A disgrace to Malaysian tertiary education
Many of my friends and I do not see education in Malaysia at par with many western countries and even neighboring country like Singapore. Some students even revealed to me that some Ph.D. lecturers plagiarized lecture notes and assignments from foreign university’s websites and setting silly questions in mid-term paper for final year students. Some of them even were told to Google for answer when they approached their Ph.D. lecturers for pointers. Many of them have now realized how serious our tertiary education has deteriorated or has not even achieved in standards at all. But there are also some short-sighted students do not agree with that and continue to feel proud to be tertiary educated by Malaysia education system. Read the comment by a student nicknamed “Kick his Rosy ass” here.
This morning, I received an email from a friend from China who was reading local news website. Now, the whole world knew our standard and that’s extremely embarrassing but not surprising.
On August 23, New Straits Times published an advertorial entitled “Honorary Degree Award, 7th Convocation Ceremony University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia — Yang Amat Mulia Raja Zarith Sofiah binti AlMarhum Sultan Idris Al-Mutawakil Alallahi Shah, D.K.II, S.P.M.J., S.P.C.M.” This grammatically broken advertorial was produced by University Tun Hussein Onn. Click on the advertorial for larger view.
Later on August 26, New Straits Times apologized for mistakenly published this advertorial which was unfit to be published. The notice said (link):
NEW Straits Times published an advertorial entitled “Honorary Degree Award, 7th Convocation Ceremony University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia — Yang Amat Mulia Raja Zarith Sofiah binti AlMarhum Sultan Idris Al-Mutawakil Alallahi Shah, D.K.II, S.P.M.J., S.P.C.M.” in our Aug 23 issue. The advertorial contained gross factual and grammatical errors. The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad, as publisher and printer, hereby expresses deep regret for inadvertently printing the advertorial, which was unfit to be published. The advertorial was produced by University Tun Hussein Onn to announce the honorary degree award to Yang Amat Mulia Raja Zarith Sofiah binti AlMarhum Sultan Idris Al-Mutawakil Alallahi Shah, D.K.II, S.P.M.J., S.P.C.M. by the university.
Well, if this had happened in one of the local university, it could happen in other local universities. Some could be better but were not necessarily to meet standards.
And to our “honorable” minister of education, this is a university that named after your father. What say you? Malaysia boleh!
The power of China
After watching the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic 2008, I wrote a Chinese post about it and the magnificent Olympic torch ceremony. Tonight, the world witnessed again China’s ability to stage such a huge magnificent show to the world.
One thing that caught my eyes was the double deck bus which then transformed into a stage. When I was young, I used to imagine to have a vehicle which could transform into anything as I wished. China has done it! It has become possible.
Both the opening and closing ceremony have attracted the world’s attention. The shows take a person’s knowledge and understanding of Chinese cultures and history. Without such knowledge and understanding, the shows were just merely gigantic stage performances, and nothing more than entertainment. The story went down the time tunnel from Qin dynasty to modern China. They told the spectacular transformation of China and its rising.
Writing a conceptual paper
This may or may not be the greatest invention or rather I will not call it an invention yet. I am thinking of how to write a paper to record the conceptualization of my idea which I talked about earlier. First, at this point, I can’t discuss my idea with anybody in order to protect my interest; that makes the writing more difficult. Second, I have nothing to prove so writing this paper is like writing a Sci-Fi novel. So, I need a different approach, may be.
I dug out my collection of conference proceedings yesterday afternoon, hopefully I could find some inspiration. Obviously, I haven’t.
Yummy little cup cake
LA had baked some little cup cakes. She decorated them so well that you wanted to eat them. If you look at them for a while more, you wouldn’t want to eat them because they were so colorfully beautiful.
These photos were taken in May and I did not have time to process them and to write a post. I was processing Dmitry’s graduation photos last night so I conveniently processed them together. Some good and mouth watering pictures to get rid of the eye sore.
