I dunno about you, but I feel damn stupid today. No, not because I did something overly foolish, but I feel stupid by reading, reading the news to be exact. Reading can make someone stupid? Of course it’s possible! That’s when you read about super intelligent people.During the time when I took my SPM, getting straight As means something in the region of 8, 9 or 10. I took 10 subjects, and I was struggling like hell… ok la, I didn’t really study much, just enjoy my final days of schooling life. But that’s not the point here. My point is, kids are taking 17,18 and 19 subjects in SPM and they are actually producing results… incredible results!
Check out the geniuses of today:
It’s incredible, that kid at the bottom left actually said getting 16As was not enough, as he missed out on 1. And that kid at the bottom right, “only” got 18As instead. Woooahhhh…. Only 18!!! Only 18!!! Like so damn little!I am very curious to know, how the hell do you study for 19 subjects in school? I mean, school starts at 7.30am and ends at 1.15pm, hat was during my days, not sure if that’s the case now, do enlighten me if I am wrong. If the hours are more or less the same, how the hell do you squeeze 19 subjects into those 5 days week of approximately 6 hours a day? How many hours do they spend on a subject in school a day? Someone, please do enlighten me.
Ya’ know, if they really just spend 1 or 2 hours on a particular subject a week… wooaaah!!… then I feel even more stupid. People of my time used to spend 5 – 6 hours a week on a subject, and you throw in all the tuition, all the tips from con-man tuition centre, we were dying just to get perhaps… 6 – 7 As? Ok la… me and mates were busy playing computer games then… but still!
So, what’s the reason for the As galore?1) SPM standard has dropped tremendously?
2) Kids in the last decade (you and I) are
3) Kids nowadays are really brilliant?
4) Con-man tuition centre finally giving accurate tips?
Take your pick.
Also, I am curious to know, why in the world would someone take so damn many subjects?
1) They are kiasu?
2) Their parents are kiasu?
3) Parents and kids both kiasu?
4) Trying to prove and you and I are stupid?
5) They are really trying to prove their brilliance?
Ok, let us all pause for a moment and give them the benefit of the doubt. Let’s just say that they are really brilliant… let’s just say our country’s education system is really producing geniuses… then….
1) How come the number of the unemployed graduates keeps increasing?
2) Why are employers nowadays keep complaining about the low quality of graduates?
3) Why do I have to work with stupid juniors in my first job?
Alright, perhaps I am being too judgemental, this is just SPM, shouldn’t relate them to graduates. But really, I have dealt with junior staff in my first job who was a top SPM student (with more As than me) and a top graduate… but that junior was just so stupid and totally incompetent.
So are kids nowadays the new breed of geniuses? Or are they just a bunch who only knows how to transfer words from text books to exam sheet. I dunno… you tell me.
65 comments:
the string of As means nothing, our whole education system is just a mass production line of unemployed grads
and najib today proposed a 2 year term for National Service, why?
-to keep the unemployed students off the streets before they become mat rempits, thats why!
Zewt,
As always, good stuff.
But here s a suggestion, send this piece to the major newspaper.
Shove this to the kiasu (read as brilliant) kids and parents.
My response to all your Qs:
1. Yes, no doubt.
2. No, kids of last decade is much more brilliant.
3. Nope, but not all.
4. Maybe
***
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. Could be
5. Yes and they did it bcos they are kiasu!!!
***
1. Refer question no. 1 at the very top.
2. same as above.
3. bcos u bad luck. :P
THERE U R! SATISFIED OR NOT??? KKK!!!
I doubt they're really geniuses. Even parrots can repeat what they learn perfectly. Nah, they're just made to function like robots.
I was as shocked as you when I read the news. I really wonder how they cope! I've nothing much to say except maybe... Malaysia Boleh?
*still wondering...*
Waa! U took 10 subjects?? U also kiasu wat... I only took 8.
LoL, well actually from my understanding they are reducing the standards so more will pass. So these geniuses will be in for a culture shock when they enter uni, particularly when its one thats overseas or in a good private uni who don't do that crap.
As hard as it for me to admit, i think the standard has really drop! I think my year was the last year that the highest scorer was a mere 12 As.
Sigh..
