Angry with the Malaysian education system in a mess

Be civil even when angry

ALONG THE WATCHTOWER By M. VEERA PANDIYAN

The ‘325 Rally’ organised by Dong Zong was touted as a peaceful gathering but it turned into an ugly show of anger.



IF civil dialogue is the life blood of demo­cracy, the fits of rage seen at the “325 Rally” organised by the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) are indeed unfortunate.

What was touted as a peaceful gathering to highlight the serious shortage of Chinese vernacular school teachers turned into a show of anger, hardly reflective of the community’s cherished Confucian values.

Among the resolutions passed at the rally was a call to remove all newly-assigned non-Chinese-speaking teachers and those who did not have Chinese language qualifications – including Bahasa Malaysia and English teachers – from Chinese schools.

Dong Zong also wants teachers with the right qualifications, who had earlier been transferred out, to return to these schools.

The other demands include a review of the Education Act to ensure plurality in the country’s education policy, fair treatment for vernacular schools and safeguarding their existence and development.

The Chinese educationists also want the ministry to conduct training for teachers with Chinese language qualifications who had been teaching Malay and English at Chinese primary schools for at least three years.

But of course, the resolutions have now been obscured by the verbal abuse and near-assault of Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong.

Although the deputy minister has been accused of “gate crashing” the event, the organisers of the rally had indeed issued an open invitation to him to attend.

Through advertisements in the Chinese newspapers, they had also listed 13 prohibitions for those coming to the rally – behaving violently or acting against the principles of peace, being abusive, provocation or making any indecent moves, carrying weapons and such.

But with the loss of almost all civility in our political discourse, we can only expect frenzied partisan views, especially in cyberspace where emotions are stoked daily into seething froth.

The reality is there are no quick fix solutions for the teacher shortage problem facing Chinese as well as Tamil schools.

Dong Zong president Yap Sin Tian said at the rally that the problem had remained unresolved for tens of decades, accusing the Govern­ment of having a lack of will to resolve it.

Here’s a sense of déjà vu. It’s been 25 years but nothing seems to have changed on the problems facing Chinese schools – except for the main players changing roles and shifting allegiances.

Just like the “325 Rally” in Kajang, a huge gathering took place at the Thean Hou Temple in Kuala Lumpur in 1987 to protest against the Education Ministry.

The Dong Zong is now said to be aligned with DAP and its Pakatan Rakyat allies of PKR and PAS but in 1987, Barisan Nasional’s Chinese-based parties – MCA and Gerakan – as well as DAP joined the Chinese educationists in calling for a boycott of the schools involved.

Guess who was the much-despised Education Minister accused of “deliberately” attempting to undermine the educational standards of Chinese schools? The fast-rising Umno leader then was none other than the current leader of Pakatan.

There is no denying that our education system is in a mess, no thanks to the flaws in implementation. We need to rectify the shortcomings both in national and vernacular schools as well as institutions of higher learning.

But not much can be done if sentiments are always tied to political posturing or show of power, with complete absence of civility in discussions.

Before the rally, discussions were already being held between Dong Zong, Jiaozong (the United Chinese School Teachers Association of Malaysia), Huazong (the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia), NUTP (the National Union of the Teaching Profession) and SJKC Headmasters Union and a special committee on shortage of teachers in Chinese schools, chaired by Dr Wee.

The deputy minister also announced eight long- and short-term measures to address the problem, including transferring out the non-qualified teachers, enabling Chinese school headmasters to hire temporary teachers and training of more teachers with Chinese qualification.

During his live interview over 98.8FM, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak confirmed that the steps had been accepted in principle by the Cabinet, and that the Government was serious about resolving the matter once and for all. But the assurances were snubbed by Dong Zong as “hasty and expedient attempts” to merely counteract the rally.

Now that the protest rally is over and the demands made, the right thing for Dong Zong to do is to go back to the discussion table. Civil discourse is the right path to take, no matter how angry one is.

> Associate Editor M. Veera Pandiyan likes these wise words of Confucious: The gentleman is calm and peaceful; the small man is always emotional. Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?

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Now, buggy for Hospital, how about Golf ?

 Buggy boost for hospital
 
PATIENTS and visitors to the Penang Hospital no longer have to walk far to the hospital’s multi-storey car park with the introduction of a buggy service.

The hospital’s Board of Visitors chairman Lim Thoon Deong said the hospital was the first government hospital in the northern region to use golf buggies for the service.

He said the buggy service would operate within the hospital compound.

Lim said that the buggy, which cost RM42,000, was sponsored by a company which supported MCA.

“The service aims to save patients and visitors time walking some 100 to 200 metres from the car park to the hospital lobby and vice-versa,” he said.

Number one: Project coordinator Datuk Lim Gim Soon (right), Thoon Deong (seated), Dr Yasmin and Komtar Barisan Nasional coordinator Loh Chye Teik (second left) posing for a photo with the buggy at Penang Hospital 

 

Lim, who is also Penang MCA Public Complaints Bureau deputy chief, said the service would begin today.

He said the service was also aimed at making it convenient for handicapped visitors and patients.
Lim said the buggy would be able to transport six people including its driver each time at five-minute intervals between the two stops.

“We will consider seeking sponsors for more buggies if there is an overwhelming response to the service,” he told a press conference after going for a ride on the buggy at the hospital yesterday.

Hospital director Dr Yasmin Sulaiman said the service would help solve parking problems in the hospital compound.

“It will prevent visitors from parking randomly in the compound and encourage them to park at the multi-storey car park because they can now use the buggy service to get to the lobby,” she added.

By HAN KAR KAY hankk@thestar.com.my  Photo by ZHAFARAN NASIB

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Healthy Ageing

Keep busy, sweat it out, and embrace the years. These are some simple tips on healthy ageing. 


 
THE golden rules of healthy ageing are very simple: eat right, exercise, be your age and do not smoke. Most of all, focus on being happy and don’t forget your life goals.

