Scholarship Withdrawn Over Blog?

There was the earlier case that JPA scholars were prevented from blogging, but I thought this new case was just absolutely ridiculous.

The complainant, CK, was a JPA scholar studying at one of the pre-university centres in preparation for going overseas. In one of her blog post, CK criticised one of her college mates, YK that she had no fashion sense and that her dress made her look like a grandma. CK published YK's picture along with the post.

In addition, CK was critical of the college's rigid dress codes as well as the college's security personnel who acted like "guard dogs" for they would try very hard to find faults with the students.

YK's parents went beserk, approached their professor and threatened to bring CK to the police station.

Despite deleting the critical post(s), and sending in an apology letter as requested by the school (where her professor had promised CK that the case would subsequently be resolved), her scholarship was terminated a few months later.

Subsequently, she was suspended from the school late last year for 2 months and she has not been back to the pre-university centre for some 3 months to date. (There's the question of whether the termination of scholarship means she can't attend classes anymore.. as the centre's only meant for scholars).

The newly appointed deputy minister of education, Wee Ka Siong has been alerted a few months back. The minister in prime minister's department, Datuk Nazri Aziz has appealed on her behalf to JPA, but all to no avail.

Is this a case of JPA and the pre-university centre going to the extremes in punishing a student over a seemingly trivial matter (which should have ended with the letter of apology issued within days of receiving the complaint)? Or is there more than it meets the eye?

I've personally called upon the new Deputy Minister of Education to act in the interest of justice last week, and he has promised that he's still pursuing the matter with the prime minister's department (which is in-charge of JPA).

In the interest of the bright young student, her scholarship and place at the school should be immediately re-instated. CK may not have been an angel, but certainly in this case, the punishment meted out is clearly disproportionate to the crime, if ever there was one in this case.

If the case isn't resolved by the time Parliament starts at the end of April, I'll contemplate bringing the issue into Parliament as well.

For those interested, the sequence of events on the above case is as follows:

• --.07.07 - CK wrote articles with regards to dress code and security personnel on blog
  
  
• 10.08.07 - CK wrote post criticising college mate's dress sense
  
  
• 11.08.07 - CK wrote apology letter to college
  
  
• 12.08.07 - CK wrote apology letter to YK
  
  
• 23.08.07 - College warning letter to CK
  
  
• 27.11.07 - JPA scholarship termination letter to CK
  
  
• 30.11.07 - CK appeal against termination letter sent to YB Wee Ka Siong
  
  
• 19.12.07 - Disciplinary hearing by college against CK
  
  
• 03.01.08 - College letter of suspension to CK
  
  
• 15.01.08 - CK appeal against college suspension
  
  
• 15.01.08 - CK appeal against scholarship termination via college
  
  
• 31.01.08 - CK appeal against scholarship termination to YB Ong Ka Ting
  
  
• 04.02.08 - College rejected appeal against suspension
  
  
• 31.01.08 - Appeal by YB Datuk Nazri Aziz against scholarship termination rejected by JPA
  
  
• 13.02.08 - JPA rejected CK appeal against scholarship termination
  

Turning Back the Clock

Ah, that's my A01C class at Raffles Junior College 1989
(I'm right most on the back row)

The Star Education Supplement did some interviews with some of the newly elected representatives on their days in school. Yours truly was one of those interviewed, and you can find it here.

I must say it's not the most accurate of interviews 'cos the text is heavily summarised, but overall, it provides a good quick picture of my 15 years of formal education ;-)

I was also asked on our local education system, with the answers as follows:

What is your view of the current education system?

I believe the current policies emphasise quantity at the expense of quality.

The drive to have more universities, more university students, more PhD holders, etc, creates a lot of pressure and affects standards.

The quality of educators needs to be addressed to ensure that we provide good education.

What changes would you like to see in our education system?

I’d like to see educators receiving higher salaries. To get the best, you need to pay the best.

We need to attract the most suitable people to be teachers and lecturers. Educators should be hired based on merit, regardless of nationality, race and ideology.

Check out the answers from the other DAP representatives - State Assemblyman for Sungai Pinang, Selangor - Teng Chang Kim and State Assemblywoman for Subang Jaya, Hannah Yeoh, or other interviewed reps here.

D.C.'s Gangster Education

In today's Washington Post, Colbert I. King let's us know how bad it has gotten in many of the public schools in our nation's capital:"Security at Wilson High to Be Tightened" announced a headline in The Post's March 21 Metro section. More stringent measures were being put in place after 13 students were arrested because of two fights that week, the story said.I first visited Woodrow Wilson High

Going Biblical In Texas

The Texas Board Of Education has now indicated that high schools in the Lone Star State may offer courses in Bible study:AUSTIN – Broad guidelines for a Bible course for Texas high schools were approved by the State Board of Education on Friday, but board members delayed action on specific curriculum requirements until the attorney general has ruled on whether all school districts must offer the

Can Tutors Be "Hot?"

Yep!

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts. Council Member Entries: Done With Mirrors received the most Council votes with Get Your Grim

'Tis The Season For Parents And Kids To Be Scammed

As the parent of a 16-year-old (the TeenWonk) high school junior that has a 4.35 G.P.A., we've been getting a number of so-called "nominations" for inclusion in this or that "national honor roll," "who's-who book," and, of course, the United States Achievement Academy.The "nominations" were made by her well-intentioned (but unknowing) teachers, who think that they are doing the kids a favor by so

Money For Nothing And Their Tips For Free

In the People's Republic of California, it takes a judge to determine how tip money is split over at your local Starbucks.Update:(03/29/08) It's not over until The Starbucks says "it's over!"

Nice White Lady

I hope this doesn't offend...someone showed it at a session at AERA, and I thought it was spot on. I also realize it's a little dated, so if it needs to be deleted feel free to do so.

Nice White Lady

I hope this doesn't offend...someone showed it at a session at AERA, and I thought it was spot on. I also realize it's a little dated, so if it needs to be deleted feel free to do so.