Johns - well, i am sure they cant keep those fella off the streets for long. catch 30 thieves (aka peers) and they are on their way with their free bike!
maxforce - u think i should do so? i have sent a few letters to the press before. sad to say, none get published.
kyh - hahahaha.... bugger... satisfy la. damn, say i bad luck summore. looks like we have a general consensus that SPM standard has dropped... tremendously.
Sharina - like i said, they are trained to transfer the words from the books to the exam sheet.
angel - not my choice la. my principal force us, and i mean FORCE us to take 10 ler. struggling like hell then.
sinergy.starfall - i have a feeling they will cruise their way to graduation... working world is where the true test lies... but of cos, there's always civil service.
princess shin - the brightest student in my days had 10, and i must admit he is one really really smart genius. having said that... not all geniuses succeed in life. SPM standard really poor now, that's for sure.
Argh~ after reading ur post, i.. dont know what to say. Haha! Well, I took 12 subjects, and out of that 12, 10 were compulsory. So, i took 2 more, just because I like them, not to say i wanna show off, and also not to prove that I am intelligent. ^^
No, they are not a new breed of geniuses. They are people who have been programmed to memorise and regurgitate, with no life in between. Ask them how much time each week they actually see the sun... you will probably get an answer like.. 0.00000000481 minutes a month.....
Just came across your blog through sinergy.starfall. you write good stuff dude..
Well, no harm trying :)
And it is really ABSURD with all these number of subjects.
are you sure we spent 5-6 hours a week on a subject??? i think most of it was spent on games le bro.
During our time 12 subjects was the tops, now we have 19 subjects. So in another few years, we shall see 26 subjects. Malaysia BOLEH!
let's see...they clever or u stupid?....me! me! *raise arm and flailing it to get attention* can i answer??!!? haha, i better not.
i was thinking the same thing when i read the news and also upon being told that children of some ppl i know have 10As. *rolls eyes* what's wrong with these ppl? the more As out there, the more one shld get worried, not be proud.
i can answer the last part. they have IQ. pure textbook type of IQ. but zero EQ. and definitely none of those flexible adaptable type of IQ. give them something out of the box and they will stare at it for hours, willing it to jump back in the box. sighhh!
tats why many suicide cases nowadays! I was thinking about the same thing. Teenagers supposed to enjoy life and they make it like its a big deal to get straight As. Halo! when they come out to the real world, they will cry!
So tell me then Zewt, when you have kids in the future taking SPM, what are you gonna expect from them if not As??
It's more to the parents drilling their kids when they were young, must be the best of all, if not you'll never have a bright future. Sounds familiar. But where does it end for us? Yea, best of all in studies and yet still stuck in this God forsaken organisation that makes beggers seem to have a more happening life than me, slave to the organisation!
i wanted to blog about this too
nowdays kids, i duno, they have too high of a requirement, wanting straight As! OMG i would be happy if i had only ONE A, ah well
about kiasu-ness..hm...that's what I think lar, YES to all the questions related to that!
Today's news report says that the MES director agreed that taking many subjects is meaningless.
“If a student takes Biology, Chemistry and Physics, there is no point in taking General Science too as its syllabus is more basic compared with the three subjects,” he said.
So that's how the kiasu ones scored more A's! I should have done the same, at least I would stand a better chance at getting a scholarship or something.
I prefer my kids to be street smart or social wise then being book worms. The Malaysia's education of "hafal-ing" is not the right way. We should opt for more critical thinking (thinking out of the box) and more exposure to the world.
However, we have to be realistic: GOOD RESULTS --> GOOD UNIVERSITIES --> GOOD COMPANIES. At the end, their job performance sucks, but who cares? The employees see the "BRAND" of the company.
Greetings from SG,
wow this is some incredible news to me. I've never taken more than 10 subjects/modules at one time before. And they all look so happy, so at ease, it's like "c'mon it's only eighteen subjects whats the big deal - oh smile for the camera!"
Humbling, indeed.
The answers, zewt:
1. Not only has standards dropped, it has completely gone down the drain
2. Education system then was superior, thus producing superior students and graduates
3. Kiasu parents raise kiasu children
4. Teachers and lecturers reduced to 'service providers' to the 'clients', much like tuition teachers
Wow, 18 subjects??!! I was struggling with 10/11 when I was doing my SPM --- I can't even remember exact no. I took!
