Vindicated

“In this day of search engines, ubiquitous physical and virtual encyclopedias, and increasingly powerful handheld computers, nearly all required and desired information can be retrieved almost instantaneously. Just as the book made photographic memory a luxury, current computers render forced memorization even less important. And if one believes that it is desirable for individuals to memorize speeches or poems or melodies, such an exercise should be done for its own sake (“it’s beautiful, it’s satisfying”), and not for the will-o’-the-wisp goal of improving general mnemonic capacity” – quoted from a book by Howard Gardner

A simple paragraph like this goes a long way in explaining why I rebelled against my parents, teachers, classmates and the national education system and decided to detach myself from all the things that they do and teach at school. All they teach is memorization and how to ace exams anyways.

So when I decided I will not memorize, will not do good for nothing school homework, and will take my education on my own hands, people think I am destroying my own life and chose to become dumb. And now reading Gardner I wonder who the dumb ones were.

A Jazzy Affair

What converged today was fun, excitement, inspiration, and all that jazz.

After a prolonged wait and a series of negotiation with the parents who lamented my uncontrolled expenditure to learn music, coupled with some minutes counting, my earnest dream of an apprenticeship under a famous jazz pianist finally turned reality today.

Jazz is a genre like no other, a genre soothing enough to mend broken hearts and bring serenity to life, a genre free enough to allow its players to play whatever they feel without having to adhere to the complex rules of theory of music, the genre that has the groove that makes you wanna snap your finger at the 2nd and 4th beat. Undoubtedly, my favourite genre of all time.

My fantasy of course, is to be able to play my favourite jazz tune of all time, “Autumn Leaves” as good as, if not better than jazz pianist Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson in one-months time. Absolutely unrealistic, which is really why I am starting my apprenticeship now albeit I am really really busy recently.

Meeting Mr Alex Tan was really exciting. He studied at Monash University. That was what he claimed at first. Some time later, I asked him where he studied (again), and he replied ICOM (International College of Music), which makes things contradictory. But no big deal though.

And so, he started the interrogation part, asking me on my music background. Before I knew it, I started telling him lots of stuffs, digressing in between, asking lots of questions, and so on. After completing the very first lesson, there is a sense of guilt of talking too much, much more that the teacher.

Amid the uncontrolled babbling, I accidentally (actually, intentionally) leaked out the fact that “Autumn Leaves” is my favourite song (in hope that he will teach me how to play it). I was then asked to play it on the piano for him to do some assessment on what kind of jazz level I belonged to at the moment. I played a little, but wasn’t remarkable. Partially due to some reservations on what it could mean if he discovered that I play with the wrong self-learn jazz technique all the while, partially due to my paucity of predilection for the piano I am playing on, which is really deep in its tone intrinsically, which in turn makes it difficult to fully gain control of the dynamics of the song that I was playing. It sounds more like I am trying to find some justifiable excuses to downplay my mediocre jazz improvisation techniques, pretty much like what the fox would say in the sour grape story.

Next comes test number 2. I was asked to play a set of chord progressions spontaneously, and the chords are not written in a notation form, but in the form of Roman letters, like F maj 7, etc. Here comes by biggest blow. I have not learn anything about these Roman letters and how they should play. So in this situation, like any other amateur pianist, I found myself cruising through the chord progressions with sweaty palms and forehead, like cruising through an ocean of starving sharks. Even now when I am writing this down, I still dread thinking how I did at that time.

Next, he opened up his book of probably 300 pages thick. And miraculously he flipped open the page that contains the song “Autumn Leaves”. (Insert the jazzy tune of sheer excitement). And of course, the whole aim of bring up the “Autumn Leaves” issue had accomplished. There was even an assurance that this song will be the first song that he will teach me.

That was also the first encounter I had with a real Jazz music score. What was unexpected was the simplicity of the score. The notes are written at its basic/core form, together with some chords written in the form of Roman letters, which explained why he tested me on that earlier. The idea is to create a whole new realm of ample freedom. What the jazz pianist will do is the improvisation, that adds more colours and energy into a simple dull piece of music using their creativity.

