It is a small world

The world is actually quite small

EVERY week, I go to the nearby wet market to stock up on provisions. One of the stalls I have to stop by is run by a young man who knows that I am there to collect my weekly quota of 20 kampung eggs.

Recently I asked him if he might want to consider starting up an online service to provide home delivery to his regular customers. After all, even the major hypermarkets are going big time in providing such a service to tap into the trend of people being so busy that grocery shopping needs another approach.

His reply tells me once again that true wisdom rests among ordinary people who truly know what the real world is all about. You can grab quotations from wise men and manage­ment gurus but sometimes the real gems are from people like my egg seller.

He basically told me that it is better for me to come out and get the chance to meet people rather than stay in the house. Every moment in any public area, he said, is fresh and unpredictable.

“You can bump into people you have not met for a long time or come across something interesting that cheers you up when you are feeling down,” he said.

The egg seller is correct to say that every moment in public is fresh and unpredictable. I have always believed that nothing happens by chance. Some call it divine appointments but it is this connection of one human to another that opens up a myriad of possibilities.

Through such encounters, we learn that the world is actually quite small once we start connecting the dots and learn that the person we have just met is actually not quite a stranger after all.

As much as I love the written word, I find that it is the spoken word, with all the body language appended, that conveys the true meaning of what we want to say.

To tell someone you are sorry through a card is easy even if you do not really mean it. But to say you are sorry up close and personal, you’d better mean what you say or else.

Those who are less socially inclined than I am will disagree when I say that we are not created to be solitary beings. We need company to flourish in thought and in deed.

We can talk about feeling the pulse of the people and of being connected to the grassroots, but if we are only doing so from the comfort of our living room or office, we will never get the real picture.

Some of the things I read online will make me think there is absolutely no hope left in the country, but when I am out there, I realise that this is just not the case.

Take a ride on the bus or the LRT, drop in to see a friend at the hospital, take a walk around the neighbourhood, have a chat with the grasscutter ...

Then you will learn that the world we live in is a wonderful place because the people make it so.

And we do so by not merely looking out for our own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

In this season of Christmas, it is my hope that we do our part to reach out and love one another. We can, and we will, make a difference.

Contributed by Soo Ewe Jin. He wishes all Christian readers a blessed Christmas with a gentle reminder that this is the season not only for giving but for forgiving as well.

Related posts:

1.  Investing in things that count 

2. Kopitiam, truly Malaysia Boleh!

3. Give but be gracious in receiving as well

Get pay from spying?

Whistleblowing hero: Germans holding up pictures of Snowden while protesting in front of the Reichstag building which houses the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) in Berlin . — AFP

Heavy-duty spying does not pay 

The hidden costs, and the controversy, of the massive US global spying operation keep on growing.

IF officials behind the US-based “Five Eyes” spying network had hoped the scandal would soon fade away, their obvious disappointment should be an object lesson about their excesses and abuses.



US, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand spies – together with their Singaporean and South Korean co-conspirators – had violated the implicit trust placed in their governments by friendly and ally nations around the world.

Former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden had exposed how the conspirators had tapped into fibre-optic cables in 20 locations worldwide and infiltrated 50,000 computer networks.

This unprecedented scale of spying makes no distinction between friend and foe. It has provoked questions about the value of being a friend or “ally” of these Western countries.

Countries in the world’s main regions have routinely been spied on: Europe, East Asia, West Asia and Latin America. The spying exceeds all norms of intelligence gathering to target the personal cell phones of national leaders, from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and even his wife Ibu Ani Yudhoyono.

Snowden’s leaks reveal that Spain, for example, had been spied on so much as to have 20 million phone calls tapped each day. For the US authorities to insist that it was all for the sake of fighting terrorism is too much of a stretch.

The spying covers economic as well as political purposes. It was revealed that a foreign government’s confidential information picked up from spying is also used to give an unfair advantage to US companies against other companies in bids for international contracts.

Today’s supercomputers can do a lot of work in very little time. The ones used in the US global spying scheme apparently had very little ethical human supervision, precisely because that was the intention.

It has long been a “given” that all countries gather intelligence, to varying degrees, through some of their diplomats, expatriates and other undercover operatives. The extent of this activity also varies with the distance in relations between the spying country and the one spied upon.

Between friendly countries, discussions on issues of common interest and concern are the means of updating one another on events. Excessively intrusive and invasive spying, however, such as the kind Snowden has revealed, is supposed to be for untrustworthy governments and enemy nations.

Such universal perceptions and expectations lie at the heart of the current spying controversy. There is little wonder that countries so sordidly spied on take the matter so seriously.

Such spying shows the United States would enforce its will on all other countries, as opposed to sharing information between equal partners with mutual respect. It also implies that rules will be made by the US alone.

At the bilateral meeting in Jakarta during the week between Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Susilo, Malaysia declared full support for Indonesia in placing the spying scandal on the agenda of the next Asean Summit in Myanmar.

