well, i guess, we can draw a conclusion here already. never believe something till u really see it with ur own eyes or go thru it your self, agree?hm...good to see kahjin around...

Kah Jin !! Fulamak ooi !!! Thanks for the sharing. God bless you, dear.

Kok Ming: LAN came to our fac a few months back. Due to my big mouth, I was 'put on the table' to attend a luncheon with them together with other reps from my batch and the first years. About 10 of us. It was stupid. We were supposed to talk and eat. They are supposed to ask us questions. I personally have a lot of complains lah about our syllabus. You know me lah, always complain. but already holding myself back, just to avoid washing dirty linens in front of strangers. Furthermore, the head of the LAN team is from UKM with cocky look, I don't really like telling him about the weaknesses of UM.
But what made me frustrated was, how two of the reps openly praised the system like it was really really good. What the heck? AS if everything is nice and that. Either they are really optimistic people, with no sense of real medical education, or they real big fat liars man. Sweet talking. AS if licking the dean's ass.

I did bring up one thing, that is the length of our second year which is too damn long, and compromising on our clinical period. A case of ambitious planning with no substance to support the aim. You know what happenned, weeks later, the deputy dean sounded us for telling the LAN that second year is too easy. I then clarified to him that I was the one who said it, and I said it was too long, not too easy. That ROBERT RICHARD is one big con-man who did not take my views seriously, and tried to imply that I am a kiasu for saying taht it was too long. Come on, every one, every senior said it, but I was the only who buat bising, and I am supposed to be kiasu ? But never mind lah, just that LAN bring bad memories to me. I think people in my FAC definitely bluffed them about how good our course is. Kok Ming, if UM can get accreditation with our over-ambitious NIC, I bet your SPICES can be easily accredited. I read your prospectus, it is good. But like waht you say: we really need good lecturers and good planning to implement all the great things we plan.

Teong: I am still blogging like mad. This time around, I am not too worried about exams. Like what i have blogged, I want look beyond that lah, cos doing darn well in exam aint good enough. It is not relevant to medicine actually. Furthermore, with our exam programme, I need only 30 more marks to pass. I alraedy have 60% accounted for through the 2 earlier exams. Hahaha....and blogging is too fun. But actually, i didn't spend too much time to blog lah, less that an hour. But I used other time to watch DVDs in Piow's room. By the way, nothing to blog in IkanBakar meh, Boon Teong?

hey guys! miracles happen, and i'm here :) read the five items posted and already i'm wondering whether i would be able to talk about such deep matters as you guys have been. yeah exams are unfair .. yada yada. the system's not perfect. well, just my two cents worth: guess i'm quite over these frustrations now (however, may revisit them occassionally at times). i'm beginning to complain less and think about things which i can change rather than moaning and groaning about things which may seem a little out of grasp (at least for now). dun get me wrong, i do believe in expressing and letting out our displeasure when necessary, as it is also healthy for our sanity, instead of letting it embitter us.

been asking GOd more on my purpose in life. more of my specific person. me as Kah Jin, what i am here for at the very place and time i'm at. for me, he started of with the things i complained about, my immediate circle of friends in uni. as i'm the only christian in the gang, it does get quite tough. sure i do get along with other non-christians but being with them can be quite annoying as they can be quite pleasure and self-centred. been struggling a long time and slowly i've been giving in to GOd, to allow Him to give me grace to love them and let them see God in me. still tough at times. but it's been getting better as i surrender more to God, with the KNOWLEDGE of God's support and provision for me. that's important. this is among other issues as well.

guess we're all growing up. hate that too. really wish i was still a kid (tho' to most ppl, i still am .. hehe). the perks of growing up. good to hear from you guys. guess a balance of seriousness and insanity should always be there. speaking of that, time for me to have a 'smashing' time with my friends in badminton real soon (pun not intended :P). take care guys. hope i'll be more consistant in blogging. quite fun after all ... sorry that posting was that long too .. hehe .. :)