Finally, he gave me some “homework” where I have to play all major scales with the 7th note, together with the multiple inversion scales practice. I have always expect scales to be part of Jazz, especially improvisation. The intriguing thing is that he took 6 months to master all skills, apparently, which corroborates the fact that my unrealistic fantasy of playing “Autumn Leaves” in a month’s time is truly,well, unrealistic.

In the meantime, I shall practice hard and surprise him further. Playing in one-month’s time might be unrealistic, but at least with practice I am able to go closer to reality in a shorter period of time.

For now, the whole jazzy affair is all about jazz scales, really tedious jazz scales.

But the long-term result will be astonishing, I hope.

The Art of Being a Pianist, A Real One.

For more than 15 years of piano playing, passing grades one after another, being able to increase the velocity of scales over that period of time from Moderato to Vivace, diversifying the type of music played from simple Sonatina to Schubert, from easy Impromptus to exquisitely-craft Waltzes by Chopin, and more significantly, from an amateur pianist who was being forced to practice playing that Yamaha upright to someone who practices almost everyday till the person who used to force me to do so, gets irritated.

And I thought I know all about music.

Moving forward, I am going for a piano competition where I am competing in the post-grade 8 category, which ultimately means I am competing with music teachers, professional pianist, and other people who will arguably bring world peace in just a 13 note scale or a simple rendition of “Marry had a little lamb” that they slide across on a 10 feet concert grand piano. This would also mean that if I were to earn respect from these people and show them that I am worth competing with, I should practice tenacity of greater magnitude.

What I overlooked, was the essence of playing a piano in a live setting.

I did know how a live piano performance is different from plugging in a earphone to a music player and press the “Play” button. The difference is not just in terms of the audio experience, but also the visual experience that makes a live performance so unique, that keeps the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra so appealing despite performing songs that are easily available at the typing of a few letters and a click at your P2P software and also some waiting time (depending on the efficiency and quality of your internet service provider).

But what I know haven’t been well-defined until recently – when I am preparing to put on a live piano performance myself. I know why I chose to go for a live performance in lieu of buying a CD and listen to it over and over again. I still have to learn a lot when it comes to having to put forward a unique experience to my audiences so that what they felt would be what I felt when I watch performances from the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and the like.

According to my piano teacher, a good live piano performer has the ability to do the following 3 things. First, excellent notation and techniques. Secondly, the ability to adapt to the different instrumental setting, as in the piano. Last but never the least, the ability to communicate with the audiences visually – body language.

Excellent notation and techniques comes with practice, lots of them. It basically mean not playing the wrong note, or at the very least, not playing a glaring mistake that will become a “ear sore” and raise eyebrow. It basically means playing well shaped melody line, well articulated notes, together with sheer clarity. It entails being able to play like a recording artist – the audio effect.

The ability to adapt to different kinds of instrumental setting means being able to play well in just all kinds of piano. Pianos vary in terms of sound quality, touching, intensity of sound, sustainability of notes, natural dynamics (as in loud or soft) and so on. Most live performance like a competition will not allow the applicants to try playing on the piano that will be used for the competition. Perhaps once or twice for rehearsal purposes, but it will not be the piano that you can practice playing on. Hence the piano that you practice playing on (i.e. your home piano) and the piano for the live performance will be two different pianos, which means they have different natural dynamics, touching, and sound quality. The ability to play well on just any piano and the skills to adapt in terms of touching and force applied, suddenly become one of the factors that make a great pianist.

Last but not the least, body language is the main thing that sets a CD and a live performance apart. Your posture, fingers’ movement, breathing, body movement, and so on, will all go to the attention of the audiences. It is a form of communication in a live performance. You can show plenty with your body movements. You can show intensity, climax, resolution, mood, dynamics and a lot more using body language. As of this point, I was suddenly reminded of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra’s tagline that goes about few seasons back – Hear, and you will see.

The idea is that the music, together with the body language of the performer, has the ability to ignite imagination in the audiences, which leads them to define a musical experience that involves all senses – sight, sound, etc – , of their own.

For now, the Waltz 14 in E minor by Chopin still has a lot of notation to improve on. Touchings have to be refined further, notes have to be more precise with little margin for error, and phrasing has to be well conveyed. That’s the hearing part.

