Scholarships and grants and loans, oh my!
You know, amidst all the things that are happening in the world today, the catastrophes in Sichuan and Myanmar, the political happenings splashed on the front page of the dailies that pretty much read like a drama novel, the global food crisis, and the horribly stupid things some politicians say, only ONE thing actually got me a bit pissed.
And that thing is the one regarding PSD scholarships.
Seriously mem-piss-off-kan, when these SPM leavers write to the editors and talk about how they got 10As/11As/12As and didn't get the scholarship.
But before that. I think that if there's a large pool of the people's money set aside for financial aid, then the whole idea is to get the money to as many people as possible, so that as many people as possible can have a shot at attending university.
The idea is NOT to make it so that a very select few get to go to VERY expensive places by paying as little money as possible.
That being said, it's probably NOT the best idea to fully sponsor students to study in super expensive countries in super expensive fields, e.g. medicine in UK/Aus. It's probably A LOT better to send them off to reputable universities that don't cost close to RM 1 million, so that more people actually get a shot at studying medicine.
I'm sure you'd recall this Indian girl who got I-have-no-idea-how-many A's, and didn't get the PSD scholarship, and it came out in the papers and she was quoted saying that her father only earns RM3600 a month, and thus cannot afford to have her studying medicine overseas.
This is where the mem-piss-off-kan part comes in. First off, RM3600/month is a very respectable salary. But for argument's sake, let's just put it like this - my family may earn more than hers, in fact many families may earn more than that, BUT we still cannot afford to study medicine overseas.
I mean, come on!
I think many people have that mentality that a PSD scholarship is a Malaysian Right, that if you get a certain number of As then your ultra-expensive undergraduate education overseas HAVE TO BE fully sponsored. (It obviously isn't; it's a Reward, not a Right.)
Then when they don't get the scholarship, they write to papers complaining that they got 11A's and was rejected, some of them going, "But PSD said 9As, guaranteed scholarship!"
(You just have to visit any one of the many Malaysian education online forums to see even more of such people.)
Again, come on!
First off, seeing that they got good results in the SPM, you'd expect them to have a bit of sense to read on further and realize that the scholarship guarantee for 9As scorers are only for LOCAL institutions. (Honestly, I wouldn't want my tax money spent on sponsoring these people to UK/US/Aus.) (Err if I pay tax, I mean.)
It's not very correct to demand a scholarship (paid for by the taxpayers' money) when in all honesty 10As is not as amazing an achievement as it was before. (LOL that's not a very intelligent thing to say, considering I didn't get 10As, but true fact : almost everyone I hung out with in high school had at least 10As -except myself LOL-, and people I hung out with in college happened to also get straight / nearly-straight As. It's just more common now.)
There could be close to a 100 people from CHS who got 9As and above during my year, with a large number with straight As, and I know a lot of people who applied, but how many were given the scholarship? (I can only think of Li-Ann, so I'll say one, or two at most.) But no one complained, no one made a big issue out of it. In a way we know that you could randomly throw a stone and chances are you'd hit someone with 10As and above, it's just THAT common.
And all vying for the 2000+ (ONLY!) places for a PSD scholarship.
So topacify satisfy people, maybe it's time to review how this thing works. Stop sending people off to study medicine/dentistry in SUPER expensive countries (which would cost probably the lifetime savings of a less affluent family), and sponsor their education in more affordable (yet reputable) institutions.
My family isn't rich by any measure, but we live within a comfortable salary bracket, yet if I were to choose to do medicine, I'd certainly definitely undoubtedly have to do it locally. Doing it overseas in western countries would cost more than a million Ringgit, the sort of luxury few can afford, and yes it is a LUXURY not a requirement, surely these people with good results can do just as excellent in local medicine schools.
(It's very heartbreaking right, the thought that RM1,000,000 ++ of the rakyat's money is spent on financing just ONE student at a super expensive medicine school, when two students could be sent to cheaper yet just-as-good schools. Even more heartbreaking if said student decides he likes it better over there and doesn't want to return.)
Do I sound very bitter? Like I'm sitting here complaining because I didn't get the scholarship (well I didn't apply, but then again with my grades I would've been crushed and trampled on by the other competitors).
LOL Contrary to what I seem to be, I am not bitter! LOL. I just think that education is of paramount importance, and since Malaysia is experiencing serious brain-drain, and since we'd need a lot more educated people/professionals in our country in the future, I just think it's a better idea to send off as many students to (reputable!) universities as possible, rather than give the privileged few the opportunity to study in UK and leave the others in the dark.
Actually, interest-free loans are a much better aid option than full sponsorship, so that the aid gets out to more people. But then again the already-being-sponsored students would probably object.
I'd also go on about how ridiculous it is that only PSD-sponsored undergraduates can apply for postgraduate sponsorship, but this post is getting too long. But basically it's silly to let people who have enjoyed their years in UK/Aus/US for free another shot at not having to pay to go to graduate school.
My two-cents that are actually worth a lot less (zero cents la, maybe).