To embrace the years with positivity, says Professor Makoto Suzuki, 87, one should look at them as chouju, meaning “celebrating long life” in Japanese. “The onus is on us to focus on quality, and work on having many momentous occasions.”

Suzuki, chief director of the Okinawa Research Center for Longevity Science, was speaking to a captive audience at the 1st World Congress of Healthy Aging, in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday. The title of his talk was, Secrets Of The Okinawan Centenarians’ Longevity.

This specialist in cardiology and gerontology had moved to Okinawa from Tokyo to accept a tenure with the University of Ryukyus 35 years ago. He also had a role model in his own mother, who passed away last year, at the age of 100 years and 10 months.

Forget the wrinkles: Keep active, eat moderately and embrace the years, says Professor Makoto Suzuki, happily posing for a photo with his wife, Yoko.

 

From the lessons gathered from a community that boasts the highest and healthiest longevity rates in the world, Suzuki says a diet laden with vegetables, but less meat, plays a big part in healthy ageing. The goal is to maintain the same body weight one had at the age of 30.

Statistics from 2006 show that women in Okinawa have an average life expectancy of 87 years, about 10 years higher than that of the men. (In Malaysia, life expectancy averages 73.17 years.)

“The Okinawans have a custom of saying ‘harahachibu’ before each meal. This is a reminder not to overeat. Preferably, one should stop when the stomach is about 70% full,” Suzuki says, when met after his talk at the KL Convention Centre.

He also points out that the Okinawan diet is rich in anti-ageing ingredients such as polyphenol, phytoestrogen, isoflavones and good amyloids. These are commonly found in bitter gourd, soybean products like tofu (Okinawa is especially famous for its silky beancurd), brown rice, cereals and fatty fish.

Okinawans also favour the use of mugwort (artemisiabulgaris), touted for its medicinal qualities. Its leaves are dried, ground and used to flavour grilled meats and vegetable stir frys.

Exercise also comes into the equation and Suzuki advises the young to start as early as possible as the effective benefits of that lessens after the age of 40.

The dapper Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Mustaffa Babjee feels it’s important to follow the ways of nature.
 

As an archer and mountain climber himself, he emphasises that the elderly must find a way to sweat it out. Since his move to the flat plains of Okinawa, he has exchanged his climbing gear for a hoe because his wife, Yoko, has a farm where they spend most of their weekends.

For them, as with the majority of Okinawans, it is simply a matter of maintaining ikigai, the Japanese equivalent of raison d’être.

“Don’t worry about the wrinkles or being slow. Just be busy,” says Suzuki, who still lectures and conducts research at Ryukyus.

Inevitably, talk of active, healthy living leads to the question of bedroom frolics – which turns the hearty professor a shade of pink. Although he is not telling, from his exchanges with Yoko, 80, a homoepath, one gathers they are “quite active”.

“Funnily, I asked an Okinawan centenarian the same question but he refused to answer me. However, his wife said it is because of her that he is still healthy,” Suzuki says, laughing.

Death is also inevitable, but for the elderly in that island, what’s far more important than the end of one’s days is the role of the community in ensuring that they have a place in society.

“Elderly people need to have a sense of belonging, to know their role in a family is still valued. One of the reasons why the centenarians of Okinawa are able to lead a happy life is because they are revered by the younger people,” he says.

Suzuki elaborates on a daily ritual called ugan, during which the Okinawans pay respect to their ancestors at the family altar, and air their grievances to the dead. This has a therapeutic effect for the living, as it helps to alleviate stress.

On that loaded issue, fellow speaker Professor Suresh Rattan says mild stress is necessary for healthy living because it helps one stay alert and active. Exercise is one example of beneficial stress, as are brain teasers and games (like Sudoku), all of which help to keep the body flexible and the mind nimble.

Suresh, 57, a biogerontologist at the University of Aarhus’ Department of Molecular Biology in Denmark, spoke about Healthy Ageing – From Molecules To Hormesis. 

On the home front, a specialist in healthy ageing at Pantai Medical Centre, KL, says often, senior citizens are not encouraged to keep pushing themselves, both physically and mentally.

“The Malaysian mindset is that old people should not exert themselves. As a result, their physical and mental faculties are left to decline,” says Dr Rajbans Singh, 52.

To have wellness and health in old age, it is crucial for an individual to take a proactive stand, like taking up tai chi, for example.

It may also be necessary to abstain from fast food and fizzy drinks, Dr Rajbans adds, because the high fat, sugar and sodium contents of these foods can lead to or aggravate conditions like hypertension and diabetes.

For Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Mustaffa Babjee, a fellow of Academy of Science Malaysia, acceptance of one’s age is crucial so that growing old can be seen as a positive, natural process. Do not, for example, tell others that you are 47 when you are in fact 74! Instead, learn to enjoy being your age.

“It is important to be what you are and follow the ways of nature,” says Dr Ahmad, 75, who still cuts a dashing figure with his long snowy locks and thick moustache.

As for death itself, he reckons that it will be similar to being under anaesthesia, hence there is no need to fear.
“I am more afraid of being lonely,” adds Dr Ahmad, who continues to drive his 4WD into the jungle for a spot of bird watching, wildlife photography and white water rafting.

Dr Tan Maw Pin, associate professor of geriatric medicine from Universiti Malaya, says the Malaysian government can do more for the elderly in terms providing much-needed facilities.

“One mistake the planners made was to omit the elderly from the nation’s development plan, believing that as ours is a caring nation, they will automatically be taken care of. This is very well for those who are wealthy and can afford to pay for elderly care. What about those who cannot?” Dr Tan asks.

Datuk Seri Dr T. Devaraj, chairman of Malaysian Hospice Council, notes that the family safety net that once existed has been weakened by urbanisation.

Today, it is not uncommon for young people to leave their parents behind as they migrate to bigger cities to seek employment, says Dr Devaraj, 87. Also, the elderly cannot assume that they can spend their twilight years in their children’s homes.

But leaving everything entirely to welfare is not the answer either, he adds.

