Essays

11 October 2012 By Rita Sim | rita.sim@cense.my A RALLY was held and a memorandum was submitted to Parliament. Students sitting the PMR examination at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pay Fong in Malacca. The real issues when it comes to Chinese education are whether students are equipped with the right skills and knowledge. It should have been.

By Rita Sim | rita.sim@cense.my 27 September 2012 TRAPPED AND DISILLUSIONED: Populist moves will not deliver in the long term The middle-classes are frustrated that the economy has done little to boost their income, while prices keep going up. THIS is a story about M. She is 38 years old and lives in Cheras. Working as an.

By Rita Sim | rita.sim@cense.my 13 September 2012 TRULY MALAYSIAN? Public Services Commission must be transparent about how recruitment and promotions are carried out A FEW weeks ago, I wrote about the weaknesses of the Chinese education system, pointing out that the lack of Bahasa Malaysia proficiency among Chinese-educated graduates is a major hindrance to the.

06 September 2012 By Rita Sim | rita.sim@cense.my IN NEGLECT: Education has not improved the wellbeing of these communities MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek (second from right) checking on Sungai Hampar, which flows through Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh in Selangor. The river often overflows after heavy rain. A RECENT visit to Kampung Baru Sungai.

By Rita Sim | rita.sim@cense.my 23 August 2012 QUALITY SCHOOLING FOR ALL: But English and Bahasa Malaysia must be improved LAST week, I wrote about the strengths and weaknesses of the Chinese education system in Malaysia. I tried to demonstrate that the weaknesses of Chinese education do not lie in the system itself, but in the.

By Rita Sim | rita.sim@cense.my 16 August 2012 END THE BLAME GAME: Let's find workable solutions that will benefit the nation Students at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Khoon Aik in Kangar at the beginning of the school year. There are more than 80,000 non-Chinese pupils currently enrolled in Chinese schools. Pic by Amran Hamid MUCH that is.

By Rita Sim | rita.sim@cense.my 09 August 2012 MANY NEEDS: Chinese Malaysians want to belong to a larger community, but are becoming increasingly isolated DURING a recent two-week visit to Melbourne, Australia, I spotted many Malay-sians, young and old, who were working, studying or living with their families there. An overwhelming majority were Chinese, followed.

By Rita Sim | rita.sim@cense.my 02 August 2012 OBVIOUS SEGREGATION: Silos have sprung up in the cities I WAS at one of those "modern" kopitiams in a middle-class Petaling Jaya neighbourhood recently, and something struck me about the demographics of the customers. About 80 per cent of them were Chinese, and even though there was a smattering.

By Rita Sim | rita.sim@cense.my 19 July 2012 VIRTUALLY ANONYMOUS: Gamblers need treatment and rehabilitation A pantomime in Taiping portraying secret society members gambling. Today, online gambling is common. Pic by L. Manimaran IN my last two articles, I touched on common social problems affecting the Chinese community: suicide and abandonment of old folks in welfare homes. Another issue.

By Rita Sim | rita.sim@cense.my 12 July 2012 CHANGING TIMES: Why are one out of three senior citizens abandoned? A resident of Pusat Penjagaan Warga Tua Ehsan in Taman Johor enjoying his meal. WHEN I was growing up, it was an unspoken rule that you never talked back to your parents. My cousins and I knew this, and.