“History needs to be clearly explained but must not be influenced by current politics”

Published: Sunday September 11, 2011 MYT 5:32:00 PM

Updated: Sunday September 11, 2011 MYT 8:27:26 PM

Dr M: Some History text books inaccurate need clearer explanation

ALOR SETAR: History needs to be clearly explained but must not be influenced by current politics, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said

"Current text books are inaccurate as they had not given a clear background on the fight for the nation's independence.

“Not much is mentioned on the roles played by leaders such as first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra.

“And, because of this, the younger generation do not understand the country's history and origin," the former prime minister said.

“History cannot be reviewed as we cannot change what had happened. It is better to tell the truth about the nation's past,” he said adding that young Malaysians assumed the fight for independence was just another common fight that also took place in other countries.

He was commenting on a recent statement by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin that the history syllabus for schools would be revised following new findings of the nation's past.

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© 1995-2011 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

The Government must give us the tools to fight in order to win. We cannot fight with bare hands”

Sunday September 11, 2011

Rated and ranked

By KAREN CHAPMAN

educate@thestar.com.my

Universities need to be continuously gauged to see how they fare against other varsities, and rankings are a method of doing so.

GIVE universities the necessary tools so that they can win the war. Strong words perhaps but Universiti Malaya (UM) vice-chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dr Ghauth Jasmon argues that the Government must give the university the funding required to carry out the high impact research to compete at the top.

“High impact research will generate the citations for us. It is just like going to war.

“The Government must give us the tools to fight in order to win. We cannot fight with bare hands,” he explains.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak viewing a model of the MTDC and UiTM technopreneur centre. Looking on are Mohamed Khaled (right) and Prof Sahol Hamid (fourth from right). — File photo

Examples of high impact research include HIV/AIDS, oral cancer, plant genomics and photonics.

Prof Ghauth explains that UM remains committed to enhancing its standing as an internationally-renowned institution of higher education by competing in recognised world university rankings.

“We have set ourselves the target of being within the top 100 universities in the world by 2015 and reaching the top 50 by the year 2020, in line with the vision set out in the National Higher Education Action Plan 2007 – 2010,” he says.

Under the QS World University Rankings, UM moved up 40 places to 167 this year compared to 207 in 2010.

Another sweetener for UM was breaking into the top 500 in the Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities for the first time.

Prof Ghauth said earlier that UM would continue to participate in world ranking exercises as it needed to benchmark itself against the best.

“But now that we’ve been pushing, the research output has clearly improved and our ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) publications and citations have shot up, which is an indicator of how we’re doing. We have to change in order to go forward as we can’t compete if we stick to the old way of doing things,” he shared.

The spotlight is back on Malaysian institutions this week with the release of the QS World University Rankings 2011.

Other than UM which is the only Malaysian institution that made it to the top 200 of the QS league table; and the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) which made an appearance for the first time, the other four research universities did not do as well and had slid down the rankings.

It has been argued that rankings seem to be an inevitable aspect of today’s higher education scene in most parts of the world.

Like them or not, they cannot be ignored as rankings provide a useful basis for comparison of institutions and an insight into their strengths and weaknesses.

But what is deterring Malaysia’s institutions from doing well in global league tables such as the QS World University Rankings, Times Higher Education World University Rankings or the Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities?

Giving an overview on how Malaysian institutions have performed this year, QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) Ltd Intelligence Unit head Ben Sowter says as a cohort they have not performed as well as they did last year with employer reputation and citations per faculty being the main driver for that change.

“Obviously UM is an exception and beyond that, UKM has held the closest to its previous position with strong progress in international faculty and international students.

“At a recent UNESCO forum in Paris, it was stated that of the approximately 20,000 institutions in the world, Malaysia has six institutions in the top 600 and they are among the world’s top 3%. Malaysian institutions continue to perform better in the QS rankings than many other international universities,” he shares with StarEducate.

“We are aware that universities in different parts of the world have different priorities and have carried out many programmes that are important to society that we are unable to measure, but Malaysian institutions continue to struggle in the publication of highly-cited papers.

“Whilst this may not be seen as a priority internally, it is a widely-used basis for international comparison,” he says.

Sowter explains that QS conducts and compiles the World University Rankings, which is an annual league table of the top universities in the world. It is based on data gathered and measured in academic peer review, employer reputation review, international faculty ratio, international student ratio, student faculty ratio, and citations per faculty.

Citations or the lack thereof, appears to be what is holding Malaysian institutions back — this is where the works of researchers are indexed by the ISI-indexed journals. The database allows a researcher to identify which articles have been cited most frequently, and who has cited them.

UM statistics now show that there were 1,300 papers published in 2009, followed by 1,800 last year with the university hoping to pass the 2,000 mark — a psychological barrier — this year.

