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Many Muslim thinkers and leaders today, being educated in the West and severed from their religious intellectual tradition, do subscribe to the idea that all religions are the same, subject to development and changes.

EVERY way of life is based on a certain way of looking at life. The way one looks at life is one’s philosophy, and since there are many ways of looking at life, there are many philosophies.

So, what is called “western” philosophy is the western way of looking at life and why should a Muslim follow it when Islam has its own philosophy? In the first place why should he listen to the West? Western ideas are not necessarily correct, the best, or relevant to everybody.

What a rational person would do to an idea is to subject it to rigorous examination and criticism. Take for example the western notion of freedom and human rights. A proper thinker would want to know the reason why western people think the way they do about those issues. Philosophy is human reaction to the problems of life; it cannot be separated from history.

Western idea of freedom has to do with their experience with Christianity. Taking a cue from the history of Europe, a western thinker would not hesitate to conclude that neither freedom nor civil society is conceivable as long as there is religion. Experience tells him that individual freedom can only be guaranteed when the role of religion is curbed to the effect that it does not interfere in social and political life the way it used to be in the Middle Age.

Some writers even believe that human condition is more tolerable under the pagan religion while the scriptural, doctrinal and universal religion may only cause disaster to human society.

by Md. Sham Ahmad

Fellow, Centre for Syariah Law and Political Science.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/29/focus/6565670&sec=focus

Public examinations provide the most rational means of measuring disparities among students of diverse races and religions.

AS someone who is preparing to sit the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination, I would like to share my views on the proposal to do away with the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and PMR exams.

The UPSR and PMR exams have been convicted and wrongly blamed for the declining standard of our education system and learning.

The reason for the deteriorating standards isn’t the public examinations, nor is it the pressure on our students.
It is the quality of our teachers and the effort a school puts in for its students. If sleeping or mumbling is only what teachers do, what can we students do?

If schools similar to the one in Rawang, which was reported to be beset with gangsterism and indiscipline, flourish, whom do we blame?

I know not all teachers shirk their duties or are bad, but how many are really good?

by Xing Xi, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/19scrap/Article/

EXAMINATIONS are the means to determine a student’s ability to recall information and knowledge, describe concepts and situations and apply what he learned to solve problems or draw rational conclusions.

Exams on their own are neither a virtue that can benchmark the success of the educational system nor an evil that pressurises students, parents and the community.

It is the purpose for which the establishment uses exams, the manner in which the process is administered, and the response of the students that lead us to brand exams as good or bad, indispensable or to be scrapped.
The three tools used to monitor the success and improve the performance of a programme — assessment, evaluation and reform — should be an integral part of an educational system.

The assessment should include spot tests, quizzes, exams, assignments and projects to be carried out periodically or at intervals in the school year.

It is, however, essential that the types of assessment selected be objective, standardised, transparent and reliable.

by Rueben Dudley, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Examinations_Seeitasameans/Article/

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Government and Unesco will be re-studying the country’s education system beginning this year for four years, said Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong.

He said the effort was an attempt to achieve education for all, especially to ensure no one fell through the cracks.

“In the study, we will collaborate with Unicef and trace the reasons for children not going to school,” he told Parliament on Monday.

He said the Education Ministry had published Education for All (EFA) – Mid Decade Assessment (2000-2005) and in the report, it was stated that the percentage of children entering pre-school was at an encouraging rate of 20% increase from 59.56% in 2005 to 70.4% in 2009.

by Loh Foon Fong and Lester Kong.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/28/nation/20100628154336&sec=nation

GEORGE TOWN: Teenager Yeak Ping Lian has had his paintings exhibited at international art galleries and auctioned off for charity – for as high as RM100,000.

And they are worth every cent. After all, Yeak, 16, is autistic.

Most of his paintings feature architecture such as the Petronas Twin Towers, Christ Church Malacca, Kek Lok Si Temple, Khoo Kongsi, Sydney Opera House and the Darling Harbour.

He also paints sunflowers, dogs, fish, roosters and horses.

One of his earlier paintings, the Ubudiah Mosque I (ink and watercolour on paper), raised RM100,000 in 2004 at a fund-raising auction for the Riding for Disabled Association Malaysia.

Some of Yeak’s works are currently on display at an exhibition at the Golden Sands Resort Cool Lounge in Batu Ferringhi until Wednesday.

The exhibition, organised by the hotel, BMC Travel and The Art Commune, was launched by the Raja Puan Muda of Perlis, Tuanku Hajah Lailatul Shahreen Akashah Khalil yesterday.

