Recently, there was an effort by the UKEC, a Malaysian students body rep, to host a programme to bring some prominent personalities to the UK for some talk. It was an excellent effort by the UKEC to host such a programme. There were graduate talks, human rights talk and political talk.
Im not going to touch on the other talk. I am going to talk about the political debate between a prominent pro-government youth leader against a prominent pro-opposition youth leader. The topic of debate was about Public Policy. Interesting topic. However, upon viewing a video clipping of the debate, i was shocked. I observed that there was a lack of knowledge from the students on government policies. Whether they like it or not, students have to know government policies like GTP, 1Malaysia etc. Of course this has something to do with their naivete but there is no excuse for a lack of knowledge on government policies because they are students. I view them being very knowledgeable in their field of study but not on other topics outside their domain. Whether one supports the government or not, they have to know the national policies, and debate on the policies.
These students seem to be devoid of idea on the difference between knowing about the policy and implementation. Somewhere in between there seems to be a shallow depth of view that is blurred. Im not sure why that is. Probably there is a lack of initiative to read more outside their comfort zone. This goes back to their scope of social reading.
This is not to say i have done all this and im different. By no means am i different. In fact, i was in the worst brat pack of the lot who had to take on a different educational route as the normal route. The ones that takes the normal route are the ones that are different. Again different expectations for the talented ones. And i am not saying that the talented ones are stupid. That is now what im saying. They are smart and intelligent by all acounts. For them to realise their talent they have to be holistic. If they want to be "actively" on political talk, they have to do more reading on policies.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Democracy isn't all it is cracked up to be
http://www.nature.com/news/democracy-isn-t-all-it-is-cracked-up-to-be-1.9925
Democracy isn't all it is cracked up to be
Statistical analysis can reveal election fraud, a paper says. But the problems with democracy go deeper, argues .
“The people who cast the votes decide nothing,” Joseph Stalin is reputed to have said. “The people who count them decide everything.” A paper uploaded to a preprint server this month suggests that little has changed in Russia.
Peter Klimek, a complex-systems scientist at the Medical University of Vienna, and his colleagues say that the 2011 election for the Duma (the Russian lower house), won by Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party with 49% of the votes, shows a clear statistical signature of ballot-rigging1.
This is not a new accusation. Some, such as Russian physicist Sergey Shpilkin, have claimed that Russian voting statistics show suspicious peaks at multiples of 5% or 10%, as though ballot officials have simply assigned rounded proportions of votes to meet predetermined figures. And last December, The Wall Street Journal conducted its own analysis of the election statistics, which led political scientists at the Universities of Michigan and Chicago to concur that the data showed potential signs of fraud.
Naturally, Putin denies this. But for those who suspect that neither he nor The Wall Street Journal is exactly the most neutral of sources on Russian politics, Klimek and his colleagues offer a welcome alternative. They say that the statistical distribution of votes in the Duma election diverges from a normal (bell-curve or Gaussian) distribution — the expected outcome of a set of independent choices — by over one hundred times more than would be expected for an unbiased election.
The same is true for the Ugandan presidential election of February 2011. Both of these statistical distributions are, even at a glance, profoundly different from those of recent elections in, say, Austria, Switzerland or Spain (see Figure, below).
Plots of voter turnout versus number of votes for the winner clearly show something fishy is going on in Russia and Uganda, with many districts reporting 100% turnout and 100% of votes going to the winner (red circles).
REF. 1
Breaking down the numbers into scatter plots, with the voter turnout plotted against the number of votes for the winner in each voting district, lays the problems bare. Most countries show a single, broad peak, but both Russia and Uganda also have an extra, smaller peak. For both countries, distortion in the main peak suggests ballot rigging — for Russia, this afflicts about 64% of districts.
But the smaller peaks suggest much cruder fraud. They correspond to districts showing both 100% turnout and 100% votes for the winning party. As if.
No perfect system
It is good to see science expose these corruptions of democracy. Yet science also hints that, in general, democracy isn’t quite what it is popularly sold as. Take the choice of voting system. One of the most celebrated results of the branch of economics known as social choice theory is that there can be no perfectly fair means of deciding the outcome of a democratic vote. Possible voting schemes are manifold — first-past-the-post (used in the United Kingdom), proportional representation (Scandinavian countries), schemes for ranking candidates rather than simply selecting one, and so on — and their relative merits are hotly debated.
But as Kenneth Arrow, winner of the 1972 economics Nobel prize, showed in the 1950s, none of these systems can satisfy all the criteria of fairness and logic that one might demand2 — for example, that a system under which candidate A would be elected from A, B and C should ideally also select A if B is the only alternative. Arrow's ‘impossibility theorem’ implies that societies must either accept that democratic majority rule has some undesirable consequences, or find fairer alternatives — which none has.
Other considerations can also undermine the democratic principle: for example, bipartisan votes may fall within the margin of statistical error. As demonstrated in the US presidential election of 2000, between George W. Bush and Al Gore, the result is then not democratic but legalistic.