Kiasu or not, kudos to them for the effort. But I'm worried about all this exam-driven structure. It's been more than 10 years since leaving school, and I find that none of that is really important if one doesn't learn how to be a decent human being, and I certainly didn't pick that up in Pendidikan Moral. :P
P.S. Just for your information, zewt, since the spammer struck again, and this time used Kok's name (don't worry I've deleted the comments), I'm now moderating comments on my blog, and when I comment on Blogger blogs like yours I will sign in with my Blogger account so you can tell it's me cos of the picture and the blog url (which states lifeforbeginners.blogspot.com then redirects to my real site if you go there).
A bit troublesome but the last time I want is the spammer to come and kacau my blog-friends.
zewt,
Great stuff you have in here.
Anyway, I'm with the 'standards had dropped' school of thought. I mean, common, I'm working with a Masters holder who can can't even take simple instructions. Nuff said.
I also took 10 subjects. And now, 19??? Really...it's mind boggling! I am also wondering how they cope. All just trying to get into the Malaysian Book of Records.
Get so good results for what??? Can the SPM cert earn you good money???
To add on, like Princess Eileen says, our education system sucks... its all about hafal-ing! Try to ask those straight As students to do presentations... I bet they suck!
Just to add, I had lunch with a colleague from UK (he is a UK-born chinese), and he is totally astonished by the amount of subjects taken. I think he only took 9 subjects, and he is a high performer. No disrespect but those top scorer faces don't really convince me that they can perform in their work.
Rabbit - curious to know what are those additional subjects that you took.
Theodwyn - Hello there, welcome to As Zewt As It Gets. Strange enough, one fella claims to be a long distance runner for his school. you're right, I really enjoy those days where I was made to think... while playing computer games! haha... and despite not getting straight As, i think i am doing quite well in the working world.
Thanks for your compliment, i shall drop by your blog in a while.
maxforce - someone commented today about why a person who is taking chemistry/physics/bio and yet wanna take applied science. purely for grades. and i heard they have got english, english for technology, english for science... what the hell!
ubean - i meant 5-6 hours a week in school la, part of the time table. how can i forget out RTK1, RTK2 and RTK3 during those days! hahaha.... yeah, by the time we have 26 subjects, the number of unemployed grads will be 26 folds.
me - honestly, will expect your children to take as many subjects? and... will be making proud declaration to the whole world if your children is a straight A student? to be fair to parents, i think that's only natural.
but you're right, the method of education here only concentrates on 'hafal-ing' (do u still remember this word?).
sasha - make sure you dont think ask Jayden to take so many subjects when he grows up ah... haha. I think by the time your kid grows up... he might need to take 30 subjects already. Yeah... most of them cant survive in the real world.
Jessica - honestly, i think my kids will not grow up in this failing system. i think they 'wont be taking SPM' hehe.
so it's kiasu parents eh? strange, my parents never bother about my education, it's all my initiative. dunno if it was a bad thing... or a good thing. eh, dont too much la... dont think u wanna be a begger.
huei - everyone is blogging about this la. so join the fun! yeah, parents and kids all damn kiasu. the last time when the UPSR results was announced, i have some colleagues who went around the entire office shouting 'my son got straight As... my son got straight As'... like damn great!
narrowband - precisely my friend, i read about that too. like i said, my friend from UK cant believe they can actually fit all those subjects in their time-table. all these general science and 3 types of english papers are really free As. not to mention other few subjects that are available only to certain type of people.
princess eileen - yeah... eng up in good companies... cannot perform... kena hentam from senior (like me)... the resign. and somehow managed to get a full scholarship to do her masters. shall blog about this soon.
lakeside girl - hello there, welcome to As Zewt As It Gets. your sentence is incomplete... it should be ""c'mon it's only eighteen subjects whats the big deal - oh smile for the camera! - so you got less than me right?" hope to see you here again. shall drop by your blog later in the day.
QueenB - yup... certainly... down the big longkang already. i remember how my parents say... that a form 5 grad during their time is as good as a grad now... how things have changed. hahaha... service provider... ya, i know some teachers actually withhold information and only disclose during tuition session.
Kenny Mah - yo, how have you been? we were all struggling with such small number of subjects then. the exam-driven culture is really worrying, judging by the number of unemployed grads... it's even more worrying. Pendidikan moral is a tool to spoil 'our' grades if you're asking.
thanks for the info, i certainly dont want any spammer here. and i try not to impose the comments mederation thing. want comments to freely flow here.