Kok Ming: I am having my one week break now. Since I am back home, I no longer enjoy umlimited broadband internet access like I use to have in my another home in SS2. Consequently, I have to blog less. Anyway, that's not the only factor that is refraining me from internet, assignments banyak gila oi! thesis dahlah belum start! macam nak mampus saja kali ini! Whatever, for a moment, LAN caught my attention, I thought you were mentioning about Local Area Networks! :) Haha!!! Your situation reminded me of ISO in UM. My thesis supervisor once said "next time how many times i go to toilet i also need to jot down, and furthermore how many times i flush also i need to mention as well"... simply fake and you know what... self delusion man!!! All kinds of stupid accreditions and certifications.
Fooji : It seems that you are still very active in blogging in Ikan Bakar. Well, I am sure you are smart and mature enough to manage your time for exams apart from persistent blogging.
As for me, no much to tell you guys from Ipoh... I am sort like in the middle of a crossroad... lah, dah nak graduate pasti terfikir-fikir akan perkara yang tidak patut difikirkan masa kini... :)

sensored...

At least there is a feedback from Yeoh! Anyway, back in Ipoh yesterday(Sat) after my lunch in PJ. Well, nothing to blog really! Too many assignments due after this one week break and the most frightening and rather out-of-guidance one is Cyber Law! Apart from this, tests are waiting and you know, I just need to start kicking my thesis! Wholesome of books and journals I have with me but I yet to touch one completely. Whatever, as far as I am concerned, you and I are living by the grace of God, therefore, in everything there is always a positive outcome :)

sensored

Fooji, I am all out to support and second your opinion. It is true that this could be the reason why our universities are different from those in the States, Japan or maybe even German. I have to admit that sometimes, I do things too last minute (a negative habit which I have yet to change), but what is the use if one university student spending all his time burying himself in books for the sake of getting A's in the exams.

Like what you had described, students are so bothered with the exam format (objective or subjective), what questions are going to come out, and questions are going to be asked from which chapter to which chapter. Don't be surprised that they won't be bother about you if you try to start a conversation, something like "what do you think of the coming general election"? You will soon find yourself in a situation where you are deemed "stupid nonsensical guy" for having "nothing else better to do ar!". "Do your own things first lah. No time liao. Talk politics somemore! Nanti masuk ISA then you know!". I am sick of this kind of attitude = "kiasu" + "self justification". Always think of themselves as if others never exist.

Come on lah, you are big, educated, and call yourselves university students, don't you think what you are doing are the same as those in "sekolah rendah or sekolah menengah". When comes to complaining and finger pointing some mistakes and weaknesses, we will stand tall and proud, but have we really thought of our own lacks and attitude? You are not living in this world on your own, as fortunate as we are to enter and study in university (how much more in UM), shouldn't we broaden our spectrum of knowledge and contribute to the society (that's what the developed countries are doing), or at least, share our thoughts and opinions. Life is not all about studying for A's in the end...

Exam season can be misleading...
why? It may mislead you to think that you have very little time...
It may mislead you to think that we are not prepared...and mislead us to think that exam is all that matters...
i have sat for exams for so so many times,...just like you guys....aren't we bored of it?

We used to analyse questions, tried our best to master answering techniques,...but hey,...taiko, we are in tertiary level la....is performing in exams all there to it?

What bout real practical skills in real things? Sigh, people here and there are preoccupied with exam format, and hot topics....what bout REAL stuff like skills, and attitude,..and ethics? THings that cannot be quantify, but darn darn important?

So waht if we score A? or masuk dean's list...if our knowledge actually, never goes beyond the exam scope... !

hi people ... been m.i.a. deleted my old username and created a new one. finally been taught how to use this properly. tho' im not as fascinated about this blogger thingy as teong and fooji they all are. :P hope to communicate more ... tcare guys!! p/s in teong's house blogging now ... :)

Teong,
if you notice, one of the exco members in the poster wears a tudung like a ninja!
What the heck? Then why on earth you want to put a photo there? Makes no difference. Might as well, put a 'Photo-Not available" sign there !
As if we can recognise the white cloth and her tiny eyes !