Have Nipple Ring, Won't Travel

Did you hear the one about the Texas woman who couldn't board the airliner without removing her nipple rings first?As many of those federal TSA-types seem to be into pain, maybe Mandi Hamlin should have offered to use those pliers on those TSA agents as well as on herself.Full Disc: I must confess that I find the mental picture of her using those pliers on attorney Gloria Allred (pictured, left)

The Website Of The Day: HotChalk.com

While I was watching NBC's Meet the Press last Sunday, host Tim Russert gave a plug to HotChalk.com. So I went over and had a look. Hotchalk, (http://www.hotchalk.com) is a website that offers a number of free EduResources for teachers, parents, and students. Be sure to check out the Decision '08 material sponosored by the NBC television network.

UUM and VC wins libel case

It was reported recently that UUM and its VC has been awarded RM7 million for a libel case taken out against prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and the editors of Suara Keadilan. Apparently, RPK accused Tan Sri Dr Nordin Kardi, the VC of UUM, of being a plagiarist. Hopefully, no one will take out a lawsuit against myself or Tony over some of our posts! I'm fairly confident that we have not libeled anyone, other than some people associated with dubious institutions which award dubious degrees.

Carnival-Carnival!

The 164th edition of The Carnival of Education (hosted this week by Bellringers.) has opened-up its midway!And don't forget to round out your educational experience by seeing what the homies are up to over at The Carnival of Homeschooling.

Virgina Taxpayers Made To Pay For Criminal's Rampage

Remember when Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho went on a murderous rampage and killed 32 innocent students and staff back in April of 2007?The miscreant went on to video tape a confession, which he then mailed it to NBC. Finally, Cho saved the commonwealth the expense of a trial (and endless appeals) by blowing his own brains out.Now it seems as though the people of Virginia are about to be

SPM Chinese: An MOE Conspiracy

Thanks for the many comments and emails in regards to my previous post on SPM Chinese. I've certainly had my views on this issue changed and am now quite convinced that there is a conspiracy within the MOE to purposefully decrease the % of A's obtained by students taking SPM Chinese to deny some of these students from getting straight As (hence getting a JPA scholarship) as well as to decrease the incentive for students to take this subject at the SPM level.

I have to admit that my previous post was somewhat conditioned by my time in Singapore where all of my Chinese-ed friends told me that the Chinese standard in Singapore was much lower than that in Malaysia. This led me to believe that the Chinese exams in Malaysia was also much harder than those in Singapore which naturally, I thought, would lead to fewer A's being obtained in this subject.

A number of comments and emails have made me change my mind. Firstly, I've been told that the % of students obtaining As in Chinese is very very low, in a single digits compared to the 20% or so among the same candidates who obtain As in BM. If non-Malays, for whom BM is not their native tongue, can work hard enough to obtain an A in BM, then it seems strange that such a small percentage of Chinese can obtain A's in their mother tongue, especially in the context of SMJKs and Chinese Independent schools (for those where students take SPM Chinese). Furthermore, it has also been indicated that the standard of the Chinese SPM paper, while challenging, is actually not that difficult (although probably more difficult than O level Chinese). Certainly not to the extent that only a few % of students can obtain an A, if they were curved in the same way as other subjects such as BM or English.

Secondly, a friend of mine told me that the % of students getting As for Chinese SPM fell DRASTICALLY since 2001, which coincidentally, was the year when JPA 'liberalized' and awarded scholarships to non-Malays, including giving guaranteed scholarships for all students scoring straight A1s. In this school that my friend is familiar with, the number of A1s in Chinese fell from double digits to ZERO after 2001. While this is only anecdotal evidence but from Ian's letter and the other comments, I think this particular conspiracy theory does hold water. Lots of it.

After getting these emails and comments, I'm really pissed off, not at the commentators (which I have to thank for enlightening me), but at the MOE for this HEINOUS action. I am convinced that the decision to grade the curve in SPM Chinese such that only a small number of students score A1s is directed at decreasing the number of Chinese students who obtained straight A1s and hence their ability to obtain a guaranteed JPA scholarship. (I'll be interested to know if Indian students taking SPM Tamil faced the same problem) There's no other way to explain this.

I don't know how many students were affected but I'm guessing that they would number into the hundreds, if not thousands. These are students who would have gotten straight A1s if not for the fact that the Chinese SPM curve was manipulated to their detriment.

I'd be interested to find out the number and % of A1s and A2s awarded in Chinese SPM from when they started calculating this figure and to see how much it dropped after 2001. I'm very sure that the % would have dropped significantly after 2001. Does anyone know if Dong Jiao Zong keeps track of this statistic and if they publish this information anywhere?

I'm surprised that no opposition MP, to my knowledge, has brought this issue up in a public forum because this revelation really makes my blood boil. It's an underhanded attempt by the Ministry to shift the goal posts once the game has started and the rules have been agreed on. In my opinion, this is worse that creating a matriculation stream that it largely not open to non-Bumiputras to manipulate the public university entrance standards. Perhaps, people are already too jaded and accept this as part of the 'system' which treats certain groups unfairly? Or perhaps, many of the opposition MPs i.e. DAP MPs simply don't know about this?

I'm especially disgusted at MCA since the portfolio of the Deputy Education and Deputy Higher Education Ministers are held by MPs from this party. This was happening right under their noses and they did nothing to stop it or to highlight it! Perhaps, it was part of a secret bargain whereby the JPA would allow non-Malays to obtain JPA scholarships but be allowed to 'rig' the results of the Chinese SPM exam as a way to reduce the number of non-Malays who would be eligible for a guaranteed JPA scholarship.

I hope that one of the first things which Tony does when parliament reconvenes is to ask the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Wee Ka Siong, who was at outspoken backbencher and MCA spokesperson on education matters, for the history of those scoring A1s in Chinese SPM and then ask him to account for why the figures dropped after 2001.

To those who will undoubtedly accuse me of viewing this through a 'racial lens', I ask you to consider this from a matter for fairness. How would you feel if your favorite football team found that their goalposts had been widened by a few feet and their opponent's shortened by a few feet after the game had started? I would be pissed off too. And with good reason.

Carnival Entries Are Due!

Entries for the 164th edition of The Carnival Of Education (Hosted this week over at Bellringers.) are due. Please email them to: mybellringers [at] gmail [dot] com . (Or, easier yet, use this handy submission form.) Submissions should be received no later than 7:00 PM (Eastern) 4 PM (Pacific) Today. Contributions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the post's URL if

Some random notes around the Education Project

After a long time the IRC meeting for the Education Project started. However, Murphy being himself dropped in and an unforeseen power outage kept me out of the IRC.