Yeak’s mother, Sarah S.H. Lee, said her son had severe fine motor skill problems and was diagnosed with autism when he was four.

She used to train him to trace numbers, alphabets and pictures.

Determined to give her son the best possible life, Lee pored over books on autism and tirelessly attended workshops and resource-sharing sessions with other parents.

When Lee discovered that Yeak could paint when he was eight, she set her sights of making him an artist.

Lee, who has two other children, hired three art tutors to train her youngest child.

by Winnie Yeoh.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/28/nation/6560357&sec=nation

PETALING JAYA: Minors engaging in consensual sex should not be charged with statutory rape.

Lawyer Datuk Yasmeen Shariff, who practises family law, said it was unfair to charge a boy aged below 16 with rape when both had consented to having a sexual relationship.

“If the girl eventually became pregnant, reporting the boy to the police will not help much,” said Yasmeen who has more than 20 years experience in the legal field.

Bar council chairman Ragunath Kesevan said that in England, consensual sex among minors was not an offence.

“A stricter law would not help. The young parents should go for counselling instead,” he said.

Section 376 of the Penal Code states that if one commits rape on a woman when she is under 16, he shall be punished with a minimum jail term of five years, and a maximum of 30 years, and is also liable to whipping.

Wanita MCA chief Datuk Yu Chok Tow said the existing punitive measures should be reviewed.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/28/nation/6560240&sec=nation

AS consumers, we Malaysians are a lucky lot. Where else in the world can we find so many restaurants or food outlets, and such a wide variety of delicacies to choose from? And at very low prices, too.
As stated in the Sunday Spotlight (June 13), we can have chicken rice for between RM3.50 and RM5.50, roti canai for below RM1 and fried kuay teow for as little as RM3. I have also paid only RM1.50 for a huge glass of barley water, a cup of kopi O and teh tarik, RM4 for a plate of fried rice and less than RM6 for chicken chop or a bowl of laksa.

Foreign visitors can’t believe that we pay such low prices for food.

Then one wonders — how do these food outlets survive, especially with ever-increasing costs and competition?
Here are my observations. Some are from my personal painful experiences (tummy aches from food poisoning) and some are from friends who used to enjoy eating in some of these “cheap” food outlets. They employ cheap labour, but they are not properly trained or hygienic.

They buy very low grade ingredients, recycle cooking oil, use cili boh, or “disguise” the food. For instance, they…..:

by A. L. Ng, Kuala Lumpur.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/24jer/Article/

Sultan Azlan Shah helping Malay College Kuala Kangsar student Mohd Farhard Fahmie Md Hairi put on his school blazer during the Prize Presentation and Speech Day in Kuala Kangsar yesterday. Mohd Farhard won the Parent-Teacher Association award. — Bernama picture

KUALA KANGSAR: With all the privileges provided, there is no reason for students of the elite Malay College Kuala Kangar (MCKK) not to achieve the best results and remain at the top of the academic field, said the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, here.

“If MCKK fails, it will be a huge disappointment.”

The sultan pointed out that the Education Ministry had recognised MCKK as one of the high performing schools which recruited not only the cream of the crop but whose teachers were also the best.

“The privileges enjoyed by MCKK exceed most other schools in the country. The board of governors, too, are renowned personalities and the Raja Muda (Raja Dr Nazrin Shah) is the chairman,” he said in his speech at MCKK’s Prize Presentation and Speech Day, here yesterday.

He said for the school to remain at the top, it needed the commitment of all parties, including the students, teachers, administrators, staff and parents.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/25blazer/Article/

KOTA KINABALU: Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan St Francis Convent once again emerged as top amongst 24 schools for producing 41 individuals with 5As in Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) last year.

This was followed by 30 students from SRK St Agnes, SK Mutiara 24, Inanam, SRK Stella Maris, Tanjung Aru 23, Sk Sri Gaya 19 and SK Tebobon, Menggatal, 15.

Some 23 students from SJKC Shan Tao scored 7As followed by 22 and 18 respectively from SJKC Chung Hwa, SJKC St James.

According to Kota Kinabalu district education officer Dr Haji Mohd Kassim bin Haji Mohd Ibrahim, out of 911 students from all over the district of Kota Kinabalu who sat in the exam last year, 315 candidates scored 5As and 7As.

“Our initial target of 34.5 per cent has been achieved from every school in the district of Kota Kinabalu,” he said during the UPSR excellence award presentation ceremony yesterday (27 June 2010).

Minister of Human Resource and Information Technology, Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai represented the Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman at the ceremony.

Source:

http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/39924