On the recovery path

 

Penang property market to rebound amid lingering challenges

`
THE Penang property market, which had actually started seeing a rebound in transactions since last year, is expected to resume its recovery path into 2022.
`
CBRE|WTW director Peh Seng Yee says the Penang property market can expect a “rebound amid lingering challenges” this year.
`
“We do expect a recovery in market activity for 2022. Prices of landed properties will continue to remain resilient.
`
“For the high-rise sub-sector, it will continue to be a buyers market,” he says at the launch of CBRE|WTW’s 2022 Market Outlook Report, recently.
`
Peh adds that future launches will generally comprise self-sustained developments that will be on a smaller scale, while at the same time fulfilling the demand for affordable units.
`
Knight Frank Penang executive director Mark Saw also says the residential sub-sector in Penang has improved, posting higher volume and value of property transactions as of the third quarter of 2021.

`
Prop chtProp cht
`
“The Penang state government’s commitment to increase home ownership with plans for a range of affordable homes in various strategic locations, extension of the Penang Home Ownership Campaign until June 2022 and enforcement of mandatory installation of fibre optic telecommunication infrastructure for all new developments, will spur the state’s residential property market.”
`

EPF payout 6.1% for 2021, Look beyond EPF for retirement  EPF posts stronger performance amid economic rebound, focuses on rebuilding members’ savings
`
In terms of challenges, Peh says scarcity of sizeable land in Penang will still continue to pose development constraints.
`
“Additionally, the prolonging effects of the pandemic, especially with the new Omicron variant, could result in cautious spending and a wait-and-see approach.
`
“Stringent lending guidelines and concerns over job security could also potentially derail the market,” says Peh.
`
On the outlook of the Penang office market, Peh says the segment is expected to remain healthy this year, with stable rentals and occupancy rates.
`
“The prospects of co-working spaces still remain encouraging,” he says.
`
As for Penang’s retail sub-sector, Peh says the removal of movement restrictions since last year has been a boost to this sector.
`
“We see normalisation amid ‘freedom euphoria’. However, we expect rentals to be flattish and a widening gap between the newer and older shopper complexes.”
`
As for Penang’s hotel sub-sector, Peh says this segment is set for a steady recovery if the pandemic is significantly contained.
`
“The segment can be spurred further by travel bubbles and other government initiatives.
`
“We also see pent-up demand for medical tourism and intensifying market competition for the hotel sub-sector.”
`
Meanwhile, Knight Frank Malaysia in its real Estate Highlights for the second half of 2021, says the Penang residential market is expected to pick up this year, supported by a series of measures announced under various stimulus packages and Budget 2022.
`
“This will encourage people from various income levels to purchase their dream homes. The overhang of high-rise residential properties, especially in the category of condominiums and apartments, has also been growing.”
`

With limited new supply of purpose-built offices in the state (existing and future), Knight Frank says the occupancies and rental rates for better grade purpose-built office buildings are expected to hold steady.
`
“Meanwhile, with the growing work-from-home trend, some business premises have been converted into co-working space.”
`
Knight Frank noted that the country’s vaccination rate has continued to improve and with further easing of restrictions, the retail segment is expected to slowly recover.
`
“Selected retailers are expected to embrace the rise of eCommerce as they head down the path of recovery.”
`
It adds that Penang’s industrial segment has continued to remain strong and steady throughout the pandemic.
`
“This is especially with the Penang state government’s commitment to expand another two industrial parks in Batu Kawan, with focus on the logistics industry and the remaining phases for mixed industries.
`
“This industrial park is set to continue its history of the successful Bayan Lepas Industrial Park.”
`
Meanwhile, CBRE|WTW in its 2022 Market Outlook Report says property transaction activities in Penang increased for the period of January to September 2021.