Upon completion of the hearing part, there will be a need to work on the seeing part, so that you can hear, and will also see.

Time to practice that super fast running notes on bars 33 to 40.

In Defense of the Academically Marginalized

Just yesterday there is this education issue that comes to my mind, sparked by a conversation between my mum and dad at the dining table. My dad (he is a professor at Universiti Malaya) went for an invigilation earlier as an assignment given by his superior to observe how students are being taught in the “last” few classes, “last” being those classes which consists of students who are considered academically inferior in the system.

When he came home, all he bragged about was how terrible the students were, going in and out of the classroom without the teacher’s permission, and how the teacher did not even bother to rectify things and control the situation.

As my dad continues to make fun of these students, my mum, who is a teacher (part of the system), joined him later, as if they were talking about the clowns in a circus.

I didn’t feel good; I was convulsed with that oh-so-familiar rage. Pushing the rewind button, I recalled that I was once an “atrocious” student in the system; I was a deliberate-rebel of the system. I remembered how disappointed I was not being able to take part in a Physics rocket making project just because I did not manifest great grades. I know how it felt like having the desire to move forward and not being able to do so. I simply know how it feels to be considered academically inferior.

I know why we can’t function well, and continue to not function well. We are being segregated.

The educators are doing a fine job, only to those considered “smart”. “Smart” students and “good classes” receive the most attention in school, receive most resources in schools, and have more privilege to participate in all forms of activities to improve themselves. On the other hand those in the “weak classes” are being segregated, and lessons are being taught without any effort to generate improvements from these students. Some “educators” like my parents even make a fool out of them.

To paraphrase the famous adage of “the rich get richer and the poor become poorer”, in the Malaysian education system, the “good” students are better off whilst the “not-so-good” students become worse.

The point I am trying to put forward is that in most education-related publication, there is little effort to bring out the voices from the most important component of an education system – the students. More so from students considered to be academically inferior. It was as if they were such a disgrace to the system that they deserve to be completely isolated from it.

Doctorjob, for instance features articles on course selections, career choices, etc. These might be relevant to those academically superior, but the “other group” has absolutely no reason to read these items. And it is not because they do not care about their future, but because they are not being exposed to a true and complete academic process, which subsequently keeps their passion and true interest hidden and undiscovered. Some internal education fairs in my previous schools are only available to an exclusive group of people (read: those who presumably will go on to higher education and those who are perceived to have sustained interest in studying)

The Star Education, arguably the education publication of the country, meanwhile, focuses more on what the decision makers have to say, as well as some campus insights and school happenings, and never really dissects what really happen in government schools. Perhaps there are a couple or two special reports on these segregated students once in a blue moon, but as far as I am concerned, this group of people is the one that will contribute to the unemployment figures annually, the very group that deserves more attention from the media.

Is it OxBridge, or is it Camford?

My college has gotten a little cooler recently (that’s Sunway University College).

Just last Saturday, we have an Oxbridge (or Camford) event going on in college. And I was showered with serendipity to discover some volunteer jobs for this event. Students from high schools across Malaysia congregated in college once again, like how merchants from all corners of the globe converged in Malacca in the 15th century.

The OxBridge event, as you would have known from the word “OxBridge”, is all about the two most proverbial elite universities in the United Kingdom – Oxford University and Cambridge University, albeit you would want to call it CamFord if you are from Cambridge and/or uses the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

The event is organized by the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Malaysia, and as its name suggested, it is an alumni association of sort, for ex-graduates of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Intriguingly, the president of the OxBridge Society of Malaysia is Ms Elizabeth Lee, who is also the Executive Director of Sunway University College, which explains why SyUC has the privilege to host this event.

The event comprises 4 sections, with the first one being an Essay Writing Competition for high school kids, and then there are two workshops: writing and speaking skills, and of course, a campus tour, and finally there is an OXBRIDGE ADMISSION TALK! (in fact this is the only reason I volunteered).

