PPSMI

i was in the middle of DR.J class when one of my former lecturer nicknamed mdm ju text me. i was shocked but pleased. here how it's sound.

"may i know your point of view regarding PPSMI which will be eliminated in 2012? what a dissapointing decision ever made i would say"

and i was replying this.

"it's not shocking the decision they take after the issues being opposed by many people. i guess democracy have shown us the demerits"

as i was sneaking into the shadows try to reply the text i couldn't say much as my ear are still catching DR.J lecture and my hand are typing it. it was a head jamming situation. so i just text that. however. fear no more. i have come out with my full view of PPSMI issues. please read the text below.

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PPSMI was originally designed to improve our student's english level and preparing them towards a higher level of education which is likely to be known taught in english. for example uitm that have been using english as it's interaction languange. there also number's of local university does the same. however as a student of uitm and first batch of PPSMI,i would say it was a failure in process and objective.

the learning process in english was quite difficult for the student's as there is no real transition time given. the sudden change in language have turn the table of learning upside down. these situation was faced by both teachers and student. as teachers didn't receive an ample time to actually trained their self to teach in english. when the teachers failed to deliver the knowledge. the student's can't actually receive the knowledge.

despite that my batch did quite well in the spm although it was hard as brick. bare in mind that if the pure science stream student's find it's challenging,the lower class stream will find it killing. they couldn't even perform at average level in english and when they was learning math and science in english they suffered a lot. if we going to say that we preparing them to university then we might could just rejecting them by making them failed enormously.

don't forget the people who living in the rural areas. the english language is considered as one of the hardest subject for them and yet with give them another two solid subject? this will bring the grade to the floor eventually. taking as example those natives people who can't even talk fluent in english and still sticking with their slang of the natives. when we pouring upon them knowledge using the language they can't fully understand,they can't fully show their true performance. the communication between teacher and natives student's also stiffening due to the slang problem as the teacher's might not understand what their student's asking.

the purpose of PPSMI is improving our english standards. but english is english. it's a language and not involving the term used in math and science. a lot of term used in math and science are special term used universally without language border. so the so called improving objective is something that i would say nonsense. it might decline the graph of math and science and inclined english graph. why do we need to sacrifice two things for one?

then they would say to prepare the students for higher levels of education. this look real deal to me. however the students selected to the university supposed to be the students who can think critically. there are alternatives of PPSMI regarding this objective,such as tightening up the requirement of university admission. i was shocked when there's so many of TESL students last semester failed to get band 4 in their muet. there must be something wrong in the selection isn't it?

the opposition also bring us the issue of defending our heritage language. it's not i'm on their side but they got a point there. language is just a medium of the knowledge. what vital in learning is the essence of learning. no matter in what language or slang. the basics idea must be there in the sutdents mind so they can accelerate their performance. furthermore if DR.M have introduced us the slogan "looking to the east". in the east we'll find japan at the end of asia. they didn't good in english generally but they are one of the leading G8 country.

as a conclusion. my view is PPSMI is a failure and should be abolished as this country is a democracy country and for the sake of our children future. but the whole system of our education system should be reconsider. perhaps we could harden up our syllabus in english at the primary school level, non examination oriented learning and tightening the admission requirement of higher education learning.

"sacrifice need luck but solution need plan"

human right watch malaysia report 2009

Hopes that Malaysia's human rights climate would improve following elections in March 2008 proved unfounded. The ruling National Front coalition lost the two-thirds parliamentary majority it had enjoyed since Malaysia became independent in 1957 but was still in power at this writing. National Front leaders continue to insist that Malaysia's multiethnic society is too fragile to sustain genuine freedom of assembly and expression or full due process rights for all suspects.

The government continues to use outdated repressive laws and regulations to silence its critics and extend its rule. One such critic is former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, now leading the opposition coalition People's Alliance. In what was widely viewed as a politically motivated attempt to discredit him, police charged him with consensual sexual relations with a male aide in August 2008.