(Note to myself: stop using qualifying words like unforeseen and the like. It is like saying "undue" stress. Every kind of stress is undue, there's no due stress)

The idea I had was to talk about two things:

o Community Building around the Education Project

o Visibility of the Education Project

the other aspect which is being addressed right now (by Eric B) is development work for OO.o

A project has at least 3 kinds of participants in a "community" : creators, consumers and critics. The objective is to use the constructive feedback of the last group along with the enthusiasm of the second to increase the tribe of the first. Sometime back there had been a singular post about Campus Representatives for OO.o. SUN already has a Campus Representative Program for Solaris / OpenSolaris and it is a good way to increase the outreach into the diverse cultures and processes of education that we have across the globe. A CR would be a person who can motivate, coach, guide potential creators / contributors towards appropriate mentors within the Education Project. Additionally, a CR should also be someone who can create, sustain and encourage local communities in the local area. It would be impossible for the Education Project to reach out to all possible places unless there are bonds with community leaders already strongly forged.

To ensure that CRs have things to talk about, there is a requirement to put in place:

+ more development tasks in addition to the ones already put on the wiki

- development tasks which have a resonance locally in addition to being valuable for OO.o project as a whole (the IndLinux project has been talking about doing things around enchant and spell checkers)

+ an increased participation and collaboration between existing incubator and recognized projects within OO.o when it comes to this project

+ "classrooms" for contributors on a regular schedule from developers within OO.o projects

- providing potential contributors with content, lessons, HowTo and mentoring them towards producing code

All of the above will require much more than the few of us in the Education Project. It will require some bit of help from SUN - towards creating the charter for Campus Representatives and participation of its developers.

OO.o is not part of GSoC and was not part of GHOP, so there's a chance that we will lose out on a substantial part of the student population who wish to contribute to a FOSS project. This would require that the visibility of the Education Project as a single window towards getting mentoring for contribution to various OO.o projects, be increased in a much larger quantum now. That can happen via blogs, talks, presentations, content on wiki.

The way I see it, as on date we have a numerous good ideas. But not much in terms of actual proposals eg. wants to coach xy students in . Unless we have proposals, the fear I have is that we might end up building a community for which we don't have anything to offer.

Before OO.o Conference at Beijing, we need to target getting in place:

+ classrooms (starting April at least 3 a month)

+ a much more richer task list

+ Campus Representative Program (at least 50 CRs)

I am proposing that we keep the focus on creating curricula on the back-burner for the moment.

Thoughts, feedback and criticisms appreciated and welcome

Some random notes around the Education Project

After a long time the IRC meeting for the Education Project started. However, Murphy being himself dropped in and an unforeseen power outage kept me out of the IRC.

(Note to myself: stop using qualifying words like unforeseen and the like. It is like saying "undue" stress. Every kind of stress is undue, there's no due stress)

The idea I had was to talk about two things:

o Community Building around the Education Project

o Visibility of the Education Project

the other aspect which is being addressed right now (by Eric B) is development work for OO.o

A project has at least 3 kinds of participants in a "community" : creators, consumers and critics. The objective is to use the constructive feedback of the last group along with the enthusiasm of the second to increase the tribe of the first. Sometime back there had been a singular post about Campus Representatives for OO.o. SUN already has a Campus Representative Program for Solaris / OpenSolaris and it is a good way to increase the outreach into the diverse cultures and processes of education that we have across the globe. A CR would be a person who can motivate, coach, guide potential creators / contributors towards appropriate mentors within the Education Project. Additionally, a CR should also be someone who can create, sustain and encourage local communities in the local area. It would be impossible for the Education Project to reach out to all possible places unless there are bonds with community leaders already strongly forged.

To ensure that CRs have things to talk about, there is a requirement to put in place:

+ more development tasks in addition to the ones already put on the wiki

- development tasks which have a resonance locally in addition to being valuable for OO.o project as a whole (the IndLinux project has been talking about doing things around enchant and spell checkers)

+ an increased participation and collaboration between existing incubator and recognized projects within OO.o when it comes to this project

+ "classrooms" for contributors on a regular schedule from developers within OO.o projects

- providing potential contributors with content, lessons, HowTo and mentoring them towards producing code

All of the above will require much more than the few of us in the Education Project. It will require some bit of help from SUN - towards creating the charter for Campus Representatives and participation of its developers.

OO.o is not part of GSoC and was not part of GHOP, so there's a chance that we will lose out on a substantial part of the student population who wish to contribute to a FOSS project. This would require that the visibility of the Education Project as a single window towards getting mentoring for contribution to various OO.o projects, be increased in a much larger quantum now. That can happen via blogs, talks, presentations, content on wiki.

The way I see it, as on date we have a numerous good ideas. But not much in terms of actual proposals eg. wants to coach xy students in . Unless we have proposals, the fear I have is that we might end up building a community for which we don't have anything to offer.

Before OO.o Conference at Beijing, we need to target getting in place:

+ classrooms (starting April at least 3 a month)

+ a much more richer task list

+ Campus Representative Program (at least 50 CRs)

I am proposing that we keep the focus on creating curricula on the back-burner for the moment.

Thoughts, feedback and criticisms appreciated and welcome

Some random notes around the Education Project

After a long time the IRC meeting for the Education Project started. However, Murphy being himself dropped in and an unforeseen power outage kept me out of the IRC.

(Note to myself: stop using qualifying words like unforeseen and the like. It is like saying "undue" stress. Every kind of stress is undue, there's no due stress)

The idea I had was to talk about two things:

o Community Building around the Education Project

o Visibility of the Education Project

the other aspect which is being addressed right now (by Eric B) is development work for OO.o

A project has at least 3 kinds of participants in a "community" : creators, consumers and critics. The objective is to use the constructive feedback of the last group along with the enthusiasm of the second to increase the tribe of the first. Sometime back there had been a singular post about Campus Representatives for OO.o. SUN already has a Campus Representative Program for Solaris / OpenSolaris and it is a good way to increase the outreach into the diverse cultures and processes of education that we have across the globe. A CR would be a person who can motivate, coach, guide potential creators / contributors towards appropriate mentors within the Education Project. Additionally, a CR should also be someone who can create, sustain and encourage local communities in the local area. It would be impossible for the Education Project to reach out to all possible places unless there are bonds with community leaders already strongly forged.