Furthermore, analysis of voting statistics suggests that, regardless of the voting system, political choices are not free and independent (as most definitions of democracy pretend), but partly the collective result of peer influence. That is one — although not the only — explanation of why some voting statistics don't follow a Gaussian distribution, but instead show a relationship called a power law3, 4. Klimek and his colleagues find less extreme, but still significant, deviations from Gaussian statistics in their analysis of ‘unrigged’ elections1. They assume that some of these deviations result from collective effects such as voter mobilization: targeted, often single-issue campaigns to sway votes.
In fact, a key premise of current models of voting and opinion formation5, 6 is that most social consensus arises from mutual influence and the spreading of opinion, rather than from isolated decisions. On the one hand, you could say that this is just how democratic societies work. On the other, it makes voting a nonlinear process in which small effects (media bias or party budgets, say) can have disproportionately big consequences. At the very least, it makes voting a more complex and less transparent process than is normally assumed.
This isn’t to invalidate Winston Churchill’s dictum that democracy is the least bad political system. But let us not fool ourselves about what it entails.
- Nature
- doi:10.1038/nature.2012.9925
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Never lose faith. Im going to show you how great I am
The title of this blog gives an indication that its about religion. It is not.
Never lose faith in why you do something. Prior to doing my PhD research i was very motivated on trying to change the world through my research. Of course deep in my mind i understood that a research is just a small bump in the vast universe of knowledge. However, i never realised how important it is to stay motivated on "trying to change the world" through research.
Today i realised that i lost faith in why im doing my research. I lost the believe that i can change the world through my research. Im sure there would be people who view my thoughts now as seeing me as being over confident with a lack of humble-ness. However, i beg to differ on this view as i take Muhammad Ali the boxer as an example. We should all be like Muhammad Ali in this sense. His words keep ringing in my head - "Im going to show you how great I am"...Very bold statement for any man. But deep inside, Muhammad Ali realises he has the weaknesses of many other man. The statement of "Im going to show you how great i am" is just a statement to psyche himself up and to psyche his opponent out. Its a mental war out there and only the ones with mental strength can survive. Any form of psyching up the motivation as crude as it may be is a step ahead for any challenges.
Back to my topic of where i lost faith in why im doing my research. I guess this was a train wreck waiting to happen. I was at an all time high in terms of motivation prior to doing my research work. This motivation carried me on for around 10 months. Then in the last 2 months i lost my motivation, discipline of why im doing my research. And the worst part was i didnt know why. I manage to only read 2 sentences per day and on some days i never read at all. I was on dangerous grounds the last 2 months. I even went on a youtube hunt to seek motivation and even cited the Al Asr invocation in the hopes that i could motivate myself to continue pushing myself in research. But i still failed.
As days went by, i realised i was hitting a wall in my research, and whatever my supervisors said didnt compute in my mind. I understood what they said. I knew where i had to go and how i had to go about it. But i still could muster the motivation to push myself past 2 sentences. I indulge in wasteful activities and suddenly every sunlight become dark in a blink of an eye. And every night i tell myself tomorrow its going to be different. But every waking day, i find myself in the same circle of lack of motivation.
Today i realised i psyched myself out. The reason that i psyched myself out was very simple. I realised that my lack of motivation was the result that my research would not change the world. The world will be as it is even if i did a heck of a job with my research. My research is just a bump in the vast universe of knowledge. I think this realisation made me lose faith in my work, which resulted in me losing motivation to push myself. This was an epiphany moment. One of many epiphany moments in my life.
Anything you do, always always never lose faith in why you do what you do. Even though what you believe is idealistic without merit. Always believe in why you do what you do. The believe in why you do what you do, maintains the motivation. Its not enough knowing what to do and how to do. The most important element is why you do.
IM GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW GREAT I AM. TIME FOR ME TO CHANGE THE WORLD BABY...!!!
Never lose faith in why you do something. Prior to doing my PhD research i was very motivated on trying to change the world through my research. Of course deep in my mind i understood that a research is just a small bump in the vast universe of knowledge. However, i never realised how important it is to stay motivated on "trying to change the world" through research.
Today i realised that i lost faith in why im doing my research. I lost the believe that i can change the world through my research. Im sure there would be people who view my thoughts now as seeing me as being over confident with a lack of humble-ness. However, i beg to differ on this view as i take Muhammad Ali the boxer as an example. We should all be like Muhammad Ali in this sense. His words keep ringing in my head - "Im going to show you how great I am"...Very bold statement for any man. But deep inside, Muhammad Ali realises he has the weaknesses of many other man. The statement of "Im going to show you how great i am" is just a statement to psyche himself up and to psyche his opponent out. Its a mental war out there and only the ones with mental strength can survive. Any form of psyching up the motivation as crude as it may be is a step ahead for any challenges.
Back to my topic of where i lost faith in why im doing my research. I guess this was a train wreck waiting to happen. I was at an all time high in terms of motivation prior to doing my research work. This motivation carried me on for around 10 months. Then in the last 2 months i lost my motivation, discipline of why im doing my research. And the worst part was i didnt know why. I manage to only read 2 sentences per day and on some days i never read at all. I was on dangerous grounds the last 2 months. I even went on a youtube hunt to seek motivation and even cited the Al Asr invocation in the hopes that i could motivate myself to continue pushing myself in research. But i still failed.
