January 25 Update - It's Only Personal

Let me catch up on some of the personals - I get requests (occasionally) for updates on what I do outside of the educational/activists sphere. Yes, I do other things.

This is the annual family birthday week extravaganza and we're planning a gathering of all the B-day people in the next few weeks.

Danny (right), brother Jared (left) and Rachel at Passover

My wife's cousin Danny hit 27 yesterday- and living the good life - I don't even want to tell you how good it is. And my cousin Rachel will be 24 or 25 next week. She is originally from Washington DC but living the good young life in Manhattan working selling ads for a cable company. She and her boyfriend came to see me in the Odd Couple and we went out to dinner afterwards. A great couple. He listens to WFAN all day like I do.

My dad hits 93 this Thursday - the day of the big rally at City Hall - I think I'll have him carry the sound equipment - and is also living the good life. Still lives alone and if not for being almost blind from macular would be out looking for women. He has recovered from having 11 upper teeth pulled (read my report of that horror story here) and at the last weigh-in at the doctor has gained 5 pounds using his new upper choppers. Now all we have to do is have 6 teeth removed from the lower jaw and he'll have a full set. Looking forward to that.

Pinky and Dad - he's on the right.

And then there is Pinky the cat, who is 19 and a half years old- older than my dad in cat years. Pinky survived being abandoned while we went on our 5 day trip to Florida 2 weeks ago. She went to the vet yesterday because we found a lump on her back when we got home - he said do nothing - he couldn't believe the health and feistiness of this old animal. But she has a urinary infection. Just gave her her meds - like the battle of the bulge.  Here are some samples of Pinky, the wrecking crew's art work (don't make me tell you about the mucho expensive reupholstering job that she destroyed a half hour after it was delivered.)

Pinky amidst the wreckage

Pinky original art work

Carol and niece Jordan at Passover

Of course, the major event this week today- my wife's &*^% birthday. I gave her a choice. Attend tonight's massive outpouring of protest against Eva Moskowitz' attempt to invade the upper west side at Brandeis HS or have dinner at the River Cafe. Amazing. She chose the latter. So I won't see all of you there. For the first time in 40 years I didn't get her jewelry. Just a massage and a Kindle - but I had a hook installed so she can hang it from her ear. We're going to a movie this afternoon at the Malverne - best little suburban art movie house and then a Broadway matinee tomorrow. What a life since she retired last year and discovered mahjong.

 On other fronts, I have recovered from my acting debut in the Odd Couple at the Rockaway Theatre Company and have started taking a class in theater lighting at the Theater in Fort Tilden so I can join the backstage crew. It is being taught by a laste 20-something public school high school teacher who has 12 years working on lighting in the theater - he does all the school shows - yes it is one of the few large high schools left - (I wonder what the state of high school theater is after the small schools movement.) In the small world department, one of my oldest friends came to see my play and her boyfriend is the Department chair of the lighting guy.

Last Friday was the gala annual Rockaway Theatre Company party at El Caribe in Brooklyn. I made a highlight reel for them of all the shows this season. It's a wonderful 22 minutes and up on Vimeo - link here.

And finally, there is - or was - the j-e-t-s. I won't even go there.

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.

"On The Other Side of the Fence"

I was interviewed by Mark Disney, fellow alumnus and a local publisher specialising in Education periodicals in Malaysia.

In the 3rd issue of "Prospect Malaysia, Malaysia's Premier Higher Education Magazine", he was kind enough to solicit my views on Malaysia's education system. And guess what, he juxtaposed it against another fellow alumnus, the more famous one, Khairy Jamaluddin - captioning the story "Young Turks on Education - UMNO's Khairy Jamaluddin and DAP's Tony Pua Square Off". (Note: It was a tame affair, for its 2 separate interviews ;))

Well, Mark was kind enough to submit my interview story to Malaysiakini as well, so you can read it here. It doesn't contain anything new which I have not said on this blog (and I think after more than 700 posts, we have said a lot!). But if you are looking for a concise version of my views, it's a good start. ;)

Descartes Education Counselling Centre

It was a little more than a year ago in December, when I first mooted the idea on this blog of setting up a "non-profit organisation for education in Malaysia". I've always toyed with the idea of setting up such an entity, a non-profit organisation relating to education for Malaysians to help "ease" some issues such as helping students in the aplication process to the top universities overseas, providing guidance on degrees to pursue as well as career or employment advisory services.

Well, now that I've disposed of my stake in the company which I formerly owned and founded, the project is finally getting off the ground. I'm setting up a non-profit entity, named (subject to approval from the authorities) Descartes Education Counselling Centre and it should be up and running come March (this year!).