To ensure that CRs have things to talk about, there is a requirement to put in place:

+ more development tasks in addition to the ones already put on the wiki

- development tasks which have a resonance locally in addition to being valuable for OO.o project as a whole (the IndLinux project has been talking about doing things around enchant and spell checkers)

+ an increased participation and collaboration between existing incubator and recognized projects within OO.o when it comes to this project

+ "classrooms" for contributors on a regular schedule from developers within OO.o projects

- providing potential contributors with content, lessons, HowTo and mentoring them towards producing code

All of the above will require much more than the few of us in the Education Project. It will require some bit of help from SUN - towards creating the charter for Campus Representatives and participation of its developers.

OO.o is not part of GSoC and was not part of GHOP, so there's a chance that we will lose out on a substantial part of the student population who wish to contribute to a FOSS project. This would require that the visibility of the Education Project as a single window towards getting mentoring for contribution to various OO.o projects, be increased in a much larger quantum now. That can happen via blogs, talks, presentations, content on wiki.

The way I see it, as on date we have a numerous good ideas. But not much in terms of actual proposals eg. wants to coach xy students in . Unless we have proposals, the fear I have is that we might end up building a community for which we don't have anything to offer.

Before OO.o Conference at Beijing, we need to target getting in place:

+ classrooms (starting April at least 3 a month)

+ a much more richer task list

+ Campus Representative Program (at least 50 CRs)

I am proposing that we keep the focus on creating curricula on the back-burner for the moment.

Thoughts, feedback and criticisms appreciated and welcome

Hillary, Countess Of Chappaqua, Gets Caught Lying Again!

Hillary, the Countess Of Chappaqua, has been caught telling more whoppers. This latest fish story began on March 17, when she said this about a fact-finding trip junket she and her daughter Chelsea made to Bosnia back in '96: "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the

Reply to Ian Beh

Ian Beh, a form 5 student from a school in PJ, recently wrote this provocative and insightful open letter to myself and Tony in regards to the issue of SPM Chinese. It's an issue which I've given some thought to on and off in the past and I'll take this opportunity to respond to Ian's letter in detail.

Ian's main concern with Chinese at the SPM level is that it has become so hard that (i) nobody would take it if they were not forced to (ii) that it is so difficult to score an A in the subject that it affects the ability of some students to obtain a JPA scholarship.

Ian is not the first person who has told me that they have no interest in taking Chinese after primary school, much less for PMR and SPM. I have my own take to explain this which many of our readers might not agree with.

Basically, any subject that is taught at a higher and higher level will have fewer and fewer students who are interested or even capable of taking this subject. For example, most people can indulge in a little bit of algebra, do a little bit of differentiation and integration, but once we get more a sophisticated level of Math, it becomes accessible to far fewer people. Not everyone is expected to take Additional Math at the SPM level and they shouldn't be expected to take Math at that level if they don't have an aptitude for it.

We can apply a similar logic to the study of languages. I'm studying Chinese right now, to improve my reading and writing, and I'll be very happy once I can get to the level where I can easily read Chinese newspapers and websites and listen to Chinese news on the TV and the internet (I'm getting there). I have less desire to obtain a standard where I can enjoy Chinese classical literature or poetry (I'm not sure that I can reach that level). Similarly, there are many students in Malaysia which might do well just to reach a level of English proficiency where they can write using proper grammar and sentence structures but not necessarily be able to write a literary criticism of Toni Morrison or Michael Ondaatje.

Language is of course a little different from Physics or Math or History. Most teachers or educational planners want students to be continually exposed to language lessons because it needs to be kept fresh in one's mind and incremental improvements can be made in regards to a student's command of a language. In addition, there might be symbolic or socio-political reasons why a language should or must be taught and learned throughout one's pre-tertiary school life.

But there is also another important distinction between the teaching of languages and of other more 'objective' subjects like Math and Physics which is that the level of a language that is taught is very much contextual. One might find that teaching Shakespeare to a 13 year old in England is very much the norm but would find that to be a stretch even to 17 year olds in Malaysia. Most English schoolchildren would have been exposed to some Shakespeare either on TV or in school by the time that they reach secondary school. But that's not the case in Malaysia. Hence, SPM English is very different from let's say O level English in the UK. The latter is much more difficult. This is one of the main reasons why English is so much easier than BM at the same grade. Peribahasa is much more familiar to most Malaysian students compared to English proverbs. More Malaysians will understand 'katak di bawah tempurung' compared to 'a friend in need is a friend indeed'.

There is a second factor (in addition to context) which explains the different levels of English, BM and Chinese exams in Malaysia. This factor is the number and category of students who are taking these exams. The more students taking a particular subject, the easier the exams for these subjects. If English was not compulsory, I think that you'd find that the standard of the English exams at the SPM level would quickly increase. BM exams, another compulsory subject at the SPM level, are harder than English because of the first factor (context) but it is easier than Chinese because of the 2nd factor, the number of people taking this exam. If the BM exams was set too hard, then the Ministry would find that a lot more people would fail the BM exam and fewer people would be scoring A's in BM.

Because Chinese at the SPM level is taken by relatively fewer students (a few select national schools and the Chinese independent schools) and presumably, Chinese is the native tongue of most of the students taking Chinese, those who set the Chinese papers can afford to make it tougher (context and numbers) which explains why Chinese is harder than BM. It also explains why more Chinese student's in Ian's school (which I presume is Catholic High in PJ) score A's in BM compared to Chinese.

One also has to remember that those setting the Chinese exams do so with the Chinese independent school students in mind, which, to my knowledge, form the majority of students taking the Chinese exam at the SPM level. There is undoubtedly pressure on those setting the Chinese exam to ensure that it fulfills the high standards of Chinese proficiency set in the Chinese independent schools.

It would be interesting to compare the Chinese SPM exam with that of the Tamil SPM exam. My sense is that the Tamil SPM exam should be much easier that the Chinese SPM exam (at least measured in the % obtaining As). The reason is that there are no independent Tamil secondary schools which means there is less of a context factor operating at the secondary school level for those taking Tamil. Following this, there will be less pressure for those setting the Tamil SPM exam to make it hard, even though almost all the students who are taking this will be Indian students from Tamil speaking households. But it should be harder than the English SPM exam.