As days went by, i realised i was hitting a wall in my research, and whatever my supervisors said didnt compute in my mind. I understood what they said. I knew where i had to go and how i had to go about it. But i still could muster the motivation to push myself past 2 sentences. I indulge in wasteful activities and suddenly every sunlight become dark in a blink of an eye. And every night i tell myself tomorrow its going to be different. But every waking day, i find myself in the same circle of lack of motivation.
Today i realised i psyched myself out. The reason that i psyched myself out was very simple. I realised that my lack of motivation was the result that my research would not change the world. The world will be as it is even if i did a heck of a job with my research. My research is just a bump in the vast universe of knowledge. I think this realisation made me lose faith in my work, which resulted in me losing motivation to push myself. This was an epiphany moment. One of many epiphany moments in my life.
Anything you do, always always never lose faith in why you do what you do. Even though what you believe is idealistic without merit. Always believe in why you do what you do. The believe in why you do what you do, maintains the motivation. Its not enough knowing what to do and how to do. The most important element is why you do.
IM GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW GREAT I AM. TIME FOR ME TO CHANGE THE WORLD BABY...!!!
Monday, January 16, 2012
All Knowledge is proven correct until it is proven otherwise
One of the earliest memory of my postgraduate learning was the advise of never assume, and always look at everything one reads from the perspective of research ie ontological and epistemological perspective. To the layman this may seem like some scientific bug names, but to the learned and trained mind, the ontological and epistemological perspectives are the perspectives that separate the thinking and non thinking.
Harsh words from my professor, but there is a semblance of truth when looking at the reality of the world. I have not been able to grasp the world of empirical knowledge as i am still in training. How long it takes me to really appreciate the terminology of ontological and epistemological perspective, i do not know. Its all debatable.
2 issues were brought to my attention..one is an article and another is the claim by a group of students that their cause for rebellion is based on studies by the respected Professor Aziz Bari that caught my mind about the academic world. One is the article titled "Prof Khoo: No record of the existence of Princess Hang Li Po, its a myth" dated 16 January 2012, ref http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/1/16/nation/20120116191333&sec=nation. The 2 people that were quoted are respected personalities in their academic field. Professor Khoo Kay Khim has been very popular since i was young as he seem to be an expert on history, while i was not familiar with Professor Aziz Bari, but he seems to be very popular among alternative minded people.
I am not going into debate of their studies, as im sure their peer reviewed studies have been done excellently. And who am i to question their studies as i have not seen their journals yet.
The point that i am trying to tie up about the empirical knowledge is that supporters of Professor Khoo Kay Khim and Professor Aziz Bari seem to hold on to their studies as though their studies are the ultimate knowledge without challenge. Part of being an academic is that all knowledge is challenge-able. Meaning to say that their studies hold water till someone else proves them wrong.
My professor gave me analogy in finding the reality of knowledge in that he said "Studies have found that all sheeps are white, but that does not mean that there are no black sheeps". Simple words of wisdom which holds many thoughts.
i. All knowledge is relevant until proven otherwise
ii. Just because no studies have proven otherwise, does not mean the others does not exist, it just hasnt been found or proven yet.
Its the same with Hang Li Po and the 5 malay heroes myth, and also Professor Aziz Bari's views on constitutional approach. Just because there is no historical writings on Hang Li Po or the 5 malay warriors myth, it does mean that they do not exist. The problem is the myth have not been proven yet by empirical studies. This is not to say the learned Professor Khoo lied. No by all means he is correct, but in academic terms, the stories of Hang Li Po and the 5 malay warriors have not been proven to be factual.
It is also the same with Professor Aziz Bari's views on the constitution and other views. Though he may be a revered and learned professor, however, his theories have not been disproven. And whether his theories are accepted by his contemporaries may also be questioned in a peer reviewed world.
This means, that any knowledge is correct until proven otherwise. And any knowledge that is given out, must be put out to test in peer reviewed world to make the knowledge relevant.
Harsh words from my professor, but there is a semblance of truth when looking at the reality of the world. I have not been able to grasp the world of empirical knowledge as i am still in training. How long it takes me to really appreciate the terminology of ontological and epistemological perspective, i do not know. Its all debatable.
2 issues were brought to my attention..one is an article and another is the claim by a group of students that their cause for rebellion is based on studies by the respected Professor Aziz Bari that caught my mind about the academic world. One is the article titled "Prof Khoo: No record of the existence of Princess Hang Li Po, its a myth" dated 16 January 2012, ref http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/1/16/nation/20120116191333&sec=nation. The 2 people that were quoted are respected personalities in their academic field. Professor Khoo Kay Khim has been very popular since i was young as he seem to be an expert on history, while i was not familiar with Professor Aziz Bari, but he seems to be very popular among alternative minded people.
I am not going into debate of their studies, as im sure their peer reviewed studies have been done excellently. And who am i to question their studies as i have not seen their journals yet.
The point that i am trying to tie up about the empirical knowledge is that supporters of Professor Khoo Kay Khim and Professor Aziz Bari seem to hold on to their studies as though their studies are the ultimate knowledge without challenge. Part of being an academic is that all knowledge is challenge-able. Meaning to say that their studies hold water till someone else proves them wrong.
