February, 2003

Work and Focus

Just got back from my meeting with Peter for this week. I have yet to settle on a specific topic; and for that I am most disturbed. I guess it has a lot to do with my own personal standards, as well as Peter’s. I mean, we could very possibly do a simple UK replication of a prior US study; but Peter [and myself too] wants a thesis that will be publishable in the top journals. Which means finding something that is original, unique and provides a proper contribution to literature.

This automatically rules out any study of Malaysian corporate governance – while it is interesting, it does not warrant much addition to the existing literature. I am not looking to find the cure for AIDS, so to speak, but an equally profound study should be what I am aiming for. It is now March, almost. And yet, I am nowhere. The good thing is, so are most of the other people. The bad thing is – I don’t want to be stuck at this point for any longer than I should be.

Perhaps some of my poor work ethics should also be highlighted. For one, even though I come into the office at 8.30am, I spend almost 1 hour or even 90 minutes on chatting to various people in various places. Proper work only starts at 10am. That should be cut out entirely. I leave the office at 5 or 6pm and do nothing for the rest of the day. That too, should be amended.

Okay, to be fair this week isn’t a good week. I am saddled with some RA work, had to go down to Manchester for a USELESS evening of politics, plus spent a few nights with dikir barat practice. Dikir barat will be over tonight – and I should not use dikir barat as an excuse when I do nothing at night anyway. But I should cut out the hanging out and focus on the task at hand. I want a topic, I need a topic and I’m the only person who could come up with a topic for me!

MRSMs, SBPs and All That Jazz

I think I’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest with all this stuff about SBPs and MRSMs and how they rank in the SPM rankings. To be perfectly honest, the entry wasn’t a plug for how good my school is. Because, let’s face it, I’ve been there and I know it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Believe it or not, during my SPM year, we managed to break a record of major proportions by not getting a 100% SPM pass; not that I hold anything against anybody.

But yeah, I did gloat a bit since we were a bit higher in the rankings than TKC and SSP; but that’s just sibling rivalry, I think. On some years they gloat at me, on others I gloat at them. Funny stuff, really, because we had nothing to do with the achievement – so where really was our right to gloat? But it’s a long-lived rivalry tradition – and it exists in many things – school bands, debate competitions, whatever really, for which there are clear rankings.

As for the MRSM issue – well, for starters I will not take away anything from them for their achievements. For the past 5-6 years, they have come out tops in the REAL rankings. It’s just that the PKP MRSMs – for which only students with all A’s at PMR level can enter – are much talked about. Fair play, they are good schools. But so are other MRSMs who achieve comparable results to them, and these other MRSMs work with the second or third smartest group of post-PMR students. Might I also add, that the cream post-UPSR have already been taken by the SBPs?

And my feeling is, these other MRSMs should also be spotlighted, because they got grade B milk with which they made grade A cheese, where as the PKPs got grade A milk, which, usually, although not always, is easier to mold into grade A cheese. So while the nation pats the backs of MRSMs Langkawi, Taiping, Jasin and Pengkalan Chepa, MRSMs Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan, Muar – to name a few – should also be highlighted for their achievements as well.

In the same vein that schools like Sultanah Asma School in Alor Setar, King George V School in Seremban and Aminuddin Baki KL should also be given a lot of recognition [and due reward, perhaps] because they have even more dodgy milk with which they tried to mold into top grade cheese. It’s easier for SBPs and normal MRSMs to get good grades because they already have the cream post-UPSR, easier for MRSM PKPs because they get the cream post-PMR, but not such an easy ride for all the day schools, because the maverick few can upset the whole equation.

Anyway, I’ll leave it at that. There are more interesting things out there than SPM results and rankings. Like the story of an Indian student who hung herself for getting 2As instead of 6, and an enraged teenager ramming a car at the courthouse in Perak out of frustration due to his poor results. Minority cases, I know. But it’s an unhealthy precedent when for some, there is nothing in life but exams. [Yes, that includes you, 16As student!]

Chicago

Watched Chicago tonight. I have never been into musicals – was never very cultured, you see – but couldn’t resist the curiosity, having seen the award nominations this film has garnered.

Verdict: Musicals are watchable – but I do prefer people talking rather than singing and dancing. They remind me too much of Hindi movies. On the movie itself – it’s a classic. What can I say? The storyline is light but I thought it was clever the way the musical segments interplayed with the scenes in the movie, and how each told a story. Or is that how musicals work?

At least it wasn’t an opera in a different language. I would have totally suffered through that.