The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 17 Nov 2011 04:04 PM PST NOV 18 — Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. So goes the ancient phrase that has, throughout the millennia, remained an appropriate and relevant dictum to this very day. The systemic trait of madness has been an inherent hallmark of declining autocratic regimes since time immemorial. Take, for example, the story of the Roman emperor Caligula, whose reign began with much promise and great popularity, but who quickly succumbed to the luxuries of power and who, towards the end of his short-lived rule, attempted to appoint his favourite horse as a consul of the Roman Senate. And then of course there is the late totalitarian President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan who, apart from styling himself Turkmenbashi (Leader of Turkmens), also deigned to rename calendar months after members of his own family, in addition to outlawing long hair and beards for Turkmen men and advising the citizenry to gnaw on bones in order to strengthen their teeth, because apparently it works for dogs. History is rife with more examples of self-aggrandising eccentricities and excesses by leaders inebriated by power. Of the African and Middle Eastern variety, we have colourful characters such as the tyrannical Ugandan President Idi Amin, who insisted on being called the King of Scotland and Conqueror of the British Empire, and of course the recently-deceased erratic demagogue Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his coterie of 40 virgin Amazon bodyguards. Closer to home, who can forget the epitome of public extravagance, Imelda Marcos? The Filipino Iron Butterfly was the pillar supporting her husband's iron-fisted rule, while making headlines for her multi-million dollar shopping sprees and famed collection of 2,700 pairs of shoes. The lesson to bear in mind, however, is the fact that every single one of the above megalomaniacal regimes eventually found themselves pulled, almost willingly, into an inescapable whirlpool of self-destruction. Truly, delusion and egomania are signs of a waning regime. In our own country, 54 years of single-party incumbency is now unravelling and showing similar symptoms. After many failed attempts, a scheme to construct a monolithic dam in Bakun, Sarawak was put into motion, with the outlandish idea of sending hydroelectricity to the peninsula via 670 kilometres of undersea cables. A decade later, after billions of ringgit in cost overruns and the successful displacement of 10,000 indigenous people, we have a spectacular white mammoth (an elephant in this case an unbefitting term) that can produce 2,400 MW of electricity for a state that would be hard-pressed to consume even half that amount. At the very least, the untenable idea of sending electricity through cables on the seabed has been safely buried, along with a crooked bridge that an infamous prime minister wanted to build halfway to Singapore. Remember that one? Another rampant scam involving public funds is the Port Klang Free Zone fiasco, where at least RM12.5 billion of public funds has been squandered in an elaborate scheme that involves a trail of prominent characters leading all the way to the federal Cabinet. False claims, payments for imaginary works and ministerial "support letters" are all part of the unfolding drama. Daylight robbery in this country is also often accompanied by grandiose acts of personal extravagance, such as a late Selangor state assemblyman who (illegally) built a 16-bedroom palatial mansion in the midst of a low-income working-class neighbourhood, complete with a tower that loomed condescendingly over his fiefdom. But he was really only trying to emulate his boss the former mentri besar who, besides constructing an even larger palace, also spent millions of state funds on purported "study trips" to Europe, Hawaii and Disneyland with his family. With the very public exposure of such brazen acts of abuse of power and shameless showboating of ill-gotten wealth, one would think that there would at least be an attempt to exercise more caution and stealth. But of course, madness is necessarily irrational. And so we come to the latest mind-boggling scandal, in which public money in the form of a RM250 million soft loan and a large expanse of state land have been directly awarded to a Cabinet minister's family for the purpose of developing a mega cattle-rearing project. Lurid details emerging from this scandal are shocking to say the least. Not only has the Auditor-General's Report exposed the failure of the company to achieve its targets and, at the very least, to upkeep its land and facilities, it now appears that money has instead been used to purchase a premium condominium in the city. Allegations also abound of numerous personal transactions and even family holidays at the company's expense. Indeed, the term "family business" in this case also takes on a wholly literal meaning, with the minister's husband sitting as chairman, her eldest son as CEO and the rest of her kids as executive directors. Yet the issue at hand is not so much the gross mishandling of public funds, which is standard fare, but the blatant manner in which it has been carried out and the unabashed audacity of the minister's response, having been quoted as saying that her family "deserves it because they work very hard." The wanton madness of power is now taking its course on the rulers of our country. Purchasing luxury condos with money meant for cattle may not quite compare to appointing a horse to the Senate, but the symptoms are veritably obvious. In Barisan Nasional's mad, mad world, it would seem that the end is nigh. