I have a dream

19Feb09

Oftentimes when I sit alone in my room, I always dream about becoming a savior. I want to rebuild Malaysia. I want to bring change to Malaysia. All across Malaysia, a chorus of voices is swelling in demand for change. And the voices are heard. People have spoken. They have voted. The General Election result last year says it all.

In twenty years time, if UMNO party fails to reform, present government administration fails to improve, opposition parties fail to have a perfect and solid collaboration, then I, will have to rise. I will establish my own party and fight in general election. I will give extra choices to the people. But the choices in this election is not between left or right, or Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. The choices that we are going to face are about the past versus the future.

To bring about change in Malaysia, I will start by creating new kind of politics that reconnects all the Malaysian people with their government and offers a good and better administration. Malaysians from every background and every corner of our country yearn for a politics that bring us together instead of tear us apart. Sadly, what we are witnessing today is the latter. Though, there are certain parties to be blamed, I believe pointing fingers to those responsible do not give us any solution, but it will be a waste of time and resources.

If my new administration wins the office in Putrajaya, on the very first day I will launch the most sweeping ethics reform in history. I will:

• Close the doors that have allowed government employees to use their administration jobs as a stepping-stone to win government projects and their lobbying careers.

• Hire people to serve not based on party or ideology, but only on qualification and experience.

• Make sure jobs offered in government sector are not used as a safety net to secure a lifetime career.

• End the abuse of no-bid government contracts.

World Class Education to all Malaysian

I am a firm believer in the power of education. I really hope during my transition of power, the never-ending dilemma whether to teach Science and Mathematics in English would have been solved. Otherwise, my administration has a lot of work to do to save this nation from drowning in the stream of globalization. During that period, I assume English education have reached the rural masses. If Malaysia to be a world player, it is crucial that our nation, if not mastered, at least have achieved an acceptable level of proficiency in the language. This is not against our local language, (Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Tamil, etc) which have to be preserved and nurtured, but for our survival and economic growth.

In ensuring Malaysians’ competitive edge in the twenty first century, I will start with investing in our workers by providing them the opportunity to get a world-class education from cradle to adulthood. We all aware in this global economy, countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow.

So, in order to achieve this, I will commit myself to:

Recruit, Prepare, Retain, and Reward Malaysia’s Teachers

I believe that teachers play an important role in fostering the intellectual and social development of children during their education years. From the moment our children step into a classroom, the single most important factor in determining how well they learn is their teacher. To ensure competent and effective teachers in schools that are organized for success, I will:

• Make sure there is a substantial budget to cover training costs in high quality teacher-preparation at the undergraduate or graduate level for those who are willing to teach in a high-need field or location.

• Develop a performance test that measures actual teaching skill in content areas, which will do more than merely students examination achievements but will collect evidence about how they teach in the classroom, evaluate students work and adapt their teaching to students needs.

• Grant the teaching profession a high status not just for the sake of the quality of the education, but also for the progress of societies as a whole. Society needs quality education and thus, highly qualified teachers to ensure social and economic development.

• Provide an ongoing professional development and reward accomplished teachers for deep knowledge of subjects. Additional skills, and excelling in the classroom.

to be continued…

Filed under: Education, Politics   |  8 Comments