Beware, Singapore Universities NTU and NUS .…!

2015 World Universities Rankings – Using The Big Lie to Perpetuate Fraud and Myth of Excellence.

Phony? Fraud? Ponzi? Scam? Snake Oil? Or Academic Dishonesty?

"The Bigger the Lie, the more it will be believed."

– Hitler in Mein Kamp, 1925 -

By MIKOspace

Adolf Hitler perfected the “Big Lie” as a propaganda technique about the use of a Lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously."

An European Government-commissioned study concluded that top World Universities Rankings Standards are so based on dubious data and subjective weightings of factors that they are useless as a basis for information if the goal is to improve higher education.  “Useless” - its verdict on a popular World Universities Ranking Standard after a thorough and in-depth decomposition of its methodology.

Public Warning: DO NOT Trust Universities Rankings.

World Universities Ranking Standards are a global multi-billion dollar industry.  A higher ranking translates to University fees from more unsuspecting students especially from the emergent rich developing countries from China, India and East Asia. To the Vendors, it means revenue from consultancy, publications and media exposure. For Universities Administrators and Managers, they represent profitable performance results, never mind that the Standards have little, often nothing, to do with their Universities’ learning mission outcome.

For parents, the Rankings represent a convenient solution to the difficult task of University choice for their children, never mind that they had invented and perpetuated the Myth of “One Best University” as well as the obvious Big Lie that “One University Fits All” regardless of your child’s interests, subject preference, learning ability and career choice. Because these students and their parents do not know better, they became easy victims to the Predators of the True Big Lies and Delusions about Universities Ranking Standards.  

The United Nations Education agency, UNESCO, has challenged the validity and reliability of University Rankings calling the World Universities Ranking Standards Bogus Ranking Standards of Dubious Excellence, as most University Professors and Academics.

The London-based QS World Universities Ranking has been called “a Fraud on the public.” Another Eminent Professor said: “QS simply doesn’t do as good a job as the other rankers that are using multiple indicators”. The Eminent Professor Simon Marginson of then Melbourne University remarked that: “I do think social science-wise it’s so weak that you can’t take the results seriously”. 

The BIG LIE Exposed.

To its naïve, gullible and unsuspecting market of prospective students and their parents, the methodology behind creating the Big Lie of World Universities Ranking Standards is vague enough so that no average reader can quite figure out how and why these Universities are ranked as they did. However, the Standards and their respective systems with its publications of numbers and statistics, supported by enthusiastic endorsements by Universities, politicians and some Professors, seem clear enough to suggest a façade of validity, thereby completing Hitler’s Big Lie formula.

Governments have a duty to intervene and ban the use of World Universities Rankings Standards by its public-funded Universities.  It is like any false and misleading marketing.  Some Universities have been known to submit incomplete and false data to Standards Vendors in the hope of improving their rankings.

Singapore’s involvement with the Big Lie of World Universities Ranking is a case in point.  Known globally for our Authentic Accomplishments, our Universities were seduced by the tsunami of the Fraudulent World Universities Rankings at the turn of the 21^st Century.  

When ranked undeservingly low by the Rankers, Singapore’s NTU, one of only 2 top local and Great Universities, began to re-calibrate actively in accordance with the Big Lie’s definition of “world excellence”.  Never mind that their common Mission was and has always been the Creation of Singapore’s Future.  The impact of NTU’s research excellence which had encouraged entrepreneurship in its faculty and students and produced many spin-off companies were trivialized to just research paper citations.       

To satisfy the Rankers’ preference for foreign students and faculty members, NTU embarked on a systematic purge of local Professors, never mind that many are tenured, have accomplished internationally, and have served the University with distinction, and denied admission to many qualified Singaporeans by increasing foreign students admission, and forcing those from better income families to seek and obtain admissions to, ironically, top Universities overseas.

Some laws were also possibly broken with regard to the constitutional protection of Singaporean Professors and their retirement age, but the irrational, mindless frenzy spared nothing to obtain a Brand of Questionable Authenticity.

A few hundred Singaporean Professors were purged from 2007 to beyond 2010. And more than 6,500 Singaporean students, or between 1,700-1,900 annually, were denied NTU admission into various 3-year and 4-year Undergraduate Programs from 2009-2013.

Finally by 2014, NTU was ranked as the Top Youngest University in the World by QS Ranker, and ranking just 39th Worldwide.  Indeed, what a “climb” from 77th in 2008!  Indeed, a Pyrrhic and Hollow Victory, nothing more.

