YeinJee's Asian Journal

Malaysia universities have completely fallen out of the Top 200 Universities list from THES-QS World University Rankings in 2007. [Full list in PDF].

I never like the THES-QS ranking system which favoured universities with English Language as teaching medium. The top 16 universities are from English speaking countries; only 3 out of the top 25 are from non English speaking countries… and the fact that the top university in Germany (Heidelberg University) only ranks at 60th doesn’t give much credibility to the ranking.

Honestly, I don’t give a damn about how Malaysia universities are positioned in the list. That however doesn’t change the fact that our quality of higher education is in an embarrassing state. We don’t need a ranking to justify that; I graduated from UM 5 years ago, I know how bad we were… and the situation has probably worsen in the last few years.

Make no mistake, Malaysia has excellent talents. We have lots of Malaysians doing well in foreign universities; I have friends that didn’t perform well in SPM or STPM, but exiled in foreign universities… we have great potentials, and we are competitive. Those potentials are however wasted by our local universities… talents are being shaped into mediocre graduates, which is quite a shame.

I have written a post in August regarding the problems in our local universities in response to Badawi’s recent education plan; read it if interested.

Prime Minister and UMNO president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi opened the UMNO General Assembly on Wednesday (Nov 7) at the Putra World Trade Centre. The following is the full text of his opening address [TheStar]…

STRENGTHENING CONFIDENCE – VENTURING INTO A NEW ERA

Alhamdulillah, with God’s will, we are convene for the 58th UMNO General Assembly.

2. Our assembly this year takes place in the glow of the 50th Merdeka celebrations. This is also our first assembly for the next 50 years. Beginning the first national elections, UMNO, as part of the Alliance and subsequently Barisan Nasional, has formed the national government based on the principle of power sharing. It also spearheaded the drive towards independence.

3. The Malayan Government, considered to be lacking in experience, faced myriad challenges. Twelve years after independence, the nation was riven by racial riots that threatened its survival. Thanks to mutual understanding and a strong spirit of cooperation, we overcame this test. That dark time in our history became a valuable lesson that taught us the need to strengthen our unity.

4. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the Government introduced three major measures. First, the Rukun Negara was introduced as a national ideology to ensure national unity and safeguard the integrity of the nation. Second, the New Economic Policy was designed to develop our economy based on fair and equitable growth. Finally, the Barisan Nasional was introduced as an effective and inclusive political vehicle. The implementation of these three measures has brought success, guaranteed our survival and brought us the prosperity that we enjoy to this day.
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I have mentioned a few times that I am supportive of the NEP’s ideology, but not the implementation. Quite often we see that a few Malays are reaping the rewards while most of the others that really need NEP are neglected.

An article from AFP that shares similar point of view…

Nearly four decades of controversial positive-discrimination policies were supposed to lift Muslim Malays like fisherman Maskan Mohamad out of poverty.

But despite the programme, which has alienated the nation’s ethnic Chinese and Indian citizens, Maskan’s family have empty bellies and little hope as they struggle to survive on a handful of dollars a day.

“All I know is how to fish. My family are all fisherman and even my children are fishermen because we cannot hope for anything more,” says the 62-year-old, who earns about 400 ringgit a month (119 dollars).

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Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang will introduce an accountability index next year that awards star ratings to all ministries, state governments and statutory bodies for their management of public funds. [Malaysiakini]

Marks (and stars) will be given according to performance…

4 stars – Excellent (90% – 100%)
3 stars – Good (70% – 89%)
2 stars – Satisfactory (50% – 69%)
1 star – Not Satisfactory (49% and below)

The Auditor-General’s idea is quite a bold one, but what’s the point? What would happen if some influential leaders get a 1 star rating? Samy Vellu should be a hot favourite, but can the cabinet fire him? What if Badawi or Najib get a 1 star… what can be done?

(I am not too sure if the ministers themselves will be accessed, just my thoughts)

The ministries and various bodies are not stupid; they might be managed by some of the brightest people in the country… they know how to manage public funds, a bit too well perhaps. Most of the funds are not simply wasted; the money has to go somewhere, into some bank accounts. The question is… whose accounts has the money got into?

Whenever there is some scandalous stuff exposed, there will be criticisms here and there… vowing this, swearing that… but in the end, nothing happens. The money is gone like the Bermuda Triangle mystery, no people is penalized accordingly, and no solutions are provided for every cases.

It’s not about mismanagement of public funds, it’s about corruption… from top to bottom.

We need some drastic methods to fight against corruptions; the Auditor-General’s star rating is not going to work well. Besides, if Mr Ambrin Buang is to publish something that could really harm the government leaders, do you think he will be allowed to hold his current position for long?

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has revealed his “National Higher Education Strategic Plan Beyond 2020″ on Monday (August 27). His main 3 points are…

1. With immediate effect, greater autonomy for universities the chance to upgrade the institutions and source for funds for projects.

2. Introduction of Apex University – to be identified from the existing 23 public universities – would even be allowed to recruit their own faculty and students. Only the best students will be admitted into the apex universities.

3. Audit assessment committees, comprising experts, will be established to evaluate and rate academic achievements in higher institutions of learning.

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Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi is happily announcing one mega development project after another… the Iskandar Development Region (IDR), Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) and other billion Ringgit projects like Trans-Peninsular Oil Pipeline and all the railway projects etc.

It is easy to come out with a plan, but lots of questions remain uncertain… is it feasible to work on all those mega projects at the same time? Are Malaysians capable of funding the projects ourselves? How are we going to attract foreign investments? Who are going to benefit from the projects? What will happen to the projects if another economic crisis landed on Malaysia like in 1997?

Do we need these projects?

Perak government has spent millions if not billions to develop various industrial areas; most of those areas are close to being wasteland now. It is easy to draw planning and providing infrastructure, but what happen if we could not attract people to invest at those areas? And do we really need all these development?

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