that his travels were for mission work and Christian conferences and not for holiday! But both said that what they do does not feel like work to them! So what is my decision!?! I believe this is not a coincidence that I went for both events on the same week. I believe that God is showing me something! What is He showing me?!? I am not sure! However my decision for now is that it doesn't have to be either God's way or Amway. You can do both! In fact I hope this Amway may open doors to share the Gospel with other people! Already I have shared with my upline in Network21.

So I have join Amway/Network 21 because they do have very good products which I have been using since I was young and their system is a good one.

But this will not be my priority!

If God used NW21 to bless me and my family, then so be it! But my trust is in God (to provide all my needs). My investment in time and money goes to God first. Ever since I made the step of faith to come to KL to take the job in Methodist College Kuala Lumpur , He has provided all my needs and more! I can testify to His faithfulness, His generosity and His blessings!!!

I know if I seek first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness, all these things will be added to me. For my God will provide for all my needs according to His riches and glory! My heart only needs to belong to Him!

Thus I will commit my NW21 business to God and not worry about it!
And speaking of His goodness I have a testimony to share! On that Sunday I was suppose to leave for camp, I skip church to play futsal! (Yes I know! I can hear the gasp!! Oh the sinner that I am!)

Well serve me right! I got a very back knock on my big left toe. This is the toe that I broke before and have goult! Well it was bruisng very badly and went to camp all bandage and limping. But the next night during Dr Paul Ai talk, I went up for prayer and asked God for healing. Went I got back to my sit I decided to take a look at my toe. I was amaze! The brusing was nearly gone! Brusing like this usually takes a couple of weeks to heal! But this took less than 48hours! I showed my wife to see if I was imagining it and she was amazed too! This is the first time I have experience immidiate healing like this. Praise God! All honour and glory belong to Him who sits upon the throne!

I must thank Dr Paul Ai for teaching me how to pray with authority and believe! According to him, just read the Bible and shake your head and say Yes! God! Hahahahaha!!

Najib needs to be schooled in his own 1 Malaysia concept!

I seldom write on my blog now with regards to politics but recently what Najib and Chua Soi Lek said with regards to the Malaysian Chinese community really piss me off! So this is my reply to their threat!

Malaysiakini reported on the 30 of April that Najib said (with regards to the Chinese Community supporting the opposition)

"They have to choose. If they want the opposition, they must sacrifice the party in government. If they want a bigger say to serve their interests, they have to support a Barisan Nasional component party," he told reporters here after opening Pangsapuri Rakyat on Duyong island in Kuala Terengganu.

(You can also read it here in Malaysian Insider, which is free)

This is such a disappointing statement coming from the Prime Minister who supposedly came up with the 1 Malaysia concept. I would expect such a statement to come from an uneducated, immature and racist person but certainly not from Najib.

A mature & wise government will choose their Ministers and leaders based on their capabilities and their character. They should not select their leaders based on their race, or religion.

A truly 1 Malaysia Government would have Ministers and leaders who will look out for the interests of all race regardless of their background , race or religion!

If the leader in BN government truly practise looking out for the interest of all races regardless of their own background, then it really does not matter how many Chinese, Indian, or Malay are in Ministerial position right?

Sadly it is clear (through Najib’s own statement) that that he does not understand his own 1 Malaysia concept. It is actually not that surprising lah! Any Malaysian worth his salt knows that most BN leaders do not have the capability or mentality to take care of anybody else apart from their own kind! (not necessarily their own race either)

(An example of this is what MIC leaders said here)

But why must Chinese only take care of Chinese or Malay takes care of Malay and Indian takes care of Indian only?? Is this the true 1 Malaysia way?? Speaking as a Malaysian Chinese, I rather have good God fearing Malay to represent my interest than to have a crooked MCA Chinese representing me! I am sure that any honest Malaysian Malay would also rather have a God fearing sincere Chinese to represent them than to have a greedy UMNO Putra representative to look out for their needs!

What is important is to have qualified, capable, honest and sincere hearted leaders in the Cabinet and not be bothered by which raced, religion or colour of his skin!

Unfortunately most Malaysian knows that this is not BN’s mentality or practice. We all know that certain Government positions are reserved exclusively to certain political parties only! These people are appointed to their position because of their race and political party and not due to their performance, credential or capability. And this has made the KPI initiated by Najib a real big joke!

To prove this point, you only need to ask, has anyone outside UMNO been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Home Minister, Defence Minister or even Education Minister in the last 30 years?

Is BN telling us that there were no leaders from all the other BN component parties (outside UMNO) capable of taking up these positions in the last 30 years? Of course this is not true. Most Malaysian knows that BN leaders choose their leaders based on their raced and political affiliation. It is a pity because that means that even if there is a brilliant Malaysian Indian Economist in MIC, that guy would never be considered for the Finance Minister’s post just because he was not from UMNO! So much for the 1 Malaysia concept!

Sadly this unhealthy culture has been passed down to the government officers and government servants as well. These have been one of the main contributing factors to the country’s brain drain!

I am sure most of us can sympathise with a person frustration when they see their colleagues who are less capable, less competent and less hard-working then them, getting a promotion to become their boss just because he/she is from a particular race or political party. Thus it is not surprising that most Malaysian don’t get the 1Malaysia concept. Maybe Najib and gang should learn and practise their own 1 Malaysia concept first before trying to teach it to the rest of Malaysia.

Najib’s statement came out in response to MCA President’s (Chua Soi Lek) recent statement who stressed that if MCA was unable to gain support from the Chinese community, then the party will reject any federal, state and local government posts.

(You can read more of that here)

Firstly he is simply quite arrogant to assume that MCA is the sole representative of the Chinese community!

Secondly he assumes that the Chinese community will want Chinese representative in the government just for the sake of having a Chinese representative. The Chinese community in Malaysia is mature enough to look vote in capable, honest, God fearing leaders who are qualified instead of voting in a Chinese rep base solely on his race! Someone should teach MCA to win their own election based on their own merits instead of hoping on UMNO for a free ride!

Instead of just threatening the Chinese community with lack of representation, Najib and MCA should find out the real issues why the Chinese Community are staying away from BN leaders and how they can work to win their confidence again! MCA should work for their votes instead of issuing empty threats that don’t work well with the younger Chinese generation!

In any case it make no difference to the Chinese community anymore if MCA has any representative in the government as the Chinese community have already given up on any real representation by the voiceless, powerless, rubber-stamping puppets from MCA!

Finally most Malaysian do not believe for a second that MCA would reject all Ministerial, federal, state and local government position even if they lost all their seats because they can afford to lose their only strategic strength (money and power) in politics. Most Malaysian know that MCA will not have the strength and character to reject the post as they will be too greedy to reject the government’s position offered to them. Thus all Malaysian Chinese must call Najib and Chua Soi Lek bluff and see if they will really do what they says in the next general election! I am not a betting man but on this I will bet that they will not carry out these empty threats!

One final note as a Malaysian Chinese (of voting age) in response to Najib and Chua Soi Lek’s threat! You can take your government position and representation and shove it up ******!!!!