Since the early days of Hospice, he had insisted that volunteers make home visits and not have the patients placed in a facility. This is so that their families, too, can play their part in the care-giving process.

“The idea is to have a sharing of responsibilities. If the state completely takes over, then family support will decrease,” adds Dr Devaraj. That, in turn, will make the elderly feel even more alienated.

The World Congress on Healthy Ageing was organised by the Malaysian Healthy Ageing Society.

By GRACE CHEN

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Angers to the deception of Malaysian Chinese education

Chinese education problems: Real solutions needed

Pauline Wong
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

• 
• 

KAJANG (March 25, 2012): The anger and frustration of Chinese educationists and the community over the decades-old problems faced by Chinese schools boiled over today.

This was manifested in the treatment meted out to Deputy Education Minister Datuk Wee Ka Siong when he attended a rally organised by the United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong) here.

Wee was not only heckled and jeered by a rowdy crowd of over 7,000 people at the New Era College where the rally was held, but someone even managed to throw a punch at him as he was leaving the event.

Fortunately, due to the cordon of police personnel around him, the full force of the punch was deflected and Wee only suffered a glancing blow on his left cheek.

Despite the incident, Wee was seemingly calm when he spoke to reporters at a press conference later, saying he was saddened by the way the crowd had become emotional.

“While we do not expect cheers or applause from them (the crowd), the whole purpose of attending this rally is to listen to the people,” said Wee, who believed the crowd was made up of mostly opposition supporters.

Earlier, on his arrival about 11am, Wee had been met by a ‘hostile’ crowd and had to be protected by about 20 uniformed police and Rela personnel who formed a human wall around him.

Even after he had sat down, Wee was booed at every time the Education Ministry was mentioned in the speech by Dong Zong president president Yap Sin Tian who lashed out at the ministry for failing to solve the problems which have festered for over 40 years.

Among them, the lack of teachers in Chinese primary schools, which has been a sore point among its educationists for many years, made worse by the government placing non-Chinese speaking teachers as stop-gap measures.

Yap said as far back as 1968, the Education Ministry was on record in Parliament as admitting that Chinese schools faced a shortage of 1,172 teachers.

“This problem has never been resolved and remained the same for over 40 years. Over the years, many senior officials continue to say that the shortage would be resolved, but nothing has materialised,” he said.

“The Education Ministry today continues to say it needs to gather information about the problem before anything can be done, but the fact is, the ministry is in possession of the most up-to-date and complete information.

“Therefore, it can be concluded that the ministry does not intend to settle the problem, not because of the lack of ability, but the lack of will,” Yap said.

The rally later passed four resolutions presented by the Dong Zong standing committee.

They are, for the Education Ministry to :

• immediately transfer out all teachers who do not have the required SPM Chinese language qualification from Chinese primary schools;
• conduct special courses for Chinese language teachers who have taught Bahasa Malaysia or English for at least three years so that they are qualified to teach all three languages;
• reform the teachers training syllabus so that more qualified Chinese-speaking teachers can be trained to fulfil needs of Chinese schools; and
• review the Education Act to ensure vernacular schools are accorded equal status and safeguarded as an integral part of national education system.

Responding to Dong Zong’s demands, Wee said the ministry would continue to work towards resolving the issues raised.

However, he was evasive when pressed as to whether the government would give a commitment to resolve the problems or concede to the demands of the Dong Zong.

“We will most certainly take into consideration anything, listen to whatever grievances which we think are rational,” he said, adding that was why the cabinet had agreed to set up a special committee, which he chairs, to resolve the problem.

“The committee will get the cooperation of all stakeholders. Over the past month, we have engaged stakeholders to resolve this issue. We will study each of their resolutions and demands and consider it. We have come up with strategies,” he said.

When it was pointed out that Chinese educationists have been faced with this problem for over four decades and will not accept any more delays, Wee reiterated that the committee was formed to look into it immediately.

“Of course, we know this needs immediate attention. As far as government is concerned, we need to identify the root of the problem before we can solve anything.

“Transferring the non-Chinese speaking teachers out will not solve anything. There are integrated issues which have to be resolved and discussed as a whole, not piecemeal,” he added.

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China's Dueling Economic Theories

China's NPC (Parliament) Photograph: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Delegates attend the closing ceremony of the closing session of the National Peoples Congress (NPC) at The Great Hall Of The People on March 14, 2012 in Beijing, China. The National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament, adopted the revision to the Criminal Procedure Law at the closing session of its annual session today.

Should China push for radical reform or return to a more government-directed economy? It’s a familiar question made more urgent by the downfall of Bo Xilai, seen by many as a leader of the Communist Party’s conservative faction. A recent People’s Daily editorial that strongly supported more reform, plus a call by the World Bank and a research arm of China’s Cabinet for a smaller state role in financing and industry, have highlighted the issues. “The debate will be messy,” wrote Standard Chartered (STAN:LN) China economist Stephen Green in a March 1 report. However, he added, “something good is stirring in Beijing.”

The back-and-forth focuses on two models. The Chongqing model calls for a top-down push for social equality, with a stronger role for government in the economy; its name evokes the giant southwestern city where Bo Xilai ran the show until early March. The other model plays down the role of state companies, encourages the growth of more capital-intensive, value-added industries, and favors grassroots political reform. This is the Guangdong approach, named for the coastal province that was first to grow rich on exports and now is a center for experiments in governance. “I am strongly supportive of the Guangdong model and wary of the Chongqing model,” wrote Tsinghua University sociologist Sun Liping on March 16 in the Beijing-based business weekly Economic Observer. “In the long term, it is more important that the masses have the right to struggle for their own interests.”

Despite Bo Xilai’s fall from power, the Chongqing model still has its adherents. A website whose name translates as Utopia in English supports the state-heavy approach, and was blocked after Bo’s dismissal in an unfolding scandal that may implicate him in corruption. The site, back in business, has posted hundreds of articles supporting Bo, says David Kelly, research director at the Beijing-based consulting firm China Policy.

