The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Malacca’s 100 year old school - Sin Chew Daily Posted: 18 Jun 2013 04:54 PM PDT I visited my secondary school, Malacca Pay Fong High School, last weekend to attend its 100-year celebration. In a very slow pace, I walked around the campus while chatting. I enjoyed the lively atmosphere of the celebration, while trying to look for the trail of history. How did Malacca look like 100 years ago? How was the school established? What have it changed and created after 100 years? And what would it achieve in the next 100 years? I kept thinking about these questions perhaps because I had spent six years studying in this ancient school. I turned into the school from Jalan Tan Chay Yan and saw the Au Boon Haw memorial. Passing through the auditorium, I came to the four-section compound and found the school motto carved on a reconstructed building. Although the campus has encountered many changes, its basic structure has been retained. Tan Chay Yan was the main school founder. He was a tropical botanist from a prominent family. At that time, the British introduced rubber tree seeds from Brazil but failed to grow them and were about to give up. Tan, however, never failed to see hope. He personally went to Brazil to do research and bring back seeds. He later planted rubber on a commercial basis in Malacca. He was only 25 years old at that time. After successfully planted the trees, he started to provide the public free seeds and technology. He laid a foundation in the development of rubber industry in the country and was then called the "Father of rubber". Tan's vision and ambition had surpassed economic and material achievements, as well as the era he lived. The then overseas Chinese community had just experienced the impact of Revolution and was still in the joy of the foundation of the Republic. Tan, however, had thought of the population's survival and development needs. He knew that the Chinese was not only passing-by Malaya. Instead, they would settle down and make here their permanent home. Together with a number of people with lofty ideals, he advocated the concept of political reform. He was also active in Chinese education work along with Sim Hong Paik, the late father of Datuk Sim Mow Yu, and other Chinese educationists. It was the beginning of an era, as well as the rise of Chinese education movement. Such an ambitious idea had led to the foundation of Pay Fong High School. The school then encountered a few difficult years, particularly during the World War II, the school was closed and faced a depression when it reopened. However, the enthusiasm and ambition retained and inherited by Aw Boon-Haw. Aw was an entrepreneur before and after the WWII and was best known for introducing Tiger Balm, as well as several newspapers, including Sin Chew Daily and Guang Ming Daily. His ambition had also extended to education. His lofty sentiments had contributed to the revival of Pay Fong Hing School. The school was reconstructed and more students were enrolled. Tthe school was later turned into the Chinese cultural benchmark in Malacca. It was an extraordinarily significant part of history. Today, the school is facing a different environment and different challenges. The new era is asking for quality education, global vision, competitiveness and openness, instead of wallowing in the tragic past. The mentality of self-enclosure must be particularly abandoned. Just like Tan and Aw, Chinese education activists in this era must be courageous and responsible, while having foresight and an open mind to turn culture into roots and face the challenges in the next 100 years. - Sin Chew Daily, June 19, 2013. |
| When winner takes all, science loses Posted: 18 Jun 2013 04:47 PM PDT Science may be humankind's greatest success as a species. Thanks to the scientific revolution that began in the 17th century, humans today enjoy instant communication, rapid transportation, a rich and diverse diet, and effective prevention and treatment for once-fatal illnesses. Moreover, science is humanity's best hope for addressing such existential threats as climate change, emerging pathogens, extra-terrestrial bolides, and a burgeoning population. But the scientific enterprise is under threat from both external and internal forces. Now the scientific community must use its capacity for self-correction — based on new information, discoveries, experiences, and ideas (the stuff of scientific progress for centuries) — to address these threats. CREDIBILITY BEING UNDERMINED A major hindrance to scientific progress is the increasing scarcity of research funding — a trend that has been exacerbated by the global economic crisis. Uncertain funding prospects not only discourage scientists from pursuing risky or undirected lines of research that could lead to crucial discoveries; they also make it more difficult to recruit the best and brightest for scientific careers, especially given the extensive training and specialisation that such careers require. Furthermore, leaders from across the political spectrum are questioning scientifically-established principles — such as anthropogenic climate change, evolution, and the benefits of vaccination — with no scientific basis. At best, such statements serve as a distraction from important issues; at worst, they distort public policy. Although such threats are outside of scientists' direct control, improved communication with political leaders and the public could help to reduce misinformation and bolster confidence in science. But the field's credibility is also being undermined from within, by the growing prevalence of scientific misconduct — reflected in a recent spate of retracted scientific publications — and an increasingly unbalanced scientific workforce that faces perverse incentives. RACE TO PUBLISH FIRST Although the vast majority of scientists adhere to the highest standards of integrity, the corrosive effects of dishonest or irreproducible research on science's credibility cannot be ignored. The problems are rooted in the field's incentive structure — a winner-take-all system in which grants, prizes, and rewards go to those who publish first. While this competitive mentality is not new in science — the 17h-century mathematicians Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz spent more than a decade fighting bitterly for credit for the discovery of calculus — it has intensified to the point that it is impeding progress. Indeed, scientists today are engaged in a hypercompetitive race for funding and prestigious publications that has disconnected their goals from those of the public that they serve. Last year, for example, when C Glenn Begley and Lee Ellis sought to reproduce 53 "landmark" preclinical cancer studies, they discovered that nearly 90 per cent of the findings could not be reproduced. While the researchers who originally published those studies may have profited from increased funding and recognition, the patients who need new cancer treatments gained nothing. Moreover, this winner-take-all system fails to account for the fact that scientific work is largely carried out by research teams rather than individuals. As a result, the scientific workforce is beginning to resemble a pyramid scheme: Unfair, inefficient, and unsustainable. The incentives associated with the winner-take-all system encourage cheating — ranging from questionable practices and ethical lapses to outright misconduct. This threatens to create a vicious circle in which misconduct and sloppy research are rewarded, undermining both the scientific process and its credibility. HOW TO REGAIN PUBLIC'S CONFIDENCE The problems are clear. But addressing them requires a prudent strategy that accounts for the structural fragility of the scientific enterprise, in which scientists must complete extensive training, regulation can easily stifle creativity, and funding limitations can substantially delay progress. Because of this fragility, few countries have been able to establish highly productive scientific enterprises — even though scientific innovation and technological breakthroughs are crucial to a country's productivity, economic growth and influence. Given the challenges implicit in establishing and maintaining a robust scientific sector, reform efforts must be undertaken carefully. At the same time, the reforms must be comprehensive, addressing methodological, cultural and structural issues. Methodological reforms should include revised training requirements that allow for less specialisation, together with improved training in probability and statistics. Scientific culture must be reformed to abandon long-standing practices, such as those that determine how credit is assigned. And structural reforms aimed at balancing the scientific workforce and stabilising funding are crucial. Some reforms should be easy to implement. For example, it would not be difficult to win support for improving education in the ethical aspects of scientific research. But other important reforms, such as creating alternatives to the winner-take-all incentive system, will present enormous challenges. An effective reform strategy should employ the tools of science — specifically, data collection and analysis. More data are needed to understand workforce imbalances, the peer review system, and how the economics of the scientific enterprise influence scientists' behaviour. Science has been studied by sociologists, historians and philosophers, but rarely by scientists themselves. Now, with perverse incentives undermining their credibility and hampering research, scientists must take matters into their own hands. Applying the scientific method to the problems of science could be scientists' best hope for regaining public confidence and reinvigorating the quest for transformative discoveries. PROJECT SYNDICATE ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Arturo Casadevall is Professor and Chair in Microbiology and Immunology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Ferric C Fang is Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Microbiology, Medicine, and Pathobiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle. - TODAY Newspaper, June 19, 2013. |
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