`

“A total of 11,981 properties valued at RM7.23bil were transacted, reflecting 13.9% and 33.9% increase in volume and value, respectively, year-on-year.
`
“As more businesses are allowed to operate, the Penang property market has generally rebounded.”
`
CBRE|WTW is optimistic that the rebound will extend into this year.
`
“However, the rebound would be gradual as the pandemic lingers on, along with a sluggish economy and higher cost of living.”
`
CBRE|WTW also expects to see more bargain hunting for residential units this year.
`
“The overhang remains a concern. Prospective purchasers can negotiate for more discounts in addition to the incentives offered,” it says.
`
According to the National Property Information Centre (Napic), there were 30,290 unsold completed residential units (overhang) worth RM19.75bil as at September 2021, compared with 30,926 units worth RM19.99bil in the previous corresponding period.
`
Of the 30,290 overhang units, 18,829 units (or 62.2%) comprised high-rise units, while 6,803 units (22.5%) consisted of terrace houses.
`
The bulk of the overhang units were focused mainly in Johor (6,441 units), Penang (4,638 units), Kuala Lumpur (3,863 units) and Selangor (3,376 units).
`
Napic says 33.7% of the overhang properties consisted of units ranging between RM500,000 and RM1mil, while 28.4% comprised units ranging between RM300,000 and RM500,000.
`
Units below RM300,000 comprised 25.5% of the total overhang, while units above RM1mil (12.4%) consisted of the remaining unsold units during the period under review.
`
Knight Frank concurs that the overall property overhang status continues to remain elevated, especially in the high-rise residential segment.
`
“The performance of the residential sub-sector is improving gradually, registering higher volume and value of property transactions as of the third quarter of 2021,” it says.

Source link

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Better to buy a car or a house first?

 

 

 

 

 Flat property market seen for Penang

On the recovery path

 

Penang property market to rebound amid lingering challenges

`
THE Penang property market, which had actually started seeing a rebound in transactions since last year, is expected to resume its recovery path into 2022.
`
CBRE|WTW director Peh Seng Yee says the Penang property market can expect a “rebound amid lingering challenges” this year.
`
“We do expect a recovery in market activity for 2022. Prices of landed properties will continue to remain resilient.
`
“For the high-rise sub-sector, it will continue to be a buyers market,” he says at the launch of CBRE|WTW’s 2022 Market Outlook Report, recently.
`
Peh adds that future launches will generally comprise self-sustained developments that will be on a smaller scale, while at the same time fulfilling the demand for affordable units.
`
Knight Frank Penang executive director Mark Saw also says the residential sub-sector in Penang has improved, posting higher volume and value of property transactions as of the third quarter of 2021.

`
Prop chtProp cht
`
“The Penang state government’s commitment to increase home ownership with plans for a range of affordable homes in various strategic locations, extension of the Penang Home Ownership Campaign until June 2022 and enforcement of mandatory installation of fibre optic telecommunication infrastructure for all new developments, will spur the state’s residential property market.”
`

EPF payout 6.1% for 2021, Look beyond EPF for retirement  EPF posts stronger performance amid economic rebound, focuses on rebuilding members’ savings
`
In terms of challenges, Peh says scarcity of sizeable land in Penang will still continue to pose development constraints.
`
“Additionally, the prolonging effects of the pandemic, especially with the new Omicron variant, could result in cautious spending and a wait-and-see approach.
`
“Stringent lending guidelines and concerns over job security could also potentially derail the market,” says Peh.
`
On the outlook of the Penang office market, Peh says the segment is expected to remain healthy this year, with stable rentals and occupancy rates.
`
“The prospects of co-working spaces still remain encouraging,” he says.
`
As for Penang’s retail sub-sector, Peh says the removal of movement restrictions since last year has been a boost to this sector.
`
“We see normalisation amid ‘freedom euphoria’. However, we expect rentals to be flattish and a widening gap between the newer and older shopper complexes.”
`
As for Penang’s hotel sub-sector, Peh says this segment is set for a steady recovery if the pandemic is significantly contained.
`
“The segment can be spurred further by travel bubbles and other government initiatives.
`
“We also see pent-up demand for medical tourism and intensifying market competition for the hotel sub-sector.”
`
Meanwhile, Knight Frank Malaysia in its real Estate Highlights for the second half of 2021, says the Penang residential market is expected to pick up this year, supported by a series of measures announced under various stimulus packages and Budget 2022.
`
“This will encourage people from various income levels to purchase their dream homes. The overhang of high-rise residential properties, especially in the category of condominiums and apartments, has also been growing.”
`