Your worry I share, man...no one that is really potential and talented is interested in politics, leaving shit people like Khir Toyo, and Ch'ng Toh Eng trying to take over in the future...
Sometimes I feel like contesting as an independent when the time comes. I am reaally inspired to read about Dr. Tan Chee Khoon. He was the Mr. Opposition, respected by both sides of the Parliament. He stood firm, and said the necessary things in Parliament, without fear and favour. Many times the govt tried to lure him in, he said - I do not enter politics to get a govt post. I enter because I want to serve.... Nowadays, the people in office are not serving us, they are wasting our money and giving us problem !!!

A revolusi politik dan mental is needed !!!!

I was very lonely and free today. Feeling a bit fed up and disgruntled staying at home looking at ceilings and walls, I decided not to go back home after my financial planning tutorial at 3pm. In fact, I drove up hill to my faculty. While strolling and looking and reading notices and advertisements pasted here and there in my fac, I encountered a poster. It was a poster of those who were elected to be the officios of MPMUM, which stands for Majilis Perwakilan Mahasiswa Universiti Malaya. Why I was so hooked and intrigued by that particular poster? The majority of those in the council are from the Akademi Pengajian Islam and there are only two from the Faculty of Law holding portfolios in the council. Is this heralding the tidal wave of change in Malaysia political scene? No doubt, those elected from the Academy of Islamic Studies would, in near future be the "key players" in politics. I am pessimistic that they will uphold secularism, which all the while has been conformed into our socio-politic. In times like this, when issues of such as Islamisation and "Malay extremism" been so heated up, I am nervous and perturbed, how much more after knowing that many more Islam fanatic supporters are coming out.
Outside of the campus, former Deputy PM is appealing for his case and hoping for his imprisonment lifted up, and yes, he would have had been to the court on the 14th if not of his lawyer inabiltity to make it due to some health problems. PM Mahathir is going off from the scene soon, Badawi is taking over, juggle of the future DPM is still playing around, new power and faces are going to grace Malaysia's politics, general election is around the corner, could and would Datuk Seri Anwar see this as his opportunity to make a come back?
I am not an Anwar's supporter. But I have to admit that he is someone appeared to me a natural inborn leader. Charismatic. Look at the way he gave his speech. Imagine how he managed to win and gather so many supporters and power in UMNO before he was sacked and prosecuted in the court? After he was sentenced, his supporters are still faithful and Keadilan is still much alive. Nonetheless, his fanatic Islam programmes and plans scare me a lot, being a minority non-Muslim.
I was in dilemma when Datuk Seri Anwar was charged. First, I couldn't believe how and why UMNO or people would just step out and charge him for cases like sodomy and all sorts. It didn't make sense to me, did it make any to you? Second, no matter how good and well one in power is governing one nation, sometimes, harsh and cruel actions are needed in order to guarantee his/her power or position. Dr.M's plan and ambition were jeopardised at least, a certain amount because of much heavy reformation taking place and realising that he lose not only Kelantan but also Terengganu and half of his own state, Kedah, to PAS. Many old guards of his fell too. In the end, everything is not as perfect as he has initially thought and dreamt of. Notwithstanding, he himself has achieved a great deal and contributing a great deal too, to Malaysia.

People check this out !

Weapons of Mass destruction.

Thanks to Chow Wai Kean: He taught to me to get this, by typing Weapons of Mass Destruction in Google, and then select "I'm feeling lucky!".

got nothing to say bout parasitolgy. been there, done that. i found it quite interesting. anyway it was the easiest subject in 2nd yr. btw, i vote for 22nd of Nov( for the big thing). exams are starting next mon. under a lot of pressure now. hopefully can cope lah.

Shit la ! I am supposed to study but I just hate Parasitology !!!!

My study objective for today is to cover Parasitic infection of CNS, the eye and Skin.

I only manage to finish skin after the whole day ( it is 4.30pm now). And the notes about eye infection is stupid !
I have never appreciated this subject anyway. I mean, it is not worth as a single subject, it should be integrated into MMB just like other universities. It is quite redundant. While pathologists are rushing to finish the syllabus, i think the parasitologists have nothing much left to teach us, and come up with complicated stuff about parasitic infection of this lah, that lah, when,....we may never see one case in our lifetime !!!

