Received this comment from an Old Boy (1953-1960) of St Patrick. The whole comment has been pasted here in verbatim for your reading:-
Johnny,
You have left out perhaps the top leading mission school in Malaysia, i.e St Xavier's Institution in Penang. Despite all the moves by the govt to "end the role" of mission schools over the past 30 years, St Xavier's has still been able to preserve its missionary identity. The others, especially mission schools in smaller towns, have all but been converted to national (read Malay) schools and it is very sad.
I am a product from St Patrick's school, in Kulim, Kedah in the 1950s. St Patrick's was a satellite school of St Xavier's. It had a primary, a secondary and a private within its modest premises. I remember St Xavier's sent their Christian brothers, Brother Bernard an Irishman, and later Brother Edward, a Chinese,to be its principal for the secondary school. The principal of the primary school was Mr Auyong Teik Yoon while Mr Lim Thean Poh headed the private school.
St Patrick's was a small school during my time, its enrolment not exceeding 300 students. Like all mission schools,it was partially assisted, meaning that most of the time, the school had to depend on private donations from well wishers to survive. Most of the teachers were normal college trained or from Kirkby and Brinsford, and among them of us could fondly remember the late Mr Chin Kong Gooi, the late Mr Douglas Scully and Mr Johnny Thoo. Standards were high in the then English medium of education, and many of the students did the school proud by performing very well in their Lower Certificate Education (LCE) and Overseas School Certificate (SC) examinations, chalking up a string of As in their results. It was truly meritocracy at its best.
The Christian brothers as well as our teachers not only taught us to be good academically, but also imbibed in us good moral values so that many of us could be good citizens of the then Malaya and from 1963, Malaysia. Which many of us did and were proud, at least up to 13 May 1969.
The racial riots of that year in KL, and the subsequent change in educational policy from 1970 which abolished English medium schools, badly affected all mission schools in the country, including St Patricks. It was a blow they were never to recover from and which explains the pathetic state of affairs most of them are in today.
The Education Ministry soon came to control the school's administration which meant that it deployed teachers and students over the years, deploying a lot of Malay bureaucrats and teachers who had no tradition of mission schools and did not understand their needs and the way they were developing. Slowly but surely the character of the school was changed beginning with the switch in the medium of instruction from English to Malay. Over the years, the school lost its missionary identity and today (2007), the school has all the characteristics of a Malay school, with its principal being a Malay, its admin staff being overwhelmingly Malay as well as its students, right down to the office boy. The school had set up corner as a Malay prayer house, a thing unheard of in a Christian brother's school in those days. The only thing that reminds me and others of the school today, is still its name, St Patrick's school or Sek Menengah St Patrick, which strangely has not been changed.
I left the school in 1960 after completing my LCE and went on to further my studies in other schools, colleges and eventually the university.
I am presently working in Singapore, but each time I return to Kulim, and casually dropped in at my old alma mater, I feel a deep sense of shock and disappointment, disappointed that I cannot rekindle the old boy spirit, because the school is not what it used to be. Save for its name, it is an entirely different school altogether. It might as well choose a Malay name and its transformation into a Malay school would have been complete.
Old Boy (1953-1960)
Tags: St Xavier's Institution, St Patrick, Mission School, Education, Missionary, Kulim, Kedah, National School, Malay
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Microsoft Buying Over Yahoo?
Rumours in the stock market has stated that Microsoft is already eyeing Yahoo as a major coup that could involve as much as US$50 billion. Details have not been revealed by both Microsoft or Yahoo. A mega merger may not happen but some business matching could materialise to strengthen their respective market share.
Upon such rumours, Yahoo shares surged $2.80, or 9.9 percent, to $30.98 on Friday, while shares of Microsoft fell 41 cents to $30.56.In order to catch up with Googles' business, this latest merger of technology giants will really put other smaller competitors out in the cold. To arrest such situation from happening, the USA Department of Justice's Antitrust Division may not approve such mega merger.
Reading: Reports: Microsoft pursuing Yahoo - Associated Press
Reading: Yahoo shares rise on reports of Microsoft interest - Reuters
Tags: Microsoft, Yahoo, Googles, Merger, Department of Justice, Antitrust
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Christian Council Wants Mission Schools Revived
Several Christian leaders in the country have proposed a revival of mission schools. The reason - to arrest the declining education standards. The group of leaders, at a recent congregation in Johor of non-Catholic sects, agreed that current education policies are out of step with reality and have resulted in jobless graduates. "We want to bring back the good old days," Prof Dr Tarcisius Chin told a gathering of over 50 leaders at the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) 12th triennial general assembly held at Pulai Springs on Tuesday.