Sowter explains that the intricacies of research strategy are complex and individual to the university in question.

“While the desired outcome is to have more papers in high-impact journals, the journey to get there is not as straightforward and may not be inexpensive.

“Author education and incentive schemes may be a simple starting point but in most cases an institution with finite resources will need to build a long term research strategy that builds on their unique strengths and creates a clarity of purpose in those key areas,” he adds.

Sowter adds that implementing reforms in research strategy will require a lot of detailed analysis. It also requires a research planning and strategy team together with a consistent leadership to see through the implementation.

As for the employer reputation component that is also pulling Malaysian institutions down, Sowter explains that this takes into consideration the important component of employability. The majority of undergraduate students leave university in search of employment after their first degree, making the reputation of their university among employers a crucial consideration.

Under the QS World University Rankings, citations are evaluated to take into account the size of an institution, and are the best understood and most widely accepted measure of research strength.

Often calculated on a “per paper” basis, the QS World University Rankings has adopted a “per faculty member” approach since its inception in 2004. The citations per faculty score contributes 20% to the overall rankings score.

For the calculation of this indicator, QS gathers the information from the total citation count for the last five years.

Sowter explains that there are three major sources of publication and citation data worldwide, these are the Web of Science from Thomson Reuters; Scopus from Elsevier and Google Scholar. QS uses Scopus mainly due to its broader journal coverage.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin congratulated UM on its improvement, saying that it was a reflection of the hard work put in by the university staff.

“I am also happy that two more of our institutions, IIUM and UiTM have made it to the QS World University Rankings,” he says.

However, he says rankings are not the ministry’s main objective as it is important to ensure universities contribute to the development process of the country.

“We should not be addicted to rankings but use it as a guide on where we are,” he says.

Whither rankings

On a positive side, IIUM and UiTM have been included in the QS rankings at 451-500 and 601+ respectively for the first time this year.

Newly-appointed IIUM rector Prof Datuk Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin commended her predecessor Prof Datuk Dr Syed Arabi Idid and all staff members for their efforts in ensuring the institution’s inclusion in the league table.

“Our graduate employability has recorded a gradual increase over the years with 75% in 2010 and in ensuring quality of teaching and learning, 70% of IIUM’s faculty members have obtained PhDs,” she says.

UiTM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar believes the university has been recognised due to its firm commitment to quality.

“We are working with institutions such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and McGill University (in Canada) on research as well as professor exchange programmes.

As an example, Prof Sahol Hamid says UiTM is working on a joint partnership with the Higher Education Ministry and MIT to form the Malaysian Institute for Supply Chain Innovation in Shah Alam.

UKM is ranked 279 this year compared to 263 in 2010; USM at 335 (309), UPM 358 (319) and UTM at between 401 and 450 (365).

UPM vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Radin Umar Radin Sohadi says the university takes notes of the rankings in terms of improvements.

“UPM will focus on fundamentals and will do what is right for the university and the country,” he says.

It is better, he opines, to focus on the Malaysian Research Asessment Instrument (MyRA) which focuses on the fundamentals of a university — research and development (R&D), R&D commercialisiation and the number of those with PhD among its staff members, among others.

Despite a drop in overall ranking, UTM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Zaini Ujang views the ranking exercise as an indicator for it to continuously improve its performance in other fields such as natural sciences, biological sciences and humanities.

“It is worth noting that UTM’s focus in non-engineering fields is relatively new, and this has in a way affected its overall ranking which takes into consideration performance in all disciplines,” he explains.

Nevertheless, efforts by the university have been in place with Prof Zaini aggresively pursuing a balanced and holistic strategy to improve limitations in other areas.

He notes that UTM’s aims are not to duplicate what others have done, but to focus on niche areas which have high impact and differentiated offering, contributing to national interest such as in areas of halal science, Islamic jurisprudence, and innovation and technology policy.

UKM vice-chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin says it is normal for an institution to be up one year and down the next.

“We are consistently in the top 300. What is more important is what we are doing now to transform UKM,” she adds.





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© 1995-2011 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

If I hear a Chinese say that he is a Chinese first and a Malaysian second then I will tell him to go back to where he and his ancestors had come from (even if he was from Batu Pahat!).

By steadyaku47

I think the above line says a lot about the state of things in Malaysia today. Most of what they say are, for lack of a better word, simply stupid. There is no malice intended towards other races or religion.

Muhyiddin meant no malice towards anyone when he said he is a Malay first and a Malaysian second. He just does not get it. If you believe in 1Malaysia, then common sense will tell you that you are Malaysian first. We Malays expect the Chinese, the Indians, the Dayaks, the Ibans and all other people who call Malaysia home to think the same way. If I hear a Chinese say that he is a Chinese first and a Malaysian second then I will tell him to go back to where he and his ancestors had come from (even if he was from Batu Pahat!). So this Malay Deputy Prime Minister of ours simply does not have the mental capacity to understand where he is coming from. It sound good in his head and he thought it would win him some points with the Malays – that is how idiots think – only for the moment – no capability to understand the damage his words can do.

