Most Read
Most Commented
Read more like this
mk-logo
News
Ahmad Maslan must have flunked geography

YOURSAY ‘I am at a loss for words over the minister's comment on geography.’

 

'Chinese kids do business, Malay kids shoot birds'

 

Pputeh: "Open the world map, show the 200 countries (in the world), done. What else is there to learn in geography?" Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan asked during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Please, minister, I think you did not learn geography in school or your teacher had failed to teach you well. There is so much to learn in geography.

 

Have you heard of ‘learning geography using the soles of your feet’? It means you go to the ground on field trips to see and feel the soil, rocks and rock formation, valleys, mountains and rivers.

 

It’s not only about regional geography, but countries size, crops, climate and settlements. I can go on and on. Maslan must have slept through in class or got an F9 for geography.

 

Urkidding: I am at a loss for words over the minister's comment on geography. Geography is science.

 

It is a study which "emphasises proficiency in physical geography, geospatial methods, and human/environment interactions and develops skill in mathematics and statistics."

 

Geography is fundamentally interdisciplinary. It involves the combination of many academic disciplines. It is not just a world map!

 

Asitis: What a shallow analysis of the problem coming from a simpleton’s mind. Malays and non-Malays are taught many different subjects in school.

 

But for the most part, the non-Malays fare better in most subjects and are much more successful in life than the Malays.

 

This shows that just because a subject is being taught in school, it does not guarantee that the students will do well in it and be successful in life. Some may, others may not.

 

Success is an attitude. Those with right attitude succeed, those without fail. Under Umno-BN government, most Malays don't have the right attitude. They think the world owes them a living.

 

How could they not have such an attitude? Umno encourages it. Umno needs them to be like this in order to maintain their hold on power.

 

And thanks to Umno-BN, the non-Malays know they cannot depend on the government for anything. So they work hard and work smart, and don't take things for granted. It is not surprising that they are for the most part more successful.

 

David Dass: How one learns to be a businessman is the 64,000 ringgit question. Americans are great entrepreneurs. And great entrepreneurs come from many countries.

 

Examine the school curriculum. Teach accounting and business studies early. Teaching the value of money is important. All children should learn to budget, to save, to spend wisely, to establish priorities, to invest and to postpone the need for instant gratification for later reward.

 

Encourage interaction between children of all cultures, incentivise partnerships and joint ventures between all races. Encourage people to learn skills, trades, vocations as opposed to professions.

 

Understand the correlation between individualism and creativity, between democracy and capitalism. Help children understand the relationship between hard work, discipline and success.

 

LifeFlier: The next leader of this country has a very tough job ahead. History keeps repeating itself.

 

This sounds familiar to the infamous ‘Malay Dilemma’ in 1969-71, which gave birth to the NEP (New Economic Policy), and which is still a noble plan for social re-engineering but the execution is skewed and ineffective due to it being hijacked by Umno politicians.

 

If you do not admit your own failure, take bold steps for radical changes in mentality, you will very likely gravitate to the same dependency, and let yourself sucked into quicksand time and again, like drug addicts, and they know well what the withdrawal syndrome is.

 

So, dare you set aside your ego and racial supremacy and go to the rehab centre? Yet another Malay dilemma.

 

Anonymous_1371482984: You do not learn entrepreneurship in the classrooms. It is the attitude and upbringing. How can you teach the Malays to compete in the business world when they are "protected" all the time?

 

If you are given everything or given special treatment, why bother to work hard? The government can set up all sorts of special funds or allocations for them, they will not succeed unless there is a fundamental change in its strategy instead of just throwing more money which benefits only the Umno cronies.

 

Astounded: Don't generalise, Ahmad Maslan. How many Chinese have parents who are in business? There are many Malays who operate small businesses too. I am sure their children help out in the business after school.

 

When can we stop racial profiling? Malaysia will never progress when ministers continue to look at the country's citizens according to their respective races. Having entrepreneurship as a subject in school is not a problem with me, it is the racial profiling.

 

Equatorial Man: Indeed, not all Chinese are involved in businesses. I am sure that out of every Chinese who are successful in business, there are many others who fail.

 

I am a bit suspicious why race has to be brought into this matter. It would be better talking about providing training to Malaysians in general (not just Malays or any other specific race) in order to raise the level of entrepreneurship in the country.

 

Jae K: I strongly disagree with the deputy finance minister's simplistic analysis of entrepreneurship along racial lines. What message is he sending out?

 

If he wants a particular group to learn a particular skill, just suggest that such a skill should be added to the academic curriculum so that Malaysians can be better equipped. Or is he suggesting that only Malays be taught entrepreneur skill?

 

To imply that geography is just about knowing where the countries are show his utter ignorance about this subject. Geography is also about the population, culture, climate, produce, etc, of every country or region.

 

This knowledge is as important to entrepreneurs as to knowing how to do balance sheet.

 

100% Truly Malaysian: Chinese kids were taught to work hard, as no one owes them a living. The good life comes with hard work. Umno kids live under the comfortable ‘ketuanan’ greenhouse.

 

A Chinese businessman respects his suppliers and is committed to pay them first and himself last. For the Umno businessman, ‘belum kaya sudah bergaya’.


The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.

ADS