In seeking a satisfactory corrective for spying intrusions that breach all known limits, granting a regional profile to the problem is the least that Indonesia and Malaysia can do. Thailand is another Asean country targeted by these spies operating in part from the respective Australian embassies.

France and Germany are particularly outraged by “Five Eyes” snooping. Italy, the Netherlands and Spain are also concerned, as the scandal unites political parties within individual nations as well as European countries throughout the EU – except for Britain.

The aggrieved countries find the excessive spying violating privacy rights, their national sovereignty as well as their domestic laws. US officials predictably reject its seriousness.

The EU now wants a new law requiring private IT companies to inform European regulators if a foreign snooping request is made on any European citizen. That effort could clash with an existing US law that bans any company whose “cooperation” is required from telling anyone.

The potential conflict would pit European determination against US intransigence. It would further test the trans-Atlantic alliance in the post-Cold War period.

As the initial leaks started to provoke European anger, clandestine efforts tried to dilute or divert the upset.

It was somehow also “leaked” that the French government had been spying on its own population, followed by allegations that the German government had known about and even used information obtained by US-connected spies. The truth of these “mitigating” leaks was, however, less clear.

As expected, such efforts at damage control had a very limited effect. The harm perpetrated by US-led spying on the trust, goodwill and relations with Europe was far more serious, and remains a main feature in the foreground.

In Latin America “south of the border”, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela are particularly disturbed by US-led spying activities. Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay are also concerned.

Several of these countries have already offered asylum to Snowden, who hopes to avoid prosecution in the US after his current one-year asylum stay in Russia. The more Washington pressures and threatens these countries, the more keen they are to protect whistleblowers like Snowden.

The Union of South American Nations (Unasur) is currently working on a new, alternative communications system that will cut the prospect of US spying in the region. As a sign of seriousness, the region’s defence ministers who form Unasur’s defence council are tasked with developing the new system.

Unasur’s 12 member countries may be disadvantaged in lacking sophisticated technological inputs for the system. However, they also enjoy certain advantages in a renewed unity, determination and strength of purpose.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, whose email had been hacked by US spies, has accused Washington of violating human rights and crime. Four days ago, she followed this with a defence procurement contract that spelt out clearly where Brazil stood.

Capping a 10-year plan, Rousseff announced on Wednesday that Brazil would buy 36 of Sweden’s Saab Gripen fighter jets instead of Boeing’s F/A-18s in replacing the air force’s ageing fleet. Brazil had bargained the price down from US$6bil (RM19.8bil) to US$4.5bil (RM14.8bil).

US officials privately grumbled over having lost “a US$4bil deal” but in fact the cost of NSA spying on Brazil is almost twice that. Boeing’s price for the F/A-18s was US$7.5bil (RM24.7bil).

Over the longer term, the cost to the US economy is likely to grow if Washington does not or cannot seriously mend its ways. US-based companies like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft are often seen by other countries as part of the problem in having to comply with US laws and demands.

Unasur is already showing the way forward by working on an alternative. In time, other regions like Europe and countries such as Russia, India and China may also develop their own communications systems and software, taking more business away from US companies.

In the short term it is always tempting to blame the messenger such as Edward Snowden rather than the problematic nature of the message itself. Ironically, the development of modern communications has raised awareness of privacy and sovereignty rights – and of their violations.

To level the playing field, IT development as well as spying activities may need to become more equalised. By serving the greater interests of the greater number, that would be democratisation indeed.

Contributed by Bunn Nagara, who is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, The Star/Asia News Network

Related posts:

1. 2013 the year of Internet innovation
2. You are being snooped on, Malaysia views US-NSA spying seriously!
3.US, Britain spying on virtual world, agents pose as gamers..
4. Educate public on changes in e-technology, CAP urg...
5..USA Spying, the Super-Snooper !
6. NSA secretly hacks, intercepts Google, Yahoo daily...
7. Abusing intelligence is stupid
8. Brazil attacks US over spying issue
9. US Spy Snowden Says U.S. Hacking China Since 2009
10. Upset over US cyber spying! 
11. No privacy on the Net !
12. US building new spy wing to focus on Asia 

2013 the year of Internet innovation

A man uses his smartphone to take a picture of a person wearing a mask of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden during a protest in Berlin, July 4, 2013.

As the year comes to a close, we need to reflect on what are the most important things that have affected our lives in 2013.

The Internet continues to transform our world. The most significant Internet event in 2013 was not the listing of Facebook, which priced the company at $104 billion (almost Bt3.4 trillion), but Edward Snowden's July revelations of Internet surveillance, which revealed that Big Brother, friend or foe, is really watching. Since my smartphone is smart enough to track me even in the toilet, there is really no privacy left in this world.