Pemuda UMNO has a lot of idiots. They seem to hold the license for stupidity or as we say, God broke the mould after he cast Pemuda UMNO! Don’t get me started on that Din and that extension of his masculinity – the Keris! Din is in a class of his own. He thinks that having a cousin who is PM allows him that leeway to be an idiot. Well I have news for you Din. You do not have to try or act like an idiot, you are one!

Din left Pemuda in the hands of like minded idiots! The latest episode is too tragic to make light of because of the death of a cameraman ……..but here is the bottom line. This Bumiputra Mamak call Azzeeeeez saw what he thought would be a sure fire way of propelling him up the ladder of UMNO’s leaders and he went headlong into something that was way above his head and ended up with a dead cameraman and with egg on his face. How he will be able to extricate himself from this mess is to be seen but in UMNO you can never know.

I told myself that with Mahathir gone that would be the end of his line in UMNO politics because he had ensured his children would have enough money to last many lifetimes – and lo and behold Mukriz is in the cabinet. So you can expect Mukriz and this Azeeez to be up there in the tree tops with the other monkeys of UMNO swinging on the roof tops of PWTC.

Everywhere I turn I see myself surrounded by idiots who happens to be politicians. Maybe I am doing idiots an injustice by putting then together with politicians but can anyone suggest whom else we could lump these politicians with? If you want to deliver our country into the hands of thieves then go vote for most of the current herd of BN politicians.

Let us start with MCA. If there is one thing you can say about the Chinese in MCA it is this – they really believe in what Nietzsche said “ That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” How else do you explain their preoccupation in voting for leaders who routinely f#*k them up? Look at the list of MCA past president post Tun Tan Siew Sin-a veritable list of rogues that could rival PDRM list of Malaysia’s most wanted!

We have the spectacle of this TUN who was former President of MCA who is not only bringing ill repute to all the Tuns before and after him, but what is more amazing is his out and out attempts to garner all the wealth he could possible get for himself while President of MCA! Using MCA as his personal jump board for the acquisition of material wealth. His exploits reads like a tale of Bernard Madoff in the US who is already in jail for life (well 150 years is almost life!). Madoff is responsible for USD$65 billion missing from his clients account.

At least Madoff son’s were the one who turned him in to the authorities…..…would Liong Sik son do that to him? The problem with Malaysia is that even if ANYBODY wants to turn him in who could they turn to? MACC? MCA? PDRM or even the Prime Minister himself? Huh! Would you expect BN to censure their own?

Inga Dey …before the Indians starts pointing fingers at the Chinese please see how many of those fingers are pointing back at you! All the past MIC President from 1946 to 1979 cannot eclipse what Samy Velu did from 1979 to 2010. By any definition or criteria this Samy wins hands down. The longest serving, the most corrupt, the most petulant prima donna, the most “I will retire when I have made MIC stronger” …..…and the list goes on. In the end it was his own constituency that told him to “GO” just GO, do not pass GO, do not collect $200 just GO!

Comments (4)...

written by sonofmalaysia, September 11, 2011 17:30:20

Hi steadyaku47 , It is always a pleasure to read your article, I never miss it.

My educated guess is that you come from one of those school like VI, Penang Free School, ACS, St Xavier , St John, or St something school. These school have educated and nurtured many intellectual and good people . Alas , all these schools, painstaking built up over many decades have been destroyed by Mahashit, Now what you see are those idiots and moron running the govt, ruining the country.

And the sad part is , as if this destruction is not enough, now we have the moohidin idiot with cow dung for brain sitting there delivering a second blow to our edication system ! .

written by Revolution, September 11, 2011 15:39:36

!Malaysia concerns high class businessmen only . They are all together to f*** us all , whathever where they come from ! ...

written by Kaneeneh, September 11, 2011 14:18:04

We are a nation lead by racist, supported by idiots, followed by nincompoops ...

written by NSTPravda, September 11, 2011 13:58:24

Read lah 1My Qur'4n swearing pink pouting lip$

It doesn't that MyUrine says he is a Malay first and a Malaysian second. Or a Pendatang Cinakuis says he Cina Kui first, Malaysian second. To paraphrase the great infidel kafir Cina-kui Deng Xiao Peng, it doesn't matter whether it is MyUrine or Cina-kui; whether Malay first, Cinakui first and Malaysian second or last as long as they both contribute to my commision and pi$$e$ straight when I order them to. So semua-nya OK! Kotor bersih...altantuyahlah! undi lah 1Aku, ABU ta' Abu!