What say you guys???

Kok Ming: aiya no need to know lah,...can tell you when I meet you. By the way I saw a Doktor Perubatan USM guidebook in our library. I must say that you got a comprehensive and well-aimed and planned curriculum. How is the implementation? Are all the aims met in real scenario? ]
You must not have been following this blog. I have blogged extensively about Pang being interviewed by Malaysiakini over the issue of PCM students intake into UM, and also nullifying claims on meritocracy. I think the issue has been laid to rest, thanks to the kindness and maturity of the university. But the dean gave us a stern warning not to go to the press.
I believe both the students and the university has wronged in this conflict. Again, it is a fault of lack of communication between student and management, a lack of transparency in policy making.

Maybe you can read my blog on this: click here and here

eh...sorry ah, a bit blur, what actually happened in UM??? yeah,m i heard stories bit here and there but fooji, can u like tell more???

fooji: yeap , ruben did come to see me with shawin. HUKM is great . no, we're not going to slim river. however, there is a big possibility that the third years next year will be going to slim rvr for their medical posting. this is to aviod overcrowding in the wards. bout the big thing, i'm not on hols on those two days. if the dates fall on a non working sat, or on a fri b4 a non working sat- i think i can make it.keep me posted

Prelude to theBIGthing

Dear friends,

It is my privilege to bring good news about the BIG event about to happen on a BIG day ahead. We are pleased to announce that we have received BIG responses from people “all-over-Malaysia”. I believe that many of you are really looking forward to this BIG event.

So, let’s get things ironed out. Need you guys to do us a BIG favour. We would like to find a BIG day that accommodates everybody. We want the “whole-world” to be there to make it a BIG successful “global-event”. To make our job easier, we like you guys (kaykeat (after receiving objection from elin): this include girls as well) to send us an email to tell us your preferred date from the choices below:-

a) 25th October ‘03
b) 22nd November ‘03
Note: 30 Aug ’03 has been ‘ditched’ due to some timeline problem.

Please respond before 31 July ’03 so we can book the venue. If email is not accessible in your region/country/territory, please contact your nearest “service provider” a.k.a person in-charge via sms or short phone call.

Ipoh Club is the preliminary venue for this BIG event. Elin has been kind enough to survey the whole Ipoh to get us the BIGgest offer with the SMALLest cost. We hope to book this place before any other BIG competitors do so. Your co-operation is truly appreciated =).

The estimated cost for this BIG project is RM30. Please start saving up to avoid cash shortage (you don’t want to look pathetic, hehe). Payment should be done a month before the event (which is pretty soon) to help us settle the down payment for food and venue booking.

The second item on the list is to clarify with you guys about being ACS-affiliated. When we say ACS-affiliated, it doesn’t mean you have to be an ACSian to “qualify” for this BIG event. What we really meant is being ACS-MGS-affiliated. Let me recap:

Who is invited?: Anyone affiliated to ACS-MGS from the year 1998 - 2001 : this means the guys and girls we last met in Form 5, the hunky guys and gorgeous girls in Form 6. Everyone is also encouraged to bring a partner – your girlfriends/boyfriends/spouse, etc

Last but not least, we welcome BIG-hearted volunteer to join the imaginary-CORE team. Please send us an email with the title “I wish to be the Water-Fish” (hahahahahahaha!) to thebigthingACS@hotmail.com . We need helpers in the area of food, invitation, programme, fund, entertainment (the BIGgest responsibility…hehe).

We would like to extend a BIG thank you to those to have replied early with constructive suggestion. We would also like to welcome potential Water-Fishes for their help to make this event even BIGger. Let’s all get excited about this. If you are not, please give one of the imaginary-CORE Water-Fishes a call and we’ll make you excited. =P (Please don’t get the wrong idea. hhhmmm…..elin has some other ideas).

Please help forward this email to ALL the ACS-MGS-affiliated friends in your email list, handphone directory and address book. Drag all Water-Fishes within your reach. =)

Looking forward to theBIGthing.