Scheweeney - yo, welcome to As Zewt As It Gets! thanks for the compliments. hahahahaha... luckily you dont work for P-ermanent H-ead D-amage people.
king's wife - oh yeah, never thought of that. biggest roti canai, biggest yee sang, longest lemang, longest satay, and now... most subjects in SPM... but we forget to put most unemployed grad from any uni in the records.
purple mushroom - you know.... check out the news. the fella who got got 18As or something... got a 3B in english for technology... tells a story, no?
Zewt: Your comment on "No disrespect but those top scorer faces don't really convince me that they can perform in their work."
As what I thought too. Those are 'I'm a freakin Hafal-er" face.
Agree totally with you mate..ask them a question of the syllabus and they probably answer "Huh?" instead of telling you that the answer is on which textbook and what page..
I dont understand y all of you assume that high scorers all are 'hafaler' or memorise their work...I dont think by pure memorising you can get 16A1s..what bout subjects like art? I dont think u can memorise how to do art? you need talent too...
i agree the standard may have drop...and majority of scorers may be memorising their work and that though u r a top scorer you may not be the best paid nor haf the relevant soft skills
but that doesnt give us the right to judge them......have we wondered y they need to take so many subjects? is it becoz they want to go to form 6 or the fact that they want to do medicine/engineering overseas and in order to do so they need to secure a JPA scholarship where places are so limited.....
pls take a step back before critising them to think y they need to do so...not every1 has the option like us (me n zewt n others) to study in private colleges n etc....
p/s i am not a top scorer...i had mostly A2s that time n i only took 9 subjects n i also hang out at the arcade frequently
dunno larh zewt, it never did bothered me bout getting good results... its not that im gonna get a scholarship fr the government or what..
I tell you these kids are gonna be in big trouble choosing their major subjects in unis or colleges... "what to take up yeah? medicine?? arts?? journalism?? pharmaceutical?? IT?? Oh what the heck, mom.. I'll just take all of it" *ROFL*
stoopidnyerr....
it still amazes me how those students can achieve 18/19 A's. its like...chi sin ah! last time i took 10 subjects also wanna die ady.. summore i was grateful that i passed all(except for add-maths), dun even talk bout getting all A's. hahah...
i think parents and students nowadays are too driven by how many A's they can get. seriously, u can get all the A's you want.. but it's still only in theory. practical wise...?? i dun think wht i studied in high skool helped me much in my work either. =P
Lei geh blog hou hak sei yan...
Haaaaa! Nehhh... Your principal is the kiasu wan! But KW oso took 10 subjects?! I think hor... you all KayElle ppl ada sikit kiasu... LOL!
*cabut*
BTW, if you are free, do check out dailydurian.blogspot.com cos... me thinks both of u got 'similiar' styles ;)
seriously gila..
i also studied 10 subjects and i was struggling.
a friend of mine got 6 agg and 10 As but only ended up in allied sciences and another dude got 15 agg wit juz a few As but ended up being a doctor.
SPM sucks anyway, it is not the true judge of character and capacity.
after getting gazillion As, you do have to send to najib's concentration camps. if ur unlucky u'd juz die.
so why study for gazillion As?
HaHaHa
Economist,
Human judge. Thats a fact. By stating that others judge, you have also passed judgement :P
Anyway, the system has always been into memorising. Its the shortcut. Memorise this, memorise that. Read ten times, memorise. Our exams are also memory orientated. Thats the whole problem actually.
Its not the fault of the student, I think. Its the Ministry. Its Society. Kids at their age could not withstand this kind of pressure, I think. Parents want it. Society want it. The Ministry condones it. How lah?
More questions:
Does it cause untold burden to the students?
Is this burden necessary?
Would this achieve any worthwhile goal?
Should this persist?
Or should it be changed?
Zewt,
First of all I like to thank you for stopping by my cyber resident. I've 2 units of 286AT running.
To your question:
So are kids nowadays the new breed of geniuses?
NOPE. It's their parent that imposing them to take more subjects. Too much parent EGO. Pity the students they really miss their secondary school life.
Adios
I've been through my SPM life just about 2years ago.
there's 2 categories of students:
- kiasu(always study and neglected friends and life)
- happy go lucky( what is SPM?a piace of paper?)
when we get da result, kiasu type will score around 10-11As.
the happy go lucky ones will get 3-7As.