Lastly, I need to include the factor of political pressure. No doubt, there is political pressure in the Ministry of Education to ensure that the BM exam is harder than the English exam (or to make the English exam relatively easy). At the same time, there is probably less pressure on the part of the Ministry to make the Chinese SPM exam so hard. I suspect that the MOE leaves this issue solely in the hands of the Chinese bureaucrats within the MOE who are in charge of setting these exams. If these bureaucrats are making the Chinese SPM exam harder, it does not hurt the majority in Malaysia so there is little pressure on the part of the MOE to intervene. Furthermore, the MOE would not want to be seen as 'interfering' in the 'sensitive' issue of deciding the standard of Chinese exams at the SPM level.

So how should we respond to the current situation in Malaysia?

In an ideal world, I'd get rid of compulsory language exams after Form 3. One should have obtained a sufficient degree of literacy in BM, English and Chinese or Tamil by that time. If one is interested to pursue these languages further, they should be given the option to take subjects like Malay or English or Chinese literature.

But this is not an ideal world and I can see the need to force students to continue to learn English up to the SPM level (at least) given that English proficiency among our students is still very poor. I can also see the need to force students to continue to learn BM given that the command of the national language among non-Malay students is also quite poor. This leaves us with Chinese at the SPM level. I don't think this should be made compulsory in national schools such as Catholic High since these schools, in theory at least, don't need to have a 'Chinese' identity and most of the subjects at the SPM level are taught in BM. (In reality, I'm well aware that most students in schools like these are Chinese and speak Mandarin or Chinese dialects inside and outside of school). This would immediately solve one of Ian's dilemmas which is how taking Chinese would impact his ability to score all A's and get a JPA scholarship. (which probably affect only a small % of students)

I'm in more of a quandary in regards to whether Chinese should be compulsory in Chinese independent secondary schools. On the one hand, one can argue that taking Chinese is central to the character and identity of these schools much like how BM is compulsory in national schools. On the other, one can also argue that since most subjects are already taught in Chinese in these schools, there is less of a worry of these schools losing their 'Chinese' identity or character.

One possible way out is for those setting the Chinese SPM exam to grade on a curve such that more people will get A's. This reduces the disincentive for many students who might want to take this course but are afraid that it will affect their overall grades. And at the same time, the examiners don't need to 'dumb down' the standard of the Chinese SPM exam.

I'll leave the questions of revamping the syllabus for Chinese at the secondary school level or changing the teaching methods aside since I don't know enough about it to give an informed opinion.

For now, there is no easy solution or quick fix apart from making Chinese non-compulsory in national schools. In regards to the growing importance of Chinese as a language, I would say this - it is possible to maintain a high level of interest and activity in the Chinese language without resorting to forcing Chinese students to take it at the SPM level. I think that the cultural and business spheres are much more important and influential in trying to achieve this aim.

PMR dates changed again

Looks like the PMR dates are set to change again, this time to the end of October and early November instead of the middle of October and early November as reported earlier. I'm glad that they are announcing this now instead of a month before the actual PMR exams since this will give the Ministry ample time to prepare for the timely marking of papers. Hopefully, the dates won't be changed again!

In Our Mailboxes Early One Morning

As it is spring vacation, our school is in recess. But just before our students went on break, the Unknown Administrator placed a paper in every teacher's mailbox that bore this pronouncement: "Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment."That was it. There was nothing else on the paper.We teachers continue to have no idea who is putting these into our mailboxes

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts. Council Member Entries: Rhymes With Right received the most Council votes with Fisking the Obama

Budget Meltdown

From the "It's going to get worse before it gets any better" department (h/t docudharma):

By Daniel B. Wood, The Christian Science Monitor
Fri Mar 21, 4:00 AM ET

Los Angeles - California, home to 1 in 9 American schoolchildren, is on the brink of what may be the biggest public education crisis in state history. Facing a $16 billion state budget shortfall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed $4.8 billion in school-funding cuts, or 10 percent of education spending.

In the past week, over 20,000 preliminary pink slips were sent by school districts to teachers and administrators state wide, according to the California Teachers Association. The association estimates another 87,000 (of a total 350,000 public school teachers) could come if Governor Schwarzenegger holds to his budget cut request.

Some say the request is a cry of "wolf" intended to draw public attention and force stalemated politicians to reconsider the cuts - or raise taxes. Others say fiscal reality will push the cuts through as presented.

The budget crisis and enrollment drops are already being felt at my university. Usually in economic downturns people go back to school. This time, I have a feeling (a) people won't have enough money and (b) public institutions like mine will have priced themselves out of the market. Strap in--here we go!

Budget Meltdown

From the "It's going to get worse before it gets any better" department (h/t docudharma):

By Daniel B. Wood, The Christian Science Monitor
Fri Mar 21, 4:00 AM ET

Los Angeles - California, home to 1 in 9 American schoolchildren, is on the brink of what may be the biggest public education crisis in state history. Facing a $16 billion state budget shortfall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed $4.8 billion in school-funding cuts, or 10 percent of education spending.

In the past week, over 20,000 preliminary pink slips were sent by school districts to teachers and administrators state wide, according to the California Teachers Association. The association estimates another 87,000 (of a total 350,000 public school teachers) could come if Governor Schwarzenegger holds to his budget cut request.

Some say the request is a cry of "wolf" intended to draw public attention and force stalemated politicians to reconsider the cuts - or raise taxes. Others say fiscal reality will push the cuts through as presented.

The budget crisis and enrollment drops are already being felt at my university. Usually in economic downturns people go back to school. This time, I have a feeling (a) people won't have enough money and (b) public institutions like mine will have priced themselves out of the market. Strap in--here we go!

Study Tour Part 4: Back Home

Di rumah makan kami menghabiskan waktu cukup lama. Karena waktu semakin sore, anak-anak mengira ga mungkin ke Borobudur, pasti langsung ke Malioboro. Mereka pun berinisiatif sendiri memoles diri mereka seganteng dan secantik mungkin. Maklum, Malioboro adalah dua tempat yang paling ditunggu-tunggu. Sayang, karena bisnya mogok perjalanan ga mungkin dilanjutkan. Daripada dandanan mereka sia-sia, tak ada salahnya mereka diabadikan ke dalam kamera. Ide bagus juga ketika salah satu rekan guru menyuruh saya untuk memotret anak-anak. Jadilah saya fotografer dadakan. Namanya juga fotografer dadakan, hasilnya pun kacau. Tapi ada dua foto yang kualitasnya bagus, ini dia.