So for the first two events, I was in charge of bringing these group of 30 odd students from SMK Seri Bintang Selatan around the campus. I really enjoyed bringing high school kids around my campus, especially bringing them to the library and the School of Hospitality,Tourism and Leisure Management (SHTLM) floor. You see, our library is *arguably* the biggest among all private colleges in Klang Valley, and in the SHTLM, there is a hotel room, a cafe, and a fine dining restaurant, which I thought was really cool. So, there are actually quite a lot to brag about.

I enjoyed the speaking workshop and the writing workshops. The first was conducted by a famous thespian who actually starred in “Entrapment” (famously known as the movie filmed in the Petronas Twin Towers) along with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. He started his speaking skills workshop with a “song” from My Fair Lady or Pygmalion, and throughout his workshop, I can see that he is indeed a proficient speaker by virtue of being able to secure the interest of the students seated in front of him.

What turned me on, was the writing skills workshop. It was conducted by Mr Mark Disney, an Oxford grad and a British national who now lives in KL and has a Malaysian PR. He founded and owns the Education Quarterly magazine, and he writes extensively on freedom of press, and education system in Malaysia. Not to mention he is extremely vocal about the conduct of western media organizations like the BBC and the CNN.

The writing tips was fairly uninteresting to me, because it was not meant for me after all. And Mr Disney, as a person of burning passion in media and education (just like me!!) constantly digressed to talk about these issues in the midst of his presentation, which I thought was so darn cool. He aptly illustrates the difference and discrepancy of editorial directions of the NST and the Sun, on the human trafficking issue. NST, which is government owned, ran articles on the Malaysian government criticizing the US for ranking her unfavorably in the rankings, while on the very same day, the Sun (which is not owned by government) ran an article about the Malaysia’s unfavorable position in that ranking. In short, the former was a little more of a subjective account of the issue, while the latter was an objective account of the very same issue.

So why the discrepancy in a same issue? Blame it on government’s ownership.

Some issues pertaining to education system raise by Mr Disney resonated so powerfully with me. He touched on several key issues in education, like how the entire flawed system suppresses creativity and innovation, among others.

And being a person who wants to connect with others who think alike, I immediately knew I have to talk to this person. Alas, he left the hall immediately, and my effort was in vain.

Anyhow, no big deal. I managed to find his email address (the world is shrinking, don’t you think so), and emailed him.

The final part was the admission talk. There are two surprises here. First, OxBridge Society of Malaysia managed to get Mr Tony Pua to the hall. And I was like, wow. I longed to meet Mr Tony ever since I came to know the Education Malaysia blog, which he co-authored.

He represented Oxford University and touched on a variety of topics. As underwhelmed the topic might sound (because I’ve heard things like this many times), the very thing that caught me was a sentence out of his own mouth, ” You don’t judge whether you’re good enough or not; you apply and let the university judge you. “, referring to Malaysian students’ reluctance to even submit the application due to the lack of confidence. This is one phrase that I will always remember.

Other than that, he showed quite a lot of pictures. And wow, the campus is really beautiful. Like what I told Hao-Wei, these buildings resemble the castles in fairy tales we read when we were younger, and that I will cry if I am physically there.

Next it is a Cambridge University representative, Mr Alen. It is indeed unfortunate that he did not have the time to complete his presentation due to time constraint. The agenda has to cease to make way for the arrival of a Queen Elizabeth like British lady, whose identity still remain a mystery.

Surprise number two came when I found out that the admission rate for both OxBridge is rather high, as high as 20%, that’s 1 out of 5, compared to an admission rate of only 10% for most elite US schools.

As trite as it might be, it is an exciting and fulfilling day, and I managed to make contact with Mr Mark Disney and Mr Tony Pua.

A Week of Valedictory Encounters (PART 1)

First, it is Physics teacher Mr Anton Gillich.

Then it is a close friend from Iran, Armin.

Now, it is program director/principal a.k.a First Lady Dr. Rosemary Gannon.

And these valedictory encounters happened all within this week.

To begin with, Mr Gillich is leaving for Canada, for he misses home. Jeez, I hate to admit this, but I think I had teary eyes when he made his valedictory speech in class during the last day of the semester.

Thankfully, I did not shed any tears, for I found comfort by telling him how I felt throughout the semester in his Physics class by penning a thank-you letter to him, just before the class ended.