With limited new supply of purpose-built offices in the state (existing and future), Knight Frank says the occupancies and rental rates for better grade purpose-built office buildings are expected to hold steady.
`
“Meanwhile, with the growing work-from-home trend, some business premises have been converted into co-working space.”
`
Knight Frank noted that the country’s vaccination rate has continued to improve and with further easing of restrictions, the retail segment is expected to slowly recover.
`
“Selected retailers are expected to embrace the rise of eCommerce as they head down the path of recovery.”
`
It adds that Penang’s industrial segment has continued to remain strong and steady throughout the pandemic.
`
“This is especially with the Penang state government’s commitment to expand another two industrial parks in Batu Kawan, with focus on the logistics industry and the remaining phases for mixed industries.
`
“This industrial park is set to continue its history of the successful Bayan Lepas Industrial Park.”
`
Meanwhile, CBRE|WTW in its 2022 Market Outlook Report says property transaction activities in Penang increased for the period of January to September 2021.

`

“A total of 11,981 properties valued at RM7.23bil were transacted, reflecting 13.9% and 33.9% increase in volume and value, respectively, year-on-year.
`
“As more businesses are allowed to operate, the Penang property market has generally rebounded.”
`
CBRE|WTW is optimistic that the rebound will extend into this year.
`
“However, the rebound would be gradual as the pandemic lingers on, along with a sluggish economy and higher cost of living.”
`
CBRE|WTW also expects to see more bargain hunting for residential units this year.
`
“The overhang remains a concern. Prospective purchasers can negotiate for more discounts in addition to the incentives offered,” it says.
`
According to the National Property Information Centre (Napic), there were 30,290 unsold completed residential units (overhang) worth RM19.75bil as at September 2021, compared with 30,926 units worth RM19.99bil in the previous corresponding period.
`
Of the 30,290 overhang units, 18,829 units (or 62.2%) comprised high-rise units, while 6,803 units (22.5%) consisted of terrace houses.
`
The bulk of the overhang units were focused mainly in Johor (6,441 units), Penang (4,638 units), Kuala Lumpur (3,863 units) and Selangor (3,376 units).
`
Napic says 33.7% of the overhang properties consisted of units ranging between RM500,000 and RM1mil, while 28.4% comprised units ranging between RM300,000 and RM500,000.
`
Units below RM300,000 comprised 25.5% of the total overhang, while units above RM1mil (12.4%) consisted of the remaining unsold units during the period under review.
`
Knight Frank concurs that the overall property overhang status continues to remain elevated, especially in the high-rise residential segment.
`
“The performance of the residential sub-sector is improving gradually, registering higher volume and value of property transactions as of the third quarter of 2021,” it says.

Source link

Related News

Modern day Penang reclamations

  

Perak says no to Penang as it needs water

China home prices barely fall in sign of hope for builders

 
`

Related posts:

 

All steady on the home front in Penang residential properties

 

Penang's lively market

Many estate agents and developers generating interests in primary and secondary markets

 

Good time to invest in property now

 

Landed residential properties much sought after with resilent demand, Market insights

 

 

 

 

Penang property prices move sideways in Q1 2016

 

 

 

 

 

When will the property market pick up?

 

Penang Star Property Fair at Queensbay Mall 2016

Developers all smiles with results

 

China buyers eyeing Penang property in growing tourism

 

Young adults in developed countries rent, we buy houses for good

 

Singaporeans on buying sprees for Penang prewar houses; Residents see red

 

Better to buy a car or a house first?