Syukurlah, meskipun perjalanan tidak dilanjutkan dan kami kembali ke Semarang, anak-anak bisa memahami kalo bisnya mogok perjalanan tak mungkin dilanjutkan. Saya pun menyusuri jalanan Magelang Semarang dengan sepeda motor. Senja yang melelahkan. Sampai di sekolah saya menunggu rombongan bis. Seneng rasanya melihat anak-anak tetap ceria dan tetap semangat meski acara hari itu kurang sempurna.

Study Tour Part 3: Time to Eat

Akhirnya waktu yang ditunggu-tunggu datang juga. Waktunya makan. Di sebuah runah makan yang memang biasa digunakan khusus untuk rombongan yang sedang berwisata. Lumayan enak juga menunya mengingat perut yang cukup lapar. Mari makan bareng-bareng.

Eh, ada yang ketinggalan ternyata. Satu rombongan masih di perjalanan. Rupanya ada halangan. Oke dech kami tunggu. Nah, itu datang. Ayo yang baru datang makan dulu. Ini salah satu yang baru datang. Laper atau rakus ya...?

Study Tour Part 2: At The Theatre

In Ketep there is a theatre. We enter the theatre to watch a movie about Merapi. We found a lot of information here, especially abot Merapi. Unfortunately, I don't bring any papers to wrote thats information. Then..... Duh, susahnya bahasa Inggris. Kemudian kami menghabiskan waktu untuk foto-foto.

That's pic in front of theatre At 1:00 we exit from Ketep to go to restaurant.

Study Tour Part 1: Going to Ketep

Hari Kamis kemarin kebetulan tanggal merah dan libur bersamaan dengan hari Jumat esok harinya. Sekolahku mengadakan study tour ke Yogya. Walaupun badan cape dan butuh istirahat, mumpung gratis ikut dech. Sayangnya, biarpun udah disiapin aku bangunnya telat sampe ketinggalan bis. Kepalang tanggung, nyusul dech pake motor.

Melalui perjuangan yang cukup melelahkan akhirnya sampai juga di Ketep lebih dulu. Sempat nyasar dua kali karena salah ambil tikungan. Sok pede gitu ga nanya orang dulu. Dari Ketep kita bisa melihat puncak Merapi dari dekat. Bagus juga kan gambarnya. Untung datang lebih dulu, kalo agak siang pasti berkabut dan gunungnya ga keliatan. Tapi ga tau kenapa, udaranya di sana panas banget. Namun, begitu masuk ke dalam mushola yang ada di sana, hawanya jadi sejuk. Sempat ketemu dan ngobrol sama cewek cantik juga di sana. Malangnya Pak Tovik dan rombongan keburu datang sehingga saya harus bergabung dengan rombongan yang pake bis.

Not on the Test

By Tom Chapin:

Not on the Test

By Tom Chapin:

Helicopter Parents Vs. Stinger Teachers

When are "involved parents" too involved? In one Maryland district, the fur is flying between some parents and a number of teachers: The Baltimore Sun ran an article on Tuesday about parental involvement taken to the extreme. The trigger was an annual survey by the Howard County Education Association that shows a majority of teachers say they have been subjected to harassment, and most of the

Tzuo Hann is back!

Remember my crazy friend from Duke who was cycling back to Malaysia from Ireland? I've posted about Tzuo Hann here and here. Well, he's finally back in Malaysia. He arrived in the midst of the election campaign. I'm really proud of his efforts. He has raised almost 150,000RM already for charity. If you're interested in helping out, please visit his fundraising site here and read about his traveling exploits here. Tzuo Hann BOLEH!

5 Priorities on Higher Education Issues

With a stronger opposition in the parliament and hopefully a more reform minded PM　moving ahead, I want to list out what I think are 5 priorities on higher education issues which the opposition as well as the government should move on. I want to emphasize that these priorities cannot be achieved by opposition pressure alone or by the BN.

1) Revamping the UUCA

- It is ludicrous that students in public universities, a majority of which are over 21, could have voted in the recently concluded elections but cannot join a political party or be involved in political campaigns.
- This law is especially ludicrous to me given that so many college students who were formerly politically apathetic have been galvanized into political action by Barack Obama's campaign here in the US.
- The demobilization of the public universities have led to a decrease in voter registration among the young people. Revamping the UUCA would be a step in arresting this trend.
- I'm pretty optimistic that something can be done in regards to the UUCA for two reasons. The first is that there had already been indications during Tok Pa's time as Minister for Higher Education that the government was looking at revamping the UUCA, albeit probably in not a very radical fashion. The second is that the opposition, together with civil society, is more capable of pressuring the government to revamp the UUCA. Imagine a Bersih type rally but of university students! Now that would be something.

2) Ensuring at least one VC appointment process that involves a respected committee
- Tony has blogged about this in the past on numerous occasions. I'm not sure which VC from one of the major public universities (UKM, UM, USM, UPM) will come up for renewal first but when it does, I hope that there will be a stringent and open process by which their performance is evaluated.
- If a new VC needs to be appointed, hopefully a well respected committee can be established to oversee this process.

3) Ensure that the process of selecting government sponsored PhD students is open and and transparent
- As mentioned in this blog many times in previous postings, the government is on an aggressive campaign to increase the number of PhDs in the local universities and is spending tons of money sending students overseas to obtain their PhDs.
- This process has been less than transparent in the past and qualified candidates have been denied this opportunity in favor of less qualified candidates because of racial quotas. Given the new political environment, one hopes that this practice can be cut down if not totally eradicated and students can be sent overseas based on merit.

4) Ensure that the key initiatives started by Tok Pa in the Higher Education Strategic Masterplan is followed through
- I've been generally positive about the MOHE Higher Education Action and Strategic Plans in previous posts. I hope that the new Minister, Khaled Norin, will be able to see through these key initiatives instead of taking the path of the Minister of Education which had a new Education Blueprint written after he became the Minister. I think continuity is important and the opposition should support this initiative where possible.