Mr Gillich is a really capricious person. He could be affable today, and could be aloof and obstinate on another day. Also, he could act like a normal layperson today, and turn unorthodox the next day.

Throughout the semester, I thoroughly enjoyed his presence in school. He is witty, funny, and makes Physics less boring, really. Despite swearing occasionally in class (which tends to invite gales of laughter from my classmates and I), his humour is arguably what I will miss most throughout his absence for the next few months. Some of his words that I still remembered vividly was: “For fun and profit, let’s do some problems” (still wondering what “fun and profit” means), and he even used the word “duh” in class.

What I liked about him, however, is that he never failed to explain a topic more explicitly when I (and we) needed explanations. He believes that we all should understand things, not memorize them, which is so freakin‘ felicitously in-line with my article of faith. He even went on to encourage us to ask questions. He firmly believes that learners learn best by asking questions. So, the Physics class will constantly digressed into something else, even something that is not from the text book, which only makes our learning experience more colourful and vibrant.

The explanation part was even more engaging. He actually took the initiative to draw pictures and diagrams on the whiteboard to aid our comprehension (though I must say there is definitely room for improvement in the drawing part). And in the event someone else does not understand, he will not hesitate to explain for the second time, or even the third. Ergo, I think he is being really dedicated to his profession by virtue of such academic experience that he has given me.

(and the dedication showed by Malaysian teachers pales in comparison, I shall add)

Besides hard-core Physics, I also learnt my lesson of respecting other’s intellectual property (albeit the very very hard way) through Mr Gillich. The thing is, I had a big round zero for my very first lab report, for committing the crime called plagiarism.

Pardon my expression, but I must say I despised him for this at one time. Now, thank God I was caught plagiarising in high school, and not in university. I will never cite sources the same way again.

I met him for the very last time today.

“Aaron, thanks for your lovely letter,” was all he said.

At the end of the graduation ceremony, we shook, for one very last time.

That, reignited the divine connection between me and a teacher, a feeling I longed for in the past few years.

And that poignancy will haunt me for the rest of my life.

MIT Admission Talk

It is conclusively not an everyday thing for a layperson like me to have the opportunity to meet alumni of one of the top universities in the world, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

MIT definitely needs no introduction (although some people who previously must have lived in caves popped out this very oblivious question of “What is MIT?” and had me laughing from the inside and chirpily replying “Malaysia Institute of Technology”.) . Consistently ranked among the top universities in the world along with Harvard University and Stanford University, MIT managed to find itself a niche in various scientific and technology disciplines (as its name suggested), though it fared well in other disciplines too.

A quick check on Google Earth tells me that MIT is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Now, the trivia. It is actually a stone throw away from Harvard University, and they both are located at the bank of the same river.

On 14 April 2007, I was privileged enough to witness and experience myself an inspiring event, organized by the MIT Alumni Association of Malaysia. The association held a talk to enlighten or encourage those who plan to enroll in MIT either in 2008 or 2009. To my recollection, there weren’t any event like this last year, or I could be wrong (I used to be quite ignorant). This year, they were extremely proud to present to us an admission talk featuring a panel of distinguished speakers who were once MIT students (now MIT alumni), probably because of the encouraging number of Malaysians successfully gaining admission into MIT for fall 2007.

There are FIVE Malaysians who were selected to enroll in class 2011, the highest number of prospective students from the Bolehland in recent times. In the past, there was only one or two achieving such a feat. The association hopes to see more prospective students from Malaysia – as there have been rivalries between Malaysia and Singapore on the number of Ivy-League bound students; hence the admission talk.

The talk was divided into 3 parts. The first part was an introduction and overview of what MIT is (which I believe is utterly redundant, though some things are definitely nice to know), the second part was centered around the very crucial question of what MIT is looking for in a prospective student. The final part was to explore the application process (e.g. what needs to be included in personal statements, etc.)

The first speaker was very articulate, looking very professional, whose eloquence played a very inspiring role, I thought. His name is Prem (or something that sounded like this word). He gave us an insight on what MIT is all about, touching on a range of subjects and information, including notable MIT alumnus, important MIT inventions, and the UROP program.