But mostly the kiasu one dunno which or where they wanna go after getting those result.
They have no directions in life(true story from my friend)whielt he happy go lucky ones already applied for private colleges:)
btw, there are sun\bjects like cooking, baby-sitting, beautification, house keeping and all those junk subjects in SPM.
So even if they got 19 As, please ask what kinda subject they took first.
so what if getting 19 As?If you're unemployed by the time you graduated, your cert is just a paper.
talking as if I'm a big girl right here.haha
zewt,
I m a loser... I took 9 subjects for SPM and I only got a string of C3s and no As whatsoever...
I got p8 for moral studies which I ma proud of because I have no morals to start off with.
My history teacher told me I was a failure and my maths teacher gave up on me.
I studied damn hard in form 6 and got into medical school to proof that I am up to it. However, i decided not to take up medicine, a decision in which i regret today after seeing House MD, General Hospital and Scrubs on TV, but enrolled myself in Mass Communications. I have my medical school offer letter framed up!
Although I don't have any As in my SPM, I am not stupid! I am streetsmart!
i sometimes envy these bastards for their brains!
1. Reason for As galore - SPM standard has dropped tremendously. It's pretty obvious by looking at how any tom, dick or harry can score tons of As by just being sub-standard. I think this doesn't just happen in school but even at uni level. Hey, you could still score A by getting 70 points (was it? can't quite recall..)The end result is like your junior who scored with flying colours but couldn't work.
2. Why students take so many subjects - trying to prove their brilliance thinking that the public will be fooled by their so-called intelligence. I'm sure you have read this one - one guy who scored so many As actually took Science when he already took Chemistry, Biology, Physics, you name it. What's the point? It's certainly not going to wow me.
All this just puts me off so I never read the news on SPM results anymore. Why am I not surprised that year-in year-out, the Govt is so proud of their super-smarty pants students and provides scholarships one after another when they can't even become competent employees at the end of the day. Fine if they can't perform well at work but they don't seem to be contributing much to new scientific or medical ideas or research come to think of it. That's the least they can do! Sigh.....
purple mushroom - hahaha... and one of the fella in the pic is only 15 and she is applying for uni! *faint*
someone who is constantly craving - precisely... all of them only know 1 + 1 = 2... but ask them 1.5 + 0.5 = errrr.....
Economist - ahhh... finally the economist speaks. for a start, you and i both know getting As doesnt mean you're gonna get a JPA scholarship or a petronas scholarship. i know we are all judgemental and lacks solution, but that's just the way we are.
you're right about ppl not having the option to go private. but seriously, i dont think these kids take so damn many fucking subjects just to get a chance to go private.
p/s: i dont even have A2s la... only A1s... haha... but only a few la... not like bebelas-belasan.
calvin's wife - yeah lor... if you're the chosen one, no need good result also can get scholarship la. like one of the reader commented, these kids are just lost, they have no idea what they wanna do now. maybe they can take up the latest course offered by our local uni... degree cuci jamban (hey, there's such a course ok!)
grace - me also too 10 only, almost died. in fact... died! didnt care... dont really study, but still ok mah. indeed, learning is one thing, applying is another. and whether what you learnt can be applied is also another point.
angel - 'hak sei yan'... who is scared till death ah?
why suddenly hentam KL ppl? u look in the news... all those fellas from outside KL ler. i shall check out that blog... sounds interesting. but tonight go watch 300 first. paktor with gf!
nazlihaffiz - hahaha... still going on about the camp eh? crazy... they wanna increase it to 2 years. i am curious, when the NS first started, there was a complain about how those VIP's kids never get selected... i wonder what happened to the investigation... was there any?
maxforce - good point max. ministry want it cos they have KPI to keep. Society wants it to have a feel good factor. all these while poor kids suffer. but hey, i have a feeling some of them are enjoying the fame... not knowing what truly lies ahead.
anon fm miri - oh yeah! i damn miss my school life, cos i damn enjoy it... never study. i remember i only started studying for SPM 2 weeks prior to that... still made it through. and i got what i wanted.
baby sa - wah... yours is a very insightful story. maybe i should publish it next... hmmmm. wah, really have such stupid subjects? then i think i will also be able to get more than 10As with all those crap subjects la. talking like a big girl... cos you're really a big girl now mah.