“Our willingness to invest in human capital development has put Malaysia in good stead as a nation”

Saturday September 10, 2011

PM: Priority to nurture talent

By JOSEPH KAOS Jr

joekaosjr@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Developing and nurturing a solid, local talent base is top on the Government's agenda, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said yesterday.

The Prime Minister stressed the importance of human capital development stating that it is “the most important investment a country can make” as it is the core of innovation and leads to a productive high-income economy.

“Our willingness to invest in human capital development has put Malaysia in good stead as a nation.

“In just one generation, we have successfully transformed from a low-income agriculture economy into an upper middle income modern industrial economy,” said Najib at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman's 13th convocation at Dewan San Choon, Wisma MCA, yesterday.

“No economy can succeed without a highly-skilled talent base that responds creatively to economic changes, and is centred on creating, developing and utilising knowledge.

“For this reason, we are widening access to our education system at all levels, from pre-school to higher education, to ensure that every Malaysian can realise his or her potential,” he told the graduates.

The premier also said the Government had made the “right decision” to liberalise higher education as the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act in 1996 had enabled more Malaysians to pursue their education locally.

“Looking back, I would like to state that it was the right decision. It was a blue ocean strategy before the term was even coined and became popular in providing more places for Malaysians as local institutions cannot accommodate all the qualified students and not every Malaysian can afford the cost of an overseas education,” said Najib.

He congratulated the graduates and told them it was their responsibility to help propel the nation to greater heights.

Also present at the ceremony were MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, Utar Council chairman Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Hou Kok Chung and university president Datuk Dr Chuah Hean Teik.

Najib presented scrolls to 60 of the 2,773 graduates at the ceremony.





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© 1995-2011 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

The academic world and the intelligence community have long debated the origins of the 1948-1960 communist uprising in Malaya......SO WHY THE LATEST CALLING BY THE AUTHORITY TO DO FURTHER RESEARCH ON THIS CONTROVERSY????

Written by Leon Comber, CPI

The origins of the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) have been debated over the years in both the academic world and in the intelligence community.

This paper incorporates the contemporaneous views of the Malayan Special Branch that have not been recorded previously. It also examines the role of Lawrence (Lance) Sharkey, the acting Secretary-General of the Australian Communist Party, who was in Singapore en route back to Australia after attending the February 1948 Conferences in Singapore, in allegedly passing instructions to the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) to revolt against the British colonial government in Malaya.

The essay1 will conclude that there is little evidence of any direct Soviet intervention in the decision made by the CPM to revolt, and it will argue that the decision to resort to armed conflict was made after its failure to establish a Communist People’s Democratic Republic by “open front” activities.

The background

The academic world and the intelligence community have long debated the origins of the 1948-1960 communist uprising in Malaya. Was the decision to raise the standard of revolt in June 1948 part of a global revolutionary movement orchestrated by the Soviet Union as part of the Cold War in Asia, or was it instead arrived at by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) based on the local situation in Malaya?2 Or was it rather a mix of both?

Many thousands of words have been written on these questions in the intervening years, but a definitive answer will likely have to await the release of the Soviet Union documents. 3

Meanwhile, this paper presents the viewpoint of a Special Branch officer who served as a Malayan Police Special Branch officer during the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) and who participated in the discussions (referenced later) that took place at Federal Special Branch headquarters in Kuala Lumpur during the early 1949. These discussions concerned the origins of the uprising of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) against the government.

Firstly, we summarise the background. The first question postulated above takes its starting point from Andrei Zhdanov’s well-known speech at the inaugural meeting of the Cominform on 27 September 1947. Zhdanov argued that the world had been polarised into two opposing camps, that is, the communist bloc led by the Soviet Union and the Western capitalist countries led by the United States.4

His speech encouraged a militant approach by worldwide communist parties to propagating revolution in the Third World. The same line was repeated by E.M. Zhukov, who had attended the inaugural meeting of the Cominform with Zhdanov, in his article in the December 1947 issue of the Bol’shevik that referred to the “sharpening crisis of the colonial system” (author’s emphasis) being “perhaps one of the most significant efforts to apply Zhdanov’s doctrine to Asia”.5

On this basis, a Soviet Conspiracy Theory has been developed that postulates that the Soviets had in some way transmitted “instructions” to the representatives of Southeast Asian communist parties attending the Communist Youth Conference, held from 19-24 Feb 1948 in Calcutta, to take advantage of the unstable conditions prevailing in Southeast Asia at the end of the Second World War to rise up against their colonial rulers.6

British forces responded by airlifting supplies to the city, and the blockade was eventually lifted in May 1949.