I'm only writing this because I'm very sien of people complaining in the many online forums that I frequent.
(I hope I don't get "@%#$#* DIE, YOU!!!" type message!)
(Free speech! Free speech!)
(Okay bye bye.)
And that thing is the one regarding PSD scholarships.
Seriously mem-piss-off-kan, when these SPM leavers write to the editors and talk about how they got 10As/11As/12As and didn't get the scholarship.
But before that. I think that if there's a large pool of the people's money set aside for financial aid, then the whole idea is to get the money to as many people as possible, so that as many people as possible can have a shot at attending university.
The idea is NOT to make it so that a very select few get to go to VERY expensive places by paying as little money as possible.
That being said, it's probably NOT the best idea to fully sponsor students to study in super expensive countries in super expensive fields, e.g. medicine in UK/Aus. It's probably A LOT better to send them off to reputable universities that don't cost close to RM 1 million, so that more people actually get a shot at studying medicine.
I'm sure you'd recall this Indian girl who got I-have-no-idea-how-many A's, and didn't get the PSD scholarship, and it came out in the papers and she was quoted saying that her father only earns RM3600 a month, and thus cannot afford to have her studying medicine overseas.
This is where the mem-piss-off-kan part comes in. First off, RM3600/month is a very respectable salary. But for argument's sake, let's just put it like this - my family may earn more than hers, in fact many families may earn more than that, BUT we still cannot afford to study medicine overseas.
I mean, come on!
I think many people have that mentality that a PSD scholarship is a Malaysian Right, that if you get a certain number of As then your ultra-expensive undergraduate education overseas HAVE TO BE fully sponsored. (It obviously isn't; it's a Reward, not a Right.)
Then when they don't get the scholarship, they write to papers complaining that they got 11A's and was rejected, some of them going, "But PSD said 9As, guaranteed scholarship!"
(You just have to visit any one of the many Malaysian education online forums to see even more of such people.)
Again, come on!
First off, seeing that they got good results in the SPM, you'd expect them to have a bit of sense to read on further and realize that the scholarship guarantee for 9As scorers are only for LOCAL institutions. (Honestly, I wouldn't want my tax money spent on sponsoring these people to UK/US/Aus.) (Err if I pay tax, I mean.)
It's not very correct to demand a scholarship (paid for by the taxpayers' money) when in all honesty 10As is not as amazing an achievement as it was before. (LOL that's not a very intelligent thing to say, considering I didn't get 10As, but true fact : almost everyone I hung out with in high school had at least 10As -except myself LOL-, and people I hung out with in college happened to also get straight / nearly-straight As. It's just more common now.)
There could be close to a 100 people from CHS who got 9As and above during my year, with a large number with straight As, and I know a lot of people who applied, but how many were given the scholarship? (I can only think of Li-Ann, so I'll say one, or two at most.) But no one complained, no one made a big issue out of it. In a way we know that you could randomly throw a stone and chances are you'd hit someone with 10As and above, it's just THAT common.
And all vying for the 2000+ (ONLY!) places for a PSD scholarship.
So to
My family isn't rich by any measure, but we live within a comfortable salary bracket, yet if I were to choose to do medicine, I'd certainly definitely undoubtedly have to do it locally. Doing it overseas in western countries would cost more than a million Ringgit, the sort of luxury few can afford, and yes it is a LUXURY not a requirement, surely these people with good results can do just as excellent in local medicine schools.
(It's very heartbreaking right, the thought that RM1,000,000 ++ of the rakyat's money is spent on financing just ONE student at a super expensive medicine school, when two students could be sent to cheaper yet just-as-good schools. Even more heartbreaking if said student decides he likes it better over there and doesn't want to return.)
Do I sound very bitter? Like I'm sitting here complaining because I didn't get the scholarship (well I didn't apply, but then again with my grades I would've been crushed and trampled on by the other competitors).
LOL Contrary to what I seem to be, I am not bitter! LOL. I just think that education is of paramount importance, and since Malaysia is experiencing serious brain-drain, and since we'd need a lot more educated people/professionals in our country in the future, I just think it's a better idea to send off as many students to (reputable!) universities as possible, rather than give the privileged few the opportunity to study in UK and leave the others in the dark.
Actually, interest-free loans are a much better aid option than full sponsorship, so that the aid gets out to more people. But then again the already-being-sponsored students would probably object.
I'd also go on about how ridiculous it is that only PSD-sponsored undergraduates can apply for postgraduate sponsorship, but this post is getting too long. But basically it's silly to let people who have enjoyed their years in UK/Aus/US for free another shot at not having to pay to go to graduate school.
My two-cents that are actually worth a lot less (zero cents la, maybe).
I'm only writing this because I'm very sien of people complaining in the many online forums that I frequent.
(I hope I don't get "@%#$#* DIE, YOU!!!" type message!)
(Free speech! Free speech!)
(Okay bye bye.)
isthisme exuded garlic breath at 2:00 AM