Some of the most notable MIT alumni are former Secretary General of the United Nation Kofi Annan, while the most interesting MIT invention ( I thought) was the Campbell soup (The irony of it is that such not-so-technologically-demanding product is able to call MIT its birthplace). Sir Tim Bernes-Lee, frequently known as the inventor of World Wide Web, founded W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) in MIT, an organization working to develop standards for the World Wide Web.

I find the UROP program very attractive and noteworthy. UROP stands for Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. As its name suggested, it is a program to enable students to obtain funding to conduct research on their own at UNDERGRADUATE level, a rarity in universities around the world. Research in graduate and post-graduate is common, but not at undergraduate level. Only top schools with huge endowment and with a plethora of funding available to them at their disposal are capable of providing that kind of opportunities to students. Interestingly, MIT has been conducting such program from as early as 1969 (the year when Malaysia was busy attending to racial violence and issues). It was founded based on MIT’s philosophy of “learning by doing”.

The next part interest most people and I supposed that was precisely why we’re there. Another speaker took the floor to address the crucial question of what MIT is looking for. Firstly, it is your academic qualification (like duh, it is MIT…). 48% of freshmen who were admitted are the top 10% of their class (wait, not really sure about this, is it top 1% or 10 %?). Of course, SATs have to be like super high, as close to 800-800-800 as possible.

Nevertheless, these academic figures are just a small fraction of a big picture. And of course, what would an American education be without extra curricular activities. 75% of freshmen were club president in their high school senior year, according to statistics by MIT.

They are also looking for passionate people; people who had actually bring their passion to a higher level, like emerging champion in the whole country, representing the nation, etc, etc. I personally called this “demonstrated passion”. They also want to see students who actually took initiatives to get things done, overcome adversities and challenges to attain goals. Wow, seemed like a daunting task ahead!

The last part of the talk explores the application process. The speaker first recommends all interested applicants to build up their resume. From course selection and SAT, from ECA to community services, they all take time to build up. Next, applicants should know their referee for the recommendation letter well, and vice versa. Not really surprising, as referee are important people in giving important insight into an individual.

With that, I left the place, planning and thinking of what to do next as soon as I get home. Time must be used efficiently from now on, for there are plenty to do for the next 12 months.

SPM: Does it matter?

As much as I dreaded it, the second hand on the clock will never stop ticking away or dwindle in velocity. The time has come for the result of the SPM examination to dominate the headlines of mainstream media, at least for the very day of 12^th of March 2007.

The sensation has been felt for the past few days.

Unzipping the small little eyes and waking up in response to the powerful rays of sunlight, peeping into the wardrobe contemplating the outfit-for-the-day, starring at the mirror looking at the brand new just-wake-up hairdo, stripping and showering while holding the old toothbrush and squeezing the toothpaste from the middle of the tube J, dressing up and gathering all the books on the must-bring-to-college list, doing revision for mathematics, walking back to the same class every single day, hanging out at the library at college checking out new arrivals, developing a predilection for books with attractive covers (judging the book by its cover), having lunch breaks, staying back for extra co-curricular activities, read news from independent media like Malaysiakini and International Herald Tribune, random perusal of the huge collection of world wide webs, doing official SAT question for the day from College Board, and finally, sleep – and I shall call it a typical day.

Not anymore.

Today, it was filled with anxiety, perturbation, and nervousness. The number of As I foresee myself obtaining appeared to be the center of preoccupation. Is it going to be 9As? Or is it going to be only 5As?

Why is it that I suddenly am so darn obsessed with As, just because my name starts with quite a number of As? Am I afraid what others might think? Am I obsessed with fame so that I can proudly tell the others that I have hell loads of As?

I think so. At some point of my life these days, I wished I have loads of As.

But why? Why the anxiety, perturbation and nervousness?

After all, the person who believes that we all do not need to excel in school to excel in life, who detest all matters or stuffs pertaining to the Malaysian education system and is not willing to give a damn on the standardize test of that what-I-call flawed education system (as a matter of, well, “principle”), and who thinks SPM shouldn’t exist after all, is none other than the person typing this a.k.a. me a.k.a. Aaron Lo.

