Cutting Scholarships... Another Reason Why DS Nazri Aziz Should Be Sacked!

I had recommended that DS Najib consider dropping DS Nazri Aziz from his Cabinet in his recent cabinet re-shuffle. Whilst this didn't happen as the re-shuffle was more focussed on changes in the MCA leadership and MIC's post-Samy Vellu preparations, there was much disappointment and continued hope that some heads will roll in the near future.

One minister I didn't mention for the chop, current EPU minister, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop (TS NMY), is currently more popular for removal, especially among the GLC, corporate and business conscious bloggers. This follows the on-going spate of scandals among GLCs, from Sime Darby through POS Malaysia, the former an example of a continuous explosive affair whilst the latter a simmering pot of disaster as TS NMY's boys in Khazanah and the GLCs spin a cover-up.

However, DS Nazri, perhaps upset that the limelight of political confusion has been off him, and focussed on the non-politician DS Idris Jala to boot, has decided to seize it back in a dramatic fashion... it seems DS Nazri wants to abolish overseas undergraduate Scholarships! Worst, in an age when many doubt the quality of local grads, especially from peripheral IPTAs, DS Nazri wants to deprive many Malaysians from getting quality education abroad!

For this DS Nazri surely should be sacked! I have had the pleasure of having run through DS Idris Jala's presentation on Subsidy Rationalisation and found it comforting that EVEN DS IDRIS AND PEMANDU DOES NOT PLAN TO HAVE SUBSIDIES IN EDUCATION CUT; i.e. no scholarship cuts planned at all according to government plans before DS Nazri saw the wisdom in opening his mouth! ... did I get that wrong? Hope not ...

Rather than cut our overseas undergraduate scholarship budget, why doesn't DS Nazri think about cutting minister's overseas holidays budgets first? Not enough? Of course. So then lets start with some more real serious stuff to cut first which is on DS Idris Jala's proposal:

1. Stop subsidising IPPs for the Gas or Fuel they use to run to produce Electricity! I am sure the YTLs and Malakoffs have by now fully recovered their high cost of capital to start their plants AND THEN SOME. In addition, it is surely unethical to continue to subsidise a private enterprise that is making so much money it is expanding on the back of subsidies instead of giving scholarships...


2. Stop giving away APs and instead have all those people who can afford it actually PAY the high cost of these cars! I say it is sick that a rich man can afford to get an AP and hence get a hundred thousand ringgit discount to bring a Ferarri into the country, especially when the same hundred thousand ringgit could pay for 2 years of a Medical Student's scholarship or all of 3 years of tuition fees for an undergraduate Pharmacy student in Australia.


3. By all means, stop paying Highway concessionaries to stop them from raising toll rates. If toll Highway users are upset, tell them to learn to car pool - they won't anyway, Petrol is still too cheap from subsidies for Malaysians to want to bother sharing cars or even try public transport! Tell them if they just RM1/day higher tolls, maybe a few talented kids from Bario or Kuala Sepetang will get a chance to study Engineering in the US.


4. etc.


5. etc.


6. et al.

But for gods sakes, don't cut any of our scholarships! DS Najib, please sack DS Nazri before he loses you the election...

Teaching Priorities To Our Children...

Last week whilst I was driving my daughter and son to school, the daughter complained that our maid had made a mistake. It seems the maid had put my son's tuperware in her bag and vice versa. This appeared to be a repeat offence. This is how the conversation subsequently went:

Daughter: Bibi (the maid) selalu buat macam tu...

Me: Selalu? Every day?

D: No... sometimes... but I don't like it...

M: Is there food in the tuperware?

D: Ummm, yes...

M: So which is more important, that Bibi makes sure you have food to bring to school or that she puts the right tuperware in the right bag?

D: The food is more important.

M: Good. You must realise what a rush it is in the morning for everyone to get ready kan?

D: Ya.

M: So, have you thanked Bibi for making sure you and your brother have food every morning?

D: No.

M: Isn't that more important than complaining about the tuperware?

D: ...

M: I know you are upset about the tuperware, and I know it is important to you, but that doesn't mean it's the most important thing. You must understand what is really important when you choose to do things...

I'm not sure if the lesson was well learned, I certainly didn't ask her to swap tuperwares herself with the brother, hoping they'd figure it out themselves. (Not sure if they did really as we pulled up to the school by the end of the conversation). Nonetheless, how, what, where, when and why to prioritise, is a lesson not easily learned, even for a working adult and perhaps the confusion begins at school!

I won't rant about the physical examples of the poor prioritisation of our childrens' lives at school, such as the big bags heavy with nigh all the books they are using for the year as there is poor clarity on what books to bring! Or the strange celebration of kids scoring 18A's at SPM, when I would have preferred 6A's of higher quality and difficulty to attain that are also the childrens' choice of subjects to study with an eye for the future.

There are bigger examples of poor prioritisation in our school system, such as on medium of instruction. I know of no other nation in the world that has, not just allowed non-national languages as a choice for primary medium of instruction at schools, but also has had its government funding the majority of these vernacular schools! Now these schools have become not just a political football in minority politics but is exceedingly seen as the root causes of racial disharmony!

Opposition parties like to say that BN component parties like to practice race-based politics, however, the DAP themselves play this game and this was proven in Perak when the former PR government helped fund some PRIVATE vernacular schools! Last week, we see nonsense escalating in the education arena when Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat claiming 'merit' to mean just exam grades and not co-curricular activities! Ah, I see, so he wants us to be a nation of exam crammers!

I hence welcome efforts by fellow bloggers to stop politicians of any ilk, but especially racist ones, from messing up the priorities of our schools. I have hence joined the following petition. Join us: