POWER STATION FOR SABAH

IS IT ON OR IS IT OFF?

The ongoing debate on the setting up of a coal-fired power station in Sandakan would probably be further stoked by the stirring revelation that the the company appointed to build the plant is owned by two SESB personnel (2 Datuks, residents of KL, it seems. Read page 19 of The Daily Express: "Bakun Supply Can If There Is a Will) Could this be clouding their thinking?

I am for tapping the excess capacity of Bakun. But listen to what Minister Peter Chin has to say:

"Already the Cabinet has decided to bring power from Bakun Dam to the Peninsular through undersea cable, if we can do that, I am very confident we can bring power to Sabah, this is for beyond 2020," he said. (Daily Express, May 16,2009)

Of course if it can be done beyond 2020, it can easily be done now, or should we ask permission from the 2 datuks first?.

Kartika

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor was caught drinking beer in Cherating Pahang 2 years ago by Islamic enforcement officers. She has pleaded guilty to the charge in a syariah court in Kuantan, Pahang on 21 July 2009. She was fined RM5,000 and handed a sentence of 6 lashes of the cane. Is she the first person in Malaysia to be caned for a drinking offence? Probably.

My problem is not with the notion of the syariah enforcment authorities wielding the big stick but why punishments are discriminate. A male muslim offender in another state was only sentenced to 30 days imprisonment. Many has expressed outrage, among them being Dr Siti Zubaidah Ismail, a criminal law expert at UM's epartment of Syariah and Law.

In the face of it it seems that the pious judge has not taken into account all mitigating factors. And we will never know whether the sentence is fair or not because she has decided not to appeal. In the name of justice, she should appeal the sentence if only to prove to the world that the terms compassionate and merciful are closest to God's name.

English Proficiency is the KEY TO THE 21st CENTURY

The government has at last made the decision to scrap the teaching of maths and science in English. To boost the task of teaching English to our students, many more English teachers will be engaged, and English literature will be reintroduced. Core subjects will also be reduced from more than 10 at the moment to just six.

The aim of education should be to nurture thinking and creativity. This has been hardly addressed. The reason why English literature was taken out from the curriculum was that students no longer had sufficient command of the Engish language to make that subject teachable.

The big question however is whether we want to be leaders of industry and commerce of the 21st century, or merely followers. English language is key if we really are serious of going forward.

Korea started its economic rise at about the same time as us. Now they are the biggest ship builder, and a major force in the world in the fileds of telecommunications, electronics and automobiles. Perhaps we can get a glimpse of what makes Korea tick with a glance of one of their leading educational institutions.

The Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) was formed in 1971, and now aims to compete with MIT. It aims to be one of the worlds top 10 science and technology universities. In 2010 it will teach class exclusively in the English language. One of their goals is to produce graduates who can become global leaders in science and technology.

Why can't we have at least one local university, UMS for example, use English as the single medium of instruction?