It is really disheartening to look at the latest universities ranking provided by Times. As an 18 year old, my focus is just on the top 20 universities in the world - to look at it and make a decision in 1 year time on which university I should go to.

Because it is the school holidays now, I have cut down on reading the newspapers from daily to every few days. And I did not realise that the universities ranking had been released. That was till I talked to a Malaysian friend in NUS (National University of Singapore) yesterday.

He told me about how NUS had dropped down the ranking from 19 to 33. And how Malaysian universities – UM, UKM, USM had dropped even further down the list. It’s so bad that now not a single Malaysian university is in the Top 200.

Looking forward to find out how bad the situation was, I hopped on to Lim Kit Siang’s (Malaysia’s opposition leader) blog to got a fuller picture from his post.

It’s really shocking to see the extent of mediocrity that Malaysian universities have come to. Reading the comments on the post is even more depressing. Skimming through only a few of the comments is enough to make me feel sorry for my own country.

I’m now in Singapore doing my A-level under the ASEAN scholarship. My exams are at the end of next year. Although I could have done Form 6 which is equally hard (mind you A-levels in Singapore is NOT easy, it is super hard), I feel really bad that my own home land is doing so bad.

Over here in Singapore, everyone is striving to be the best with talks of globalisation, competition, talent being the talk of the town (government, teachers, students etc) daily.

I can’t help but feel sorry about Malaysia’s universities. I knew from last year when I was doing my SPM that I will never ever set foot on a Malaysian university. And with the new ranking list out, it’s becoming real evident that entering Malaysian university is not really an option.

The brain drain is for REAL. Young people like me, we are going away. I’m already technically out of the country. I’m going to pursue an overseas education in US or UK or worse come to worse in Singapore. And whichever country that I study for my university I’ll stay there for a few years to work. Only after that I’ll consider coming back to Malaysia to work.

I’m still young. Years of patriotism lessons in schools had certainly had in impact on me. It has certainly instilled a sense of love for holding on to the Malaysian citizenship. Although I must say I’m ashamed to talk about my country’s state of education or politics whenever we have discussions in my school or hostel with Singaporeans or other fellow international students.
I don’t like to discriminate people, but what do you want me to tell others of our Government’s policies? Yea I know History text books will say it is like our safety net to ensure racial stability, but why are young Malaysians feeling left out in their own country?

Staying in Singapore undergoing their intense public education system definitely puts great stress on a young person. It is really hard work, hard work and hard work over here.

You can see students working so hard to chase success. You can sense the hunger and desire to be the best, to chase for glory. Everyone is in a race. You are either in it or left to rot at the sidelines of society.

I can certainly feel the heat of global competition over here, albeit with mostly Singaporeans. Recalling back my secondary days in Malaysia, I can barely feel all these heat.

Education and life in Malaysia, where is it heading?

Singapore has surely upped the ante on efficient land public transportation. It has recently implemented the real time bus information feedback system in several major bus stops around the country.

Look at the following pixs taken at the Newton MRT bus stop.

When I came Singapore early this year, I was definitely impressed with its efficient public transportation system. However it can certainly be improved. There is one thing missing - that is the real time bus info system like the one shown. Well, now it’s finally implemented. It’s not available at all bus stops yet, only major ones but at least it’s a good start.

Observe the second picture closely and you can see the bus info is jointly provided by the two bus operators in Singapore. The system is implemented by Singapore’s Land Transport Authority. JPJ, try opening up your eyes a lilttle bit wider and take a look what those Singaporeans are doing!

And one last joke at the pix. Try searching for bus 700A. When’s the next bus arriving? 73 minutes! And the bus after that? 88 minutes! Hahahahahahaha…big joke! Here you have some technologically-advanced board giving real time bus info, but the maximum waiting time of 15 minutes is far exceeded by nearly 5 times! WTH?

Anyway Malaysia, try beating this! How many more light years away before this can be seen in Malaysia? Well I don’t mind not having this system in Malaysia yet. Just solve the bigger problem of having a punctual bus system first. Then get rid of rude bus drivers. Then please at least have bus information on the bus stops. And try having a super website like the ones in Singapore. They can guide me to my location from point to point. Check out their websites here and here. RapidKL does have a website but their bus routes is in an image file that can be found on their website.

And one final rambling…..Please RapidKL or Metrobus or whatever other bus operators in Klang Valley, how many times must I ask, can you PLEASE provide a bus route from Puchong Jaya to Subang/Sunway area? It’s a freaking 5 minute journey by car using the LDP, but there’s no bus operating this route (except for one operator plying this route every one hour or so?). Even the proposed freaking LRT line extension will not link Puchong with Subang. What’s your problem?

Well NickChan, think RapidPenang is good already? Still a long way to go for Penang, but at least the Government is doing something in the right direction…..

Oh and I’m pretty sure some of the new Rapid buses are disabled friendly too right? Well this is one part where Singapore still needs further improvements. From the bus board, only two of the buses there are disabled-friendly….I can only wonder how I will have to travel around if I’m in a wheelchair……..

Someone has to do it, but we never ask how it’s done. Cleaning the urinal….How?

Use MOP la…..

Look at the pix closely; u can see the leftover strands of mop (hair? What d’ya call that?) at the urinal…..

Ewww…..they use mop to clean the urinal and then the same mop to clean the floor? Yucks….the more I think about it, the yuckier it becomes…..

Btw, for those friends who tried to access my site in the morning/afternoon, I’m sorry that it’s down. The server that my site is hosted was experiencing downtime and it took the webhosting company one whole day to get it fixed…They said it’s a serious hardware failure, but then…..Hmmmm….I guess the service you get = the price you pay……

Technorati Tags: urinal, downtime

I feel empty. I don’t know who I am, what my passions are, what I am good at.
Crap. I’m suffering from some kind of identity crisis.

I’m really confused as to what I really enjoy doing in life.
And I’m still searching for something that I’m good at.

To be good at something, you need perfection. But perfecting something is never my niche.

Coming back for holidays from Singapore really puts a thousand questions in my head.

I wonder what the hell I am doing in Singapore going through junior college for 2 years slugging out for A-levels. It’s almost similar to doing Form 6, but with co-curricular activities and Physical Education thrown in.

As I hang out with my friends from primary and secondary school, I see many of them driving around in their brand new cars, going college with their own clothes. I compare myself and see myself going school (junior college is like school k!) in uniform without any driving license yet.

I went to Singapore initially with a clear goal in mind – to ace A-levels and get into an established university to do Electronics Engineering.

Then I started studies and found out I pretty much suck in calculations. Physics and Maths is not ‘my thing’ as I found out later in tests….But here I am going through junior college doing Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Economics and General Paper.

Sometimes, I ask myself what the heck I am doing in Science stream. I am not really a Science kind of guy….I’m more inclined towards Business….But then momma and uncle always advise to do some technical subject first before getting my MBA….Crap, I’m confused. I am seriously considering doing Computer Science now or studying Economics in university later….I shall ponder over it in the next few months…..

Argh…education in Singapore isn’t really fun. I thought Malaysia had a really rigid, regimented, exam-oriented education system and going to Singapore will be a fresh change. But I’m wrong. So damn wrong. It’s the total opposite that is happening. Everything in Singapore is about acing the exams. And I’m so damn sick of exams. Hate it.

Ok, some random ramblings over here….The end..