5) Ensure that the process of tendering contracts by public universities are transparent

- This is an issue which I've not written about that much but have heard a lot of anecdotal evidence on. Many academics and insiders have complained that VCs and other administrators in public universities sometimes 'benefit' from the allocation of certain projects or contracts in the public universities.
- I'm not sure how this can be done but perhaps the opposition or the government can seek 'whistleblowers' who can notify the authorities if they hear of such wrongdoing. Or the board of governors, which is supposed to be revamped under the Higher Education Strategic and Action Plan, can have a bigger advisory role.

I'm not sure if Tony agrees with any or all of these priorities in regards to Higher education in Malaysia but I'm sure he'll chime in when he has a bit of time on his hands.

A Little Teacher-On-Teacher Action

Did you hear the one about the two teachers who went to war in the hallways of their school?COLUMBIA, S.C. (WLTX) -- Richland County deputies say two middle school teachers who got into a fist-fight in front of students over a personal matter were arrested Wednesday.Investigators say the original incident happened in the hallway of St. Andrews Middle School between two female eighth-grade

"We need a teacher."

I just think this blog entry by Will Richardson says what I would like to say about the speech by Barack Obama yesterday about race: We need a teacher (as president).

I couldn't agree more. THAT is what should truly qualify someone as "the education president."

As Will writes: "We need someone who can create some lesson plans for the millions of us who want to engage, want to contribute, want to work to solve the problems together. We need someone who I can hold up as a role model for my own children as a steward for the environment, as a peace maker, as a listener, as a deep thinker."

I've met Barack...and he lives three blocks from me. He's a gentleman, a reconciler, and a humanist. He believes in the possibility of goodness, and doesn't expect people who are different from himself to be evil or untrustworthy (as the Bush gang seems to). And he isn't just a great speaker. (He was editor of the Harvard Law Review...takes some brains!) He's also actually done some real work, in community organizing (cf. Aaron's posts).

Personally, I think Hilary would be better as Senate Majority Leader, with Barack as president. In such an arrangement, he can benefit tremendously from her intelligence while providing a unifying force for the country and the world, and avoiding the slide back into the raw political confrontation of the (Bill) Clinton years.

"We need a teacher."

I just think this blog entry by Will Richardson says what I would like to say about the speech by Barack Obama yesterday about race: We need a teacher (as president).

I couldn't agree more. THAT is what should truly qualify someone as "the education president."

As Will writes: "We need someone who can create some lesson plans for the millions of us who want to engage, want to contribute, want to work to solve the problems together. We need someone who I can hold up as a role model for my own children as a steward for the environment, as a peace maker, as a listener, as a deep thinker."

I've met Barack...and he lives three blocks from me. He's a gentleman, a reconciler, and a humanist. He believes in the possibility of goodness, and doesn't expect people who are different from himself to be evil or untrustworthy (as the Bush gang seems to). And he isn't just a great speaker. (He was editor of the Harvard Law Review...takes some brains!) He's also actually done some real work, in community organizing (cf. Aaron's posts).

Personally, I think Hilary would be better as Senate Majority Leader, with Barack as president. In such an arrangement, he can benefit tremendously from her intelligence while providing a unifying force for the country and the world, and avoiding the slide back into the raw political confrontation of the (Bill) Clinton years.

Ed Links

Natural selection and cultural rates of change

It has been claimed that a meaningful theory of cultural evolution is not possible because human beliefs and behaviors do not follow predictable patterns. However, theoretical models of cultural transmission and observations of the development of societies suggest that patterns in cultural evolution do occur. Here, we analyze whether two sets of related cultural traits, one tested against the environment and the other not, evolve at different rates in the same populations. Using functional and symbolic design features for Polynesian canoes, we show that natural selection apparently slows the evolution of functional structures, whereas symbolic designs differentiate more rapidly. This finding indicates that cultural change, like genetic evolution, can follow theoretically derived patterns.

Can a thinking, remembering, decision-making, biologically accurate brain be built from a supercomputer?

The name of the supercomputer is literal: Each of its microchips has been programmed to act just like a real neuron in a real brain. The behavior of the computer replicates, with shocking precision, the cellular events unfolding inside a mind.

Smallpox or Facebook?

Which better explains how ideas move through society: diseases or social networks?

Paradoxical Alzheimer's Finding May Shed New Light On Memory Loss

Who'd a thunk? Younger brains show evidence of more memory loss than those with Alzheimer's. But those younger brains are also making memories faster than they lose them. A new study shows that normal memory loss is hyperactivated in Alzheimer's, pointing to AD as a syndrome affecting the plasticity or malleability of the brain.

Second Depth-perception Method Discovered In Brain

It's common knowledge that humans and other animals are able to visually judge depth because we have two eyes and the brain compares the images from each. But we can also judge depth with only one eye, and scientists have been searching for how the brain accomplishes that feat.

Pain Receptor In Brain May Be Linked To Learning And Memory

For the first time, a researchers have linked pain receptors found throughout the nervous system to learning and memory in the brain. The findings, published in Neuron, point up new drug targets for memory loss or epileptic seizures.

Minorities, Whites Get Equal Care In Hospitals, Study Shows

A new study of whether people receive different quality of hospital care because of their race or ethnicity found that when whites and minorities are admitted to a hospital for the same reason, they receive the same quality care in that hospital.

Grappling With Grammar: How The Brain Copes In Language-impaired Kids

Researchers have discovered that a system in the brain for processing grammar is impaired in some children with specific language impairment, but that these children compensate with a different brain area. The findings offer new hope for sufferers of with specific language impairment, which affects seven percent of children and is a major cause of many not reaching their educational potential.

To Bet Or Not To Bet: How The Brain Learns To Estimate Risk

Researchers have made an important neurobiological discovery of how humans learn to predict risk. The research, appearing in the Journal of Neuroscience, will shed light on why certain kinds of risk, notably financial risk, are often underestimated, and whether abnormal behavior such as addiction (e.g. to gambling or drugs) could be caused by an erroneous evaluation of risk.

One In Four Teenage Girls In U.S. Has Sexually Transmitted Disease, CDC Study Shows

A new CDC study estimates that one in four (26 percent) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States -- or 3.2 million teenage girls -- is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases.

