Malaysia backtracking on teaching in English

Muhyiddin announced that Malaysia is scrapping the teaching of Science and Maths in English and the reason given is that it will undermine the students ability to learn Bahasa Melayu. The teaching of these subjects in English is also tough on the students as their grasp of the language is poor. I think the real reason is that there are not many competent teachers who are able to teach in English. The 40 years of abandoning the teaching of English has taken its toll. Many of the teachers educated under the new policy would not have much knowledge of English and will be incompetent to use the language as a medium of instruction. If the teachers are struggling, how could the students learn anything? Education policies or many national policies cannot be scrapped simply at someone's fancy as the consequences and impact are long term and long lasting. To unwind and start again is going to be very painful. The easy way is not to do it and continue with their current policy of using Malay as the medium of instruction. It is not easy to transform a nation of Malay speakers into an English speaking community overnight.

Crowds in property launches

Crowds are thronging new property launches and grabbing up properties like hot cakes. And property developers are cashing in on the affluence of Singaporeans and launching more projects for sale. The Singaporeans are really rich, buying properties costing at least a million like buying durians off the streets. Where is the recession? Where are the poor? It is all a myth. All the talks about poor Singaporeans living from hands to mouth or waiting for handouts are mere exaggerations. Singaporeans are rich like hell.

Myth 207 - Monkeys scattered when the big tree falls

Many have quoted this phrase as a truism, that all the monkeys in a big tree will scamper and scatter once the tree has fallen. No more branches to hang on to. Better to look for another big tree. Better still, be their own big tree. In such a scenario there will be many big trees contending for more monkeys to hang on to their branches. Will this be the case all the time? I think it will be, without exceptions. Big tree falls, means big tree no more. A replacement tree growing beneath may become another big tree, but will take some time to grow in stature. Another possibility is instant Angsana tree being used to replace the old tree. But instant trees have short roots and may not stand the gust of strong winds or a heavy downpour. And Angsanas are never know to be strong, like the old oak tree or the tembusu. Would this saying be as true as it was or would it just be a myth?

Free water in restaurants?

There are people demanding free drinking water from posh restaurants. How audacious! If they want to drink free water, go to the tap. Just as one of the posh restaurant owners said, they served great culinary fare. Why would people go to their restaurants to drink tap water? Ridiculous. These must be the cheapskates or people who cannot afford high class restaurants. They should confine themselves to eating at hawker centres. Incidentally, water is not free. Our water comes with a 30% water conservation tax. And that is huge in any terms. This outrageous tax has been in practice and the dumb people have been paying for, I think, more than 10 years or 20 years without complaining. Recently some little noises have been heard calling for the abolition of this highhanded tax to be removed. After so many years, the people must have learned to handle our precious water with care and not to waste them. The message must have gone through. Apparently not. It is here to stay no matter how nonsensical is the reasoning. Hit the people in the pocket where it hurts. But this policy is good and efficient. It may be obnoxious and totally arrogant to slam the people with this kind of reasoning and policy, but it is damn effective. Other then curbing some abuses of water, the revenue is handsome and can be used to pay people more handsomely. No matter how much I dislike this policy, its virtue is irresistible. I would like to suggest that the same reasoning and policy be introduced to curb wastage of petrol. Hit the drivers with another 30% petrol conservation tax. This can be extended to food wasting. Too much food are wasted by our unrestrained habit of eating and eating all day long. 30% rice and food conservation tax will ensure that the people save on food consumption and eat lesser. The benefits are tremendous. No need for wasting time in school children with obese problems. No need extra training for obese NSmen. No need to waste foreign exchange to import more food. And the additional revenue can be used to reward those who implement such policies. Anyone still want free water? Or is there free water?

Singapore Night Festival

More pictures in the Singapore Night Festival blog in link provide or http://singnitefest.blogspot.com