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| PPSMI: Berpijaklah di alam nyata Posted: 17 Nov 2011 03:39 PM PST 18 NOV — Malaysia adalah sebuah negara yang mempunyai iklim panas dan lembab sepanjang tahun. Sebulan dua ini, hujan turun hampir setiap hari. Kadang kala hujan terlalu lebat dan angin kuat hingga menyebabkan pokok-pokok tumbang. Apa pun yang kita lakukan, kita tidak akan dapat mengubah Malaysia dari realiti ini. Malaysia tidak mungkin akan menjadi sebuah negara empat musim. Itulah realitinya. Itulah kenyataan yang tidak dapat kita ubah. Baru-baru ini isu Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) kembali bergema. Sebelum ini, isu PPSMI senyap seketika selepas Gerakan Anti PPSMI menganjurkan demonstrasi besar-besaran yang dihadiri oleh puluhan ribu rakyat di ibukota dan berjaya mendesak kerajaan untuk memansuhkan PPSMI. Isu ini muncul kembali apabila dua organisasi seperti Jaringan Melayu Muda (JMM) dan Persatuan Ibu Bapa Untuk Pendidikan (PAGE) membantah tindakan kementerian pelajaran untuk tidak meneruskan PPSMI dan menggantikannya dengan dasar Memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia dan Memperkukuh Bahasa Inggeris (MBMMBI). JMM dan PAGE mendakwa mereka mewakili ibubapa-ibubapa yang mahukan anak-anak mereka terus mempelajari matapelajaran sains dan matematik di dalam Bahasa Inggeris. PAGE mengemukakan keputusan bahawa kajian yang dijalankan oleh JMM membuktikan lebih separuh daripada lebih 50,000 responden tidak boleh menerima MBMMBI dilaksanakan di sekolah-sekolah bagi menggantikan PPSMI. Kajian JMM Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran, Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi memperlekehkan kajian JMM tersebut dan menyifatkan kajian tersebut sebagai tidak mewakili pola pemikiran dan pendapat umum yang boleh dipercayai. Sebagai Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran, Dr Puad sudah pasti terdedah dengan data-data tentang bagaimana PPSMI telah menyebabkan peratusan untuk lulus terpaksa diturunkan dengan begitu rendah sekali untuk memastikan majoriti pelajar lulus dalam kedua-dua matapelajaran ini. Dari maklumat yang saya perolehi daripada "orang dalam" Kementerian Pelajaran, pernah satu ketika peratusan untuk lulus bagi matapelajaran tersebut terpaksa diturunkan sehingga 20 peratus! Seperti biasa, penghujahan pro PPSMI yang digunakan sama, mereka (baca: JMM dan PAGE) percaya, dengan mempelajari Sains dan Matematik di dalam Bahasa Inggeris, lebih mudah untuk anak-anak mereka menguasai kedua-dua bidang tersebut. Selain itu mereka juga percaya PPSMI akan memantapkan lagi penguasaan bahasa Inggeris anak-anak mereka. Mungkin JMM, PAGE dan golongan pro PPSMI terlepas "pandang ke Timur". Di negara seperti Jepun dan Korea Selatan, tanpa PPSMI, mereka telah berjaya melahirkan ramai rakyat yang mempunyai kemahiran sains dan matematik sehingga mampu untuk mengangkat martabat negara mereka ke persada antarabangsa. Malahan mereka mampu menewaskan Barat dari segi sains dan teknologi dalam pelbagai bidang. Tidak perlulah dihuraikan dengan lebih lanjut lagi tentang ini oleh kerana sudah ramai yang tahu. Jika kita "pandang ke Barat" sekalipun, kita akan melihat negara seperti Jerman yang tidak melaksanakan dasar PPSMI akan tetapi berjaya melahirkan rakyat yang cerdik pandai menguasai sains dan matamatik. Di jalanraya-jalanraya di Malaysia boleh terlihat banyak kenderaan-kenderaan yang dihasilkan oleh negara Jerman seperti Volkswagen, BMW, Porshe dan banyak lagi. Ini juga tidak perlu saya nyatakan satu persatu oleh kerana ramai yang sudah tahu. Adalah dangkal pemikiran jika kita berfikir penguasaan bahasa Inggeris akan menjadi mantap dengan adanya PPSMI. Jika benar-benar ghairah untuk memastikan pelajar-pelajar di Malaysia mahir dalam bahasa Inggeris, panjangkan waktu pembelajaran bahasa Inggeris dan perkenalkan matapelajaran sastera Inggeris di sekolah-sekolah. Ini sudah tentu lebih berkesan untuk memantapkan penguasaan bahasa Inggeris. Sejarah PPSMI PPSMI dilaksanakan satu ketika dahulu secara tergesa-gesa pada tahun 2003 sebelum bekas perdana menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad meletakkan jawatan. PPSMI dilaksanakan tanpa percubaan dan kajian yang mendalam. Di katakan belanjanya juga agak mahal sehingga mencecah berbelas billion. Pelaksanaan PPSMI ini menunjukkan kontradiksi di dalam pemikiran Dr Mahathir. Beliau yang memperkenalkan dasar "pandang ke Timur" juga adalah orang yang memperkenalkan PPSMI. Tidak nampakkah percanggahan dalam pemikiran? Jika kita "pandang ke Timur", kita akan melihat Jepun dan Korea Selatan seperti yang saya nyatakan diatas dan tidak perlu PPSMI. Yang mana sebenarnya dimahukan Mahathir? Apakah PPSMI diperkenalkan semurni-murni niat untuk meningkatkan kemahiran pelajar dalam Sains dan Matematik serta memantapkan penguasaan bahasa Inggeris atau kontrak dan projek untuk melaksanakan dasar ini yang dikejar? Hanya tuan punya diri yang tahu niat sebenar pelaksanaan dasar ini. Pengkritik filem, saudara Mansor Puteh di dalam penulisan di blognya turut mengkritik PPSMI. Dengan sinisnya Mansor melabelkan golongan pro PPSMI ini sebagai "lebih Inggeris daripada orang Inggeris". Dalam isu ini, seelok-eloknya kita berpijak di alam nyata. Dasar pelajaran tidak boleh di buat bercampur-campur. JMM dan PAGE masih mempunyai pilihan, jika tetap berkeras mahukan PPSMI, hantarlah anak-anak ke sekolah antarabangsa atau lebih baik lagi, hantar sahaja anak-anak untuk bersekolah di London. Sudah pasti penguasaan bahasa Inggeris anak-anak mereka setaraf atau lebih baik lagi dari penduduk London. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. 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