Systems That Process And Understand Spoken Language Under Development

Scientists are developing systems that process and understand spoken language and automatically obtain information particularly from Basque radio and television. Carrying out a search in the net for written documents is an easy task – the word is simply introduced in to the search tool. Nevertheless, these searches do not work with the spoken word or with audio archives, unless these have an accompanying written explanation.

Life Expectancy Rises For The Educated; The Less-educated Reap No Benefit

While life expectancy has increased significantly for educated people over the last twenty years, it has plateaued for less educated people. In other words, those whose education level does not exceed high school have not been sharing the benefits of prolonged lifespan. This is the case for both African Americans and Caucasians. Deaths related to tobacco use account for at least one-fifth of the growth in mortality differences by education that create this life expectancy gap.

US Stands To Lose A Generation Of Young Researchers

Leading academic research institutions seek increased NIH funding to reverse effects that are threatening advances in medicine. They warned that if NIH does not get consistent and robust support in the future, the nation will lose a generation of young investigators to other careers and other countries and, with them, a generation of promising research that could cure disease for millions for whom no cure currently exists.

Parental Supervision During High School May Curb College Drinking Problems, Study Shows

Parental monitoring can reduce high-school drinking and, as a result, have a protective effect on students' drinking at college. Underage drinking is linked to a number of negative outcomes in this group, including suicide, high-risk sexual activity and an increased chance of alcohol dependence.

Bringing Second Life To Life: Researchers Create Character With Reasoning Abilities Of A Child

Scientists are engineering video game characters with the capacity to have beliefs and to reason about the beliefs of others. The characters will be able to predict and manipulate the behavior of even human players, with whom they will directly interact in the real, physical world, according to the team.

Ed Links

Natural selection and cultural rates of change

It has been claimed that a meaningful theory of cultural evolution is not possible because human beliefs and behaviors do not follow predictable patterns. However, theoretical models of cultural transmission and observations of the development of societies suggest that patterns in cultural evolution do occur. Here, we analyze whether two sets of related cultural traits, one tested against the environment and the other not, evolve at different rates in the same populations. Using functional and symbolic design features for Polynesian canoes, we show that natural selection apparently slows the evolution of functional structures, whereas symbolic designs differentiate more rapidly. This finding indicates that cultural change, like genetic evolution, can follow theoretically derived patterns.

Can a thinking, remembering, decision-making, biologically accurate brain be built from a supercomputer?

The name of the supercomputer is literal: Each of its microchips has been programmed to act just like a real neuron in a real brain. The behavior of the computer replicates, with shocking precision, the cellular events unfolding inside a mind.

Smallpox or Facebook?

Which better explains how ideas move through society: diseases or social networks?

Paradoxical Alzheimer's Finding May Shed New Light On Memory Loss

Who'd a thunk? Younger brains show evidence of more memory loss than those with Alzheimer's. But those younger brains are also making memories faster than they lose them. A new study shows that normal memory loss is hyperactivated in Alzheimer's, pointing to AD as a syndrome affecting the plasticity or malleability of the brain.

Second Depth-perception Method Discovered In Brain

It's common knowledge that humans and other animals are able to visually judge depth because we have two eyes and the brain compares the images from each. But we can also judge depth with only one eye, and scientists have been searching for how the brain accomplishes that feat.

Pain Receptor In Brain May Be Linked To Learning And Memory

For the first time, a researchers have linked pain receptors found throughout the nervous system to learning and memory in the brain. The findings, published in Neuron, point up new drug targets for memory loss or epileptic seizures.

Minorities, Whites Get Equal Care In Hospitals, Study Shows

A new study of whether people receive different quality of hospital care because of their race or ethnicity found that when whites and minorities are admitted to a hospital for the same reason, they receive the same quality care in that hospital.

Grappling With Grammar: How The Brain Copes In Language-impaired Kids

Researchers have discovered that a system in the brain for processing grammar is impaired in some children with specific language impairment, but that these children compensate with a different brain area. The findings offer new hope for sufferers of with specific language impairment, which affects seven percent of children and is a major cause of many not reaching their educational potential.

To Bet Or Not To Bet: How The Brain Learns To Estimate Risk

Researchers have made an important neurobiological discovery of how humans learn to predict risk. The research, appearing in the Journal of Neuroscience, will shed light on why certain kinds of risk, notably financial risk, are often underestimated, and whether abnormal behavior such as addiction (e.g. to gambling or drugs) could be caused by an erroneous evaluation of risk.

One In Four Teenage Girls In U.S. Has Sexually Transmitted Disease, CDC Study Shows

A new CDC study estimates that one in four (26 percent) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States -- or 3.2 million teenage girls -- is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases.

Systems That Process And Understand Spoken Language Under Development

Scientists are developing systems that process and understand spoken language and automatically obtain information particularly from Basque radio and television. Carrying out a search in the net for written documents is an easy task – the word is simply introduced in to the search tool. Nevertheless, these searches do not work with the spoken word or with audio archives, unless these have an accompanying written explanation.

Life Expectancy Rises For The Educated; The Less-educated Reap No Benefit

While life expectancy has increased significantly for educated people over the last twenty years, it has plateaued for less educated people. In other words, those whose education level does not exceed high school have not been sharing the benefits of prolonged lifespan. This is the case for both African Americans and Caucasians. Deaths related to tobacco use account for at least one-fifth of the growth in mortality differences by education that create this life expectancy gap.

US Stands To Lose A Generation Of Young Researchers

Leading academic research institutions seek increased NIH funding to reverse effects that are threatening advances in medicine. They warned that if NIH does not get consistent and robust support in the future, the nation will lose a generation of young investigators to other careers and other countries and, with them, a generation of promising research that could cure disease for millions for whom no cure currently exists.

Parental Supervision During High School May Curb College Drinking Problems, Study Shows

Parental monitoring can reduce high-school drinking and, as a result, have a protective effect on students' drinking at college. Underage drinking is linked to a number of negative outcomes in this group, including suicide, high-risk sexual activity and an increased chance of alcohol dependence.

Bringing Second Life To Life: Researchers Create Character With Reasoning Abilities Of A Child

Scientists are engineering video game characters with the capacity to have beliefs and to reason about the beliefs of others. The characters will be able to predict and manipulate the behavior of even human players, with whom they will directly interact in the real, physical world, according to the team.