The People's Volunteer Corps, a largely volunteer paramilitary force, continues to commit abuses against undocumented migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

Detention without Charge or Trial

Malaysia uses the Internal Security Act (ISA) to indefinitely detain, without charge or trial, individuals deemed by officials to threaten Malaysia's national security. This includes not only individuals suspected of planning terrorist attacks, such as members of the militant Islamist groups Jemaah Islamiah and Darul Islam, but also individuals allegedly promoting ethnic or religious discord.

On December 13, 2007, after the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) organized a massive rally to draw attention to discrimination faced by Malaysia's Indian population, the government detained five of its leaders. In October 2008, the government declared Hindraf an illegal organization on the grounds that it constituted a "threat to public order and morality." As of late November 2008, the leaders remained in ISA custody.

On September 12, 2008, police detained three government critics under the ISA. Raja Petra Kumaruddin, founder and editor of Malaysia's most popular website MalaysiaToday, was originally detained for two years for insulting Islam but was freed on procedural grounds on October 7. The government is appealing the ruling. Authorities also detained opposition Democratic Action Party parliamentarian Teresa Kok for a week for involvement in "activities that may spark a religious dispute," and Tan Hoon Cheng, a Sin Chew Daily reporter, for 18 hours.

According to the Abolish ISA Movement (Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA), 64 individuals were in ISA detention as of October 2008.

Migrant Workers, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers

According to Malaysia's Immigration Department, there were 2.1 million documented migrants in Malaysia in November 2007. Undocumented migrants are estimated at over 400,000, some 150,000 of whom are refugees or asylum seekers.

As the Malaysian Immigration Act of 1959/1963 does not distinguish between undocumented migrant workers and refugees, all those without valid residency status are subject to arrest, detention, and deportation. The People's Volunteer Corps (RELA), numbering half a million members, is empowered by law to enter any premises and arrest "undesirable persons" and suspected undocumented migrants. No search or arrest warrants are necessary. During 2007, close to 60,000 migrants-including children-were arrested, imprisoned, or deported. Most migrant children are denied access to schools and some end up in exploitative forms of child labor.

In May and June 2008, migrants told Human Rights Watch researchers how RELA members abused them with impunity during detention and in the immigration detention centers where RELA is responsible for security. Abuses include physical assault, intimidation, forced entry into living quarters, extortion, theft, destruction of residency papers, and sexual abuse.

Testimonies from migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers deported from Malaysia to the Thai border indicate collusion between Malaysian immigration officials and human smuggling gangs who charge steep fees to facilitate deportees' return to Malaysia or back to Burma.

Cases of severe physical abuse of migrant domestic workers continue to be reported. In September 2008 a Malaysian employer forced an Indonesian domestic worker to drink boiling water. The criminal justice system has been slow to respond. A verdict in the case of Nirmala Bonat, burned and brutally beaten by her employer in 2004, was expected in late November 2008.

Many of the approximately 400,000 primarily Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia experience withheld wages, forced confinement, and excessively long work hours without days off; some face physical and sexual abuse. Domestic workers are excluded from key provisions of Malaysia's 1955 Employment Act and their work permits tie them to a particular employer, making it difficult to report abuse for fear of deportation.

Freedom of Assembly and Police Abuse

Article 10 of Malaysia's constitution guarantees freedom of assembly, but the Police Act of 1967 severely restricts its exercise in practice. No more than four persons may assemble in public without a police license. Police are empowered to break up unlicensed demonstrations, arrest participants, and use force if orders to disperse are ignored. In January 2008 a peaceful protest organized by NGOs and opposition political parties targeting inflationary pressure resulted in 56 short detentions.

Excessive use of force at public demonstrations is one of the reasons that a May 2005 Royal Commission recommended the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission. No such commission has been created.

Freedom of Expression

An increasingly vibrant blogosphere and use of electronic media and communications are challenging longstanding restrictions on free expression, but authorities continue periodic crackdowns on dissent.