I love the way the world works.

And the world works fairly, I believe. Thus, it is only fair that my result will commensurate with the effort that I put in. And with the so call “principle” illustrated just now (that has ultimately caused the lack of effort put in), the result should be pretty atrocious, I mused.

And that is what bothering me now!

I wondered why I was not willing to put the “principle” aside, focusing on the short term, concentrating on SPM at the expense of my “principle”. I wondered why I refuse to give up believing what I believe. I wondered…

Uh oh. Don’t tell me the very same guy who has big dream, who is determined to make change to the society, and who will probably need to make lots of right decision in near future, has made a wrong decision?

I submerged in my own thoughts, having several consulting sessions with my very own conscience.

But then, I was reminded about the many things that I’ve done at the expense of my studies. Join and win competitions, held many leadership and managerial positions, developed linguistic skills (I think), developed animosity for government related stuffs (which made me really proud of myself), and etc.

I’ve learnt diligence, perseverance, leadership skills, basic management, communication skills, analytical thinking, critical thinking, creativity/innovation, persuasive skills, and all other skills mentioned in a book about Neuro Linguistic Programming or Emotional Intelligence.

As I mentioned earlier, these skills were developed at the expense of my academic stint in high school. It seemed like it is a Catch 22 situation, and that I have to choose between possessing these skills and having an admirable high school transcript.

Of course, I chose the road not taken by many. I chose the former, abandoning the latter.

What relieved me from the predicament of having to blame myself for the lack of effort put in is the fact that I can only choose one of them. I am glad that I chose the former.

Perhaps you think that I could well be an all rounder, developing these skills while having straight As on the report card. I am sorry, but I am no child prodigy, no genius, no Einstein – that’s just not the way I function.

I am glad, because these skills proved to be very very useful, in college life. Absolutely no regret.

And hey, maybe I did not make a wrong decision after all. Maybe I shouldn’t feel the anxiety after all!!

The SPM result will be out in less than 12 hours from now. Whatever is it, I really do not need a SPM transcript for my university application. All I need is an Ontario Secondary School Diploma transcript. And now, I feel more secure with all the skills equipped with me.

Seriously, does SPM matter?

"S" for Science and Superiority complex?

A recent Star Education article revealed that Science subjects are by far the favourite of post-PMR students in Malaysian school. Subsequently, I wrote an article to the editor of The Star. Here is the article which appeared in Star Education on 28th of January 2007.

——————–

I recently had a talk with a friend of mine who was undecided about which stream to enter, thus your article “Science wins hands down” (StarEducation, Jan 14) caught my eyes.

I am of the opinion that the Government’s target of a 60:40 (science:arts) ratio reflects a biased stand. The Government places too much emphasis on science and technology. The role of economists, artists and musicians has not been as well acknowledged as the role of scientists in nation building.

According to the Gunn Report last year, Malaysia is the 16th most awarded advertising market in the world. Unfortunately, the Government shows little interest in further developing the advertising industry. Most people seem to be oblivious to the fact that advertising is the key to success in commercial activities because without advertising, products won’t sell.

Instead, the Government has embarked on several science-related projects, with the Multimedia Super Corridor taking centre stage. More recently, there’s Biotech Corp.

The Vision 2020 blueprint explicitly outlined the Government’s plan to establish a “scientific” and progressive society. The word “art” did not appear at all.

In the article “Science wins hands down”, school principal Hasnah Hamid was quoted as saying students need to possess at least 5As in the PMR to enter the science stream.

Another principal Mary Wong stated that students must score at least 2As to be in the science stream. Students who do not meet the entry requirements but insist on taking up science are given three months to try things out, after which they are assessed and asked to switch to the arts if they cannot cope.

The message is clear – only the brightest can enter the science stream. This form of academic discrimination has caused the emergence of an identity associated with streams. For instance, the science stream is associated with bright and hard-working students whilst the arts is considered inferior.

I scored eight As in my PMR three years ago, and was streamed into the science class. My interests were not taken into account. I was pretty sure of my inclinations at that time. I enjoy Physics but my love for Economics and Principles of Accounts prevail over that for Science-based subjects. I was about to approach the teacher-in-charge to switch streams when I changed my mind.

