Do Schools Kill Creativity

A video which became the inspiration of my last post...This is good stuff, TED is a good thing =)

ENJOY and ENLIGHTEN yourself...

Formal Education against Creativity and Ambitions..Oil and Water..

So finally a blog post on the Education System of Malaysia.. Though, this is no usual rant and complaint you have heard from any parent. Screw the timing, screw the syllabus, screw the Bahasa Malaysia or English compromise. What's more important is the outcome; and that ain't good.

Not only does our formal education inhibits our creativity but the ability to dream big, to follow our ambitions, to prove, how smart we really are. The syllabus by itself is a drag for the students, but, the way it is taught makes it worse, the stress cause by the thought of the coming Public Exam, made it a kettle of water pouring into a larger pot of boiling oil (please, do not try this at home). There's nothing to blame here except ourselves.

First of all, the core subjects, English & Math; compared to many other nations, we have the slowest bloody syllabus for a country as modern as ours. The pain is when the last three years (Form 4, 5 & 6), everything is rather cramped up; making complacency and sudden accumulation of stress a common enemy. Still, as we head out into a private university, some students are no match. It does not make any sense. What's more stressful? the addition of new subjects (after streaming) during the years which these cores are "crammy".

Bio, Chem and Physics in two years for me was fun, though, it could have been more fun, I mean, the practical work that we got were all boring. The teachers are usually afraid that we may break something or the school does not have enough apparatuses. So, at an average, the sciences were boring, coming into Form 4, it was already stressful having the thought that SPM was at the end of the next year. For a sixteen year-old, it ain't fun. All we needed was a different approach to learning, once in awhile. Is it bad for all teachers to used one simple and fun way if it is effective? I wonder what do the teachers do in conferences?

STPM was the next likely (supposedly) step for a Malaysian. But no, it is not, its not popular because its just unnecessarily difficult, waste of one and a half years and it does not prep people for university. It's funny how you learnt so much but other people from say, foundation courses, do better. Its a do or die situation, 5 or 4 A's or you won't get to do what you really want to do. The other problem is, you'd have no idea how to do research papers and assignments the way universities want you too, so no matter how smart you are, you might just get stuck.

I think formal education drains the creativity and the ability to think from our brains; as it was mostly used for memorizing things. It had brainwashed into a community who does not criticize properly, foresight-less, and a follower of any system. Like our days in school, if we didn't like it, we'd complaint amongst our friends and throw insults at our teachers or talked behind their backs. Looks fucking similar in the whole country; political situations, religious compromise, human rights, and quality or living and service; if we have a problem, we tolerate, but tolerance has its limits you see.

For people in the creative field, after getting out of school, they'd never feel the same about creating things; "finally, the freedom, but I feel rusty, and my vision is boxed in". Many have great talent you may argue, but can they do their potential best. Just maybe, if their skills were sharpened at an early age, they'd would have the thought and experience to do better.

They say it is difficult to find what you love. It's different actually, I think it is difficult to keep loving or in love with something. Like for me, I always had a fascination in Particle Physics; sounds big, but its something I am interested in; people around me weren't dreaming as big and formal education had boxed me in. I'd just waste my time if I learnt art or biology but I did it, and liked it, hence, indecisiveness. Many people are like that all over the world. Our brains are used up by things that do not really matter. What's the good in being knowledgeable or an all-rounder when you still do not get to indulge in an interest.

I hate that Chinese mentality about getting a good job for money, hence a good marriage and then a good life. Somehow, it's stuck in every teenager's mind; although I am not a conformer and hated to be one, there's no choice, I had to compromise. If I had a choice, Particle Physics under some willing professor... but no, I need formal fuckeducation.

Practice makes perfect;

So theoretically, if a student loves design and follows a path that leads here there, doing design all the way, having surface knowledge of important things; she'd be a better designer than a girl who'd studied biology, chemistry and physics until college?

If that's true, formal education is just conned up........

BTW, why the hell does the art stream in Malaysia not have design or proper art? Or even art classes that thought the techniques of drawing and painting rather than "Here's an art block, do something nice".

CM 2008

Championship Manager 2008 has been keeping me busy...so many things to blog about with so many happenings..but CM2008 is what I'm gonna do...

Another Attempt at Being Nostradamus...

So Nostradamus' paintings suggests that there will be a man, an anti-Christ who would start the end of the world or at least be another factor.