dangerous variable - wahhh... what a transformation from SPM to high flyer in Form 6! and why la you go and reject your medical school offer. so damn stupid la ! hahahaha... you think those series will make you regret? wait till you watch grey's anatomy... u might wanna stop whatever you're doing now and be a medical student once again! dont need to envy them... we have our own wisdom... cheh... haha.
anonymous 2 - you dont have to deal with juniors who are like that yet, no? they can really give you a heart attack. yup... applied science after taking chemistry, bio and physics... it's like you know how to run, jump and climb... suddenly you're also learning how to crawl.
dont expect them to contribute to medical research when 50% of their As are from english for technology, english for maths, and 4 other 'religious' studies paper.
I HAVE NO IDEA KID STUDY SO MANY SUBJECT & CAN GET SO MANY 'A'. BACK IN MINE DAY I ONLY STUDY 5 SUBJECT & NEARLY FAIL ALL OF THEM. I SUPPOSE KID R REALLY 'SMART' NOWADAY.
IT DOESN'T TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO FIGURE THIS OUT.....
1.'THOSE DAYS' we had teachers instructing us in English. We discussed topics of interest. We had too many questions for the teacher, and the teacher had to do more research before answering our questions...
2.We had too many questions that we forgot about those that the teachers asked of us..hence we couldn't answer...and hence we didn't get that good grades.
3.Back then we didn't have blogs to educate us
4.ENGLISH,...ENGLISH...and ENGLISH
5.We had to do real research...not cut and paste
6.Our parents were too busy trying to make a living to get us to take 12 subjects.....(all of them different)
.....these days.....
1.Thanks to Bill Gates , research is just...surfing and cut and pasting
2.Teachers nowadays are too busy with herbalife, amway, that they just want to get their day job out of the way, so they accept any answers given by the students
3.If the students don't have the answers, the teachers just give it to them...
4.Ever wondered why we have so many unemployed grads? Find 5 and interview them, you will know why.
5.....BM...BM....BM...is that 3 subjects?
Sorry, but like Bakri Musa said, We need real education here.
Grading don't mean nuts! Yes, we cannot take credit when credit is due, so they are the best in their year......but these days, the education system?....What System?
I not talking about the ones in the news ler... I talking abt u & KW haha :P
Har?? Paktor watching 300??? So unlormantik wan?? Watch la something like "Bridge To 'somewhere?'" (forgot where already...)
Hak sei yan is hak sei ngor laa...
Next few weeks we gonna see the same faces whose grin turned upside down, as they will throw tantrum while fail to get the scholarship and demand that the whole malaysians owe them. Fuck them sideways.
definitely. will brag to the end of the earth and take out advertisement front pg if children get straight As *grins*
hafal? sorry. i think i just fell deeper in2 yr category a chinese. not educated here during mid-primary and secondary yrs either. or mayb age gap betwn u n me is too big. hahaha.
Fr the majority of the comments i think the following can be summarised:-
a) Standards have dropped
b) Memorising culture is being cultivated and condoned
c)Students are kiasu till they need to take 10+++ subjects even if they repeat the subjects like science after already taking physics, chem n bio
d) SPM is considered nothin by most ppl
e) Getting alot of As wont necessary get you the best job nor highest paying job
f) Top scorers may lack the social/soft skills to survive in the real world
In general that is the conclusion we can make.
Zewt,
hahah...yeah, i still wonder how in the world did i pass all subjects when the only time i really study is like ermm...half an hour - 1 hour before the paper starts. apart frm tht, study wht also cant remember..lolzz..=P
that also proves something right, tht our passing marks are killa low in SPM. hahahah....
Hor Ny Ang Moh - you think they are smart? i think kids nowdays only know how to show off and threaten parents to give in to their demands.... in exchange for good grades.
allied - yeah... what system eh? the entire process is like a big giant factory now... just churning out grads by the batches. our future is indeed bleak.
angel - i was forced to take 10 subjects ler... dunno about KW la... maybe she is kiasu hahaha. why my blog can 'hak sei lei'?
yungjie - hi there. welcome to As Zewt As It Gets, first time i presume. yeah, it's like an annual event. after STPM results... there will be another round of annual event too.
me - typical parents... sorry, where exactly is here? here in msia or you in HK?
economist - final conclusion... all those who are not kiasu and cant get straight As in exam and struggled to pass but yet able to perform at work are all.... bloggers. hahahahahah!
grace - i heard the passing mark for english was only about 40 during my times. i remember my english teacher telling us that if we get anything less than A1, we should hang ourselves.
