Preparing for competitive life

The New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur

From The New Straits Times
13 November 2005

HARDCOPY: Preparing for competitive life
Syed Nadzri

Sixty thousand is equivalent to more than the population of Kangar or
full passenger loads of 150 jumbo jets. And this is not the recession.

So this mismatch is too adverse to ignore and we ought to ask this:
are students actually getting the right kind of teaching (or perhaps
career counselling) in schools and colleges?

The above number, according to a New Straits Times report on Nov 3,
was based on the latest census by the Economic Planning Unit of the
Prime Minister's Department.

And this figure is said to be more accurate and authoritative than the
varying estimates given previously, that ranged from 8,000 to as high
as 80,000.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn was quoted on Thursday
as saying that nearly half of the 60,000 are doing casual and
temporary work, such as being cashiers and waiters, while awaiting
proper employment.

But what's even more alarming is the finding that the vast majority of
the graduates who cannot find employment fall in this profile: Malay,
female and from public universities majoring in either information
technology or business studies.

On top of that, being from poor backgrounds, they are further
encumbered as they cannot pay back loans taken from the National
Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN).

I say "more alarming" because, apart from the straight-forward case of
an enlarged pool of educated jobless, the situation can lead to a
destabilised society where restlessness is created among what is
clearly only one section of the Malaysian community.

But why is this so? It could mean that graduates, especially Malays,
tend to take up the wrong courses.

It could mean that even if they are academically qualified, they don't
measure up in other areas, that is, they cannot communicate well
enough in English and lack self-confidence.

Or it could mean there is discrimination in the job market against
Malay graduates.

If it is the latter, which we all hope it isn't, then we should weep
for Malaysia and take the painful but necessary steps to correct the
imbalance.

But if it is because there are too many IT and business graduates in
the market and most of the job-seekers lack proficiency in English,
then there is something wrong somewhere in the education system.

Being trained in IT or business alone, however, cannot be such a big
handicap because both fields are said to be versatile enough for the
employment market.

Therefore, it has to be the x-factor in communication and other soft
skills that make the difference.

It is clear from the findings that graduates from poor families - and
hence mostly those who have studied in schools in the rural areas -
are the ones who suffer most when it comes to getting jobs or getting
past job interviews.

A thorough review of the kind of teaching and facilities they get in
school is therefore required.

It has to be remembered that the primary goal must be to prepare them
for the competitive life - not just the routine school stuff of
passing exams, qualifying for university places and graduating.

Without this focus, there is the tendency by policy-makers to take the
easy way out by giving special privileges and opening the back door to
university places using the argument that being from rural schols,
these students are at a disadvantage compared to urban students.

This system brings more harm than good, and the 60,000 jobless
graduates could well have stemmed from this short-sightedness.

But why do we allow the uneven plane in the first place? A better way
therefore is to expose them to the best from early schooling,
including the teaching of English by the best teachers.

Sadly, as has been pointed out many times, education in Malaysia is
highly politicised.

It is never politically correct to suggest that more hours in the
school timetable be devoted to the learning of English rather than
religious subjects.

Even the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English introduced a
few years ago is now being questioned as some quarters are calling for
a reversion to using the mother tongue to teach the two subjects.

Emotionally expressed, this clarion call will definitely win a lot of
applause in Malaysia's race-based political system.

But with 60,000 jobless graduates out there, it could well be menang
sorak kampung tergadai which roughly means winning the battle but
losing the war if things are not properly handled.

Remember the 80s when, before the North-South Expressway was built,
the hot topic in every conversation on Hari Raya was inevitably the
long arduous balik kampung journey?

Everyone would be engrossed in exchanging stories about the eight- or
nine-hour trip from Kuala Lumpur to Penang or anecdotes about the
"endless crawl that was made worse by the accident near Ipoh" and "the
reckless overtaking by some motorists along the killer stretches".

Well, those days are back again, 10 years after the full-stretch of
the expressway was completed.

It appeared like the whole of Malaysia was on the road during the
recent Deepavali and Hari Raya holidays.

The highway was so congested that it took me seven hours to drive from
Penang to Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, twice the time taken normally.

According to reports, traffic was exceptionally heavy on all routes,
including the old Federal roads and trunk roads. The coastal road
through Sitiawan, Teluk Intan and Sabak Bernam also experienced
bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Anticipating that the situation would be bad all the way on the long
hilly stretch of the NSE just before the Jelapang toll in Ipoh, I
tried to be smart by exiting the highway at Kuala Kangsar and proceed
through the old trunk road past Ipoh and re-enter the highway at
Simpang Pulai.

I thought that I would be beating those horrible jams at the Jelapang
and Ipoh South toll plazas.

Smart indeed. I was caught right smack in a traffic jam as soon as I
took the very first turn towards Kuala Kangsar.

I guess everyone else tried to be smart too and the bottleneck at
Talang was only the start of a long crawl.

There were easily at least 30 traffic lights from Kuala Kangsar to
Ipoh - in Kota Lama, Sungai Siput, Chemor and Mengelembu - and each
time the lights turned red, the traffic build-up appeared to get
longer and longer, backlogged to several kilometres in some places.

Almost all the petrol stations along the way were full of cars as
motorists took toilet breaks.

When I re-entered the highway through the Simpang Pulai intersection,
the traffic was still heavy but at least it was moving quite smoothly.

One thing that struck me throughout the ordeal was that the drivers
appeared to be more courteous this time around.

And except for a handful of incorrigibles, nobody was driving on the
emergency lane and irritatingly overtaking you on the left.

Anyway, it would be quite premature to suggest that the North-South
Expressway has outlived its usefulness just because of that nightmare
of a journey and the other seasonal traffic jams.

The highway remains relatively clear about 350 days in a year.

Perhaps what is actually lacking in times of congestion is regular
traffic updates on the highway.

Such reports, made over the car radio, would be most useful to
motorists before they enter the highway.

If they know before hand that the highway is congested, motorists
would have the option of either deferring the journey, taking an
alternative route or proceeding regardless.

The designated radio station could be operated jointly by the
concessionaire who, with the best information about current traffic
conditions, can make suggestions about alternative routes.

It is understood that the Government gave this specific licence to a
private company several years ago but the radio station deviated from
its original aims.

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