 

 

 

 

 Flat property market seen for Penang

Beijing Paralympics opening ceremony 2022 as nation issues white paper

`
 

`

CGTN: China stands together with its people with disabilities ...

Victory Ceremonies | Para Alpine Skiing | Day 1 | Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games

The emblem of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games is seen on a flower bed with the theme of "Wonderful Winter Olympics" in Tian'anmen Square, as the cityscape for the Games is set to be completed on February 28, 2022. Photo: VCG
`
Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games on Friday when the Bird's Nest welcomes world guests again in a month, and the highly anticipated Winter Paralympics are expected to not only showcase China's parasports progress made through national development, but also marks a new milestone in the country's comprehensive welfare for people with disabilities, experts said.
`
China on Thursday issued its first white paper on sports participation of people with disabilities, which summarized China's efforts and achievements in developing parasports for the public as well as the competitive parasports.
`
Lü Yansong, vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that parasports mirror the living standards and human rights situation of 85 million people with disabilities in China.
`
China ensures the disabled enjoy rights in economic, political, social and cultural fields, laying a solid foundation for people with disabilities to participate in sports and social life and achieve comprehensive development, Lü said at a press conference held for the release of the white paper.
`
One can take a glimpse of the Winter Paralympics preparation to understand the improving welfare for people with disabilities in China.
`
One-fifth of the bearers of the ongoing torch relay have disabilities and the Paralympics flame was collected from local communities, including a school for the blind and a library of Braille books. Thirty percent of the performers at the opening ceremony of Friday had disabilities. Ninety-six Chinese athletes will compete in 73 events in all six sports, a sharp progress from Sochi 2014 where 10 athletes took part in six events across two sports.
`
Beyond the Paralympics, China sent disabled athletes to 160 international sporting events, bringing home a total of 1,114 gold medals between 2016 and 2020. In the same period, public parasports also made great progress and many people with disabilities benefited from the national plan of involving 300 million in winter sports after the successful bidding of Beijing 2022.
`
The progress China made in parasports was summarized in the white paper, entitled "China's Parasports: Progress and the Protection of Rights."
`
China attaches great importance to the welfare of people with disabilities since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the cause of parasports quickly developed in the 1980s and saw historic progress since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, read the white paper.
`
Ping Yali, China's first Paralympics gold medalist, felt the progress. Ping, with visual disabilities, won Team China a gold in the 1984 New York Summer Paralympics.
`
She recalled her first trip to New York nearly four decades ago, when she was impressed by "facilities [for disability assistance and rehabilitation] foreign teams brought with them" when China did not have a rehabilitation center.
`
But in the 1990s, such centers were established across China and today, the training and supportive conditions for athletes with disabilities "are beyond imagination," Ping said.
`
Ping was talking about an entire system, which was also included in the white paper: a four-tiered parasports athlete spare-time training system.
`
The Beijing 2008 Summer Games were a milestone moment. The 2008 Paralympics motto of "transcendence, integration and sharing" reflected China's contribution to the values of the international Paralympic Movement.
`
The Games also left a rich legacy in sports facilities, urban transport, accessible facilities, and volunteer services that continued to benefit people with disabilities.
`