Bila mau buat u mia tag????
Hmm, I don't know about hanging ourselves if we got less than A1 for English. I mean, I still salute these kids for working so hard, and not all of them are hafal-ers (rite?).
They'll learn about the real world soon enough. See, brains or not, some of us will do well in the real world, some not. It's got very little to do with school grades at the end of the day, but the perception we take with us.
I worry more about the increasing no. of kids who hurt themselves (inc. suicide) when they perform poorly. Too much pressure on these kids! I'm glad my sis don't send her kids to tuition --- I've heard of kids going for tuition as early as Standard 1!
My nephew can be real lazy in his studies but slowly he improved his grades, and that to me is safer than risking him having a nervous breakdown at 14! :P
sometimes *shaking head*....i think....answering u and yr thousand of questions so straightforward is too easy 4 u. time for u to follow my pages and find out more by yourself. :-p
I wrote about this too on my blog. To make a long story short, Malaysian students still have a lot to learn even if they score a string of A's in SPM, because in the real world it's totally different and no one cares if you are "Pelajar Cemerlang Kampung Batu Gajah" if you can't do the job you are assigned to do. I just wonder how many of these "Pelajar Cemerlang" are really "cemerlang" when they go to a higher level. Probably not very "cemerlang" after all if you look at the present state of intelligence in the country.
Jap aa...off the topic, i just bloghopped from nuraina samad's blog thru the link in her blog.
U'r a witty comedian are u? Ur writing style left me in stiches!
eh zewt - SELF PRAISE IS NO PRAISE hahahaha
soon we will see STPM results...i think this is better coz its so much harder and this ppl really have the determination to do well either to go to public uni or JPA scholarship hopefully to MIT, HARVARD, Oxbridge....
latest i saw only 54 ppl with 5As but i think now they have reduced the number of subjects to 4? am i right?
2 cents of thoughts:
1) Jabez and Nadiah case, the only redundant subject they were taking is science (on top of physics, chemistry and biology). So if discount of that, they are still studying 16 and 18 subjects respectively.
2) For those who take up so many subjects, they would have weighed in the time/attention they need to spend on each subjects to get As. If they are not confident of doing so, there is also likely a chance they might screw up all others subjects too (just like the ball juggling trick). So basically the rational thinking should be: how many As I could score in confidence and how many subjects can I cope with. There is no point of taking up all subjects if I could not score any As due to the thinning distribution in time and attention in each subject.
3) Wonder if this is still true for today's scenario, last time I learned that each subject's score in getting A is depending on the bell curve distribution (e.g. only top 5% scoring students will get As in subject X or Y) rather than a fixed mark. Implication? Student who get As is top 5% student in relative term, but it does not mean that his/her absolute grade is excellent.
4) As for the standard of the examination drops or not, I would first look at the examination papers rather than judging the students perfomance. Anyone saw the last SPM's add math, chemistry or physics paper? (since these are the least "hafal"ing paper). I am interested to check out too :)
5) IMHO, i don't mind that the younger generation is smarter than me. Afterall, the smarter they are, better innovation and productivity will be resulted.
serious.
those good result dudes don't study for themselves most of the time, like my friend.
when I asked why is she so stressed out?
she said it is because she don't wanna let her brother in law(a.k.a her tuition teacher) feel ashame.
she studied for him-.-
not kiddin.
when I get my SPM tim table, I was like "what is this?baby-sitting also need a cert from SPM?"
calvin's wife... hahahaha.. okaaaay...
anyway, cert macamana bebanyak poon, bukannyer ada guna... ppl nowadays hire employees with experience AND connections... not how many A's u get in school..phbtt~!!
Sorry lah kidz with multi-zillion A's (if ure reading this)... tell me if ur fellow rich mates without any A's could enter the same college as you... if yes means, ur A's all tarak guna dee.. maybe to let u be proud for a while only looor..
peace out~!!
I am of the generation you speak of.
I personally know Jabez. He's a good kid, a hard worker, he took music in St Mary's, and i've a feeling i should defend him.