My professor gave me analogy in finding the reality of knowledge in that he said "Studies have found that all sheeps are white, but that does not mean that there are no black sheeps". Simple words of wisdom which holds many thoughts.
i. All knowledge is relevant until proven otherwise
ii. Just because no studies have proven otherwise, does not mean the others does not exist, it just hasnt been found or proven yet.
Its the same with Hang Li Po and the 5 malay heroes myth, and also Professor Aziz Bari's views on constitutional approach. Just because there is no historical writings on Hang Li Po or the 5 malay warriors myth, it does mean that they do not exist. The problem is the myth have not been proven yet by empirical studies. This is not to say the learned Professor Khoo lied. No by all means he is correct, but in academic terms, the stories of Hang Li Po and the 5 malay warriors have not been proven to be factual.
It is also the same with Professor Aziz Bari's views on the constitution and other views. Though he may be a revered and learned professor, however, his theories have not been disproven. And whether his theories are accepted by his contemporaries may also be questioned in a peer reviewed world.
This means, that any knowledge is correct until proven otherwise. And any knowledge that is given out, must be put out to test in peer reviewed world to make the knowledge relevant.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Shaking My Head
Im easily annoyed when i see smart intelligent people giving public statements that does not reflect the whole truth, and im easily annoyed with people who lacks the initiative and proactivity, especially to read...human resources involves each and every civil servant whether they do HR or not...regardless, they still have to know..its a duty to know...
The latest case broke my camel's back..The first was the SBPA, where i noticed a lot of people who dont read or take the initiative to read the circular. They complain about everything there is under the sun where in fact the SBPA was above the market rate pay. I call these people tak bersyukur (ungrateful). Its ok to get clarification, but not to the point where ego is more in their question, rather than trying to get clarification.
The latest case broke my camel's back..The first was the SBPA, where i noticed a lot of people who dont read or take the initiative to read the circular. They complain about everything there is under the sun where in fact the SBPA was above the market rate pay. I call these people tak bersyukur (ungrateful). Its ok to get clarification, but not to the point where ego is more in their question, rather than trying to get clarification.
The straw that broke the second camel was this link http://www.youtube.com/user/bwf#p/l/wiYsXnv7wSM
Titled "Chief Justice: Judges to declare assets soon"..basically its all about the declaration that judges would soon be compelled to declare their assets.
What annoys me is that judges are part of the civil service as last i checked..i could be wrong but im pretty sure that judges are part of the civil service..So if judges are part of the civil service, and then the chief justice have to proclaim that judges would soon have to declare their assets, it gives the impression like they have never done so..are you serious?? come on...what is http://docs.jpa.gov.my/pekeliling/pp02/bil03/pekeliling-bil3-2002.pdf? Basically its a circular that reads as SPP3/2002 Pemilikan dan Pengisytiharan Harta oleh Pegawai Awam...
Shaking my head over and over again...
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
I may not share your values, but i may share your ideals
"I may not share your values, but i may share your ideals"...This statement seems to have popped up in my mind over and over again..Which is very interesting. Probably a moment of epiphany..
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Why Pay More...
I hold people who went through a formal education higher. The higher the formal education that one goes through, the higher expectation i have of them (before people start jumping at this status, pre school, primary school is also a formal education). I hold civil servants at all level also to the same standards as the civil service system is a highly complete system with enforced trainings and educational training. The higher a civil servant is up the ranking, the higher expectation i have of them.
A few weeks ago, the Malaysian government announced a new remuneration scheme that involved higher pay and pension. Along with the new remuneration scheme was attached a list of new disciplinary clauses that was meant to reward performers, and punish non-performers. This scheme is called the New Remuneration Scheme (SBPA). Initially when it was first announced, i was elated that this scheme came about as it was high time a new reward and punishment system should be introduced to upgrade the old system that did not have enough bite to reward and punish. The older the system, there were worse institutional weaknesses and culture.
Then, after a few days i was surprised with the many criticisms for the SBPA. I was at a loss as to why anybody would want to protest against a better pay and pension scheme. Upon reading more views, i noticed the theme was that the criticism was against the personnel evaluation. The employee evaluation was perceived to be heavily biased towards superiors, and there were reports of inconsistencies to the new pay structure.
I had to go back and re-read the circular that was given out over the net. Again i thought these criticisms were unfounded as the SBPA had a few twitches to ensure reduction of opportunities towards biasness in personnel evaluation. And i thought these only affected the lower ranking staffs. Again to my surprise, the criticisms came from doctoral candidates, researchers and many other knowledgeable personnel, besides the lower ranking staff.
I had to go back and re-read again for the third time to try to understand what the problem was and whether the criticisms were valid. Still i could not find any basis for the criticisms as the points made out were already covered out in the circulars. By now i have more knowledge to the SBPA just by reading the circulars 3 times. I also uncovered that the reports to inconsistencies to the new pay structure was due to previous inconsistencies pay structure. Although the pay increase was reported to be between 7-13%, however, there were certain weaknesses in previous pay schemes attributed at different levels that would result in some not be getting the said percentages ie it was to correct past failures. Also it was reported that there would be a re-evaluation of the pay scheme from time to time to ensure fairness in the increase of pay to take into consideration years of service and experience. So again, criticism didnt hold much water.