There were two Communist conferences held in Calcutta in February and March 1948. The first was the Communist Youth Conference, held from 19 February 1948 to 24 February 1948, which was sponsored by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the Conference of Youth and Students of South-East Asia fighting for Freedom and Independence.7

The other was the 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India (CPI) held from 28 February 1948 to 6 March 1948. The conferences were well attended by a wide range of communist delegates from Vietnam, Indonesia, Ceylon, Burma, India, Pakistan, Nepal, the Philippines and Malaya, with observers from Australia, Korea, Mongolia, Soviet Central Asia, Yugoslavia, France, Hungary, Canada, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union.

According to what Chin Peng, Secretary-General of the CPM, told the author in Canberra in February 1999, the CPM did not receive an invitation to attend either of the Calcutta conferences,8 although Lee Soong, General Secretary of the Malayan WFDY, received an invitation to attend the Youth Conference.9 The CPM’s Central Executive Committee approved Lee’s attendance at the Conference.10

Lee was a Singapore-Chinese of CPM State Committee rank who, like many Singapore-Chinese, was fluent in English, the language used at the conference.

Returning to the Soviet Conspiracy theory, the best known exponents of the theory are probably the US scholars Walt W. Rustow, A. Doak Barnett, and Frank N. Trager, who argued that instructions to start armed uprisings had been passed on from the Soviet “centre” to representatives of the Southeast Asian communist parties attending the Calcutta conferences.11

The leading proponent of the opposite school of thought was Ruth T. McVey, who called into question whether the Soviet Union had issued any such instructions. Over the years many, other historians followed this critical path, with Anthony Stockwell’s paper “Chin Peng and the Struggle for Malaya” (2006) as a recent example.12

In her 1958 study, McVey had summed up the situation by saying that in the unsettled conditions that prevailed in Southeast Asia after the Japanese surrender at the end of the war, “it does not seem likely that the two-camp message [sic] lit the revolutionary spark in Southeast Asia though it may well have added the extra tinder which caused it to burst into flames”.13

In his classic study of the Emergency, The Communist Insurrection in Malaya, Anthony Short was rather more circumspect, and while he did not specifically support the Soviet Conspiracy Theory, he reasoned that while the “(Calcutta) conference did not openly declare for insurrection its mood was one of extreme belligerence towards colonial rule”.14

This is undoubtedly correct as it reflects the standard communist line, and in fact during the post-war period, even the US, the leader of the Western capitalist countries, expressed reservations about the continuation of British, French and Dutch colonial rule in Southeast Asia.15

Professor Mary Turnbull’s essay in The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia (1992) came out clearly against the “Soviet Conspiracy Theory” in the following words: “In fact the period was one of confused ambitions for the communists. Their various revolts and wars in Indonesia, Malaya, Vietnam and Burma, were not part (author’s emphasis) of a grand pre-planned Soviet strategy, such as Lenin’s dream of communist revolution in Asia or the Comintern’s ambitious design to use China in the 1920s as the means of realising this dream. While the Soviet Union had shown little interest in Southeast Asia, apart from the 1920s Comintern interlude, the Chinese Communist Party posed a more immediate threat.” 16

As of 2007 however, it was clear that the controversy was still attracting scholarly attention, as the subject was discussed again in Philip Deery’s paper “Malaya, 1948: Britain”s Asian Cold War’17, which was the focus of an interesting H-Diplo review article by Karl Hack.

In his review article, Karl Hack argued that the “Soviet role needs to be given at least some weight within nuanced, multi-causal models of the outbreak of the “Asian Cold War”, and that the MCP did have a programme intended to end in armed revolt within months, even though the British precipitated this’.18

Nevertheless, the debate appears to have largely overlooked the fact that The Times (London) had long ago (June 1948) taken the view there was little evidence of direct Soviet intervention in the rise of revolutionary movements then taking place in Malaya and other parts of Southeast Asia, though The Times conceded that several of the revolutionary leaders, such as Aliman of Indonesia and Ho Chi-Minh of Indo-China, had spent several years in Russia or in communist service abroad.19

The Times considered instead that communist parties were taking advantage of the unsettled conditions prevailing throughout the area at the end of the war, identifying themselves with nationalist anti-West feelings and opposing landlords and factory managers as well as the colonial governments in power.20

This world has plenty for us to share. Let's do it...!

Aspan Alias

Dalam isu siapa pejuang kemerdekaan negara sekarang sedang hebat diperdebatkan. Tetapi tidak apalah, kerana pilihanraya sudah hampir tiba. Umno memang sebuah parti yang memperjuangkan kemerdekaan tetapi UMNO hanya memasuki perjuangan kemerdekaan itu di pusingan akhir perjuangan itu dan UMNOlah yang kumpulan yang terakhir untuk menyudahkan perjuangan dan menerima kemerdekaan itu.