Editor: Deng Zijun/GT Graphic: Xu Zihe/GT
`
Beyond parasports
`
Many people still recalled that it was during the years when Beijing was preparing for the 2008 Olympics that accessible facilities were installed in large numbers in the capital city at key public venues such as subways. Other Chinese cities followed suit and significantly enhanced the country's barrier-free level, experts said.
`
China included barrier-free facilities into a national development plan. So far, 81 percent of entrances and exits, 56 percent of service counters, and 38 percent of toilets at community or village service centers are barrier free. Some 650,000 households that have family members with disabilities were renovated to be barrier-free during the anti-poverty campaign, according to data released at the press conference.
`
Between the two Paralympics, many new technologies and industries were developed to facilitate the lives of people with disabilities.
`
Audio reminders on public transport were applied universally, and many smart devices can help people with visual or audio disabilities.
`
Ping cited the experience of car-hailing. The platform will ask the driver to get prepared because she has a guide dog and people with disabilities can file complains online if they are rejected.
`
Exoskeleton, which will assist two Paralympics torch bearers during the relay, is being applied wider and more people with limb disabilities are expected to benefit from the technology.
`
A staff with the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF) told the Global Times on Thursday that during the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000), 3.78 million assistive devices were provided for the disabled. The number increased to 6.66 million in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) and further doubled between 2016-20.
`
Ping also noted a gradual change in social inclusiveness, and most people she encountered are willing to offer help when necessary and the fear of and discrimination against people with disabilities are decreasing.
`
Experts pointed out that parasports opened a window through which the ultimate goal is to engage people with disabilities to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from the country's social and economic development.
`
As the white paper said, developing parasports is key to people with disabilities to improve their physical and mental health and achieve all-round development. It provides an opportunity for the public to understand the potential of the disabled, and is of great importance in ensuring people with disabilities can enjoy equal rights, integrate readily into society, and share the fruits of economic and social progress.
`
Lü said that Chinese efforts make sure no one will be left behind in respecting and protecting human rights. Protecting the rights of people with disabilities and developing parasports are important parts of China's human rights protection cause.
`
China has established a welfare system that covers people with disabilities, gives the disabled assistance in the anti-poverty campaign, includes them in the National Fitness and Healthy China programs, and enhances public services for them, Lü said.
`
The country respects and ensures human rights in legislation and judicial procedures, using a series of laws and ordinances to protect the rehabilitation, education and employment of people with disabilities, while having international exchanges in the field to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, the official said.

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Russia ‘ready to talk’ after militarily paralyzing Ukraine in hours

 Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv on February 24, 2022, after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine. Photo: VCG 

 Click here to stay tuned with our live updates on Ukraine tensions.

 The root cause of the sharp confrontation at the global strategic level is the US