Upon discovering this, i thought the criticism would die down, but surprisingly the protest gained momentum when the Employee Union (CUEPACS) went public and said that government servants should not accept the new policy. Wow..i didnt want to go back to reading the circulars as 3 times reading and i still didnt find any justification for the criticisms.
I thought about it and more thinking of it, and i realised that these protesters and criticisers never read at all or read but did not understand the circular. So i had to go back and try to read it from a layman's perspective. This was difficult as i have read it 3 times, but i tried to think of myself as a non-government servant reading the circulars ie trying to be as objective as possible. I found that the language and structure of the circular used was not difficult. It used simple malay words with a spatter of human resource terms like multi rater, 360 evaluation, peer review. I thought this would be a slight challenge to the lower ranking lower educated staff to understand, but not for doctoral candidates, researchers or degree holders. I hold them higher as society placed education higher. So my expectations of them understanding simple malay with a spatter of human resource terms is higher. But then again, we have the internet. Its all about google-ing the terms and reading it.
In my idealist ways, i wish that people would read and re-read. Yes, our values differ, but that is the basis of understanding and religious demands. Reading leads to more knowledge, and more knowledge leads to more understanding. I can understand that if people read over and over again, and still cannot understand. But these people should take the initiative to find out first by google-ing and then if they still do not understand, to ask people who understands. I find irritation in sweeping general statements by civil servants such as "SBPA kejam" (direct translation Evil SBPA, underlying meaning "SBPA is unfair"), "SBPA menekan penjawat awam golongan rendah ( direct translation SBPA presses lower ranked civil servant, underlying meaning SBPA favors higher ranked officers).
Therefore, i can summise that all government servant have the duty and should take the initiative to read, analyse and understand, as they are thought to do that. And if they dont understand, they should ask the right questions and provide better reasoning based on facts, regardless of educational background, and not blubber out perceptions and sweeping general statement. Any employee that works should read about their remuneration and not use lack of HR education or non HR experience related as an excuse to not read the circulars. Its the basis of why a person work to get paid.
A few weeks ago, the Malaysian government announced a new remuneration scheme that involved higher pay and pension. Along with the new remuneration scheme was attached a list of new disciplinary clauses that was meant to reward performers, and punish non-performers. This scheme is called the New Remuneration Scheme (SBPA). Initially when it was first announced, i was elated that this scheme came about as it was high time a new reward and punishment system should be introduced to upgrade the old system that did not have enough bite to reward and punish. The older the system, there were worse institutional weaknesses and culture.
Then, after a few days i was surprised with the many criticisms for the SBPA. I was at a loss as to why anybody would want to protest against a better pay and pension scheme. Upon reading more views, i noticed the theme was that the criticism was against the personnel evaluation. The employee evaluation was perceived to be heavily biased towards superiors, and there were reports of inconsistencies to the new pay structure.
I had to go back and re-read the circular that was given out over the net. Again i thought these criticisms were unfounded as the SBPA had a few twitches to ensure reduction of opportunities towards biasness in personnel evaluation. And i thought these only affected the lower ranking staffs. Again to my surprise, the criticisms came from doctoral candidates, researchers and many other knowledgeable personnel, besides the lower ranking staff.
I had to go back and re-read again for the third time to try to understand what the problem was and whether the criticisms were valid. Still i could not find any basis for the criticisms as the points made out were already covered out in the circulars. By now i have more knowledge to the SBPA just by reading the circulars 3 times. I also uncovered that the reports to inconsistencies to the new pay structure was due to previous inconsistencies pay structure. Although the pay increase was reported to be between 7-13%, however, there were certain weaknesses in previous pay schemes attributed at different levels that would result in some not be getting the said percentages ie it was to correct past failures. Also it was reported that there would be a re-evaluation of the pay scheme from time to time to ensure fairness in the increase of pay to take into consideration years of service and experience. So again, criticism didnt hold much water.
Upon discovering this, i thought the criticism would die down, but surprisingly the protest gained momentum when the Employee Union (CUEPACS) went public and said that government servants should not accept the new policy. Wow..i didnt want to go back to reading the circulars as 3 times reading and i still didnt find any justification for the criticisms.
I thought about it and more thinking of it, and i realised that these protesters and criticisers never read at all or read but did not understand the circular. So i had to go back and try to read it from a layman's perspective. This was difficult as i have read it 3 times, but i tried to think of myself as a non-government servant reading the circulars ie trying to be as objective as possible. I found that the language and structure of the circular used was not difficult. It used simple malay words with a spatter of human resource terms like multi rater, 360 evaluation, peer review. I thought this would be a slight challenge to the lower ranking lower educated staff to understand, but not for doctoral candidates, researchers or degree holders. I hold them higher as society placed education higher. So my expectations of them understanding simple malay with a spatter of human resource terms is higher. But then again, we have the internet. Its all about google-ing the terms and reading it.
In my idealist ways, i wish that people would read and re-read. Yes, our values differ, but that is the basis of understanding and religious demands. Reading leads to more knowledge, and more knowledge leads to more understanding. I can understand that if people read over and over again, and still cannot understand. But these people should take the initiative to find out first by google-ing and then if they still do not understand, to ask people who understands. I find irritation in sweeping general statements by civil servants such as "SBPA kejam" (direct translation Evil SBPA, underlying meaning "SBPA is unfair"), "SBPA menekan penjawat awam golongan rendah ( direct translation SBPA presses lower ranked civil servant, underlying meaning SBPA favors higher ranked officers).