Thank you,
the being one-of-the-water-fishes, “placed-on-the-table” (thanks to Fooji =P but glad to do so) temporary-replacement organizing conscript, (what a title to have, dude)
Khoo Kay Keat

For those who has not done so, please send a blank mail to thebigthingACS@hotmail.com to confirm you have receive this circulation.

For questions and suggestions, please contact imaginary-CORE Water Fishes :
cheehoe fettnugly@yahoo.com 0135843828
kaykeat kaykeat@hotmail.com 0125561918
elin e-lin@tm.net.my 0165676668

Still Weblog? Why not Moblog? :)
I am a pro-Japan guy. Have to admit it! Japanese stuffs just enthrall and intrigue me a lot, from their science and technology to their cleaniness to their cultures and to their fashion and styles. Needless to say, if someone were to grant my wish, I will first choose a free trip down to Tokyo! :) From time to time, I will be embarking in a lot of Japanese online magazines and newspapers, and recently their blogs too. I will be reading news ranging from politics, social, technology, health to fashion.
This morning, I was shocked to read a news which happened in Nagasaki last week. A 12 year old boy admitted to have brutally killed a 4 year old boy. His initial intention was to strip the younger boy off his clothes and molest him but somehow it ended in a much more tragic scenario. The poor 4 year old boy was hurled from the rooftop of a multi-storey carpark after he was naked and molested. This is not the first incident as such that ever happened in Japan. Few years back, a young boy was chopped of his head and had his head placed in front of a school gate. And this was done by a young boy too. Horrible? After knowing that a quite similiar case of Canny Ong occured just lately in our homeland.
Apart from this, as advanced and developed as they are, Japanese are too up-to-date and modern. While many of us are still using the slow and "narrowband" dial-up services to get connected to the internet, Japanese are already using their phones (via the 3G) to get entangled in the world wide web. No surprise that they are blogging from everywhere and having moblog, which stands for mobile blog. :)

Looks like no one will blog tonight, so let me do the honour.

I want to ask the classical question again, where are the other people? Only Ben and Teong are regular, sometimes Yeoh also lah.
Let's gossip, do you guys know that Pam got a bf now ? I just heard from Sharan. Wo ju fuk ta men.

Ben, Ruben went to see you guys last night right? How is Cheras hospital ? I mean HUKM. I heard from someone that some of you have to train in Slim River, is that true ?

And another thing, if anyone is trying to call me, these few days, I am sorry if it is not answered. This is because I have switched off my phone indefinitely.

Dear all (Fooji,Kok Ming,and Ben),
You know what? I am glad! Why? Because I am receiving feedbacks and replies from you guys! Gosh! It has been long since I last talked and discussed important and serious issues with you guys. Perhaps, I have started to miss those times when we were sharing so much about politics, socio-economy, education, the government back in secondary schools.
Don't think it is a slim chance, close to null, to find buddies who you can share serious stuffs and matters with? Uni people are so ignorant, dumb, unintelligent, and inarticulate, don't you think so? In medicine faculty, you might still be able to find (as those who enrolled into medical school also hebat-hebat belaka) but in my place, sigh!
Well, for PBL, I am convinced that there is no true solution. As what Fooji had described, it all depends on the background, the scenarios and the setting. Initially I brought this matter up because I strongly believe that the decision to implement PBL in my study place, is all wrong THOUGH the objective is clear and positive.
About Pang. I respect him for his boldness and his ability to carry out his missions. Not like me, fakta banyak, cakap banyak, komen pun banyak, tapi malas nak berganjak, tiada aksi! Mungkin saya tidak cukup bernas, kurang intelligent. Anyway, maybe also that I just feel lazy to do such things! Mediocre cukup lah, lagipun saya tak suka sangat perkara -perkara formal and juga majlis-majlis. Saya bukannya ada cita-cita nak jadi "siapa-siapa" dalam arena politik mahupun pentadbiran. Memadai lah dan bersyukur dengan segala yang saya punyai sekarang, dan juga berkongsi pendapat dengan rakan-rakan saya di Ipoh Tauges ini.