Representatives from Peninsular-based Anglican, Protestant, Methodist and Lutheran churches were in attendance. "We should take a serious look into the revival of mission schools, considering the decline of education standards," said the former chief executive officer of De La Salle Institute. Tarcisius, also a former Universiti Malaya academician, said the proposed mission-style schools would not preach Christianity to its students. He said the schools would emphasis character development and extra-curricular activities. Such schools would be funded by a congregation of several non-Catholic sects.
'Go back to basics'
The schools will accept students from all races and religions and subjects will be taught mainly in English, but with emphasis on learning second languages such as Mandarin, Tamil or Arabic. He said the current model for development students has been largely inherited from the "colonial days" and "adjusted from time to time to national requirement." "Twenty years ago, nationalism affected the education policies with the abandonment of English as a medium." "Now while the world has moved on and new educational models have been introduced elsewhere, our educational paradigm is still focussed on producing graduates with specialised academic knowledge ... this needs to be reviewed," he said.
Since 2003, English is used as a medium of teaching in science subjects. Tarcicus said a revival of mission schools is "to go back to basics" and bring about a curriculum change that "will create the all-round personality". "Over the past 35 years, education has moved from holistic development to the acquisition of paper qualifications." "The mission schools of yore were concerned not only with delivering academic success but, more importantly, developing character and imbibing universal values," he said.
Funding a problem
Tarcisius said a move in education will demand a radical shift in education strategies, policies and processes from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education. During the ensuing question session, several representatives expressed doubt over how such a proposal can be approved by the government. Tarcisius said such a model might not be rejected as senior members of the cabinet include Christians and "Muslims who are sympathetic".
One bishop pointed out that devoid of being able to preach Christianity, the mission-style school would be little different from national or 'vision' schools. He also pointed out that the biggest problem of such a mission school was obtaining funds. There is currently no discretion for schools or universities to act independently of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education. To encourage integration among the multi-racial, multi-religious students, the government is attempting to establish 'vision' schools, where facilities of several national schools are shared.
One of the enduring legacies of the colonial era, at least 800 mission schools and convents were established throughout Malaysia since the early 19th century. Mission schools were largely responsible for educating the masses in English and spreading Christianity. However, the schools were also noted for its frequent practice of corporal punishment; the caning of students in particular.
Some of the top mission schools, such as La Salle, St John's Institution, Victoria Institution, are considered leading educational institutions in the country. By the 1970s, the administrative powers of the brothers and nuns were removed in a nationalistic push to reduce the independence of the schools. (source: Malaysiakini)
Tags: Christian Council of Malaysia, Education, Mission School, Vision School, Tarcisius Chin, School, Anglican, Protestant, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, La Salle, St John's Institution, Victoria Institution, Christianity
Representatives from Peninsular-based Anglican, Protestant, Methodist and Lutheran churches were in attendance. "We should take a serious look into the revival of mission schools, considering the decline of education standards," said the former chief executive officer of De La Salle Institute. Tarcisius, also a former Universiti Malaya academician, said the proposed mission-style schools would not preach Christianity to its students. He said the schools would emphasis character development and extra-curricular activities. Such schools would be funded by a congregation of several non-Catholic sects.
'Go back to basics'
The schools will accept students from all races and religions and subjects will be taught mainly in English, but with emphasis on learning second languages such as Mandarin, Tamil or Arabic. He said the current model for development students has been largely inherited from the "colonial days" and "adjusted from time to time to national requirement." "Twenty years ago, nationalism affected the education policies with the abandonment of English as a medium." "Now while the world has moved on and new educational models have been introduced elsewhere, our educational paradigm is still focussed on producing graduates with specialised academic knowledge ... this needs to be reviewed," he said.
Since 2003, English is used as a medium of teaching in science subjects. Tarcicus said a revival of mission schools is "to go back to basics" and bring about a curriculum change that "will create the all-round personality". "Over the past 35 years, education has moved from holistic development to the acquisition of paper qualifications." "The mission schools of yore were concerned not only with delivering academic success but, more importantly, developing character and imbibing universal values," he said.
Funding a problem
Tarcisius said a move in education will demand a radical shift in education strategies, policies and processes from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education. During the ensuing question session, several representatives expressed doubt over how such a proposal can be approved by the government. Tarcisius said such a model might not be rejected as senior members of the cabinet include Christians and "Muslims who are sympathetic".
One bishop pointed out that devoid of being able to preach Christianity, the mission-style school would be little different from national or 'vision' schools. He also pointed out that the biggest problem of such a mission school was obtaining funds. There is currently no discretion for schools or universities to act independently of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education. To encourage integration among the multi-racial, multi-religious students, the government is attempting to establish 'vision' schools, where facilities of several national schools are shared.
One of the enduring legacies of the colonial era, at least 800 mission schools and convents were established throughout Malaysia since the early 19th century. Mission schools were largely responsible for educating the masses in English and spreading Christianity. However, the schools were also noted for its frequent practice of corporal punishment; the caning of students in particular.