Therefore, i can summise that all government servant have the duty and should take the initiative to read, analyse and understand, as they are thought to do that. And if they dont understand, they should ask the right questions and provide better reasoning based on facts, regardless of educational background, and not blubber out perceptions and sweeping general statement. Any employee that works should read about their remuneration and not use lack of HR education or non HR experience related as an excuse to not read the circulars. Its the basis of why a person work to get paid.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Land's End
I am not against any protest or dissent. However, my personal opinion is that the protest or dissent my be valid in its objective and method, ie the gentleman conduct and approach. The idealism in me wants a different approach from both right wing and left wing. Yes, everyone wants change regardless of whether you are right wing or left wing. The right believes that they are right and the left believes they too are right. And both sides think that the other are blind and being paid off. So where does that leave everyone? In no man's land.
Come 9 January 2011, the 901 protest to Free Anwar Campaign (FAC) is a provocation to the justice system and the psyche of fellow Malaysians. It is clearly a form of public display that tries to convince the courts to decide in their favor. This is a provocation onto the justice system which is illegal. The act to hold a rally with as many number of supporters on such a significant event is also a provocation to the other side. Which may cause unhappiness and may cause safety issues.
Some have said that the case is a political persecution. Yes, it is. But the defendant is dumb to get caught. A friend of mine pointed out that politics is dirty when i disagreed with actions against Gadafi. I believed that it contravenes international laws on a sovereign country. He went on to say, if it wasnt the US/UK, it could be India/China who would do it. Although i disagreed with him, his words got me thinking. And it boils to politics whether domestic or international is dirty. It is all about getting the upper hand.
In the 901 FAC case, the prosecutor has as much right to a court of law as much as the defendent. Both have rights. Everyone has rights. The protesters have a right to protest on the street, the doubters also have a right to not want a protest. If the protesters think that doubters are infringing the rights of the protesters, the doubters are also in their rights to say that the protesters are infringing their rights. The prosecutor is grieved and he wants personal justice. So it is within his right to sue the defendent. As everyone pointed out this case is a personal affair. Yes, to everyone else who is not a party to the grief.
Evidences in court seem to suggest that the prosecutor have a case, the defendent is going the political conspiracy way. Now it is up to the courts to decide. So chill...
Come 9 January 2011, the 901 protest to Free Anwar Campaign (FAC) is a provocation to the justice system and the psyche of fellow Malaysians. It is clearly a form of public display that tries to convince the courts to decide in their favor. This is a provocation onto the justice system which is illegal. The act to hold a rally with as many number of supporters on such a significant event is also a provocation to the other side. Which may cause unhappiness and may cause safety issues.
Some have said that the case is a political persecution. Yes, it is. But the defendant is dumb to get caught. A friend of mine pointed out that politics is dirty when i disagreed with actions against Gadafi. I believed that it contravenes international laws on a sovereign country. He went on to say, if it wasnt the US/UK, it could be India/China who would do it. Although i disagreed with him, his words got me thinking. And it boils to politics whether domestic or international is dirty. It is all about getting the upper hand.
In the 901 FAC case, the prosecutor has as much right to a court of law as much as the defendent. Both have rights. Everyone has rights. The protesters have a right to protest on the street, the doubters also have a right to not want a protest. If the protesters think that doubters are infringing the rights of the protesters, the doubters are also in their rights to say that the protesters are infringing their rights. The prosecutor is grieved and he wants personal justice. So it is within his right to sue the defendent. As everyone pointed out this case is a personal affair. Yes, to everyone else who is not a party to the grief.
Evidences in court seem to suggest that the prosecutor have a case, the defendent is going the political conspiracy way. Now it is up to the courts to decide. So chill...
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Annoyed
Ive come to the point where i dont care who protest. Its like a common activity in Malaysia..Its annoying..The ones getting the brunt of this is the police force, eventhough they have shown the utmost restrain and professionalim in their duties. Maybe its time the police just let them do what they want. And when they get maimed, injured or worst, let the courts handle it. Its provocation after provocation.
I can understand the call for ABU (anything but umno) propagated by the opposition. But Malaysia is one of a select few south region countries that have election every 5 years. So these people should then take upon themselves to vote like mad till their fingers bleed for the opposition. They seem to believe that those against the opposition are blind and in cahoots with the ruling government. Its annoying.
The student protest takes the cake. They seem to want a Tahrir Square in Malaysia. In those countries, there are no elections previously, while Malaysia partakes in a democratic process of votes. So its a different political scenario.
They seem to point out that there are no academic freedom in Malaysia through their Magna Carta. Which is funny as the Magna Carta adopted seem like an adaption of the Indonesian students Magna Carta of 1998 to bring down Suharto. Now again, another country that do not practise the same democratic principles as Malaysians. Of course this is not ideal, but for reference and discussions' sake lets use an opposition blog since opposition supporters believe these blogs are the truth (ref: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/litee/print/opinion/gerakan-mahasiswa-politik-nilai-atau-politik-kekuasaan/).