On August 25, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ordered all 19 internet service providers to block MalaysiaToday, suggesting it published "libelous, defamatory and slanderous" material threatening public order. Postings had probed government activities the leadership apparently did not want exposed. The Malaysian cabinet overturned the closure order on September 11.

The broadly worded 1948 Sedition Act has been used to silence bloggers who express grievances against the government or who "promote feelings of ill will and hostility between" ethnic groups in Malaysia. In October 2008, Kamaruddin was put on trial for sedition for an article he wrote about a 2006 murder case.

The 1984 Printing Presses and Publications Act censors newspapers by requiring annual renewal of publishing licenses and by controlling production and distribution of foreign publications. The Home Affairs Ministry can restrict or ban a publication outright on several different vaguely defined grounds and no legal remedy or judicial review is available.

In September 2008 the ministry instructed three newspapers to "show cause" why their publication licenses should not be suspended or rescinded. Sin Chew Daily, a Chinese-language paper, had reported on allegedly sensitive issues affecting ethnic relations; The Sun, an English Daily, was cited for "manipulating and playing up numerous sensitive issues," and Suara Keadilan, the People's Justice Party internal publication, had claimed that an official became paralyzed after heart surgery.

Freedom of Religion

Islam is Malaysia's official state religion, but the constitution protects freedom of religion for all. Tensions periodically arise over whether Malaysia is a secular or religious state and over attempts to widen or restrict the jurisdiction of Sharia courts.

On August 9, 2008, some 300 protestors disrupted an open forum entitled "Conversion to Islam," sponsored by the Malaysian Bar Council. The protestors contended that non-Muslims had no right to discuss Islam. The forum addressed issues faced by families caught in jurisdictional disputes on matters such as civil marriage, divorce and custody battles, and burial rites.

Privacy

Section 377 of Malaysia's criminal code criminalizes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature," both consensual and non-consensual. Activists have urged Malaysian authorities to repeal provisions on consensual relations and replace the section on non-consensual sexual acts with a modern, gender-neutral law on rape.

Human Rights Defenders

The NGO community, the Malaysian bar, lawyers, journalists, and some opposition politicians actively defend human rights despite serious personal and professional risks. Police arrested and detained overnight eight activists including members of the bar and local non-governmental organizations during a December 2007 peaceful march to commemorate International Human Rights Day. Six of the eight went on trial in October 2008.

On January 6, 2008, police used water cannons to break up a vigil organized by the Abolish ISA movement. On September 26 and October 9, after more ISA arrests, police broke up additional candlelight vigils opposing the ISA. In the latter incident, police confiscated the camera of a newspaper reporter, one of 23 people temporarily detained after the vigil.

Key International Actors

Tension in the US-Malaysia relationship surfaced in 2008. While the US praised Malaysia as a regional counterterrorism leader, officials in August expressed concern over the filing of sodomy charges against Anwar Ibrahim, and in September summoned Ilango Karuppannan, the charge d'affaires at the Malaysian embassy, to protest Malaysia's crackdown on critics.

Lord Malloch-Brown, the UK's minister of state in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said the UK had also spoken with Malaysian officials about the crackdown and had raised the issue with its EU partners and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

In a September address to the UN, Malaysian Foreign Minister Dr. Rais Yatim objected to interference in Malaysia's internal affairs.

Although the US Department of State's June 2008 "Trafficking in Persons Report" upgraded Malaysia's status from Tier 3 to Tier 2, US Senator Lugar expressed concern about continuing reports of trafficking of Burmese at the Thai-Malay border.

Malaysia has supported the creation of an ASEAN regional human rights mechanism, but in July 2008 Foreign Minister Yatim said that its standards should reflect the "ASEAN value system," hearkening back to the "Asian values" debate and the discredited notion that Asians value human rights less than others.

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*credit to my friends who send the report. :)

*the document is solely human right watch organization material

download it from here:
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/malaysia.pdf
offical human right watch:
htpp://www.hrw.org

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i'll comment it in few days. in thursday perhaps. regards.