Yang menjolok buahnya ramai tetapi belum berjaya. Tetapi kejayaannya sampai apabila UMNO wujud untuk menyambut buah yang akan jatuh setelah banyak pihak yang menjoloknya. Memangpun hakikatnya siapa yang menjolok buah itu jarang-jarang yang dapat menyambutnya. Selalunya orang lain yang menyambutnya dan mereka lah yang menerima buah-buah yang jatuh tadi.



Oleh kerana UMNO adalah kumpulan yang terakhir yang menjoloknya maka UMNO lah yang menyambut buah kemerdekaan itu. Yang menjolok sebelumnya ramai. KMM, API dan banyak lagi yang menjolok kemerdekaan ini. Malahan PKM juga merupakan salah satu di antara banyak kumpulan yang menjolok kemerdekaan tetapi PKM berjuang melakukannya dengan mengangkat senjata. PKM sudah di haramkan kewujudannya dan kita semua menerima pengharaman itu dengan baik.



Dalam isu ini yang hanya boleh menyelesaikan perdebatan ini ialah untuk kita semua mengakui yang sejarah kita yang mengatakan UMNO itu merupakan parti yang memperjuangkan kemerdekaan itu adalah seratus peratus benar. Tetapi yang kurangnya dalam penulisan sejarah kita ialah kita meninggalkan nama-nama manusia perjuangan kemerdekaan dengan pertubuhan-pertubuhan mereka yang telah berhempas pulas untuk melepaskan negara kita dari belenggu penjahan asing itu.



Kalau kita manusia yang berfikir dan mempunyai perasaan tentulah kita faham yang orang lain pun mempunyai perasaan. Kenapa kita tidak terima sahaja yang sebelum UMNO diwujudkan itu puluhan badan-badan dan pertubuhan yang wujud dengan semangat perjuangan untuk memerdekan negara. Apa salahnya kita terima hakikat ini dan berbaik-baik di antara semua pihak. Jika sudah bertengkar tidak boleh kah bersama-sama mengakui yang kedua-dua belah pihak ada betulnya dan ada kesalahannya.



Sekarang sudah jelas yang UMNO merupakan parti yang memperjuangakan kemerdekaan dan sebelumnya ada puluhan pertubuhan yang wujud dengan tujuan yang sama. Oleh kerana itu sudah menjadi kenyataan apa lagi yang hendak bertengkar ini? Semua orang tahu yang pilihanraya akan tiba dan tentulah isu ini dijadikan isu oleh pihak yang berkuasa untuk mengekalkan kuasa dan mandat rakyat. Pulangkan kepada rakyat untuk menilainya.



Akhirnya sekali lagi kita akui yang pertubuhan yang banyak wujud uitu semuanya bertujuan untuk memerdekan negara termasuk UMNO.

Comments (4)...

written by antares, September 10, 2011 16:42:23

Politikus umeno bukan sahaja buta hati tetapi sekarang sudah jelas buta tuli. Mereka sangaka terlalu pandai berMain Silap Mata - apa dah jadi? Sekarang sudah Terjoloh Bijik Mata dan Buah Pelir sendiri. Waduh, waduh, aduh, mooo, moooo lembu sudah kena sembelih, sakitnya hati umeno.



Pada umeno, ini pekara biasa saja - buat tebal muka sahaja. Yang hairannya, rupa-rupanya ada juga cerdik pandai seperti tuan,tuan professor pun sangup cair jadi professore kangkong, otak bijak sekali gus terus jadi sewel, gagal membezakan faktor zaman yang dihebohkan, apatah lagi kalau ditanya siapa pula sebenarnya si Penjajah dan siapa pula si Penentang Penjajah pun terus sanngup jadi bengap. Tidak hairanlah penyakit ajaran politikus umeno/BeND picit pelir telor kini sudah menjangkit berleluasan.



Ini semuanya adalah angkara wabak penyakit "Self Denial Syndrom" – pandai “cakap tak seupa bikin”, kerana terlalu ashik nak mempertahankan dosa bank "tong taik". Padan muka sendirilah umeno/BeND katoi, mengah hendak menjawab!



Sekarang paling seronok kita hendak dengar jika ada cerita dongeng menteri kabinet dapor umeno/BeND termengah-mengah mecari kerusi selamat untuk menyelit dalam GE13, kah, kah kak ..

written by arazak, September 10, 2011 14:43:29

Prof Kangkong Khoo Kay Peng bukan aje bangang tapi penipu. Dia kata Mat Indera bukan warga Malaya sedangkan Mat Indera lahir pada tahun 1920 dan membesar di Johor.

Sekarang lagi satu Prog Kangkong Zainal Keling. Dia kata neagra kita tidak di jajah oleh British. Kalau tak di jajah kenapa British kenakan cukai pada rakyaat Malaya? Kalau tidak diJajah kenapa British kaut keuntugan dari hasil getah dan bijih timah? Kalau tak dijajah kenapa tuntut kemerdekaan dari British?



