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Annual event is here again!

May 24th, 2010
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The annual event is back! Ye folks, the annual begging appeal for PSD (JPA) scholarship and IPTA places session is on again. MCA and MIC have both set up helpline to ensure their relevantness. So, go ahead and contact them if you feel you have a valid reason to appeal.

This is what MCA says:

MCA Youth will collect the data of last year’s excellent SPM students who failed to get the Public Service Department scholarship.

Its chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said the list of successful applicants was out last Friday but not all excellent students were selected.

“For those who did not receive the scholarship, it must be understood that the number of scholarships are limited to only 1,500.

“All parties, especially parents must understand that not all of those who scored straight As are eligible for the scholarship,” he told reporters after chairing the Johor Baru MCA division meeting here Sunday.

Dr Wee, who is also Deputy Education Minister, said over 7,000 students scored straight As and of the number, about 200 obtained A+ for all subjects.

He said the youth wing would collect the data and analyse it within a week before discussing the matter with party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and other leaders.

“We will then talk to the department. We urge those who want to appeal for the scholarships to submit their details to the wing at youth@mca.org.my,” he said.

MIC says this:

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk S. K. Devamany has called on the prime minister to intervene in the selection for Public Service Department (PSD) overseas degree scholarship programme.

He said he had received complaints from many students that they were passed over for the scholarship despite achieving excellent results in last year’s SPM examination.

“The Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) must interven and give a solution to the unfair and discriminatory award of PSD selection of foreign degree scholarships,” he said in a statement Sunday.

Devamany also urged PSD to review the selection criteria of its scholarship award.

“The PSD has yet to fully understand the meaning of 1Malaysia which the Prime Minister has adopted as the slogan of his administration,” he said.

Devamany, who is also MIC vice-president, said the scholarship must be offered based on meritocracy and to underprivileged students who had achieved excellent academic results.

“This is the national direction. When excellent students who obtain straight As are denied scholarships despite fulfilling more than the minimum criteria, they become frustrated that their hard work and efforts were in vain,” he added.

He urged students who failed in their applications for the overseas scholarship programme to appeal to the PSD.

We been hearing this for last, what, 5 0r 10 years? Do they think we are dumb? Just publish (on website) all the recipients’ name, complete with the parents name, income range and occupation, SPM results, the marks obtained during interview, and the overalls marks that allowed them to get the scholarship. Is that so difficult? Is it a national security stuff? Every year also talk nonsense and waste our time. And this time, pull in 1Malaysia pulak lagi 🙂 Haiyoo..make me want to cry… Hello, for this thing all, no need slogans, just plain common sense will do.

This time, there’s a video by a student that didn’t get place in IPTA :

This girl says more than 90% of her schoolmates in MRSM got places in matriculation and/or IPTA, but she, being one of the top students in her school, didn’t get anything.

So, what’s going to happen? Someone will come as a knight in shining armor and give this girl a place in IPTA? After that, all of us supposed to “ooh” and “aaah” over such gracious acts? We must offer our thanks profusely and pledge eternal loyalty to some groups?? Go get a life.

Note: i’m kind of tired reading about MIC’s internal problem, so won’t be blogging about it any time soon.

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Avinaash the only Malaysian accepted into Harvard and MIT

May 7th, 2010
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From the Star:

AVINAASH Subramaniam is beaming with pride. He is the only Malaysian to have been accepted into Harvard University this autumn. This is not all — he has also managed to earn a place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both among the best universities in the United States (US).

However, the former SMK Damanasara Jaya student who is presently pursuing his A-Level studies at Help University College, is in a tough spot as he still cannot make up his mind on the university he wants to go to.

Avinaash has been awarded a full scholarship at Harvard University, and has until tomorrow to decide if he would prefer to do his undergraduate studies there.

While Harvard looks promising, so is MIT, where his sister Anushree is completing her undergraduate degree in Economics and Mathematics.

Anushree was one of the country’s top students in 2005 when she scored 14 A’s in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations.

Dr Goh (third from left) congratulates Ryan while Avinaash, Michael (second from right), Dr Coffman and Tan look on.

Avinaash who obtained 11A’s in the 2008 SPM, said he is also undecided about the courses he would like to pursue.

“The US system generally does not accept freshmen into any particular degree programme and we only need to declare our major(s) in the second or third year.

“We are encouraged to do a range of subjects and discover our interests before taking the plunge,” said Avinaash who has indicated an interest in Biology including Ecological and Environmental Sciences.

Dr Goh Cheng Teik, who sits on the interview panel that selects students for undergraduate admission into Harvard University, said that students applied directly to the university.

“Harvard will then shortlist the applicants from each country and send us the names of those to be interviewed,” he said at a recent press conference to announce the names of those selected for admission to Harvard University.

This year, there were four shortlisted applicants from Malaysia, but only three were successful. They include Avinaash and two American students Michael George and Ryan Marschang, who are currently studying and residing in Malaysia.

Both Michael and Ryan are students of the International School Kuala Lumpur.

Avinaash (left) getting to know Ryan (middle) and Michael after the announcement.

Michael said he was interested in studying International Relations and has received offers from other top US universities but has not made his decision yet.

“Harvard is definitely at the top of my list. I’m still torn between Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford,” he added.

Ryan, who moved to Kuala Lumpur with his family in 2004, said he has also received offers from the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University and the University of California, Berkeley.

“I never imagined getting into Harvard when I was applying for entry into colleges, but I have not made up my mind yet,” he said, adding that he might opt for a double major in Developmental Economics and Engineering.

Another interviewer Nathaniel Tan, who is also an education and applications consultant, said applicants should have critical thinking skills, a passion and an interest in world affairs, apart from wanting to make an impact.

Dr Goh encouraged Malaysian students to apply for admission into Harvard University.

He said money would not be an issue should one successfully gain admission into Harvard.

“If parents are unable to pay the full cost, the university will provide financial aid,” he added.

Also present was Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (Macee) executive director Dr James Coffman, who said there had been a 20% increase in the number of Malaysian students going to the US compared to the previous year.

“There are over 4,000 higher education institutions in the US and our goal at Macee is to see many Malaysians studying there,” he said.

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Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL State 2010

May 7th, 2010
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NOTE: Photos are at Picasa.

For last two years, I missed out on the Science Fair program organised by Tamil Foundation. This year, I was in danger of missing out again due to lack of time. So, I decided to help out as volunteer on the event day itself. It felt weird being a volunteer after being in organizing  capacity in recent years for various events. Anyway, being a volunteer is about following orders, so hopefully I did OK. I was handed an awkward task of monitoring booths 11 to 20 on that day. Awkward in the sense that booths 11 to 16 were on one end, while booths 17 to 20 were on the opposite end of adjacent rows. In the end, it turned out OK because the participants handled most of the problems themselves, barring the odd requests for extra tables, problem with power supply, and problem with exhibit materials falling down 🙂  Oh yeah, I also took the liberty to go around snapping pictures (more than 200 shots!) 🙂

OK, enough of me talking about me. let’s move to the event.

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

Science Fair started in 2007 on a smaller scale. It is now in its fourth year, and is organised at both state and national levels. The one I attended is Selangor and KL state (combined). It was held at TNB Hall in Bangsar (Jalan Bukit Pantai). The event is open to all Tamil schools in Selangor and KL. I think there are about 97 schools in Selangor and 15 in KL. But a total of 72 schools confirmed to take part this, and eventually 70 turned up. The schools were given topics to choose and they were then expected to come out with experiments that showcase the particular topic. There were few recurring topics during the event. Actually, Tamil Foundation sends facilitators to each school to guide and monitor the progress of the participating teams. The students have to prepare a log book of their activities as well. So, its quite an elaborate and time consuming program (hats off to the organizers and  facilitators!)

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

The event began around 7.30am (but I was uncharacteristically late!). I arrived around 8.10am at the hall, and most of participants were busy setting up their booths. A team consists of 5 students and two teachers, but I saw many booths having more than two teacher, while some even imported “help” from outsider (advice, setting up etc.). Talked to two of my friends who were there in the capacity as free “consultants” for their respective schools. I was simply amazed at the effort put in by teachers and students in most of the booths. Some really looked expensive and professionally done. Even the students were smartly dressed in some instances.

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

After about 1.5 hours (9.10am) ,the judging began. At this point, only students were allowed to be present at the booths. The rest of the “supporters” were seated around the hall. Judges, in teams of three, went around evaluating between 5 to 6 booths each. I noticed some familiar faces like Ponnusamy, Logeswaran, Kamalendran, Kannan, Karthe, and Velavan among the panel of judges. It was interesting to watch the students trying their best to do their presentation and also answer questions from the judges. Their command of English was quite good as well! Maybe the chosen students were among the best students in their respective schools.