`As some local residents began fleeing Kiev early Thursday morning and rushing west while air raid sirens sounded in the Ukrainian capital, fears of war have grown palpably, catching global media attention and sending the world's markets tumbling, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in the Donbas region.
`
As world leaders reacted to the quickly escalating Ukraine-Russia crisis, China once again called on the relevant parties to remain restrained and prevent the situation from sliding out of control.
`
The situation of the Ukraine-Russia crisis has been changing rapidly over the past 24 hours. Putin on Thursday authorized "a special military operation" in the Donbas region, and Ukraine confirmed that military targets across the country have come under attack, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
`
The operation has been described by the Western media such as Reuters and CNN as a "full-scale invasion," and Reuters called it the biggest attack "by one state against another in Europe since World War II." Explosions have been heard in Ukrainian cities including Kiev and Kharkiv, some media reports said, and Russia also closed all flights to and from 12 airports in the south of Russia. In less than 24 hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared martial law in the country and urged Ukrainians to stay home, and he also announced Ukraine had cut diplomatic ties with Russia. An aide of Zelensky also told reporters on Thursday that more than 40 Ukrainian soldiers and around 10 civilians died in the first hours of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the AFP reported.
`
In numerous videos and photos shared by Chinese nationals living in Kiev with the Global Times on Thursday, a heavy traffic jam was seen in the early morning as many local residents fled the city. Some residents started to line up to buy necessities and withdraw money from banks. Chinese Embassy in Ukraine also issued a security alert to Chinese nationals in the morning, asking them to monitor how the situation is evolving, laying out specific issues they should pay attention to in preventing from getting into a dangerous situation.
`
In response to the quickly evolving situation, the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine issued two security alerts to Chinese citizens and companies in the country within one day. The embassy said although their work and study had been affected, there were no "waves of panic."
`
"Dark day for Europe" was how some Western media and politicians described the situation, and countries including the US, Germany, UK and Australia criticized the Russian government move. The US and its allies are poised to unveil further sweeping sanctions against Russia, with US President Joe Biden calling the military operation an "unprovoked and unjustified attack."
`
However, in the eyes of Putin and most Russians, the latest move serves as a counterstrike against the Western squeezing of Russia's security room with extreme measures and a relatively large-scale showdown in wrestling with the US, a view that is also shared by the majority of Chinese.
`
"Circumstances require us to take decisive and immediate action," Putin's order read. In an address to the public, the Russian president said he wanted to "demilitarize" and "de-Nazify" Ukraine, Russia Today said. Putin further said, "We have no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory."
`
"Demilitarize" could be understood to be putting down arms and surrendering, which can also be understood as incapacitating the opponent and rendering them unable to form a threat in a broader sense, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday.
`
"As a result, Russia will completely destroy the heavy weapons of Ukrainian troops, including warplanes, tanks and armored troops as well as defense forces, such as air defense missile forces and the navy," Song said.
`
Russia announced it has destroyed Ukraine's airfields, air defenses and control systems just a few hours after it launched the military operations.
`
"And as we take the measures announced by the president to ensure the security of the country and the Russian people, we will certainly always be ready for a dialogue that will return us to justice and the principles of the UN Charter," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said late on Thursday.
`
Yury Tavrovsky, head of the "Russian Dream-Chinese Dream" analytics center of the Izborsk Club, told the Global Times that Russia's military operations in Ukraine are "completely legal."
`
Both chambers of Russia's Duma (parliament) had earlier approved recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk as "independent states." The Upper Chamber (the Senate) later approved use of armed forces outside the national borders, Tavrovsky explained.
`
The military operation was launched just one day after the US and Europe unveiled what is believed to be just the first round of sanctions against Russian individuals and institutions in response to Putin's signing of two decrees recognizing Lugansk and Donetskas independent and sovereign states.
`
As global markets tumbled steeply over the Ukraine-Russia crisis, some raised questions as to why Russia took this step, how the situation will evolve and whether the US will engage in a direct war with Russia.
`
Moscow's motivation
`
In a phone call with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained the development of the Ukraine situation and Russia's position, saying that the US and NATO violated their commitments by expanding east, refused to implement the new Minsk Agreements, and violated UN Security Council Resolution 2202, forcing Russia to take necessary measures to safeguard its own rights and interests.
`
Noting that China has always respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, Wang said that China recognizes the complex and special historical context of the Ukraine issue and understands Russia's legitimate security concerns.
`
China maintains that the Cold War mentality should be completely abandoned and a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism should be finally established through dialogue and negotiation, Wang said.
`
"China believes there should be mutual cooperation and sustainable security, and the reasonable security concerns of all parties concerned should be respected and solved," Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said during a press conference on Thursday.
`
China hopes all parties will not shut the door on peace, but continue negotiations and try to ease the situation as soon as possible, she said.
`
Some Chinese observers said the US has continued its intensive containment of Russia, for example, by implementing more sanctions, finally forcing Russia to try to realize its security demands in this drastic way.
`
Russian elites such as Putin and Deputy Chairman of Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev believe that the Ukraine issue has reached the point where it must be resolved.
`
"I believe Russia's military operation is a reaction by Moscow to Western countries' exertion of pressure on Russia for a long time, showing that Moscow can't tolerate it anymore," Yang Jin, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European, and Central Asian Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.
`
"As to how the situation will evolve, I think we need to spend more time to observe it. First thing first, we need to focus on the attitude of the US, on whether Washington will launch a direct war against Russia," he said, noting that everything depends on how NATO and the US will react.
`
If the entire military operation goes smoothly, Russia could reach its target of fully controlling Ukraine, and what worries NATO most is whether Russia will then carry out further operations again the three Baltic countries, namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Li Haidong, a professor from the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Thursday.
`
The US and NATO are now observing how the situation evolves. The US and NATO have been training Ukraine troops since 2014, and it's time to see if they will confront Russian troops and for how long they will fight them. "As long as Russia does not engage in military conflicts with NATO members, there won't be direct confrontation between NATO and US [on one side] and Russia [on the other]," Li said.