Friends,
what good topics is running in Ipoh Tauge - PBL and Pang's Malaysiakini saga !

PBL: Well, Ben, Kok Ming and Teong are right about PBL. It can be very good like Kok Ming's and Ben's - because they have the right problem cases, and the right background, the good resources, and above all, the PBL group members with the right attitude.
On the other hand, Teong is also right because the PBL can be obstructing other forms of studies, especially when you have no time for research, and when your group members are like shit-lazy and unenthusiastic. It also does not help if your facilitator is not so experienced and does not see the benefits of PBL.
As for me, I enjoyed 50% and crawled through the other 50% of them, sometimes my group members is very discouraging, I seem to be the dominating one. And sometimes they prefer shallow discussion while I prefer deeper ones,which would make look like obstructing them, of their intention to end it early.
Finally, I think PBL would be ideal for mature, smart, enthusiastic students, with the right setting and topic.

As for Pang, i still dunno what's going to be the story. The Dean summoned him last night, the VC is bothered about it. But then again, I strongly feel Pang should not be punished because he is merely giving out facts, there is no political hasutan or anything. There is also no mention of race biasedness. Pang's clear point if PCM. PCM would NULLIFY all meritocracy claims. Let's not even start on meritocracy.

Ben, thanks for your input. As I have said, PBL could be beneficial if it is placed into implementation in courses like medicine. Because, as you said, it helps you to understand better. Okay, I don't think you should assume that it also helps in other courses. My point is, it does help a lot in courses that deal a lot with real scenarios, or happening scenarios, eg: medicine and business or marketing (more subjective), where you can actually learn from the situations, and knowledge is gained much through experiences. In technology courses (more to truth, absolute), there are no real scenarios unless you plunge yourself into R&D which takes years! It is the opposite of those subjective courses. Technology knowledge is knowedge you can only gain from knowledge (experts, researchers) and you apply it to create or invent some sort of things (then, you are creating scenarios). For instance, errr... in doing 3 dimensional vector, is there any real scenario where you can learn from? No right? In this kind of subject, there is no personal opinion as everything (the knowledge) is fixed and straight to the point. There is no such thing as you have your opinions and I have mine and we can share it then we learn new things! And there is neither knowledge gained from experiences (unless, again, you do R&D). Hope that you can get what I am trying to mean! :)

to me PBL helps to stimulate a students mind. now teong, i think the fact that u r quite uncomfortable with the PBL system is that u r so used to being force fed. i'm not saying its true, its just my opinion. no hard feelings. i dunnno how the PBL system is implemented in ur course. to me , PBL helps me to understand things beeteer compared to when i'm given lecture notes.
regarding the Malaysiakini things, i think that the views of the the students sre true. its ridiculous to compare matriculation with form 6. suddenly the malays are smarter. who are they trying to cheat lah? everyone knows whats happening. but no one wants to open their mouth. i salute pang for volunteering to reveal the issue. but fooji, could u pls advice him to be carefuul and evaluate the consequences that my ensue if he goes on with his plans?
(",)

Fooji, thanks for the fast feedback. Yeap, I had read the news at Malaysiakini earlier. Hmmm, I don't have any comment regarding this matter. After all, I don't see and feel any big deal in it. Maybe it is just applicable to the medical students. If it happens elsewhere also, I don't think there would be anyone voicing and springing some issues that will raise eyebrows. I apologise for my ignorance.
PBL: I have to agree with what you mentioned. But somehow, I still feel that it is the worst education method or implementation. Again, maybe it is not applicable to my course. After all, we are just following what the faculty of medicine is implementing because the faculty has ISO status and recognition. Why I say PBL is bad? Hmmm...for courses like medicine, maybe discussion is the best way for students to share knowledge and learn, but courses that require lots of technical knowledge, calculation and thinking, I believe the old traditional ways are still better. Lecturers teach, students do works and go to lab for some practical. From time to time, students given some assignments and complete the assignments. Rather than give the students a scenario then ask the students to find the solutions. It is like ask a student to create a dynamic/moveable object when the student has yet to know F=ma. Get what I mean?