Never in the short History of Singapore has so much been owed by the Nation to so many Singaporeans so stupidly sacrificed for nothing of any worthy value to our Future or the World.

Seriously, enough is enough of the stupid stuff! The Singapore Government should direct our Universities to ignore the Big Lie of World Universities Ranking Standards, as so wisely counseled by one of the main Ranker himself. 

Singapore universities should no longer participate in the Big Lie of any “World Universities Ranking” Fraud and lends our hard-earned Reputation for Authenticity and Honesty to mask their lack of credibility, validity and reliability.  We must continue to uphold the honest Truth before the World and ourselves, not out of fear of laws and penalties but because this is WHO WE ARE. Our High Standards of integrity and honesty reflect the Society we want to live in, and the values we uphold and hold ourselves to embrace.

Read the Full Article:

2015 World Universities Rankings – Using The Big Lie to Perpetuate Fraud and Myth of Excellence.

Kopi Level - Green

The appeasement to Abe

When Adolf Hitler started the militarization of Germany, the European powers looked on quietly, hoping that he was only rebuilding Germany to protect itself. England, the dominant power than adopted a policy of appeasement, allowing Hitler to expand his armed forces freely as he wished. When Hitler finally invaded the rest of Europe it was too late to cry. Europe almost went under if the Americans did not intervened, but at a very high cost on human lives and sufferings. There would be no holocaust and millions of Jews would not have suffered the cruelties of the Germans. European countries would not have been put to ruins and their citizens killed and maimed for life. It was too late to regret for the failure to stop the militarization of Germany.
 
In East Asia today, the forces that would lead to a third World War have been set in motion just like the days of Adolf Hitler. Japan, under the Abe Administration, is going the same path as Hitler’s Germany. Military build up and remilitarization are top priority. Abe has a free hand to do as he pleases, like Adolf Hitler, and better still, with the encouragement of the Americans. The Americans are setting the stage for a major war with China with Japan on its side and whichever East Asian and South East Asian countries it can pull into its ranks.
 
Japan is the main assault force for the Americans against China. Japan’s military is being beefed up with American technology and weapons. Japan’s intention is blatantly displayed to the world by the appointing of Hawkish Defence Minister General Nakatani. The hawks are on the ascent. More military acquisition and building of military hardware like assault warships, aircraft carriers and a secret nuclear armament programme, ignoring the wrath of God with the crippling of Fukushima nuclear plant. All nuclear power stations must be run to produce the weapon grade plutonium for nuclear weapons production.
 
The Americans quietly acquiesced, not appeasement, by allowing Japan to retain 300kg of weapons grade plutonium ‘loaned’ to Japan for research purposes. What was the intent? These could easily produce 40 to 50 nuclear weapons and the only farce that the Americans are doing is to put on an act of wanting them back. Japan is also in possession of 44,000 kg of home grown plutonium from its nuclear power stations. How many more nuclear bombs could they produce?
 
Though officially not admitted, Japan could be in possession of hundreds of nuclear weapons today with the connivance and approval of the Americans. And the Americans are allowing the Japanese to rewrite their pacifist constitutions so that it could go back to its past aggression military adventure, to conduct wars.
 
What is happening to the remilitarization of Japan is more than appeasement but a concerted effort promoted by the Americans to use the Japanese, as a nuclear power, to contain China and to hold China at ransom with the threat of a nuclear war. It is easier to get the ambitious and conceited Japanese to take on China and let Asia burns.
 
The rise of a military Japan is almost complete with the rest of the world turning a blind eye and with the Americans providing all the assistance and approval for a Japan to return to its Imperialist past. Shinzo Abe is the new Adolf Hitler of the 21st Century. The world is being prepared for a 3rd World War by the USA and Japan with East Asia as the battle ground.

Kopi Level - Blue, thank you

The end of Sinkies is near

Over the last few days Sinkies were being bashed by foreigners in the most unbecoming and digraceful way they could ever imagine. A Sambath Kannan from India, a VP in Deutsche Bank, wrote in Hsien Loong’s Facebook chastising and implying that Sinkies are a bunch of misfits that someone like him coming from a continent of slums and with half its population still squatting in the open to shit, without toilet facilities, could teach them how to work and live well.
 
And there is this Pinoy called Edz Ello, working in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, who wrote in his Facebook calling for the killing of Sinkies and to take over the island as a state of the Philippines. His defence is that his Facebook was hacked but netizens quoted him writing those insulting messages for several months. This makes his innocent claim a big doubt. The call for violence is unacceptable and seditious. The Police cannot fold their arms and look askance as if it is a joke like the Joker asking the daft Sinkies to laugh it off.
Threats of taking lives and hurting people are no laughing matter. I too received a similar threat by a Raymond and I made a police report when he cockily dared me to. No one is allowed to threaten the lives of any citizens or to cause him bodily harm and be able to walk away, and for some silly ass to say laugh it off.
 