To reverse growing social inequality in its region, Chongqing has encouraged farmers to become urban residents and qualify for better benefits, and started to build 800,000 units of public housing. Bo also created several large conglomerates by merging more than a dozen smaller state companies. Despite Chongqing’s success in attracting such investors as Ford Motor (F) and Foxconn Technology Group, foreign businessmen have worried that government-backed businesses could squeeze them out. A crackdown by city officials last fall on Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) over mislabeled pork forced the world’s biggest retailer to shutter 13 stores temporarily, spooking investors. “If the Chongqing model is one that favors a greater role for the government, with state enterprises managing the economy, that is a negative for foreign businesses,” says Christian Murck, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. Also disturbing was Bo’s handling of a cleanup of the mob in Chongqing: He jailed not only the alleged mobsters but also a top Beijing lawyer who was defending one of the accused.

Guangdong party secretary Wang Yang has been upgrading the province’s economy from labor- and energy-intensive, polluting export industries such as toys, textiles, and plastics to newer and cleaner ones including software, new energy, and biotech. Wang has opted to rely mainly on private businesses, encouraging their growth with tax breaks and squeezing lower-margin industries with tighter labor and environmental regulations. Shenzhen, for example, has seen many of its dying industries depart in what Wang has dubbed “emptying the cage and changing the bird.”

What excites Chinese liberals more is Wang’s encouragement of grassroots policy making. That includes giving workers more of a voice within the official union, as well as a soft-handed approach to last year’s Wukan village uprising over land grabs and the death of a protester. Wukan, on Guangdong’s coast, just held what appear to be unrestricted elections for a new village chief.

Which of these two models will gain the upper hand is unclear. Clarity is unlikely at least until the fall Party Congress, when China will replace most of its top leaders, and both camps may vie for supremacy for years. “In 2001, we had a road map and that was the World Trade Organization accession agreement. Today we don’t have a sense of what comes next for China,” says the Chamber’s Murck. “There is more uncertainty than we’ve seen in years.”

The bottom line: As social inequality deepens and growth slows, China’s leaders must choose between more market reforms or a stronger state.

By Roberts is Bloomberg Businessweek's Asia News Editor and China bureau chief.
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Don't have experience to lead, appoint a British?

Don’t kill your talent, take a chance on inexperienced people 

SOON after India obtained independence, Prime Minister Jawahar Nehru chaired a meeting to discuss appointing a chief general for the Indian Army. As key leaders discussed candidates and options, Nehru disappointingly claimed: “I think we should appoint a British officer as the general as we don't have anyone with enough experience to lead.” Everybody nodded their heads in support and they started discussing possible British candidates.

This same conversation Nehru had with his leaders half a century ago is the same conversation taking place in many global organisations today. There are always big vacancies to fill yet no one experienced enough to fill them. And most leaders look outside their organisation and even outside the country for that perfect “experienced” person. Nehru's story though, ends differently.

One of Nehru's officers abruptly interrupted Nehru as he started contemplating which British “expat” to bring in: “I have one point, sir. Can I interrupt?”

Nehru nodded: “Yes, gentleman. Speak.”

The officer responded: “Sir, we don't have enough experience to lead a nation, too, so shouldn't we appoint a British person as the first Prime Minister of India too?”

The meeting hall suddenly went silent. Nehru had an “aha” moment and later decided against appointing an “experienced” general but a high potential local.

Almost every business leader I meet complains to me about the same issue they don't have enough good talented people to take their businesses to the next level. According to McKinsey's “War for Talent” study, the most important corporate resource over the next 20 years will be talent. It's also the resource in shortest supply. In fact, the search for the best and the brightest has become a constant, costly battle, with no end in sight. Talent has become the prime source of competitive advantage.

Yet, most of us unknowingly “kill” our talented people. How are we “killing” our talent? By not allowing our people to fulfil their potential. And we do this by curtailing their experiences.

Real learning 

Talent can only be developed through experiences and failure. You cannot send a person to a three-day classroom programme on swimming and expect them to become great swimmers. To learn to swim, you need to practice in the pool. No matter how much you listen, read or watch about swimming, without pool practice, you won't be able to swim. Real learning happens when applied in the workplace. Nehru learnt to become Prime Minister of India through the school of hard knocks and experience. Even if he was sent to a “Prime Minister School” (if that existed!), his learning would still ultimately come from doing the job. But when you block your people from the roles they crave, because of their lack of experience, we thereby ensure they never learn.

I recall going through succession planning reviews with a number of senior business leaders in my capacity as a HR leader. Each year, these business leaders would highlight specific talent they had in their teams. But much to my dismay, every single year, those highlighted were deemed “not ready” to take on bigger roles, claiming they needed a few more years to become “ready.” Four years later, the same excuses rang. The story never changed or ever will. As long as we hoard our best talent and never allow them to grow through new experiences, they will never be ready.

Thomas Edison correctly stated that “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Based on research done by Anders Ericsson, we now know just how much “perspiration” is required to become a genius apparently three years at a job or 10,000 hours. Ericsson's research indicates that if you are at your job for about two to three years (depending on how many hours you put into your work), you will master the role. But once you have mastered it, your learning subsides. And for you to keep growing, you need to learn something new.

The most talented people have figured this out and so if you do not give challenging work to them, they leave. They may claim they leave for money or other reasons, but in reality, if you truly give them challenging work which forces them to learn, they hardly leave. (It may be also because they are so busy being challenged, they have no time to do up their resume!)

However, the less talented employees, who love being in their zone of comfort, will stay on (maybe forever). The job becomes easy making it “wise” to continue in this zone of comfort. The real talents, however, know that if they don't keep getting new experiences and developing themselves, they may never achieve their dream. And so they pack their bags to gain new experiences, if you don't provide them.

Final thoughts

I am not at all advocating that experience has no place in our business. In fact, experience is necessary for big roles where failure should be minimised. However, one cannot attain that experience unless someone gives these people a break. We cannot gain experiences unless given a shot at the big stage.