While the Malaysian students Magna Carta are as follows:
Mansuhkan AUKU, Akta 174 dan Akta 556;
Bebaskan ilmuan berakademik;
Bebaskan mahasiswa untuk bersuara;
Bebaskan mahasiswa bagi menguruskan kampus;
Bebaskan mahasiswa bagi mengurus tadbir persatuan dan aktiviti; dan
Bebaskan mahasiswa bagi berpartisipasi dalam politik (ref:
http://ondastreet.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/solidariti-mahasiswa-kebebasan-akademik-tanpa-struktur-atau-bebas-dengan-had/)
See the similarity? Ok. So it may not be exactly the same, but the call is similar in practise, as all the students have been street protesting about is bringing down the Malaysian government through a revolution, and not through ballot boxes.
For discussions sake, lets imagine that the Malaysian students Magna Carta is valid and we break down the Malaysian students Magna Carta for further discussion. Besides tha Magna Carta, the basis of the call of Malaysian students are developed nations Academic Freedom. So there are 2 basis - the Magna Carta and the Academic Freedom of the developed nations.
i) Revoke all higher education act. Developed nations have education acts. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_freedom and http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3672. Notice that all these acts pertain to research, curriculum and costs? No. well read the link again.
ii) Freedom for academicians. Malaysian universities have just started a few years ago. Many of our universities found that academicians lack peer reviewed published journals. Therefore of late, go to any University database and search for Malaysian journals and you will find an abundance of new peer reviewed journals. Even some journals that condemn the government. An examples is this http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=abstract&id=614345. Its a sensitive topic to the government and it whacks the government. Search the authors and you will find them holding top posts in teachings.
iii) Freedom of speech for students. Heck, why am i blogging? Every tom dick and hairless students are fb-ing, twitting and blogging about every thing wrong of the government. None have been put in jail, or sacked from universities (unless they fail or do not meet academic criteria). Anyone wants to correct me on this? I have not read any news, blogs about students being sacked or put in jail because of differences of opinion.
iv) Freedom for students to manage campus. Come on people..this is getting me annoyed. What are students main priorities? Education, study and research. What they heck do they want to manage a campus for? There are specialists who manage the campus so that students can be allowed to educate themselves, study and do research. The university that i am attached with also do not have students managing the campus. They have Estate Management run by people who are not studying.
v) Freedom for students to manage societies and activities. Ok this one you have to take my word on it. If you still doubt my words, search my friends who knew me when we were doing our undergraduate studies to get confirmation. I was a student leader in Arau and Shah Alam. I led a group of fellow students whi organised the Entrepreneurs weekend for students to participate in business activities and ventures, organised a charity drive to help Sabahans who were affected by the Greg Storm in 1997 (we collected a lot of money, apparently we collected so much that we were on TV3), we did social work at the Old folks home, we organised motivation courses and religous programmes, we organised sports events, and so much more. So how is it that i can manage all that if there is no freedom for students to manage societies and activities?
vi) Freedom for students to participate in politics. This is a personal view. I dont think its wise for students to participate in politics. They could participate in research that studies policies and practices and give suggestions for improvement. But not street protest, vote marketeers or any of whatever despicable political acts. They are students who are supposed to be the logical ones who uses their brains, not who uses their brawns.
I can understand the call for ABU (anything but umno) propagated by the opposition. But Malaysia is one of a select few south region countries that have election every 5 years. So these people should then take upon themselves to vote like mad till their fingers bleed for the opposition. They seem to believe that those against the opposition are blind and in cahoots with the ruling government. Its annoying.
The student protest takes the cake. They seem to want a Tahrir Square in Malaysia. In those countries, there are no elections previously, while Malaysia partakes in a democratic process of votes. So its a different political scenario.
They seem to point out that there are no academic freedom in Malaysia through their Magna Carta. Which is funny as the Magna Carta adopted seem like an adaption of the Indonesian students Magna Carta of 1998 to bring down Suharto. Now again, another country that do not practise the same democratic principles as Malaysians. Of course this is not ideal, but for reference and discussions' sake lets use an opposition blog since opposition supporters believe these blogs are the truth (ref: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/litee/print/opinion/gerakan-mahasiswa-politik-nilai-atau-politik-kekuasaan/).
1- mengadili Soeharto dan kroni-kroninya
2- melaksanakan pindaan UUD 1945 (Perlembagaan Indonesia)
3- Penghapusan dwi fungsi ABRI (Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia)
4- pelaksanaan autonomi daerah yang seluas-luasnya
5- menegakkan kedaulatan undang-undang
6- menciptakan pemerintahan yang bersih dari kronisme, kolusi dan nepotisme
While the Malaysian students Magna Carta are as follows:
See the similarity? Ok. So it may not be exactly the same, but the call is similar in practise, as all the students have been street protesting about is bringing down the Malaysian government through a revolution, and not through ballot boxes.