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Education woes in Malaysia, etc, act now to address the weaknesses!

Policies have been formulated to improve and facilitate teaching and learning at all levels, yet there are weaknesses in the system that need to be urgently addressed.

THE dismal performance of our students in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) in 2013, where 51.8 % of our 15-year old students failed to reach even the baseline level for Reading, Mathematics and Science, has rightly alarmed many concerned Malaysian parents and educationists.

It bears repeating that the quality of an education system simply cannot exceed the quality of its teachers, no matter how many billions of ringgit is used in educational development plans or blueprints to improve our school system.

Prominent lawyer, politician, columnist and author Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, could well be expressing the sentiments felt by many informed Malaysians when he wrote in his book I, Too, Am Malay, that many teachers, are “poor in quality” and the school curriculum is irrelevant while administrators are too political.

The fact that 70% of our English teachers failed to make the grade in the Cambridge Placement Test speaks volumes of why and how we continue to witness a decline in English proficiency in our schools and universities over the years.

If it is true that a large number of our teachers are incompetent, then policy-makers will have to get the views of all the major stakeholders, accept sound suggestions from various quarters, before they attempt to tinker with our school system.

M. Bakri Musa, columnist and author in his book An Education System Worthy of Malaysia, mentioned the greatest weakness of all our educational reforms is the government’s exclusive dependence on in-house or Education Ministry officers, who have somehow failed to improve the quality of our education system over the years, in spite of all their grand schemes.

Let’s review how effective, practical or meaningful the educational reforms have been at school level.

Motivating students

When the co-curricular points system was first implemented in our schools, it seemed like a good way to motivate our students to participate more actively in sports clubs and societies to make them well-rounded students.

In the first place, the system was never implemented in good faith.

Students sitting for the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) exams face a serious handicap when it comes to applying for admission to local universities for some degree courses compared to Matriculation students, who study for a shorter period of time and sit for their relatively easy internally-marked exam papers.

And as if things are not bad enough for STPM students, it looks like the co-curricular points system was designed to make university admission even easier for Matriculation students. The system enables them to secure high marks for co-curricular activities which account for 10% of the entry-score requirement for public university admission.

In matriculation colleges, students who participate in co-curricular activities among hostel block members are awarded marks meant for district level events, while students who compete in activities in college are awarded marks that are equivalent to state level grades. When students compete in inter-college events, they are accorded marks equivalent to that of national level!

Any wonder why so many SPM students choose not to do their Form Six?

The system is biased as it favours Matricu-lation students over STPM students. Moreover the chances of STPM students who score 4As getting courses of their choice at varsity level is also uncertain.

Considering the circumstances, many bright students simply don’t want to continue with Form Six.
Why experience the mental agony of getting 4As in the STPM exams only to be denied places for courses like medicine and pharmacy?

Let me reiterate that the STPM is a tougher exam and the co-curricular point system for matriculation students gives the latter an unfair advantage.

Research suggests that superior learning takes place when classroom experiences are enjoyable and relevant to students’ lives, interest and experiences.

As such, it is rather unfortunate that at a time when our education system is already failing to provide students with appropriate problem solving, critical and analytical skills and knowledge content, especially in Science and Mathematics, our policy-makers see it fit to make all students take up History (now made a compulsory subject to pass in the SPM exam).

Instead of learning world history and exposing our students to lessons we can learn from major historical events, much of our Form Four History textbooks are devoted to specific topics all in the name of promoting patriotism and national unity.