For those who are not familiar with the name 'Descartes' (pronounced 'day-Kart'), he's often regarded as the father of modern philosophy. As described in the Wikipedia:

René Descartes (March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Renatus Cartesius (latinized form), was a highly influential French philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and writer. Dubbed the "Founder of Modern Philosophy" and the "Father of Modern Mathematics", much of subsequent western philosophy is a reaction to his writings, which have been closely studied from his time down to the present day. His influence in mathematics is also apparent, the Cartesian coordinate system used in plane geometry and algebra being named after him, and he was one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution.

You might be interested to know that he was the man behind the maxim "cogito, ergo sum" or loosely translated at "I think, therefore I am (or I exist)". And his philosophy was key behind the Hollywood reincarnation of The Matrix. (Yes, philosophy can be that exciting! ;))

OK, before I get too turned on and carried away by the philosophical discussion of The Matrix, let's get back to the counselling centre.

Although I see the potentials of this non-profit organisation as immense, the immediate objectives of the centre will be fairly modest. And really, how the centre grows and how many people the organisation can assist, will really depend on how much help we can get.

One of the immediate activities which I hope to organise will be to hold plenty of talks, or better described as "information sharing sessions". There'll actually be an auditorium which fits about 100 people within the premises located at Damansara Utama (the place is currently under renovation).

Examples of talks which we will be actively holding will include:

• Talks by alumnis of some of the top global universities in UK, US, Australia etc. These Malaysians will help by sharing their experience in those universities, their application process as well as anything else which prospective students would like to find out.
  
  
• Talks on generic topics such as entrance examinations (e.g., SAT) or essay writing techniques by successful candidates to these universities.
  
  
• Talks on picking the right subject choices from students themselves who have taken these subjects. This is also to eliminate the perception that the only courses worth pursuing are medicine, law or accountancy ;)
  
  
• Talks on scholarships, applications process and other related issues.
  
  
• Talks about maximising opportunities with regards to getting employed, such as interview and resume writing skills.

There are already in existence some of these talks by colleges and counselling centres. However, these talks are often not impartial as these colleges will want you to enrol into their programmes, while the for-profit education counselling centres today collects referral fees from the colleges for 'successful' applicants. (And we know that the top schools do not collect referral fees.)

I feel that it is important to have a non-profit, impartial and independent counselling centre so as to provide the most balanced of views to the prospective student. That way, he or she can make the right choices for him or herself, based on their personal academic strength and abilities.

Moreover, I envision that the experiences shared by current and former students of the relevant universities will be way richer than the "advice" provided by "employed" counsellors, who may have the tendency to make sales pitches.

Secondly, I hope to gather enough materials to create a useful resource centre for top universities overseas. Materials such as prospectuses are often lacking, and it is my hope prospective students will be able to browse all the relevant information in the small library which I'm setting up. Of course, I will require a little effort from all of you studying overseas today to acquire the latest collateral and send them to me to stock up the library.

Finally, I'm more than happy to have the Centre act as a sort of secretariat office for any student or education-related organisation to carry out their meetings and activities. Those who are funded can help defray some of the Centre's operating cost (we are non-profit after all), while for other volunteer organisations, we can always work something out. ;) It's also an office (when we can afford to get staff) which can help co-ordinate activities such as last year's very successful "Experiences '06" event.

Now, getting back down to earth, it's back to the earlier point on how much we can achieve in helping Malaysian students will really depend on how much help we can get. I will certainly not be able to do all of the above alone. Hence, I'm now calling for volunteers who have benefited from top notch education overseas to help more Malaysians enjoy the same experience. How much time one wants to contribute is really up to the individual, but any amount of contribution is highly valued. I believe strongly that every little bit counts. Here are some of the areas (the list isn't exhaustive) which contributions are welcome:

• Alumni of top universities sharing their tertiary education experience (current students are more than welcome to chat with prospective students while on summer vacations)
  
  
• Subject matter 'experts', providing guidance on the subject detail as well as career options (Why should one study "History", for example)
  
  
• Professional leaders providing guidance on industry domain knowledge (What's a career in Oil & Gas Trading all about?)
  
  
• A pool of advisors who I can turn to, in the event information is required by a student, of which answers I do not yet possess. (For example, if someone asks about the Fulbright Scholarship, who can I write to or call to obtain more information?)
  
  
• Students overseas who can help secure university information collaterals, such as prospectuses and application forms.
  
  
• And most importantly, those who really believe in the cause and would like to dedicate a bit more time helping out to run the centre, organising activities, creating new ideas etc.
  
  
• Of course, sponsors to help keep the Centre up and running will be more than welcome too. I'm obviously footing the start up cost of the centre myself, but any help with keep up with the operating costs will certainly be warmly appreciated.
  

For those interested in helping out, for those who care, and for those who wants more information, please do not hesitate to contact me with your details and what you'd like to contribute at tonypua@yahoo.com. I believe that a little bit of contribution from everyone will certainly have a very large impact on the future of bright young Malaysians.

The Centre will be located at 55A, Jalan SS21/1A, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. It's along the same row as Kedai Telekom, facing the residential houses.

I look forward eagerly to hearing from you guys! ;)