vox populi big thumbnail ‘But it must be only for severe offences and must be done in front of the class or school assembly as this will be a deterrent itself for any student.'

On Gov't to revive caning in schools

Discipline Master:

Excellent move but it must be only for severe offences and must be done in front of the class or school assembly as this will be a deterrent itself for any student from any wrongdoing.

History has proven that such corporal punishment actually results in better discipline and many old timers will tell you proudly how the naughty ones in their school were punished.

Parents must sign a declaration or undertaking with the schools that they will not interfere in any discipline cases involving their children nor will they the subject the school or teacher to any form of legal action.

The school and teachers must have immunity from any form of harassment from parents.

Jesmine: Is that the best the ‘New Cabinet' can do? If it is for adults, the government uses the ISA and now for the kids too you want to cane them when they go against the teacher/ headmistress?

They are kids, for crying out loud. They will defy anything and everything as it is that time of their life to express.

The problem is the education system which is damn boring and too exam-centric.

Most of the teachers are rushing to complete paper work deemed ‘important' rather than focusing on their students' development.

Can't the ‘New Cabinet' see that? Why resort to punishment of this sort in schools?

With clear racism and ‘one religion' rule etc increasing in Malaysia, this is going to have damning effects on our society.

Who decided this? What study was done? Who were called in to be part of the discussions? Come on Najib, you can do better than this!

Meng: The national schools are in shambles mainly because of this kind of flip-flop experimentations done on our children.

Decisions are made by half-baked politicians who do not even have their children in these kebangsaan schools.

Where do Hishamuddin's children study? Which kebangsaan school? Where did Mahathir's grandchildren study? Which kebangsaan school?

The ministers have no right to make such policy decisions when they themselves have no faith in the local school system.

It's a shame and these cabinet ministers should come out to apologise to us poor rakyat who have to suffer under this poor national school system.

On Disneygate: 'Get back every penny'

John Johnson: The election commission spent RM1.5 million on all the three by-elections yesterday. This is a considerable amount of money but it was necessary.

But hang on a minute. Mohd Khir Toyo spent RM1.7 million on his Disneyland and Euro trips.

If one individual like him can pay back what he robbed from the rakyat, then the expenditure for these three by-elections is covered..

Just imagine that one individual and his entourage can spend the equivalent of three by-elections' expenditure.

Tut, tut. This is really shameful and disgusting. Pay up, Khir Toyo..

On Go-Go girls: Zahid 'talking nonsense'

Stephen Tan: Just when Malaysians were pontificating about the two Bukit and one Batang, the BN brought in scantily-dressed girls to gyrate to fast music in Bukit Gantang.

Adding salt to the injury, one minister even said that it was part of Chinese culture.

Assuming that this Umno Mmnister wants to learn, I am still wondering what his cabinet counterparts in the MCA and the Gerakan have been teaching him about Chinese culture.

Let me offer the view that if MCA and Gerakan ministers cannot deal effectively with their present portfolios while at the same time serve their community, they will be proven a lot more ineffective if any one of them is made a deputy prime minister.

Can these MCA leaders feel the earth under their feet or are they on Cloud Nine?

My advice to the MCA leaders is just get on with your work. And try to accommodate each other instead of plotting against each other.

Buat kerja yang diterima oleh pemimpin party and jangan lagi main politik. Kalau tak tahu buat kerja, serah jawatan kepada pemimin yang boleh buat .

On Blunt force trauma did not cause Kugan's death

Braveheart: First, the politicians could not be trusted. Then the police could not be trusted.

Soon after that, the entire judicial system was inside the murky water of a septic tank.

And now, doctors have joined the ranks.

After this, it will be teachers, engineers, accountants, plumbers, vegetable sellers, nuns, airline crew and even breast-feeding moms.

Everything and everyone that we taught was noble would have been soiled.

On Tourism expected to fall 9.3% in 2009

NK Khoo: With regards to the Melaka river boat tour, in 2006, there used to be a tour guide on the boat to brief tourists on the historic events and buildings along the Melaka River.

I went for one of the river boat tours recently and was shocked at how the standard has dropped.

The whole trip was accompanied by boring songs and there was no live commentary at all. Besides, the boat I rode did not bother to provide life jackets.

I feel disappointed with the service quality especially since the government pumped in millions to rehabilitate the river.

The hardware is improving a lot but the software is heading southward. The price advertised in the travel brochure is RM5, but the company charged RM10 per adult.

I hope the Malaysian government looks into this unscrupulous practice seriously.

The Melaka river cruise is now rated at a Third World standard with unprofessional service.

They should at least learn from river cruise operators in Europe who provide MP3 audio travel aid for tourists.

That is, if they think a human tour guide is not cost effective. Let forget about self-proclaiming Malacca as a word-class tourist destination if the Malacca river cruise is our yardstick.