Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts

Sunday, May 16, 2010

6 most admirable personality traits

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes - Mahatma Gandhi


Well, everyone knows about the 7 habits. I was exposed to Steven Covey's 7 habits of highly effective people (Proactive, begin with the end in mind, think win-win etc), early during my working career as a chemist in Nestle.

To be sponsored for the 7 habits workshop was a priviledge not many (except the managers) have, unless you are willing to fork out the 2-3 thousand fees. I have and read the book but never went for the workshop.

I read about this 6 admirable personality traits from a website some time ago...promptly saved in in my computer folder and do what we all do all the time, that is TO FORGET ABOUT IT.

I was looking at some of my saved folder and walla...discover this gem of an article and would like to share it with you people.

The 6 most admirable personality traits that is worth adopting and acquiring...

1. Selflessness: In a world where many people don’t have the time or the interest in others, selflessness is a quality that seems to be less and less common. People can be selfless in the time they give, the ability to listen, their level of patience and the love that they give. Those who are giving and generous in nature have the power to make others feel loved, appreciated and special. While those who are self-absorbed tend to do the exact opposite.

2. Tolerance: Those people who are tolerant make us feel comfortable with who we are and special as individuals. All of us are different, and many of us have quirks and idiosyncrasies. After all, these differences make the world go round. Having the ability to accept people for who they are and not expect them to be who we want them to be is important in life, happiness and in the health of our relationships.

3. Genuineness: Having the ability to be real, authentic and honest is unique in a world where we put so much emphasis on the superficial. Feeling comfortable in one’s skin and being true to one’s self is one of the most beautiful traits one can possess. To have a REAL relationship with someone requires honesty…it requires hearing and giving input or feedback that may not always be popular…it means having the strength to tell it like it is and to not be afraid to face the consequences for doing so…it means loving people for who they really are…deep down…and not for what they appear to be.

4. Sensitivity: So often we are focused on what is important to ourselves that we can forget about those around us. Those who are sensitive are often thoughtful, appreciative and loving, in a way that makes you feel understood, valued and respected. Often, sensitive people are also self-aware, making them mindful of how they impact others with what they do and say.

5. Integrity: Call me cynical, but I think this characteristic is especially difficult to find. In a time when people will do things that are underhanded to make an extra buck (Bernie Madoff…can you hear me?), expose their personal lives to the public so they can be famous (balloon boy’s dad and any other reality TV mongers) and do what feels good in the moment without necessarily thinking of the consequences (Tiger Woods), integrity is a characteristic that is especially unique today.

6. Humility: Whether someone is super-smart, extremely talented or drop-dead gorgeous, there is something extra special about them if they don’t come across as though they know it all the time. Humility in those that possess extraordinary traits make others feel special too.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

PPSMI (Program Pengajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris) Debacle. A solution.

Education is the transmission of civilization - Will Durant


It is not rocket science to understand the need to teach maths and science in English. It is pure good sense to do so. We are not talking about geography, religion, history here...just maths and science. Try entering a good bookstore and try to buy a decent science or maths book in Bahasa. You’d be hard pressed to get 2 books that have writings and explanation interesting enough to entice your child to read them.

Singapore our neighbour studies both subjects in English in school with no consternation about losing their ‘Chinese’ identity. Here, we create ghostly hallucinations about losing touch of our so-called ‘Bahasa Ibunda’.

Malay was the lingua franca ages ago when Tanah Melayu was the epi-centre of trade this part of the region. Chinese, Indian and even Arab traders are converted to speak Malay. When Europe was in the Dark Ages, western scholars have to learn Arabic to master scientific knowledge. These texts are then painstakingly converted into Latin or other languages to help students there understand.

My question is...How many scientific texts/books have been successfully translated into malay?

I studied in Bahasa during form 5. When I entered university, 100% of my books are in English. Sure, that was in 1986. My sis-in law is doing medicine now and still 100% of the books are in English. So what gives, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, our esteemed TPM?

Try goggling ‘sains’, and you will get 9.3 million hits, goggling ‘science’ would have a mind boggling 674 million hits.

According to NST in 2006, 21% of the students failed SPM. 90% of these students failed because they failed Bahasa Malaysia paper. It makes sense to improve the QUALITY of the teaching of normal Bahasa Malaysia instead of barking at the wrong tree.

It also makes sense to make it MANDATORY to have a higher credit passing marks for Bahasa Malaysia to receive a full SPM certificate instead of the current practise of just passing BM to guarantee a SPM cert.

Politics interfering with our National Education policy is bad. Add in stupid politicians and equally stupid opposition parties, maybe we would be better off letting 15 year olds become our Education minister. I bet it will not be worse off than what is happening now.