TwoSen

Source: The Sun – August 12, 2010

Source: The Sun – August 11, 2010

Source: The Sun – August 9, 2010

Source: The Sun – August 9, 2010

THE Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) wishes to applaud the ground-breaking ceremony of Epsom College and its endorsement by the education minister and the mentri besar of Negri Sembilan in its endeavour to bring quality education to the elite into the country.

As you may know, PAGE has been in the forefront of championing the option of teaching and learning of science and maths in English (PPSMI) in national schools that desire it.

When the decision to revert the teaching of these two subjects to the mother tongue was made a year ago, there were several scenarios that we had foreseen, and now we see coming to fruition, to the detriment of the rakyat, nation-building and integration.

First, there has been a marked demand for international schools as naturally these schools offer science and maths in English, its lingua franca. International schools will cater for the wealthy Malaysians whose children will reap the best jobs in the country if they stay or leave the country and worsen the brain drain.

Second, the similarly, manifold rise in number and demand for home schools two months after the decision to revert to the mother tongue was announced, saw an explosion in the demand for home schools, largely church-run, further dividing the already fragile state of urban education.

Third, the creation of a more pronounced socio-economic gap of “haves” and “have-nots” will further erode and divide the already secular type of schools within the education system. The perceived creation of an unhealthy social status of schools led by international schools, followed by private schools, then home schools, Chinese schools and lastly, national and Tamil schools as schools of last choice will eventually influence the end result, the prospective employer’s pick of the day.

We appeal to the prime minister to allow the PPSMI option to ensure that students of national schools, the “have-nots” are provided a level playing field, which is the responsibility of all good leaders, so that they are able to compete fairly with the “haves” and are not being left even further behind.

A good and fair national education is the responsibility of the society of any nation.

Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim
Chairperson
PAGE

Source: The Sun – August 5, 2010

I WATCHED the prime news on ntv7 on Tuesday on yet another case of a teacher being assaulted. The National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) must come out and defend the affected teacher clearly and firmly.

Having taught in a primary school and now in a secondary school known for disciplinary problems in the past, I dread to think of the humiliation the teacher had to go through.

I strongly defend the teacher because as a teacher for almost three decades, I have seen enough of the tantrums caused by students. The teacher needs moral encouragement from everyone in the profession.

I hope the teacher gets justice and is not penalised for provocation without investigating the root cause. The student was lucky. I, for one, would have retaliated because my dignity is at stake.

Let’s see justice being served and May God bless Malaysian teachers.

Teacher
Sitiawan

Source: The Sun – August 5, 2010

MY wife and I are pensioners living in a terraced house in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam. Except for our infant granddaughter and her nanny, who are with us five days a week, from 10am to 7pm, there are only the two of us at home. We rarely leave the house.

Although the 2010 Population and Housing Census began on July 6 and is to go on until Aug 22, I am yet to meet any enumerator in my area. Of the 50 or so houses along my road, only about ten have the census card displayed on the doors. I have checked with the neighbours and have found out that the enumerator has come and gone. In the case of my opposite and next-door neighbours, the enumerator had called and left a standard letter (Dokumen 7) notifying them that they were not around when a visit was made and indicating a follow-up visit the next day, but he has yet to show up. As for a neighbour, two doors away, the enumerator made a visit and, upon request, left behind the census questionnaire for completion. However, to date the questionnaire remains uncollected.

I am concerned that the census exercise if not properly carried out will result in incomplete data collection.

P.T. Aman
Shah Alam

Source: The Sun – August 5, 2010

I REFER

Source: The Sun – August 4, 2010

THE difference between what the rich and the poor earn (the income disparity gap) remains wide and needs the government’s urgent attention.

Source: The Sun – August 3, 2010

AS SELANGOR steps back to assess its water demand against available water resources, one useful tool to help us better allocate our water and financial resources is the water footprint analysis.

Water footprint refers to the total water used in the provision of a product or service. The concept is similar to that of carbon footprint whereby the water demand for a product or service is determined through its entire supply chain. Thus, for an egg, it includes the water needed to grow the grains that are fed to a chicken apart from all the water needed to raise it and deliver the egg to a customer. This is estimated at 200 litres.

The average water footprint for some other products, as determined by the Water Footprint Network, are as follows: beef – 15,500 litres a kg, chicken – 3,400 litres a kg, a litre of milk – 3,100 litres, a pint of beer – 160 litres, an apple – 70 litres and a slice of bread – 40 litres.

The wide range in these numbers, even after considering size per serving, points to some products being simply more water intensive than others.

Just like a product or service, a state has a water footprint for all the goods and services its residents produce and consume. It includes water use that is “imported” through products made elsewhere.

According to the Water Footprint Network, the annual water footprint per capita for the Philippines is 1,543 cu m, Indonesia (1,324 cu m), Vietnam (1,317 cu m), South Korea (1,179 cu m) and Japan (1,153 cu m) while the global average is 1,243 cu m.

The comparable figure for the US is among the highest in the world at 2,483 cu m but Malaysia is not far behind at 2,344 cu m. The portion of the footprint that lies outside of country is 19% for the US and 28% for Malaysia. However, the GDP per capita of the US is more than three times that of Malaysia.

These figures show that Malaysia uses enormous quantities of water for the goods and services it produces (and consume) as well as for domestic use. An analysis for Selangor would produce similarly startling results.

The solution is certainly not to engineer new mega supplies but to creatively reduce water demand to sustainable levels.

JC Tansen
Petaling Jaya

Source: The Sun – August 3, 2010