What I want to emphasise is that this “talent disease” which is plaguing our nation can somewhat be curtailed if we build in talent development as part of our business agenda. So, what are some practical things you can do:

1. Demonstrate your commitment to employees by preferring to develop from within versus hiring from the outside. Give your “inexperienced” people a chance. Sure they may take some time to “learn” the job, but in the long term, it will be better for your business.

2. Keep pushing your people outside their comfort zone. They need experiences. Give them projects outside their silos. And when they fail (which they will!), help them get up and learn from their failures

3. Empower your employees make them partners in their own development. Make sure they understand the importance of hard work, learning and pain.

As my three-year-old son always says: “No pain, no gain.” The same goes for all of us.

We need to go through the pain and struggle of new experiences to keep growing. And business leaders need to go through the pain of pushing their best people out to new roles and to take chances on the less experienced. Someone after all took a chance on you previously. Nehru took a chance on his general. So can you.

Roshan Thiran is a firm believer that talent is developed and not genetic, and has made it his mission to build leaders in Malaysia through his social enterprise, Leaderonomics.  

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What it takes to be an entrepreneur by a Malaysian digital research?

Healthy pulse in data research

Bob Chua, who started a Malaysian digital research company in 2005 that went global and became a public-listed company in London within 33 months, talks about what it takes to be an entrepreneur

BOB Chua, a third generation Tiger in a family of entrepreneurs, said he had always wanted to run his own business for a living. “It’s in my blood,” he said.



“My impression of a person born in the Year of the Tiger is of bravery and risk-taking. I am not superstitious and think of it more as a good laugh,” the Pulse Group chief executive officer said.

It is a fact, however, that his family consists of entrepreneurs who are involved in various industries, from shipping to property, and growing up surrounded by such people inspired him to start his own business.

Of his company’s name, Chua said the name “Pulse” signified exactly who and what they were.

“Our main endeavour is creating insight out of data. Research does not have much life to it as it is just a lot of boring data and numbers. It is how you interpret the data that gives the work life, like a pulse. Hence, our tagline ‘Does your research have a pulse?’” he explained.

Chua, who studied in a business school and has a passion for technology, said it was a natural progression for him to start a company that specialises in digital research as he had always been in the industry, having worked for TNS and Nielson, two of the largest market research specialists in the world.



“How the Internet is changing our lives, the way we interact, research and buy stuff is interesting. It is even changing the way we collect data and I see a big opportunity in it,” he said.

Chua describes Pulse as being in the right place at the right time to capture the first-mover advantage.

“Entrepreneurship is all about timing and identifying opportunity and, at that point, we were the only ones in Asia to do it. When Pulse started in 2005, Facebook was getting big and Internet adoption was huge,” Chua said, adding that they remain the biggest company in Asia to do this.

Even then, Chua had thought of social networks as a game-changer and the situation has remained the same today.

“We are only just scratching the surface. Consumers are spending more time online and they talk about brands and their experiences. If we can compile all that data, we can create more accurate prediction models about how people are going to purchase things, access information about brands and who influences them to buy,” he said.

As an entrepreneur, Chua always believed his company was going to be successful and innovative when he started back in 2005 with its headquarters in Malaysia.

“Entrepreneurs have to have strong self confidence and have a never-say-no attitude. We never believe we are going to fail and even if that happens, we must pick ourselves up. I wanted to create a leading brand and fortunately, seven years down the road we are now where we are,” he said, adding that he is proud to be able to call Pulse a Malaysian company that has gone global.

Chua had always wanted the company to go global from day one, which was why he opened the Sydney office simultaneously with the Malaysian one.

“Australia had a more mature market and was a bit more sophisticated for online research with its bigger Internet penetration at 60% so it was a logical starting point. Within 12 months, we had opened up our London office and within 33 months of starting Pulse, we became a public-listed company in London on the PLUS Stock Exchange,” he said.

Recently Chua gave a talk at the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur to potential investors and painted a hopeful picture for Asian companies seeking opportunities in Britain and vice-versa.

“There are a lot of people there sitting on money right now, but they are no longer spending as freely as they used to. When you say Asia, their eyes light up as this is the only area for growth and countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia are still enjoying a 5% to 6% growth. The only thing is proving that you have a strong business product,” he said.

However, the UK remains one of the largest economies in the world and there are several reasons to look into opportunities there as well, according to Chua.

“If we compare listing costs, it could be two or three times higher because of the British pound but in terms of how much you can raise there, it is also two or three times higher. It is the relativity people need to look at and not just dollar value. Also, the pound is relatively weak now, so going in now is a good idea,” he said.

However, making it big like Pulse requires a lot of work and Chua recalls averaging 55 trips a year within two years of starting the company.

“I used to spend 75% of my time leading the jet-setting lifestyle and it was not fun. To be honest, there was not much balance in terms of my working and personal life then, but that is what you have to put in to grow quickly,” he said, adding that Pulse grew at a rate of 430% from its first to third year.

Chua believes the company is still in the right place at the right time as Europe continues to look for growth in Asia which is the geography Pulse specialises in.

“We are a much bigger company now and have professional managers all over the place with people running specific things. I travel less and family is my priority. Where I can, I mix business and leisure with my travels, which I still spend about 150 days of a year doing, but at least life is more balanced now,” he said.

One tip he offers those with an eye on the UK is to hire “self-starters”.

“They are going to be far away from the mothership here so you need good people on the ground, but that is not really an issue as it is easy to find good talent there. You also need to understand the relative cost and immediately build your market. We got our first client before even starting up there and that helped,” Chua said.

He also said that a business in the UK can have a back-end support locally who works on European time.

By CHOONG MEK ZHIN mekzhin@thestar.com.my

Malaysia needs more engineers

The experts: Dr Goh (left) with Kim Hor giving their talk on engineering at The Star Education Fair 2012 at Penang International Sports Arena.

 

THE country needs at least 200,000 engineers by 2020 in order to attain the status of a developed nation.

Institute of Engineers, Malaysia (Penang Branch) immediate past chairman Prof Datuk Dr Eric Goh said there were now only 70,000 registered engineers in Malaysia.