This year's standard has actually rose. Believe it?
Think about it. The number of straight As this year is measly compared to the number of straight As last year. And i compared with a few other friends, they agreed. The standard has rose. (psst, take a look at the national average)
Perhaps because next year is the first batch in English, and they want to make is seem as if the English students (sci and math) are a success.
But this is pure speculation by the student population of Malaysia. Ignore it if you want.
Wat do i have to say for me and my generation? Firstly, we're not smarter than you guys. I've been thinking a lot of what i want to do with my life, and i realized that 'genius' isn't determined by your IQ, your ability to get girls, or even the number of As you get.
It's your accomplishments that count in life. Einstein and Edison would've scored straight Cs, and yet they're counted as geniuses because they created things that people use today. Einstein was so radical ("Imagine yourself travelling at the speed of light? Would i see waves, or beams?") no education system in existence could've have handled him.
So what i've got to say is this: As count very little. Our politicians lately have been making a lot of noise about the laser-like focus on academic performance alone. This is good news, but i've been worrying a lot about certain implications this 'jumping on the opinion bandwagon' has, since i'm still a student (going form 6) and whatever they implement affects me directly.
The issue we have to focus on is not the standards, or the egos of parents (though both are problems, important ones, in our country). The main issue we have is still the number of subjects we are taking. I foresee a culture where the government's insistence to 'break away' from academic acheivement alone will create a culture of students joining activities solely to get certificates. What is worse is that while they push for more involvement in activities, but our government does NOT cut down on the number of useless subjects like Moral, EST and even irrelevant Islamic History. They even added Siviks to the list! So we, the students, don't join clubs, or co-curricular activities for the skills they teach, or the things they can learn. I'm already seeing this in some of my schoolmates, and in my friends and younger siblings.
I admit, my cert collection may be lousy compared to the positions they have held (i go for skills and knowledge). But can they write and think and construct arguments like i'm doing now? Can they throw a person twice their weight? Can they participate in a theological debate and then conclude, summarize and make sure everyone walks away learning something?
I don't think so.
And this is the challenge we have: tell our kids not to worry about Moral or EST or even the islamic elements in our history that does not promote racial integration in our country. Tell them that they should join activities to learn, not to collect certs. And while we can't do much, we can love our school going kids (read: ppl like me ;P), we can tell them that academics isn't everything, and above all, we can give them the support they need as they transverse this faulty system we have under our kris weilding Education Minister.
End of my comment. (I think i can actually put this as a proper post in my blog ;D hehe)
pookyma - this weekend la
Kenny Mah - well, i sure hope your nephew will grow up as a really wise person. wisdom is all that matters...not knowledge... know what i mean?
me - ok la... my fault la... will follow your pages more closely.
MrDurian - yo there, welcome to As Zewt As It Gets. the only thing cermerlang in this country are those rempits... the title i mean.
Manal - Hey, welcome welcome... thanks for your compliment... hope to see you more here.
Economist - my colleague said it has always been 5. Well... i am going to prophesy something about the STPM soon... wait and see.
mich - Hey, thanks for visiting As Zewt As It Gets. Well, do you seriously think they are contributing to the country's productivity? As far as i know... those fellas who are really smart are working everywhere except in malaysia. generally speaking of cos.
baby sa - what????? baby sitting? damn! i should have been born later!!
Calvin's girl but not Calvin's wife - hahaha... yeah la...all tarak guna la. check out my new blog and u will know whether As ada guna or tarak guna.
dienasty - very cool comment. I already said what i wanted to say in your blog.
Hehe. I'm currently reading and enjoying your new post. Feel free to do whatever you want with my comment. >.<
During the trial exams, the average passes for science (taught in English) was 20 something percent. About 1 and a half month later these same students took their PMR and the average passes for the same subject is 60 plus percent. What does this tell you?
You decide.
Sounds Malaysian to me. I didn't know that. Thank you for the heads up.
last time, I heard, even those yang dapat 4.00 cgpa couldn't get into med. degree programme becos there's too many of them getting 4.00cgpa.
good god!
hurm. yes, my pick, they're trying to make us looking stupid, looking like a fool! like a fool!
even going to a boarding school with allocated studying time pun I couldn't ace many A's (wudn't disclose the amount of A's here).
graf spm turun kot? hehehe...
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