Teong, gam chi tai wok loh !


Originally from Ikanbakar:

Once again, we are now in an exciting period of time. In Malaysiakini today, the bubble that is threatening to burst all this while, has finally, you know, burst. Please read Medical students refute Education Ministry’s meritocracy claim . I have earlier blogged about this earlier last week.

So, the public has been informed about what we UM medical students feel. Pang HC, our batchmate and President of Medical Society, has volunteered to reveal this. Now, we pray that Pang would be free of the consequences. It takes boldness and courage from him to do this, which risk him of getting into trouble. But then again, I think the point of argument in this issue is strong on our side.

Further reading: When quality is absent, meritocracy matters not - Prof. Khoo Kay Khim

PBL.
my comment: my past experience in attending PBL and chairing PBL sessions tell me that it can be a very useful session whereby we can cover topics that are not taught or somehow neglected by our "dedicated" lecturers. the involvement of different sensory organs in obtaining the knowledge makes PBL even more appealing. if one hides in his/her room for hours, trying to "telan" the whole medical book of hundreds of pages, well that person may succeed but it's more time-consuming besides his/her eyes may even give up along the way. but in PBL, we discuss and brainstorm, helping one to develop communication skills, apart from helping the participating group member to clarify and strengthen his concept about a particular topic. but of course, there are a few golden rules here to a fruitful session. particiaptions and preparations by each member are essential. one can speak well but with preparations, he may be just 'goreng'-ing his points, to bull shit others. with preparations but without participation, one will only keep the knowledge to himself, no sharing occurs.
i must also say thank God for blessing me with a group of very dynamic and motivated PBL group. i learned a lot from each of them!!!

PBL - Problem Based Learning : A Fallacious Move
Since last year, most of the faculties or higher learning institutions, have adopted a new teaching method (for certain academicians, this is not new I believe) called "Problem Based Learning" or in short PBL. The paradigm shift was initiated because of ISO, one thing, and also due to the objective of creating graduates who are able to think and express themselves.
My Comment: Objective is clear and positive but "they" should know it aint going to work out. Most of the time during the PBL sessions, students will just get carried away into their own topics, interests and perhaps fantasies. I understand the tendency to sway away because the topics or the scenarios could not spark the zeal among students to learn and to discuss. Furthermore, certain subjects could never be implemented using PBL. Just like my case, one of the subjects I am taking this semester is Artificial Neural Networks, supposedly this is an interesting and challenging subject, but because of PBL, the enthusiasm smashed! WHY? ANN is a subject where you need to understand a lot of fundamentals and concepts. Under PBL "regulations", students are obliged to find info and knowledge themselves. Basic dah lah tak tahu, nak terus masuk research! Apa gunanya? You see, sometimes, Malaysians do things extraordinary and sound great and amazing but what's the use? Don't you think it is better that you stick to old classic ways of educating? In doing things, one doesn't have to adopt any special eye-opening methods, as long as people can see the results, no matter how old fashioned your styles, you are deemed a good problem solver

Thanks to Ben and Teong for the input.

Now, let me define what I mean by 'immoral' orientation. This is the type that centres on sexual perversions. Seniors asking juniors to make love to a tree, to act out a porn scene with another junior, to lick the watermelon like oral sex, dance the 7 steps. To me, these are highly deplorable, especially for a Christian. I'll be so ashamed if ever I cause my brother to do all this sickening things. Now, before you all misunderstand, I am not saying that I am very holy person, at times, my mind goes naughty too, but then again, the orientation exercise should not include this. THis is what I mean by immoral orientation. Other forms are alright, to me.

Teong, you are right that medic people place senior-junior relations highly. Now, about earning respect, the wise ones will know that. We may taunt, and scold in the beginning, later when we declare it over, we are nice to them, you know. And they can jokingly 'insult' us back. We became friends lah.... Orientation, to me, is one big joke, lah, to scare the juniors, at first, at the same time, building a bond at the shortest time possible. Ben is right to say that juniors would not care or shy about the people around them. Yeah, there are people too full of themselves, they think others are not necessary. You can see, that post-orientation, the juniors know each other and the seniors better, all in a few weeks time. If we let nature take its course, it may take more than a year to each other properly.