So I thought, maybe its Nostradamus himself, making everyone believe in his visions of such future or an inevitable end; besides, during his time, as he wrote such predictions and drew such paintings, he was almost an anti-Christ himself. Anything like that, astrology, and predicting the future with his methods were against the church. So maybe the collective belief of this blinking phenomena in our petty minds would sum up into some kind of a sub-conscious-self-manifesting-propaganda reaction?

Oh, how about that lil thing between the Christians and the Muslims? nah, too uncivilized...I hope they notice it whoever who plans such weird battles..

Television; More than Meets the Eye (Reasearch Project Declassified)

“No other medium can match television for the volume of popular cultural texts it produces and the sheer size of the audiences” (Barker 2003). This is true as watching the television has become such a daily routine for most people; especially in most children who spend more time watching the television than any other activities, besides sleeping, (according to kidshealth.org). Besides, the television also has the same influence on the older generations. Thus, it is obvious that the television can pose as a negative influence and have adverse effects on our society; because firstly, the television was responsible of racism and stereotyping late in the past millennium; secondly, it depicts risky behaviours in youngsters; and finally, the television may cause health issues.

The first example can be the part played by the television in the question of racism. Barker (2003) suggested that people of colour was simply neglected by the television or film producers. Until the new millennia the number of African Americans in TV shows was significantly low. This suggested that somehow the white Americans were ignorant of the black people and their culture. This causes racism to spread. Even with the introduction of programs that feature African-American cultures, such as the TV show, Amos ‘n’ Andy, the programs symbolized the degradation of black people and their culture (Barker 2003). Besides that, the TV had also been guilty of stereotyping. With respect to that, Bernstein (2002) suggested that audiences tend to accept these images and perceptions of the media without question. For example, as written by Medhurst (cited in Barker 2003) the famous English TV show, Mind Your Language used stereotypes to get popularity. Therefore, it is certain that the television had played its part in racism and stereotyping.

Moreover, the television encourages risky behaviours in the youngsters. It is certain that without strict control form parents, kids and adolescents would spend too much time in front of their television set. In relation to that, a survey showed that 5 out of 8 kids say that their peers were influenced by the TV shows. Consequently, according to parentstv.org, the television alone is responsible of 10% of youth crimes in America and studies have shown that watching sex on the television directly influences a teen to have sex. The 10% of youth crimes may seem little in percentage but in actual figures, it is an immense number. Furthermore, parentstv.org also revealed that 1 out of 4 adolescents whom had premarital sex were diagnosed with Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD). These numbers clearly show that the television is spoiling our young generation.

Lastly, there are many who argue that the television is just a safe source of entertainment, relaxation time, or extra information. This is only true to a certain extent, as these beliefs can lead to health defects. Here is how; a normal person would have his left-side of his brain (for logical and analytical thinking) almost switched off when watching the TV, to allow the right-side of the brain to function as we imagine and fantasize more. Besides that, endorphins, hormones that induce happiness are released when we tend to use our right-brain more. Hence, making us want to watch more as our minds are in a happy and relaxed state. Watching more television would then increase our weight because the television also, somehow promotes intake of sugary and fatty foods and lessens the time spent on exercises. As a result, more people would suffer from obesity and diabetes and could be fatal. In addition, children can also suffer from such health problems. Also, sleeplessness which can affect one’s health and emotional status -such as, depression and fatigue- can be caused by addiction to television. Thus, it is obvious that the television has a part to play in our societies overall health and fitness.

In conclusion, like other forms of modern media, the television has many adverse effects on the society. However, its popularity has made the majority had overlooked all of its potential dangers.

New Year Celebrations, a con...

New Year's Eve, a day to celebrate by crowding in an area and proving that you can count backwards; while some get high in gunpowder smoke, others reach a euphoric (sort of) state with head tilted backwards and a dropped jaw, looking at colorful light bursting into circular patterns in the sky.

For some reason, I have been thinking, why do new year countdowns and fireworks happen in most malls? MONEY. It's a bloody con, you are expected to get there early to avoid a jam, so you'd sit somewhere and have a meal or shop a bit. Well, if the malls are doing it, clubs and all might as well pounce on this chance to get some profits too! And we, kids and them young adults go out and have fun!