Dr Goh was speaking at a talk on Engineering held on the final day of The Star Education Fair 2012.

The institute’s electronic engineering technical division advisor Dr Tan Kim Hor who spoke during the second half of the talk said the engineering profession had great prospects as it was now high in demand.

In a talk about law, barrister-at-law Mureli Navaratnam said that although the country had sufficient supply of practitioners, there was a need for specialists in the field of arbitration and shipping law.

At a talk on medicine, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr K. Suresh said a medical career means lifelong learning while his co-speaker Dr S. Bina Rai stressed on the importance of doing proper research before choosing medical schools.

Another co-speaker Dr Tan Kok Joo said one must think carefully before deciding to take up medical courses.

Stories by WINNIE YEOH, KOW KWAN YEE, HAFIZ MARZUKHI, JEREMY TAN, KIATISAK CHUA and ROYCE TAN
Photos by NG AH BAK, GOH GAIK LEE, CHIN CHENG YEANG, LIM BENG TATT, CHAN BOON KAI and ZHAFARAN NASIB

Soaring high: A large replica of an aeroplane set up above Advanced Tourism International College's booths at the Star Education Fair 2012 which concluded yesterday at the Penang International Sports Arena.

Can money buy happiness?

Two thirds of people worldwide "need to live better"

Whether or not money can buy happiness, people worldwide seem to think it can, at least according to a new poll that canvassed respondents in two dozen countries.



Nearly two-thirds of about 20,000 people surveyed said they "need to live better," the survey by market research company Ipsos showed, while one-third said their life was fine the way it was.

Given a list of factors for improving their well-being and quality of life, 89 percent said a stronger economy in their country was very or somewhat important -- the top response.

Better living conditions and stronger family relationships were named by 84 percent, while only 56 percent listed finding a romantic partner, and 49 percent included meditation or prayer.

Lifestyle factors such as eating better, sleeping or exercising more and finding new challenges also placed high.

Responses from nations as far-flung as Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Sweden, Germany, South Africa, Hungary, Japan and Mexico varied widely, according to the poll.

Hungarians were mostly likely to say they needed to live better, with 89 percent agreeing, and second-most likely to say this was harder to do than ever before.

Saudi Arabians were the most likely to say their lives were fine as they were, followed by those from India and Sweden.

"These sentiments are inseparable from their crushed economy," said Keren Gottfried, research manager for Ipsos Global Public Affairs, which conducted the poll on behalf of Reuters News, referring to Hungary.

"We know from our economic confidence polling that these days only three percent in Hungary say their national economic is good. On the flip side, economic juggernaut Saudi Arabia is least likely to think they need to live better," Gottfried said.

"They also consistently have the highest economic confidence scores," she added.

And despite the popular perceptions of the French quality of life -- ample social services, great food, generous, federally mandated annual leave -- the French were the most likely to say that living better is now more difficult than ever.

While nearly three-quarters worldwide agreed that living better requires a plan, more than two-thirds of the French felt that living better is not something that can be planned.

Belgians were next, but far behind, with only 49 percent agreeing, while Indonesians were the strongest believers in the power of planning for a better life. Almost 95 percent said this was essential, followed by South Africa at 92 percent, South Korea with 90 percent and Hungary and Sweden, both with 87 percent.

"The planners come from all sorts of countries, economically strong and weak alike," Gottfried noted.

Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Patricia Reaney) - (Reuters) 

US Monopoly on World Bank Presidency Challenged

U.S. President Barack Obama arrives at the Osan Air Base in Seoul, South Korea, on March 25, 2012. Obama arrived in South Korea to attend the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit to be held on March 26-27. (Xinhua)

The United States on Friday named its candidate to lead the World Bank (WB), but this time the selection is not a solo any more.

Two candidates endorsed by developing countries unprecedentedly challenged the U.S. monopoly on the top post of the WB, the leading global financial institution for fighting poverty and supporting development.

SURPRISE PICK

As the deadline loomed, U.S. President Barack Obama announced the nomination of Jim Yong Kim, a Korean-American global health expert, as candidate to replace outgoing Robert Zoellick, whose term as WB president expires at the end of June.

"It's time for a development professional to lead the world's largest development agency," Obama said as he made the announcement.

"Jim has truly global experience," said Obama, "He has worked from Asia to Africa to the Americas, from capitals to small villages. His personal story exemplifies the great diversity to our country."

The selection is commonly considered as a surprise pick because Kim, the current Dartmouth College president, has hardly been talked about for the nominee in the past week.

The U.S. traditional choices of the WB head have been either politicians or business leaders since the bank was founded after World War II.

Obama chose Kim out of several more well-known candidates, such as Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Lawrence Summers, former director of the president's National Economic Council.

Arvind Subramanian, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International economics, called it a "quite unusual choice."

Yukon Huang, a senior associate in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Xinhua the message the White House conveyed was that the nominee is a man of the world - born in Korea, raised and educated in the United States with professional interests that are highly relevant for developing countries.

U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs, who openly campaigned for the job and finally withdrew, said in an article posted on the Washington Post website that "without incisive leadership, the bank has often seemed like just a bank."

"And unfortunately, Washington has backed at the helm bankers and politicians who lack the expertise to fulfill the institution's unique mandate," Sachs added.

UNPRECEDENTED COMPETITION

Following the close of the nomination process, the WB announced two more candidates for the position: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria and Jose Antonio Ocampo of Colombia.

For the first time, two non-American candidates will compete with a U.S. nominee. What's more, both of them have impressive credentials as economists and diplomats.

Okonjo-Iweala, the current Nigerian finance minister, was nominated by three African countries - South Africa, Angola and her native land. She has profound working experience in the multinational World Bank and her capability has been widely recognized.

Ocampo, endorsed by Brazil, has strong academic background and held posts in the Colombian government as well as the United Nations.

Although Yukon Huang said Kim's selection was not driven by domestic political considerations but by his professional qualifications, Subramanian doubted whether Kim is a better choice in terms of international experience and management.