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

The evaluation ended around 12pm, after which the judges retired to their judges room to reconcile marks. The hall was now open to public, and boy, the public just swarmed the place! Teachers, parents, students..all flocked to view their booths. Proud parents stood beaming as they watched their kids explain to visitors about their experiments. Teachers were busy adjusting things and exchanging notes among themselves. It was hectic, and yet at the same time, there was an air of accomplishment. I just felt proud seeing these kids.

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

The fair ended around 3pm, and it was time for closing ceremony. At this point there were some confusing on seating arrangements, which I think should have not occurred in the first place. After some sorting out, and apologies to the audience, the closing ceremony started. There were 6 speeches – program coordinator, program director, Tamil Foundation president, chief judge (I was  amazed to see my ex-school teacher, Mr VKS Shanmugam up on stage!) , VIP – director of National Science Center Associate Professor Dr Irmawati, and VIP Selangor State EXCO Dr Xavier Jayakumar. Maybe should reduce the speeches to just 3 in future. But I appreciate the speakers who kept their speech to minimal.

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

After the speeches, it was prize giving time. Even though the event is a expo, but there’s an element of competition to spur the students. Thus various awards were given out. Unfortunately, the description or purpose of the awards were not mentioned, and this kind of defeats the purpose of giving awards in the first place. The movement of students on stage and also arrangement for photography on stage was also not planned properly, resulting in impromptu arrangements. Something to be improved in the next edition, I guess.  Perhaps the organisers need to do a simple rehearsal next year to avoid such hiccups.

Finally, the proper winners were announced. The initial prize included cash amount of RM500, RM300, and RM200 respectively for top three winners. But EWRF president agreed to top up RM500 for each of the top three winners for both states. (So, its RM1000, RM800 and RM700 respectively). For KL state, top three schools were chosen while five schools were chosen in Selangor. I didn’t have time to jot down all the winners since was controlling students on one end of the stage. Among the winners which I remember are:

Selangor:

1st: SJKT Methodist Kapar

2nd: SJKT Taman Permata

3rd: SJKT Teluk Merbau

4th: SJKT Kajang

5th: SJKT Batu Ampat

KL:

1st: SJKT San Peng

2nd: SJKT Segambut

3rd: SJKT Edinburgh

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

I was touched to see tears of joy from some of the students and even teachers. It goes to show how much they appreciate getting some award or recognition from others. This kind of program can spur students and teachers alike to perform better, not only in education, but in their daily life.

The program ended around 5.30pm. We helped to clean the hall, but I had to leave by 8pm due to other commitments. Not sure what time the rest of them went home.

In summary, it was a good program, an eye-opener for some sections of the community. Its an event that should be given more prominence and support. As for improvements, I think it needs more publicity and funding. Secondly, schools and parents should be encouraged to send their students to attend the fair, apart from just sending few students to take part. As for the organising part, a rehearsal or two will tie up the loose ends.

I take this opportunity to congratulate the organisers, facilitators, judges, volunteers, schools, teachers, parents and students for a job well done.

I hope to contribute again in the National level event later this year.

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did you know that….

May 5th, 2010
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only fully-aided schools have the privilege of having their utilities bills paid by federal government? The partially-aided schools have to pay themselves using the funds allocated by government for their administration. The downside to this is that schools have little left after paying bills, that it impacts school administration. That’s why some school neglect paying bills, and you read in paper that they are in arrears, owing utilities companies some money. In the end, government still have to bail them out.

Why not just standardise the payment method for all schools?

Sin Chew Daily reported that Chinese education group Dong Jiao Zong was unhappy that only fully-aided government schools had the privilege to have their water, electricity and Indah water bills paid by the Government.

In a statement, Dong Jiao Zong said the implementation was unfair because partially-aided schools would have to pay their bills with the government’s allocation for their administration.

“Both fully-aided or partially-aided schools are part of the country’s education system and they should be developed fairly by the Government,” the group said.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said MCA was now collecting information on the amount of money needed by partially-aided schools to pay for the bills.

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Indian students failed to get place in government matriculation program

April 30th, 2010
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Myself too did not hear any news of Indian students getting place in matriculation program. Are the students that bad?

TAMIL Nesan reported that many Indian students who had achieved straight As in the recent SPM examination were denied the opportunity to attend matriculation classes.

Buntong assemblyman A. Siva­subra­maniam told a press conference that previously, a limited number of Indian students were given the oppor­tunity but this year, none was given the chance to pursue the classes.

He hoped the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin would step in to help these students.

from: The Star.

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