New Year Celebrations; if you do not have sporting friends, you'd find yourself in a discussion of how hot it was, how sticky and sweaty everyone is; you might find it hard to get a parking near the happening area and wonder why you couldn't just park further and walk since it ain't too hot at night; you have to be out early, to bypass the jams, hence, you have to wait for those who are often, fashionably late; you have to wait for the crowd to disperse before going back if you hated jams -but this won't be a problem if you parked further down the road-; if you're the driver, good luck; if your friends are from Church, leave them alone; if you have a large group of friends who are quite the blonde, you might miss the countdown (experienced it twice) while you hear faint voices of the crowd going 10, 9, 8..... -whats the bloody fun if you didn't start at "10";

"I think that a New Year's Resolution can never be fulfilled -and people often try again the next year- because of its first two letters..RE" -Phoon Chi Kit-

But then again, New Year Celebrations can be fun and a its a blardy good way to get your mind of the struggles you are about to face in the year ahead. Having fun all the way till the wee hours without having to worry about waking up for work or for college; taking your mind off the big exams coming in the year, getting a promotion from your boss, or just, getting to hang out with your friends. Here I am blogging...

2010, its gonna be an eventful year for me, I hope...=)

Can't believe my next post will only happen next year....

Newspapers, biggest liars (Research Project Declassified 2)

A young professional picks up a newspaper at a local vendor and walks to the cashier to pay just a small amount for at least 50 A3 sized pages of extra knowledge. However, how much of this news is true? For this reason, researches have shown that the newspapers have adverse effects on the society; firstly, because newspapers can provoke unnecessary fear among the public about infrequent dangers; secondly, news presented by newspapers can have negative influences on the publics’ as it can change the public’s perception of events; and finally, newspapers can offer readers a “false choice” as the news can be chosen by other parties besides the publisher.

Firstly, newspapers have become such an influence on the public that it can provoke unnecessary fear in most people. These fears are mostly the fear of crime and the fear of natural disasters; both, in actual fact, are rare events. Most of the public now is ever fearful of the fact that they might get mugged or killed for money; being abducted, raped or killed by a big wave. Although these unfortunate events may be a rarity in reality, it is not necessarily the case for the newspaper readers. Williams and Dickinson (1993) revealed with a survey that newspapers tend to publish more articles on crime and dramatic events such as natural disasters and rape cases. This makes readers think that the dangers are close to home and happen regularly, as they are reminded time and time again. Hence, news articles project a perception that the events have happened seem to happen more frequently. For example, the newspapers published more about the likelihood of another tsunami hitting South East Asia, as the news was popular then. News is obviously exposed to misrepresentation, as everyday events cannot be reflected by newspapers (Williams & Dickinson 1993). Thus, the newspaper can instill unnecessary phobias in people.

Besides that, newspapers are often written in different ways and causes misinterpretation; as writers can plant emotions and biased views into its readers just by changing the style of writing. The way news is written can be so influential that Quinney (cited in Curran 2002) suggested that an individuals’ perception of crime may vary due to the different newspaper he or she reads. This can be harmful to the society when/as newspaper companies are owned by different radical groups or individuals, or sometimes opposing political parties in the same country. It is also stated in Curran (2002), that actions have been taken and put into practice to ensure the media’s support for the dominant government and private interests. Hence, newspaper companies can be used to bring about among the public, negative thoughts, anger or false impressions by articles. For instance, the demonstration that started due to the capture of Hindraf representatives; the newspapers produced news articles with pictures of water cannons firing at the crowd, which may have depicted the demonstrators as criminals. Therefore, it is certain that the newspaper can cause misinterpretation by the public.

Finally, most readers may think that the newspaper is a complete, precise and convenient source of information. Readers tend to think that all news are of truth and covered everything relevant to our world. This is false, because newspapers are often influenced and their posts mediated by the state government, in each newspaper. Curran (2002) revealed several ways that governments use to get broadcasting or the main advertisers they want, such as laws and regulations, censorship and licensing of a publisher. Advertisers too can control the newspapers as money and sponsorship is a key survival tool for newspaper publishers. For instance, if other companies are not comfortable about placing their advertisements in it; the publishers will suffer large losses, thus closing down due to bankruptcy. This forces publishers to overwhelm their newspapers with popular articles and do not have space for other unpopular news, which maybe crucial or important to a certain society. Important news, such as civil wars in Africa does not have much popularity or coverage because the publishers and its partners do not have influence over African countries. Therefore, it is true that newspapers have outside parties that control their posts and choose the posts for their readers; giving the readers a false choice.

The newspaper is more than meets the eye of an average reader. We can conclude that although the newspaper is a crucial source of information, nevertheless, it can also be of negative influence to our society. What is worse is that most of the public do not notice these ill effects.