Domenico Lombardi, a former WB board official said the impressive background of both Ocampo and Okonjo-Iweala signals a big shift and really reflects a game change. He said this is the first time in history for a truly contested election.

However, analysts believe that the United States is very much likely to laugh last as it is the WB's largest donor and has the largest voting share.

Uri Dadush and Moises Naim, senior associates at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, criticized the way that top leaders of the WB and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been selected.

They said the leaders of both the WB and IMF are selected through "opaque, quota-driven negotiations," which have been defied by the meritocracy.

"No well-run global company selects its senior management this way," they added.

Rogerio Studart, the Brazilian member of the WB's 25-member executive board, said there was a strong sense among developing countries that the selection of Zoellick's successor should involve a broader discussion about the bank's future.


By （Editor：厉振羽） 
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Asean needs to rise to its own loftier level

After nearly 45 years, issues remain for Asean to sort out, ponder over and resolve satisfactorily.

SOME developments have lately resulted in multiple challenges confronting Asean. Chief among these is the lack of understanding of Asean, its origins and its purposes, notably within Asean member countries themselves.

Since its inception in 1967, Asean has tended to avoid calling a spade a spade for reasons of national sensitivities or avoiding controversy. The founding meeting in Bangkok that year was even described as an effort to improve economic relations, even though more serious geopolitical issues such as Indonesia’s relations with Malaysia and Singapore were at stake.

Another reason for the lack of an Asean awareness among Asean peoples is that official proceedings have been dominated and even monopolised by national elites. Even with economic development as a key issue from the beginning, the Asean Business Council took three decades to be established.

Security drill: Cambodian riot police during an exercise to prepare for the upcoming Asean summit in Phnom Penh. Cambodia hosts the 20th Asean Summit next month. — EPA

 

Social and cultural issues would have to take even longer. Everything had to undergo a laborious process of initial proposal, official consideration, outsourced study (such as an Eminent Persons Group), considered refinement, likely revisions, possible horse trading, formal approval and final adoption.
Even if the entire process is necessary, it could also be expedited. More important yet, parallel processes could occur to dovetail the sequential stages.

That would mean involving more people and agencies than just the heads of government, key ministers and secretariat staff. And that would imply educating, engaging and empowering more people in Asean countries about Asean and its work.

Thus the third reason for the lack of awareness is that little or nothing has been done to inform and involve more people in the region. It might be said that an inherent danger lies in a new generation of Asean citizens growing up under-informed about regional imperatives, except that even the older generation is equally unaware.

Some critics have blamed the custom of consensus-reaching for the plodding pace, but other regional organisations like the EU have not experienced consensualism as a nagging problem. The respective agendas of individual governments, which change quicker and less predictably in some Asean countries than in others, could be a factor.

Nonetheless, Asean’s challenges of economic productivity and competitiveness, geopolitical confidence-building and comfort levels, and socio-cultural peace and stability remain. If anything, developments such as a rising China and India, a resurgent Russia and a revitalised US foreign policy focus on East Asia only make Asean cohesiveness more urgent yet also more fraught.

Asean itself has responded by scheduling an Asean Community by 2015 comprising three pillars: an Economic Community, a Security Community and a Socio-cultural Community. Could this goal be too ambitious, since it had taken 21 years just to convene the third Asean summit?

To help the process along, Malaysia’s Foreign Policy Study Group recently held a roundtable conference on Malaysia-Indonesia/Thailand/Vietnam relations in strengthening Asean Regionalism.

The non-official occasion was intended to complement, not compete with, formal Asean processes and proceedings. Still, a fundamental question asked by some delegates was why the event had to be limited to just four of the 10 Asean countries.

The answer should be obvious: limits on resources including time, and a limited effort such as this had to start somewhere. More Asean countries would participate in future roundtables, and Asean itself provides for small initial efforts in its “10 - x” formula.

There were reasons for the four Asean countries that participated through their retired officials and student representatives: Malaysia and Indonesia as the key founding members of Asean, Thailand as Asean’s origin in the 1967 Bangkok Declaration, and Vietnam in generally being regarded as the main country among the newer (CLMV) members.

Another question concerned more frequent use of currency swaps among Asean countries, and the prospect of greater reciprocal use of national currencies in bilateral trade. This would avoid exchange rate costs with the use of a third-country currency such as the dollar or euro.

Some participants thought the membership of 10 countries was sizeable and a likely source of problems in discouraging common agreement. If that is an issue now, it could grow since Timor Leste is poised to be the 11th member, with Papua New Guinea conceivably waiting in the wings.

Some foreign participants credited Malaysia with having achieved considerable success in economic and educational development. The disparities within Asean also mean that each country could excel in a particular area, so it would help all members if a panel of best practices for a variety of sectors could be established, with contributions from each country based on its experiences and achievements.

A reference was made to Asean’s policy of non-intervention in the internal affairs of member nations by way of a criticism of its seeming inaction. However, that policy as derived from Bandung is a universal principle common to all regional groupings, without which unwelcome and hostile unilateral actions would be rife.

More to the point, Asean appears to have adopted non-intervention to the extent of not even remarking on the travails of a member country even when problems spill over into a neighbouring country. In practice, concepts like “non-intervention” are largely defined by Asean to begin with, so Asean can act without seeing itself as acting.

An underlying but unspoken issue was that Asean countries are fully capable of handling the problems within and between them. There is no basis for major power intervention, since that would unduly complicate and compound the original problem.

Cross-border issues are routinely managed, while rival maritime claims linger. The only enduring problem is an inability to form an all-Asean military force, even if that is desirable.

To help boost Asean awareness, Asean scholarships, student exchanges, an Asean Day in August, a Visit Asean Year promoting the region as a tour package, and a popular talent-entertainment programme appealing to young people are possibilities. But until today, even an Asean lane at airport immigration counters as proposed by a former Malaysian foreign minister more than 20 years ago has still not taken off.