Silly mid-term paper
Well, well, well. Many people has regarded MMU a great university. Many of its students have regarded graduating from there gives them highest honor. I always don’t think so.
Have you been thinking that an exam at university level must be difficult? Well, the answer is not difficult at all. Take a look at this snapshot of the recent mid-term paper set for senior students (final year)! This picture was downloaded from the blog of a MMU student.
Riddle: Guess what the big rose will do when it goes crazy?
Silly questions, aren’t they? I know who is that lecturer. Worse is that, he is a senior lecturer and associate dean and the *worst* thing is that he is a doctorate! Silly, silly, silly. The evaluation test that I gave to my scholarship candidates was even tougher than this. I wonder how he got his doctorate and at what standard he has got his doctorate? This reflects the inferiority of tertiary education in Malaysia.
Actually, I did not want to write a post like this anymore. I don’t want a post like this to pollute my blog. But I think it over under someone’s (a student) request. He says people need to know what quality this university has. Let’s not mention it anymore. It is a waste of time and an eye sore, really.
Protected: Dmitry’s graduation photo session
Sudden flooding of wild ideas
I have a sudden flooding of wild ideas these couples of days. Most of them seem to be really wild and not practical or logical enough to implement. But I see one with great potential which may change the way of computing.
I need some time to think it over and if it is viable, I then have to look at possibilities to patent it. If I am lucky enough, I may get venture capital fund for research and development. I hope so. Let’s dream big.
This is going to be exciting though.
Lamport’s bakery algorithm
The comment(s) in one of my earlier post here inspired my long sleeping passion in distributed computing. After reading about Leslie Lamport and some of his papers, I find his stories fascinating and one of his paper about bakery algorithm is most compelling and has profound effect on me. He has also done many great works such as the Paxos algorithm.
Leslie invented bakery algorithm but he insisted that he discovered it. He wrote
For a couple of years after my discovery of the bakery algorithm, everything I learned about concurrency came from studying it. … The bakery algorithm marked the beginning of my study of distributed algorithms.
He enthralls me with his attitude towards knowledge and learning. His discovery was the beginning of his study of distributed algorithms.
How many people find a solution to a problem, then continue to study the solution for years and learning from it?
Leslie gives me a new inspiration and a whole new perspective towards learning. After reading his paper about bakery algorithm, I have a clearer inspiration in distributed computing. If I choose to specialize in this field, I need more of such inspiration coming to burn a bigger fire.
Distributed computing
I missed an opportunity to work on a distributed computing project many years ago. I was too engrossed in front-end dealing with GUI and stuff. Now, when I read more about Lamport’s works, distributed computing is becoming more interesting. I am also becoming more obsessed in reading distributed computing. Without me realizing at first, I have become Lamport’s fan.
I read his papers with great interest and the desire to read more of his works is becoming stronger in me. I have never had such feeling before. I will continue to find inspiration in his works.
How to present a paper?
This is another work from Lamport which I think will be useful to me as well as some of my students if they know to read and understand this short paper.
HOW TO PRESENT A PAPER
Leslie Lamport
4 August 1979Quotations from “East Coker” by T. S. Eliot.
“So here I am…
Trying to learn to use words, and every attempt
Is a wholly new start, and a different kind of failure
Because one has only learnt to get the better of words
For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which
One is no longer disposed to say it.”1. WHAT TO SAY
- Don’t give your paper; the audience can’t take it. If someone can understand in thirty minutes what it took you weeks to develop, then you’re in the wrong business.
- Do advertise your paper. The purpose of an automobile ad is to get potential customers to the showroom, not to give technical specifications. The purpose of your talk is to get people who might be interested in your work to read the paper, not to save them the trouble of reading it.
- Giving a good presentation is an art, requiring both practice and talent. No rules can turn you into an artist, but the following suggestions might be helpful.
- Describe simple examples rather than general results. Try to make the examples much too simple — you will not succeed.
- Don’t use formalism. If your results cannot be described simply and informally, then there is no reason why anyone should be interested in them.