Well, again, that's a theory. With the college now so takut about illegal gathering and ragging, it is quite troublesome to have orientation. Maybe it's a good thing also, to change orientation to a simpler version.

But anyway, it's already over for this year. No use talking anymore lah !

To gain respect, one must humbles himself and respects those whom he want to get respect from. When juniors don't give seniors the due respect, what is wrong? In the first place, what the seniors have that made them well and should be respected? If seniors instill fear in juniors and consequently gain the respect from them, well, my say is, they respect their seniors not because they appreciate and really honour and respect them, they do it out of "fear" and for the sake of it. So, what I have learned from great and successful individuals be in academic or professional world, humility and sincerity and remain mediocre bring them to the levels they are standing now! Why demand your juniors to respect you? If you are worthy of respect, they will respect you no matter what! That is why I don't understand why the heck you people in the faculty of medicine make so much noise about orientation. Hey, there are more things for you to worry, to ponder, and to trouble yourselves with in this world. Again, don't be offended, just a piece of view from me, okay? :) Cheers!!!

well, fooji, it's not that we like to uphold immoral orientation. it's just that we as seniors expect a certain degree of respect from our juniors. it's when the juniors do not give a damn about us it pisses us off. it's worse that we are the minority here. its even worse that the juniors go flaunting around that they are the king of the world. it's worst among the medic student. so, the objective of our orientation is simple..... instill unity among the juniors? how to do that? most of them will not give a damn if we sweet talk to them. so , we instill a lil' bit of fear. that's all.

anyway, goodluck in ur exams.....and happy going back to ur primitive roots while climbing kinabale. hehehehe (",)

Dear friends,

The orientation has ended for our batch. I like my new juniors. I think most of them are genuinely humble, smart, and creative, and talented. Good sign for the future of my faculty, while some of the seniors continue to suck big time.

Ben: I think it is not wise to pass down whatever bullshit to our juniors. Let us suffer last time, but when we become seniors, we should make sure it does not happen. I think when I reach final year, I will see to it that it shall be the end of immoral orientation.

I have one more month to go, before my Part C exam, after which would set me free from the school for 2 months. How nice,... but i am really totally lost in my studies. Chaotic, and unorganised. sigh.....
I may be going to Sabah during the holidays to climb the mountain ! Heehaaa !!

what do u want to know? ok lah tell u a lil' bit bout the indian orientation here. we have 8 indian juniors: 5 medic and 3 fskb. all were pampered by the ukm administration. they nvr even get 5% of what we got. i, for one, decided to suppres my brutality. anyway, we had our declaration night 2 weeks ago. it was fun. the juniors came out with a few performances. at the end of the declaration night, the juniors were pelted with flour and an egg each. that bit of ingenuity was from yours truly. the juniors turned out to be alright. went to movie with them last week. losing sleep now, since the exams are around the corner. so , what's the snitch bout The Big Thing?

Helloooooo???? The reason why I am so skeptical, hesitating, and fishy with the MSN group created by Kar Kin. NOONE GONNA GIVE YOU ANY RESPONSE...ALL ALSO HANGAT-HANGAT TAHI AYAM ONLY!. The very same MSN group...I dah pernah tubuhkan semenjak dahulu kala lagi. That's why...sometimes, it is better to "do your own business". Ipoh Tauges is a very strong evidence, don't you think so???? :)
BTW, Ben, Kok Ming, and Fooji, are you all there??? Oopss...I know Fooji did reply one of my entries. But Fooji, why no posting from you in Ipoh Tauges???? These days I have taken my time off from politics, news, jeffooi, etc. Really enjoying my time with housemates and all those former 7th college friends. You know, 7th college guys can be very mad when they mean to be mad :)
Hey, friends, tell some stories lah, Ben, Kok Ming...sure you all have a lot!