In reshaping an Asean for the times, its basic ingredients of peace, freedom, neutrality, amity and cooperation need to be maintained while addressing current needs and challenges. But whether there is any Asean leader today with the requisite regional vision is still very much an open question.
  
Behind The Headlines By Bunn Nagara 

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Politics, Religion don't mix!

In U.S., a growing unease at mixing politics with prayer

By Stephanie Simon

REUTERS - Americans are increasingly uneasy with the mingling of religion and politics, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center, in the midst of a campaign season punctuated by tussles over the role of faith in the public square.

Back in 2001, when Pew first asked the question, just 12 percent of Americans complained that their politicians talked too much about religion.

That number has risen steadily ever since and hit a record high in the new poll: 38 percent of Americans, including 24 percent of Republicans, now say their political leaders are overdoing it with their expressions of faith and prayer.

And more Americans than ever, 54 percent, believe churches should keep out of politics. That's up from 43 percent in 1996, according to the Pew Research Center.

The national poll of 1,503 adults, which has a margin of error of 3 percentage points, was conducted in early March, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was ramping up its vigorous campaign against a new federal mandate requiring all insurance companies to provide free birth control.

The bishops continue to press that fight. Just last week, they issued a statement declaring they were "strongly unified and intensely focused" on battling the contraception mandate.

A leading voice in that campaign, Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, this week was promoted to Archbishop of Baltimore by Pope Benedict XVI.

Peter Steinfels, co-director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, said Americans have generally tolerated and even encouraged religious leaders to speak out on broad political issues, including capital punishment, immigration and poverty.

MORE SKEPTICAL

But Americans have long been uncomfortable with religious leaders directly involved in partisan campaigns, he said.

In recent years, most notably in the birth control battle, that line has been blurred, Steinfels said - which may account for the growing unease on display in the Pew poll.

"Religious leaders ought to be worried," Steinfels said. "We're seeing Americans becoming more skeptical" about the propriety of religious involvement in politics.

The bishops have sought to portray the contraceptive mandate as one prong of a broad attack on religion by state and federal authorities. The leading Republican presidential candidates have echoed that rhetoric on the campaign trail, accusing the Obama Administration of declaring war on religious freedom.

The Pew poll found evidence that argument is resonating with Catholics. Roughly one in four U.S. voters is Catholic and they are a crucial swing vote in several states pivotal to the 2012 presidential election, like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The poll found 25 percent of Catholics perceive the Obama administration as unfriendly to religion, up from 15 percent in a Pew poll taken in August of 2009.

The increase is even sharper among white Catholics, jumping to 31 percent from 17 percent, Pew found.
Among the public overall, 23 percent describe the Obama administration as unfriendly to religion, up from 17 percent in 2009. But another recent poll suggests the "war on religion" argument isn't gaining traction with most adults.

A national survey conducted this month by the Public Religion Research Institute found a majority of Americans, 56 percent, do not believe religious liberty is under siege.

Republicans, senior citizens and white evangelicals were most likely to see a looming threat to religious freedom.

(Reporting By Stephanie Simon; editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Todd Eastham) 

Malaysian politicians return of the silly season?

 The happening days are back in Malaysian politics but the seasoned ordinary Malaysians are not even batting an eyelid.

IT’S dubbed the silly season by the media and for good reasons. In the months ahead of the general election, politicians will say the silliest things as both sides of the divide fire at each other. Often, the media get caught in the crossfire.

Many see agenda when there is none, presumably because as politicians they are used to the murky world of self-interest and plots.

Unsure of whether they will get re-elected, or worse, dropped as candidates, many are understandably jittery and overly-sensitive as the pressure builds up. After all, much is at stake.

Wanting to get the attention of their party bosses, they start bombarding media offices with tons of press releases, many of which are hardly newsworthy.

The political minnows are unlikely to get their news across and that’s when news organisations are accused of sidelining them for purported political motives.

Then there are rural-based politicians who wonder why they do not get any coverage at all. They insist on the presence of the press even when most of the newspapers do not reach their constituencies, let alone read by the voters there.

There are politicians who blame everyone for their failings except themselves. Again, their critics and the media get the blame.

There’s another group of has-been politicians. They have held positions including Cabinet posts for what feels like forever but never seem to be able to fade away. They still refuse to find time to play with their grandchildren.

So, come election time, they will find a way to get some publicity, including trying to seek a seat to contest or to quit their party.

Retirement age, it would seem, is only for the ordinary citizens, not for politicians. We have got two generations contesting in polls. We have father-son teams, a husband-wife-daughter team, and with Malaysians increasingly living longer, we may end up having their grandchildren as fellow candidates too.

By now, Malaysians are used to the saying that there are no permanent friends and enemies in politics. So, last week, former Selangor PAS leader Datuk Dr Hasan Ali was accused of spending lavishly during his tenure in the state government, including “wasting” RM300,000 to renovate his office.

The allegation was made by PKR’s Azmin Ali, the Gombak Setia assemblyman, who also said more than RM500,000 was spent on a conference organised by the Selangor Malay Customs and Heritage Corporation.

Barisan Nasional rightly asked why Azmin was only making this revelation after Dr Hasan had left PAS and Pakatan Rakyat.

But politicians always have an answer for every question, no matter how illogical it sounds. Azmin replied that he only received the evidence recently and had asked PAS to probe the matter even before Dr Hasan was sacked.

The state executive councillors are located on the same floor at the state government’s office and no one is going to believe that no one knew renovations were being carried out in Dr Hasan’s office. It’s the same with the purported expensive conference.

Surely, there must have been meetings on the budget allocated for the conference and it is difficult to accept that no one knew about the allocated sum.

Barisan state assemblymen have rightly asked whether these would be exposed if Dr Hasan had remained in PAS and had not rebelled against the state government.

Dr Hasan, in any case, was supported and campaigned for by the same Pakatan leaders in the 2008 elections. The same people who criticised him now are the same people who had heaped praises on him then, persuading people to vote for him.

It’s never a dull day in Malaysian politics – on some days it is amazingly incredible – but at the same time, Malaysians are not getting surprised any more.