For discussions sake, lets imagine that the Malaysian students Magna Carta is valid and we break down the Malaysian students Magna Carta for further discussion. Besides tha Magna Carta, the basis of the call of Malaysian students are developed nations Academic Freedom. So there are 2 basis - the Magna Carta and the Academic Freedom of the developed nations.
i) Revoke all higher education act. Developed nations have education acts. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_freedom and http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3672. Notice that all these acts pertain to research, curriculum and costs? No. well read the link again.
ii) Freedom for academicians. Malaysian universities have just started a few years ago. Many of our universities found that academicians lack peer reviewed published journals. Therefore of late, go to any University database and search for Malaysian journals and you will find an abundance of new peer reviewed journals. Even some journals that condemn the government. An examples is this http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=abstract&id=614345. Its a sensitive topic to the government and it whacks the government. Search the authors and you will find them holding top posts in teachings.
iii) Freedom of speech for students. Heck, why am i blogging? Every tom dick and hairless students are fb-ing, twitting and blogging about every thing wrong of the government. None have been put in jail, or sacked from universities (unless they fail or do not meet academic criteria). Anyone wants to correct me on this? I have not read any news, blogs about students being sacked or put in jail because of differences of opinion.
iv) Freedom for students to manage campus. Come on people..this is getting me annoyed. What are students main priorities? Education, study and research. What they heck do they want to manage a campus for? There are specialists who manage the campus so that students can be allowed to educate themselves, study and do research. The university that i am attached with also do not have students managing the campus. They have Estate Management run by people who are not studying.
v) Freedom for students to manage societies and activities. Ok this one you have to take my word on it. If you still doubt my words, search my friends who knew me when we were doing our undergraduate studies to get confirmation. I was a student leader in Arau and Shah Alam. I led a group of fellow students whi organised the Entrepreneurs weekend for students to participate in business activities and ventures, organised a charity drive to help Sabahans who were affected by the Greg Storm in 1997 (we collected a lot of money, apparently we collected so much that we were on TV3), we did social work at the Old folks home, we organised motivation courses and religous programmes, we organised sports events, and so much more. So how is it that i can manage all that if there is no freedom for students to manage societies and activities?
vi) Freedom for students to participate in politics. This is a personal view. I dont think its wise for students to participate in politics. They could participate in research that studies policies and practices and give suggestions for improvement. But not street protest, vote marketeers or any of whatever despicable political acts. They are students who are supposed to be the logical ones who uses their brains, not who uses their brawns.
Friday, December 30, 2011
So long 2011, Hello 2012
Looks like another year is coming to an end. This is probably my last blog for the year 2011. Which is surreal as in the next 48 hours, it will be 2012.
I have been in the UK for 1 year, 2 months, 10 days and counting...How time flies...Never have i imagined that i would actually be here...It has been an arduous journey for me...Some would say i have it easy, but i would beg to differ...The common route is to fly overseas after their high school/secondary school/ pre-university years to complete their degree. I had to take a longer route which was not the common route.
At the end of the day, it was my effort that brought me here..However, there were many who were my pillars that helped me along the way..The detractors, who provided me the anger to prove them wrong..And the supporters who provided me the support and love to make them proud..All of them were my inspiration to do the best that i can.
So come 2012, it would be a new year's resolution for me...This happens every year for everyone who takes stock of their life and re-evaluate their current year and plan for the coming year..It happens at work and it should also happen in personal life.
Some say and surprisingly belief that 2012 would be the year of Armageddon on 20.12.2012..They base this on the Mayan prophecy..However, we will never know when life as we know it will end. It might end on the date, or it might not..It might go on long after i leave this world...Whatever it is, whether our life ends or not, we must always reflect on our lives, and always improve where we lack, and enhance and maintain where we feel we are strong..That is the essence of human life, in that we will never know what the future holds, and that we are not a supreme being.
Scientists have found a particle called the Higgs Boson. It is supposedly a particle that brings them closer to the creation of life. I somehow doubt that people as inferior as we are would ever find god-like particles, for the very simple reason that we are not god. There is always that supreme power created us. The belief that the closer we are to finding god-like particles, the further we are from finding it.
What is my new years' resolution? As always, world peace...
I have been in the UK for 1 year, 2 months, 10 days and counting...How time flies...Never have i imagined that i would actually be here...It has been an arduous journey for me...Some would say i have it easy, but i would beg to differ...The common route is to fly overseas after their high school/secondary school/ pre-university years to complete their degree. I had to take a longer route which was not the common route.
At the end of the day, it was my effort that brought me here..However, there were many who were my pillars that helped me along the way..The detractors, who provided me the anger to prove them wrong..And the supporters who provided me the support and love to make them proud..All of them were my inspiration to do the best that i can.
So come 2012, it would be a new year's resolution for me...This happens every year for everyone who takes stock of their life and re-evaluate their current year and plan for the coming year..It happens at work and it should also happen in personal life.
Some say and surprisingly belief that 2012 would be the year of Armageddon on 20.12.2012..They base this on the Mayan prophecy..However, we will never know when life as we know it will end. It might end on the date, or it might not..It might go on long after i leave this world...Whatever it is, whether our life ends or not, we must always reflect on our lives, and always improve where we lack, and enhance and maintain where we feel we are strong..That is the essence of human life, in that we will never know what the future holds, and that we are not a supreme being.
Scientists have found a particle called the Higgs Boson. It is supposedly a particle that brings them closer to the creation of life. I somehow doubt that people as inferior as we are would ever find god-like particles, for the very simple reason that we are not god. There is always that supreme power created us. The belief that the closer we are to finding god-like particles, the further we are from finding it.
What is my new years' resolution? As always, world peace...
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