- It is better to be inaccurate than incomprehensible. The place for accuracy is in the paper. (However, false advertising is unethical.)
2. HOW TO SAY IT
- Slides are effective. Here are some suggestions for their proper use.
- Don’t put too much on a slide — a picture of a thousand words is worthless. For 8 x 11 slides, all letters should be at least 3/8 inch high, with plenty of blank space. People in the back row have to read them too.
- Slides should be neat and legible. The listener isn’t your secretary; it’s not his job to decipher your handwriting.
- A rapid sequence of slides has a hypnotic effect. Unless you are a licensed hypnotist, don’t use more than one slide per minute.
- Time your talk. Running over your allotted time is a mark of incompetence, and displaying your incompetence is a poor way to get someone to read your paper. Remember that talking to an audience takes longer than talking to a mirror.
3. DA CAPO
- You are now thinking: “All those dull speakers I’ve listened to should use these rules, but I don’t need them because my talks are interesting.” All those dull speakers are now thinking exactly the same thing. Read the rules again with the proper humility. They apply to everyone.
“The only wisdom we can hope to acquire
Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless.”4. CODA – For Session Chairmen
- Be utterly ruthless about enforcing time limits. Warn the speaker when he has 10 minutes left and when he has 5 minutes left, and stop him in midsentence when his time is up. The audience will be grateful. (A loud alarm clock works quite well if you don’t turn it off until the speaker has finished talking.)
- Protect the speaker and the audience from inappropriate questions. Questions should be allowed during the talk only if the audience is small and the question is a simple request for clarification. After the talk, you must be prepared to silence the following two kinds of questioner.
- One who leads the speaker into a long discussion of an obscure detail which is of no interest to most of the audience.
- One who monopolizes the time arguing with the speaker over unresolvable philosophical issues.
Remember that silencing one person enables the rest of the audience to ask questions.
Follow up at Honda
Today, I spent another half a day at Honda workshop to follow up with the repair. Last Tuesday a service advisor called me to follow up with my problem and I told him I would only know after I took my car for a test on the expressway the next day. On Wednesday, I had a trip to KL and found that the knocking problem still persisted only at high velocity.
I did not expect it to take so long as I was to purchase engine oil and filter. They fixed my problems and the car was nice to drive again. But I still need to test the car tomorrow morning after a cold start. They were done with my car and the time was after 1300 and their store was closed for lunch. I could not purchase the items so I went for lunch, came back and waited. I fell asleep on the couch.
When the store was opened at 1400, the service advisor woke me up. I paid for the items and headed to my mechanic at Ayer Keroh to have the oil and filter changed. It is cheaper to do such work outside. At Honda authorized workshop, such work will cost around RM75 but it costs me only RM5 at my mechanic. A huge saving.
Dmitry had a great start
Well, looks like the strategy is working. We decided to start Dmitry on reading books of older children like Enid Blyton. We bought some of Blyton’s books yesterday to cultivate reading habit. This morning while he was waiting for me to get ready to send him to school, he sat near the bookshelf and read one of the Blyton’s. I saw it but I did not speak a word about his action but just letting him enjoying his reading alone.
This was the story. Last night before going to bed, I took those books into my working room and wrote the post here. The books were on my desk till this morning. After I was done with emails, I took the books to the bookshelf. He saw me taking the books and asked me why I took his books. I replied, “well, daddy found it interesting to read so daddy read it last night.”. He replied without hesitating, “Those are my books. Why do you read it?”. I knew it was a right moment to inspire him so I replied, “Daddy finds it interesting so daddy wants to read it no matter what book it is.” Then I turned away without speaking too much and ate my breakfast.
After some moment, I saw him reading one of the books. He has been inspired and I hope he will continue to inspire himself. When I was ready to go, I saw the other two little brothers holding Blyton’s books in their hands. The two brothers are not at the level yet but, well, that’s a great start.