And why bother to introduce the SPM open certification exam in the first place when we have no real intention to offer our students real flexibility in their choice of subjects and electives based on their interests, abilities and aptitudes?

In his best seller, The World is Flat, Thomas L Friedman, points out that in today’s world, how children are educated may prove to be more important than how much they have to learn in school.

If what he says is true, why should we stifle our students’ initiative, curiosity and creativity by burdening them with uninspiring and even unnecessary subjects that have made school life such a dreadful and boring affair.

And yet, despite repeated calls to scrap Moral Education, such pleas have fallen on deaf ears. It has been pointed out that Moral Education, instead of exploring how we can effectively teach and test moral reasoning, only serves to indoctrinate our students and subjects them to mindless memorisation of core values.

To make things worse, our policy-makers decided that learning Moral Education was not good enough; in order to make our students more civic-conscious and patriotic, they went on to introduce yet another subject called “Civics and Citizenship” for our secondary school students from Form One in 2005.

Holistic development

Our national education philosophy emphasises holistic development of our students. That being the case, won’t Physical Education (PE) play an important role in producing physically fit and well-rounded students?

And yet with our students experiencing so much stress in their school life, they have to make do with just two periods for PE!

If that is not bad enough, some schools even use PE periods to teach “more important subjects” like Health Education. And what about our school-based assessment?

Various quarters have already pointed out that simply scrapping the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) exams to introduce the current school-based system may not necessarily serve to enhance learning and make school life more enjoyable for students.

When the school-based assessment system was introduced to schools in 2011, it was assumed that teachers would be able to assess their students’ abilities and potential.

But with so many “poor quality” teachers it will not be fair to assume that they are sufficiently equipped to evaluate their students based on internally-prepared assessments, that they take pains to assess their students properly, and that they are unbiased towards their students.

Well, that’s really a tall order. Already, we have heard stories from schools of incompetent and indifferent teachers teaching weak classes and yet awarding their students Band Six, no less, in their respective subjects!

And as usual, many schools are already resorting to buying workbooks in the market instead of getting their teachers to come up with their own worksheets and materials to assess their students, making a mockery of introducing the school-based assessment in the first place.

But we can’t blame the teachers, not when they are burdened with so much paperwork and keying data online into the SPPBS (Sistem Pengurusan Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah).

It is worth noting that our current school-based assessment at the end of the day, is not much different to the A-B-C-D-E grade system or even the Percentage Score system. So why should teachers need to waste time with the banding exercise when in their daily dealings they can easily discern the band(s) the students actually deserve for the topics taught?

Wouldn’t it be better to reflect on their teaching approaches and enhance their professional knowledge, rather than waste time with paperwork and keying data?

It is about time to address the problems facing our education system.

For a start, the government should really grant greater autonomy to good schools in both urban and rural areas to adopt a broad-based curriculum, save for a few core subjects under the supervision of the Education Ministry, to let students learn what they ought to learn in today’s challenging world.

Get dynamic school principals to manage such schools and empower them to make decisions on matters related to school operations with the participation of parents and the local school communities.

If the principals are allowed to hire competent teaching staff, and be accountable for their performance, then we stand a better chance to improve our education system at the school level, specially when we are in a position to compare the performance of such autonomous schools with our national schools.

And with so many parents paying for tuition lessons these days, they would gladly pay school fees to get their children to study in such autonomous schools.

When such schools, gain a good reputation, the tuition syndrome will slowly die and more parents would choose to place their children in such schools rather than vernacular or international schools, resulting in a win-win situation!

With the current rot in the school system, the authorities should no longer be so protective over their turf. They must have the courage to admit the serious shortcomings of their policies and display greater commitment to think out of the box. It is now in the hands of the ministry to make it all happen.


 Contributed by Henry Soon - The Star/Asia News Network

The writer, a retired teacher, is still passionate about education. He hopes the Education Ministry will be bold enough to bring about changes for the greater good of students, teachers and parents.

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