Mungkin Allahyarham Tengku tu gila agaknya bila dia laungkan "merdeka" 7 kali dalam Stadium Merdeka pada tahun 1957? Mungkin orang Malaya pada Malam 31 Ogos semua sudah sasau bila mereka turunkan bendera Union Jack dan naikan Bendera Malaya a la Amerika sambil menyanyikan lagu terang Bulan?

Semua Prof Kangkong itu sudah jadi sundalan UMNO belaka! ...

written by educationist, September 10, 2011 11:31:06

Malangnya pelacur ahli sejarah bernama Khoo apa tu tegas katakan negara kita tak pernah dijajahkan oleh pihak British!!

Jadi , buat apa si UMNOputra tu asyik nak buat tuntutan meraka yang bawa kemerdekaan kepada negara kita?? ..

written by doitanyway, September 10, 2011 08:29:28

It is my humble opinion Aspan Alias has written an article which is well thought with reasons put across.

This world has plenty for us to share. Let's do it. !

We have nothing much to lose and let's not forget there are others too who has contributed in many ways but do not get to share the fruits of their labour and effort.

My thank you to those unsung heroes of the past. You will not be forgotten.

Malaysia has great talent. Unfortunately, the world knows it! Hence, there is a great demand for our talent………

Saturday September 10, 2011

Your 10 questions with Johan Mahmood Merican

1. What makes your job interesting and exciting? Bernard Gideon Lim, Penang

TalentCorp is a startup formed in January this year. That in itself is exciting. What makes it more exciting is the scope for TalentCorp to address talent needs for the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). It is a new challenge for the country. There is no tried and tested method. It's like the Star Trek catchphrase, “To boldly go where no man has gone before”. It has been and promises to continue to be an interesting and exciting journey. It is particularly engaging as the issue of talent is probably one of the most important enablers of the future success of Malaysia. Further, Malaysians are passionate about talent. Over the past eight months, my team and I have met and worked with a lot of inspiring individuals who have continued to support and encourage our work.

2. What are the challenges your organisation faces when trying to entice talented Malaysians to come back to work? Bulbir Singh, Seremban

Malaysia has great talent. Unfortunately, the world knows it! Hence, there is a great demand for our talent. The challenge for the country is therefore to compete for our talent. This is key given many talented Malaysians possess the experience and expertise to contribute to Malaysia's development aspirations. The overall value proposition to work in Malaysia needs to be continually enhanced. In this regard, the Government is driving the government transformation, which among others contributes towards enhancing the living standards and environment for talent.

Equally important, the private sector as employers will need to raise the attractiveness of building careers here in Malaysia. Nevertheless, as this effort is in progress, there are currently great professional opportunities in Malaysia. Given the level of scepticism, a major challenge for TalentCorp is to collaborate with employers to raise the awareness and convince talented Malaysians of the available opportunities that are suited for them to do well in Malaysia.

3. How is the effort in drawing talented Malaysians back to the country progressing? If it is not up to expectation, what could have gone wrong? Sivaletchumayah Sivalingam, Puchong, KL

TalentCorp runs the Returning Expert Programme (REP), which has been in existence since 2001 but was transferred to us this year. Since the Prime Minister's announcement of an improved incentive package under the REP in April 2011, we have seen an increase in interest. Last year, about 160 were approved to return. We've doubled that already in the first half of this year. And the numbers continue to look strong.

But, more importantly, what really matters is the quality of people who return, that they actually meet the needs of the industry. So, I am quite encouraged that some of the people who are returning are very experienced and include those with engineering, finance, and ICT background, which are highly in demand. As we are new in this effort, we are aware much more needs to be done to engage with a broader range of Malaysians overseas and to facilitate their return.

4. Do you agree that talented Malaysians leave the country because of unfavourable government policies and unfair educational and career opportunities here? How then can you convince them to return? Elle Subra, Bangsar, KL

I think when you look at the motivations of talent and where they choose to work, it's due to a lot of factors. If I can just broadly categorise them, they would be economics, related to pay level and its associated quality of life. Second is their future professional development. And the third is related to the environment and lifestyle.

In this respect, the Government is driving government transformation initiatives to address issues such as security, education and infrastructure. Parallel to this, the ETP has been put in place to lift the country to developed nation status and, in the process, raise the income level.

Hence, the attractiveness of Malaysia is on an upward trend. One has the choice of either viewing the glass as half empty or half full. Yes, we have room for improvement but now is an exciting time to return to Malaysia and contribute to make things better.

5. How can we do better locally to prevent our best minds from leaving the country? David Tih, Malacca

In today's globalised and highly mobile world, there will inevitably be movement of talent in and out of our country. This is the same elsewhere. It adds to the richness and diversity of the workforce. I personally believe that if we can provide credible, meaningful platforms for Malaysians to feel that they can really make a difference, a lot of us whether in Malaysia or overseas want to contribute to this country.