Then in the Mypaper today, there is a picture of this huge and burly foreigner cyclist haughtily manhandling a local like handling a little wild animal. The facts of the incident were not fully reported but even if the driver was rude, there is no room for a foreigner to pull up a citizen in that roguish and humiliating manner. And the frequency of foreigners bashing locals is so high that it is very shameful. Why are foreigners allowed to threat locals like little animals? Who is there to protect the foreigners! Yes, who is there to protect the foreigners while the locals are being bashed by foreigners? The local shits are useless daft Sinkies that deserved to be bashed by foreigners?
 
In all these cases, the important thing is the thinking behind their actions. These foreigners, the India Indian, the Pinoy and the burly foreigner, are treating the daft Sinkies as irritants that should be gotten rid off. They have totally no respect for the daft Sinkies or the local law and authority. And they are right in a way. The daft Sinkies would not hit back and would allow themselves to be abused, insulted and beaten. And the law, the law to protect the daft Sinkies? I reserve my comments. No comments.
 
All I can say is that the days of the daft Sinkies in the little island they called home is coming to an end. They will soon be a minority, treated like minorities and not only that, regarded as useless pieces of wood or old furniture, to be thrown away and chopped and used as firewood. They are really daft and stupid and unworthy to be here, to be a resident of this prosperous island of super foreign talents. The foreigners built this island and are here to help them and to provide jobs for the daft Sinkies. Say thank you, go down on your knees and be grateful to the foreigners. Let them insult you, threaten you and bash you. And be very grateful for the privilege.

Kopi Level - Blue,thank you.

“To Preserve and Protect the Honour of Singapore”

Our Sacred Duty to Respond to Threats Made to Our Survival

MIKOspace - Reflecting on:

TREmeritus (3 Jan 2014)

An inflammatory post made on a pinoy’s Facebook account on 3 Jan has an online tsunami.

The post essentially taunts Singaporeans and wishes them ill. A person by the name of “Edz Ello” wrote that he prays for “disators” (sic) to strike Singapore and wants to see more Singaporeans die. He also wants to kick all Singaporeans out of Singapore so that Singapore will become a new Filipino state:

Well, Edz Ello claimed that his Facebook account has been hacked.  He should file a Police Report and also urged Facebook to investigate his complaint thoroughly.  We are a Nation of Laws, and so the burden is on Edz Ello to prove that he did not threaten to “kick out Singaporeans” and “prayed (wished) for Singaporean deaths”, both I believe must be criminally offensive to warrant Police intervention as a matter of normal routine follow-up. 

To our Home Team: There should be vigorous Police screening of his background, beliefs, values, social habits, known associates (Pinoys and others), telephone conversations,  as well as everything that he had touched, eaten, seen, heard or smelled with whom, when and why during the times he has been in Singapore.

Interestingly in the United States TODAY (Mon, 5 Jan 2014), the Court Trial began for one of the 2 Tsarneav brothers who set off two bombs that killed 3 and injured 260 more people at the Boston Marathon on 15 April 2013.  Some had their legs or other limbs amputated. Many are considered “Disabled” today. The older brother was shot and killed by Police when he resisted arrest.  The Tsarneavs were foreign immigrants from Russian Chechen to the USA some years earlier.

Could Edz Ello and his friends or associates be like the Tsarneav brothers?  

A former politician scolded the more than 2,000 Singaporeans who reacted angrily to Edz Ello’s post and chided them as “petty”, “insecure”, “thin-skin”, too sensitive and “easily offended”.  Seriously, Mr Calvin Cheng?

Mr Calvin Cheng, who was a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) from 2009-2011, would just “laugh it off” when someone (and his associates) threatened “death” and “disaster” on his love ones, friends and family.  Say, Mr Calvin Cheng, Edz Ello even threatened the end of Singapore!  

Well, the Tsarneav brothers in their discovered notes also threatened the United States and death of Americans.  To Mr Calvin Cheng, “a great nation (like the USA?) should just ‘laugh it off’’.  

Dear Calvin, please “laugh off” the Boston bombing with the parents of Martin Richard (age 8); Krystle Campbell (age 29) and Lingzi Lu from China; and the other 260 injured, including the amputees.

Singapore is not just a Great Nation; we are also An EXCEPTIONAL People that provide Exceptional Value to the World, including good paying Jobs for our Neighbours including The Philippines.

Edz Ello‘s words clearly exceeded the meaning of mere “insults”.  They balk at and deny our hard-fought Right to Survive – No Proud Singaporean would “just laugh it off”. 

As a Singapore politician, Mr Calvin Cheng did Singapore the greatest disservice when he trivialized our collective sense of duty, honour and national pride.  As a National Serviceman, he has so easily forgotten that he, like millions of us, had also vowed to “Preserve and Protect The Honour and Independence of Our Country”.  

IT IS THE SACRED DUTY OF ALL SINGAPOREANS, AS OUR HIGHEST PRIVILEGE AND RIGHT OF CITIZENSHIP, TO RESIST AND RESPOND TO ANY THREATS MADE TO OUR RIGHT TO SURVIVE BOTH AS A PEOPLE AND AS AN INDEPENDENT SOVEREIGN NATION.

We can Only hold our heads high as we continually Assert Our Right to Live among the Nations as a Sovereign Nation Deserving of Their Respect, Friendship and Admiration.

Kopi Level - Blue, thank you

Singapore 2015 (1) – The Beginning

Some Ramblings of a 50-year-old Nation

By MIKOspace

In a flash, we will be celebrating our beloved Singapore’s 50^th (S50) Birthday.  For a nation, our history is very brief and yet so exciting and rich for one little boy who lived through this epoch.  Having passed my own half-century a while back, I can understand the festive joy amidst the angst, trepidation and expectations accompanied by our perennial national past-time of worrying about important trivia and inconvenient mundane stuff, punctured occasionally by serious matters of the heart, community and the world in that order.

This Post shall kickoff a series of free flowing thoughts through the events and policies in the past 50 years, before capturing the transformative imagination for our beloved country in the next 50 to 500 years.  

We shall begin, as usual, from the beginning.

9 August 1965 – The Day of Infamy which No Singaporean should Forget.

We were at the edge of our Hope, the end of our Destiny and the Dissolution of our Vision. Earlier, we had fought and won our Battle for Merger with Malaysia.  It was to be our finest victory!  But, it was short-lived.  Looking back to my 2 years as a Malaysian “Singapore” Citizen, I am glad that it was not a very long victory.  I was not even entitled to Malaysian citizenship!  A longer victory would have been very bad for me and millions of fellow Singaporeans.   

It was better this way, Really. The early joy of Merger Victory had been followed by two years of love-hate, bittersweet honeymoon disputing the conflicting visions of a meritocratic, multicultural “Malaysian Malaysia” vs a Malay-dominant, racist, ethnic supremacist “Malay Malaysia”. With no ethnic group then exceeding 50% in the population, a Malaysian Malaysia would have made the most sensible choice, but not to the powerful Malay political elites and their interest groups.  A saline mixture of fresh and sea water would still taste salty, even if we had remained in Malaysia.

The Promised Land of Malaysia two years earlier had turned into a Desert of Acrimony. The Mirage of Mutual Prosperity clouded the Reality of sandy Political Interests.  We could not be forced to drink the sand of political racism to quench our thirst for justice and equality.  And we refused to mistake it for the precious water needed to nurture our dream of Nationhood.

National Day 9 August 1965 – Leaving Our Future Behind

From the Ashes of a Failed Vision, we had emerged more Prosperous, Stronger, more Rugged, more Resilient, more Robust and Independent.  Our RIGHT to Survive with Independent Sovereignty CANNOT and MUST NEVER be compromised or sacrificed. Our Authenticity as a Nation providing Exceptional Value to the World MUST Always be visibly Demonstrated without Any Equivocation.

Our Greatest Moment as “One People, One Nation” was in picking up the Pieces of our young Nation when so Many had written us Off.  We had Believed in One Another when we Failed in our Merger Victory, and we Prevailed.  It is always easier to keep our faith and believing when we are succeeding.

In 2015 as we approach our Jubilee 50 years old, and grappled with new Survival issues, let it not be forgotten that we once had a Difficult Birth, a Risky Delivery, a Vulnerable Existence And a daunting Struggle to continually assert Our Right to Live among the Nations as a Sovereign Nation Deserving of Their Respect, Friendship and Admiration.   

We must continue to believe in Each Other and Ourselves as we march into the next 50 Years and beyond.  Together, our strengths always synergise in the face of Adversity, and we become stronger, more united and more resilient when we trust and depend on one another.   

Kopi Level - Red