Here’s why: If I were to join the Arts stream, I might be deprived of opportunities to get involved in dramas, competitions, etc. In my school, only the top classes get to be involved in such activities and these top classes are always science classes.

This is even so for the Star-NiE Campaign for Rewards competition. If I had been in the Arts stream, I would not have been in the team which emerged champion in the Upper Secondary category. My friends in the arts stream did not even know about the competition. As for science subjects training you to be analytical and diligent, I have had a Physics teacher tell me, “Tak faham tak apa, hafal sahaja.” (It’s OK if you don’t understand, just memorise it.)

Those were the teacher’s exact words. If that is the way to learn science, how is the analytical mind cultivated? This leads me to doubt whether being in the science stream has anything to do with being analytical, diligent and conscientious at all.

My suggestion is, let interest be the only factor in determining the choice of subjects. For this to happen, there must be a broad-based system of education.

I share the same sentiment as Taylor University College’s Anucia Jeganathan who said that more subjects should be offered to allow students to pursue subjects they enjoy.

This would also help to abolish the identity associated with each stream and provide equal educational opportunities without academic segregation taking place.

AARON LO
Via e-mail

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Differences between Canadian teachers and Malaysian teachers (PART 2)

This is the second part series of 10 differences between Canadian teachers and Malaysian teachers.

Difference #6 Malaysian: Everything is about exam; Canadian: Everything is all about learning, learning to survive in this competitive world.

Malaysian education hardly goes by daily without teachers mentioning the word “exam”. Yes, everything is about exam. The purpose of coming to school is to face examination. Other topics that interest you, but are not part of the examination, will be unfairly consigned to the what-I-call the irrelevant-bin. In a classroom conducted by Canadian teachers, there is absolutely no obsession with exams, although the students are subjected to a test at the end of the semester. It is all about learning, learning to survive in this world, and they definitely understood that learning is not at all for examination, and that learning does not stop after major and important examinations.

Difference #7 Malaysian: There is no such thing as after-class-guidance; Canadian: See me in my office after class, if you have any problems.

Malaysian teachers have to go straight home after school to manage their tuition centers, for instance. In fact, my personal observations showed that Malaysian teachers are not keen on providing help and aid to students after class. It shrieked “burden” to them, so darn piercing that it makes student like me felt utterly frustrated. Conversely, Canadian teachers are more committed and more willing to help you after class. And the best part of it is, even if you feel really sorry for taking the teacher’s time by giving him or her extra obligations, the teacher will immediately assure you that you are not causing any trouble at all. I was asking my English teacher Miss Elizabeth Ford to assess my rewritten essay the other day, as I did not obtain a desirable mark. I apologized continually thereafter for the extra work, and she was quick enough to give me a pleasant assurance that she is more than willing to reassess my work. And this really made a student like me feel a lot better.

Difference #8 Malaysian: Homework is a must; Canadian: Homework is sometimes optional, but if given, it will quality-focused than quantity-focused.

In Malaysian schools, hardly one day goes by without homework. In Canadian classroom, homework is substantially lesser, but it is always the quality of the work done that matters, never the quantity.

Difference #9 Malaysian: Speed is everything ; Canadian: Speed? Why the rush?

The mad rush to complete syllables in Malaysian schools is so pervasive, that nobody really cares if you understand a particular topic or you don’t. Speed is everything. The faster you learn, the better it is. On the contrary, the concept of learning by Canadian teachers is to learn at a slow pace, and the main aim is to make sure everybody is able to comprehend a particular topic.

Difference #10 Malaysian: They are only teachers; Canadian: They can be more than just a teacher to you.

When Canadian teachers are willing to talk about other academically-irrelevant stuffs with you, you can be sure that they are more than just teachers. Even an expository essay on persuading young people to vote, can be assessed and marked with personal comments and responses by the teacher (This teacher of mine has sheer interest in political science by the way). Personal problems can be a topic of discussion between teachers and students, too.

These differences can be extended to be the differences between Asian teachers and Western teachers. Want to further your education? I personally will go for western teachers. How about you?