A ‘clack’ on my shoulder
This afternoon I had to rush to my karate class because I was late again. When I got into my car and sped off, I reached out for the buckle above my right shoulder. Suddenly, I heard a loud audible ‘clack’ coming from my left shoulder. I thought I would have worsen my shoulder bursitis. Miraculously, there wasn’t any pain but I felt having better mobility and greater degree of movement. Before this, I could barely lift up my left arm to touch the other shoulder without assistance of my right hand, and the movement would be slow. Now, I can lift up my left arm to touch the other shoulder at will. Of course, I still feel a little sore on my left shoulder.
Anyway, I was very much worried about my shoulder. I was so afraid that I would need a surgery. Thank God that it is improving now.
Cultivate reading habit
Dmitry is able to read some Peter & Jane’s books. He has done reading some of the books. We got some more books this morning at the bookstore. Three books by Enid Blyton. Well, perhaps it is too early for a six year old to begin with Enid Blyton but I think it is not too early. First, it is good cultivating a good reading habit at early stage. Second, it is time to introduce books with less illustration.
Enid Blyton’s books can be boring for a six year old without too much illustration. All the illustrations are in black and white, no color. In my opinion, the earlier to start off with more text will train a child’s critical reading skill. He may not understand too much at the start but eventually his mind will become more receptive.
Here are the three books we bought.
Blyton’s books often mirrored fantasies of young children leading their minds to imagination and to explore. Although I only read one or two of her book during my younger days in school, I like Blyton’s because of her unique presentation of stories with fantasies and allow imaginative freedom in young children. Her books will help improve children’s imagination and provoke critical thinking as well.
Well, let see how Dmitry moving along this direction.
Another inspiration
While I was helping students to plan and secure scholarship for their graduate study abroad, I realized two types of mind. One is the Chinese-educated mind and the other the opposite. The Chinese-educated minds are tend to be less receptive in ideas especially abstract ideas and are more materialistic. These minds are closed and also are obligated to relationship among their friends, peers and family members. The Chinese-educated minds are more self-centered, have no clear definition of goals, and have desires to outwit matters without investing too much efforts. There are more characteristic of these Chinese-educated mind but just to mentioned a few for the purpose of this post.
Well, a Chinese-educated mind I am talking above is referring to people who have gone through primary education in Chinese medium and many of them may continue studying Chinese in their secondary school which is in Malay medium.
I was a Chinese-educated mind for 6 years in my primary education and I took Chinese language in the first to second year of my secondary education. However, my thinking is quite westernized. I use English in my work but I do communicate in Chinese with certain people when English is not an effective language to them. Besides the 8 years of Chinese language class, I use English most of the time and I prefer English to Chinese. I was called a banana man by female ex-classmates during my sixth grade because I spoke English and they hated it. Banana man means a person looks like a banana not because of shape but the skin color. The banana skin is yellow in color analogous to the skin color of a Chinese. But when we peel off the banana skin, the white meat of the fruit reveals. The white meat symbolizes a westerner. A Chinese who speaks English and does not know (or forget or intentionally not to speak) Chinese is called a banana man among some Malaysia Chinese. What a ridiculous discrimination.
There are people purportedly against we sending our children to non-Chinese school. In my opinion, it is not necessary to be in the Chinese education system to learn Chinese and to maintain our own culture. There are many so called Chinese educated people can’t even write proper Chinese and/or have proper pronunciation of Chinese words. Many claim themselves to be the savior of Chinese cultures education in Malaysia do not even have a mere understanding of our own cultures. It appears that I know better than most of them.
But today, I am still able to write Chinese as you may see some Chinese posts and poems in my blog.
Let’s come back to the scholarship things. Most Chinese-educated students do not have a clear goal in their mind. It is a huge dark gray blank screen and they do not know where and how to start defining their goal. I have a clearer defined goal and audibly know what I want. This is another inspiration for my decision.
Another inspiration for me is to prove another impossible and also to set an example to my children so that they will see their daddy is still able to continue learning. Perhaps, this is one of another good way to bring up my children by setting an example of good learning attitude.
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