Some of the top mission schools, such as La Salle, St John's Institution, Victoria Institution, are considered leading educational institutions in the country. By the 1970s, the administrative powers of the brothers and nuns were removed in a nationalistic push to reduce the independence of the schools. (source: Malaysiakini)
Tags: Christian Council of Malaysia, Education, Mission School, Vision School, Tarcisius Chin, School, Anglican, Protestant, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, La Salle, St John's Institution, Victoria Institution, Christianity
Yahoo Photos to Shut Down
News is flying around that Yahoo will be shutting down Yahoo Photos, an online photo storage/sharing.
Yahoo Photos will request its existing users to use Yahoo Flickr instead. Looks like tens of millions of users under Yahoo Photos will be migrated over to Flickr later on. Tremendous transfers which may slow down the up/downloading of photos in Yahoo Flickr later on. (source: Yahoo! News)Can see that many bloggers were already linked to their respective Yahoo Flickr photos in their blogs. Yahoo Photos will be assisting its existing users to transfer their photos not only to Flickr but even to its competitors.
Looks like Yahoo is consolidating its users and wish to catch up with their competitors hold on photo storage site. Yahoo Photos' share of the users is approximately 5.8% of the USA market whereas Flickr is only at 4.5%.
The top site is currently held by PhotoBucket with 40% market share now. (source: Hitwise U.S. Web audience data)
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Main Polluter of Rivers
1st take: In Malaysia, the government was trying to educate its citizens to love their rivers.
2nd take: The government has accorded the national sewerage management system to a single company called Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd ("IWK"). Initially, it was privatised and when things didn't go right, the government 'un-privatised' IWK.
SURPRISINGLY, the Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid has now claimed that IWK is the main river polluter. Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo had also identified IWK as a river polluter as well. How can that be? I remembered that IWK has sent many pamphlets telling us how good is their system in maintaining proper sewerage treatment. And when I was late in making pamynet a few times, I received their invoices in red colour, signifying late payment and warning to you before they proceed with legal suit. IWK won't hesistate in suing people who avoided paying for the sewerage maintenance fees as in the case of IWK vs. Yong Kon Fatt.
In order to avoid such complicated issues, prompt payment was made but now IWK has been identified as the main polluter of rivers in Malaysia. Does that mean that I/we have paid for services that have not been executed properly? Breach of contract? In the case of payment failure by us, can they sue us since services have not been provided accordingly?
Yesterday, the same Natural Resources and Environment Minister said that the government should catch those culprits that pollute the rivers. No need to wait anymore. IWK has been identified already. So, please go ahead and enforce the penalties and so forth!!!!! Or the government won't or unable to do it????????????
Tags: Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd, IWK, Sewerage Management, Sewerage, River Polluter, River, Environment, Pollution, Malaysia
2nd take: The government has accorded the national sewerage management system to a single company called Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd ("IWK"). Initially, it was privatised and when things didn't go right, the government 'un-privatised' IWK.
SURPRISINGLY, the Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid has now claimed that IWK is the main river polluter. Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo had also identified IWK as a river polluter as well. How can that be? I remembered that IWK has sent many pamphlets telling us how good is their system in maintaining proper sewerage treatment. And when I was late in making pamynet a few times, I received their invoices in red colour, signifying late payment and warning to you before they proceed with legal suit. IWK won't hesistate in suing people who avoided paying for the sewerage maintenance fees as in the case of IWK vs. Yong Kon Fatt.
In order to avoid such complicated issues, prompt payment was made but now IWK has been identified as the main polluter of rivers in Malaysia. Does that mean that I/we have paid for services that have not been executed properly? Breach of contract? In the case of payment failure by us, can they sue us since services have not been provided accordingly?
Yesterday, the same Natural Resources and Environment Minister said that the government should catch those culprits that pollute the rivers. No need to wait anymore. IWK has been identified already. So, please go ahead and enforce the penalties and so forth!!!!! Or the government won't or unable to do it????????????
Tags: Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd, IWK, Sewerage Management, Sewerage, River Polluter, River, Environment, Pollution, Malaysia
Good Rest
Public holidays on Tuesday (Labour Day) and Wednesday (Wesak Day - a buddhist festival) in Malaysia allowed me to rest again. At this point of time (2.04am), awaiting the UEFA Champions League semi-final match between AC Milan and Man Utd in 40 minutes' time.
On Thursday and Friday, have to fix my car's air-cond and also to attend to my last tooth. Forced to go for root canal operation now ....... terrible situation.
Tags: Public Holiday, Labour Day, Wesak Day, AC Milan, Manchester United
On Thursday and Friday, have to fix my car's air-cond and also to attend to my last tooth. Forced to go for root canal operation now ....... terrible situation.
Tags: Public Holiday, Labour Day, Wesak Day, AC Milan, Manchester United
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