A good example is Pua Kim Sein, the founder of the Taiwan-based company which made the Pendrive. Despite being overseas for the past 20 years, he returns to Malaysia regularly and has business partners here. Pua's story reminds me of a Chinese proverb which says that no matter how high a tree grows, its leaves will fall to its roots.

So while we wouldn't want to stop Malaysians from reaching their potential outside, if that is where they are optimised, we would like to be able to leverage on their experience and expertise to touch the lives of other Malaysians. They can act as advisers to upcoming Malaysian businesses, introduce Malaysians to a larger network overseas, or channel investments back to the country.

6. Will you penalise those who have accepted the REP and then opt to work abroad on his/her second year? Audrey Lee, Kuala Lumpur

The Prime Minister in April 2011 had announced a revised REP incentive package to encourage Malaysian professionals overseas to return home and contribute to the ETP. This includes, among others, a flat tax rate of 15% on employment income for five years and two tax-free locally assembled cars. These incentives are conditional on the returnee working in Malaysia for at least five years. Opting to work abroad in the second year would result in a clawback of the incentives.

7. With the Government failing to implement an effective English language policy, how does your corporation think it will achieve its goal of identifying and developing more talented Malaysian workers for the future? Marisa Demori, Ipoh

From a company human resource perspective, a key part of talent development is managing the pipeline. There will always be people resigning or retiring, so you need to ensure the right number and quality of talent enters the pipeline. At the country level, we have a limited talent pool. As such, we need to channel them to key priority sectors represented by the National Key Economic Areas to ensure that our economy keeps growing.

TalentCorp is committed to collaborating with relevant public agencies and private sector to develop initiatives towards this. One area is creating greater career awareness among the youth today of the potential future career paths arising out of the ETP and how to pursue such careers. With respect to English, clearly for success in many careers, a strong command of English is important. Beyond efforts being taken by the Government to improve the standard of English, the community has an equally important role. Mastery of language is through regular usage and therefore, progress will be hindered if, for example, schoolchildren are discouraged from regularly speaking in English by their peers or parents.

8. Many talented Malaysian students who have taken up Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships for tertiary studies abroad have not returned to serve the country. Some did return and checked in with the Government, but no position was offered to them. Has TalentCorp taken any measures to address this problem and how? Wong Pui Yi, KL

The Government has always provided more scholarships than the requirements of the public sector. In the past, those not offered positions with the Government would naturally work in the private sector in Malaysia, thus contribute to the economy. However, today's talent has many options overseas. Recognising this, TalentCorp collaborated with PSD and last month launched two key initiatives for PSD scholars to build careers in the GTP and ETP priority sectors. The Talent Acceleration in Public Service (TAPS) programme is a collaborative initiative led by PSD, with the Razak School of Government and TalentCorp, to attract and nurture top PSD scholars into the civil service. Meanwhile, scholars not selected for the public sector will participate in the Scholarship Talent Attraction & Retention (STAR) programme. This is a collaborative effort between PSD and TalentCorp, for PSD scholars to serve their bonds working in leading companies driving the ETP. Through TAPS and STAR, the nation optimises by channelling our scholarship talent to contribute to the priority areas of the Government and economic transformation.

9. What has been your biggest failure in life? How did you overcome it? Melissa Ong, Sabah

After graduating from Cambridge with a first-class honours, I was brimming with confidence as I started to work in an audit firm in London. It turned out that while I was a good student, I was the complete opposite at the audit firm and was one of the worst performers professionally in my year. That was my first major failure in life. However, I believe with every failure, there is hikmah. The failure taught me humility and forced me to better understand myself my strengths and interest. I wasn't cut out to be an auditor. But that failure led me to try other paths, a few of which I would not have considered before, such as the public sector. As it turned out, working in the public sector is where I found my calling. I am motivated by the fulfilment from being able to contribute.

10. What are the three things that could keep you happy in life? Why? Naza, Perak

First, seeing my children grow up and be happy, fulfilled and have good values, which must include contributing to society. Second, finding personal fulfilment in my work. As we spend so much of our waking moments working, it is important for me to be challenged and know that my efforts contribute to making a difference. Which brings me to the third. I would like to see Malaysia reach its potential. We truly have a lot going for us resources, stability and great talent. We therefore should be a great country. However, it would require us to be pulling in the same direction. Whether we succeed as a nation, it is up to us.



COMING SOON

RAM Holdings group chief economist DR YEAH KIM LENG is one of the country's well-known economists who has been involved in numerous consultancy and research projects for both the private and public sectors. He used to be a senior analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia.

Any burning questions to ask him? Email 10questions@thestar.com.my

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