On the plus side, Singles Day - November 11 - garnered 35 billion yuan (Bt187 billion) in online sales on one day in China. Since China already accounts for one-third of the smartphones in the world, and they can make and sell smartphones at one-third the price of Apple or Samsung, it is not surprising that e-commerce in the Middle Kingdom is set to overtake even the US in volume next year.

Online business is here to stay.

What the combination of the Internet and smartphone means is that a person in the remotest part of Indonesia can sell his or her product to buyers worldwide, and collect over the smartphone, which was impossible to imagine even 20 years ago.

Amazing also are the apps downloaded in their millions to maximise personal efficiency. Ease of personal communication, meanwhile, has been taken to a new level with apps like WeChat. Such free Internet services are rising so fast that even revenue from SMS text messages is slowing down.

On the other side, after Snowden, what must consider the proper role of the government in the Internet and how it should behave to encourage Web innovation and growth?

Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz was one of the first to tackle the subject, in "The Role of Government in a Digital Age" (2000), with Peter and Jonathan Orzag. Their report recommended 12 principles. The first three cover the state's proper role in the affairs of the Internet:

1. Provide public data and information.

2. Improve efficient government services.

3. Support basic research.

The next six principles are areas where the government should exercise caution. These include:

4. Adding specialised value to public data and information.

5. Providing private goods only under limited circumstances.

6. Providing services online where private services are more efficient.

7. Ensuring that mechanisms exist to protect privacy, security, and consumer protection online.

8. Promoting network externalities only with great deliberation and care.

9. Maintaining proprietary information or exercising rights under patents or copyright.

The report also signalled "red light" areas of state intervention in the Internet:

10. Governments should exercise substantial caution in entering markets in which private sector firms are active

11. Governments (including government corporations) should generally not aim to maximise net revenues or take action that would reduce competition.

12. Government should only be allowed to provide goods or services for which appropriate privacy and conflict-of-interest protections have been erected.

The Stiglitz-Orzag report was written for the US market, but the general principles are useful guides for all states. The trouble is that Snowden showed that the US government might have failed to follow some of these guidelines. We do know that governments are becoming increasingly intrusive on the Internet, and that such intrusion inhibits competition and innovation.

Because the Internet is evolving very fast, the role of government in Web affairs also needs to evolve. Businesses are becoming even more service and information-oriented, with increasing numbers going digital and in the "Cloud". This means that governments are struggling with three major issues: protecting private privacy, ensuring a level playing field in competition, and taxing online activities.

Governments must also sort out jurisdictional duties and powers, because the Cloud is global, and taxation and regulation is not only national, but departmental. It is as if each small part of the bureaucracy is trying to regulate the whole Cloud. We can all touch and feel its power, but there is no overall central authority that can control the Cloud.

An island nation in the Pacific might pass a law on the Cloud, but could it enforce it?

Individual privacy is being threatened by the practice of hacking, and the biggest hackers are not bedroom-bound nerds, but governments everywhere.

The second problem of a level playing field is a serious one. If Google has maps and can monitor everything I do through my smartphone, does that information belong to Google or to me? If it belongs to the large platforms, does that not confer a huge informational advantage on them? How can governments ensure that there is a level playing field between these massive online platforms and the small businesses that have no such information or may have to pay the platform for it?

The third area is taxation. Online commerce has escaped the tax radar because it is new. In contrast, bricks-and-mortar shops have rents, create jobs and pay value-added taxes. If everything moves online, the government loses the ability to tax, and bricks-and-mortar retail shops will complain they are losing out to larger and larger platforms. Bookshops around the world are closing in droves now that everyone can order through Amazon.

There are no easy answers to these tough questions. The interdependent and interconnected nature of the Internet means that regulatory or government action in one part may affect the system as a whole. In other words, government action or non-action creates a shadow system - the business moves offline, offshore or into cyberspace.

What we need is better transparency, better education, wider access and also some key principles of fair competition that should be enforced for online business to innovate.

Finally, a year-end reminder: use your smartphone in the toilet, and someone (not Snowden) can hear you flush. Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all.

Contributed by Andrew Sheng, President of the Fung Global Institute.

Related posts:
1. You are being snooped on, Malaysia views US-NSA spying seriously!
2.US, Britain spying on virtual world, agents pose as gamers..
3. Educate public on changes in e-technology, CAP urg...
4..USA Spying, the Super-Snooper !
5. NSA secretly hacks, intercepts Google, Yahoo daily...
6. Abusing intelligence is stupid
7. Brazil attacks US over spying issue
8. US Spy Snowden Says U.S. Hacking China Since 2009
9. Upset over US cyber spying! 
10. No privacy on the Net !
11. US building new spy wing to focus on Asia

Learn and look to China for space technology

The Jade Rabbit moon rover is seen in a picture taken by a camera on board the Chang'e-3 probe lander on December 15, 2013 (CCTV/AFP, CCTV)

IT was a fitting tribute to China for successfully landing a lunar rover on the moon on Dec 14.
The Chinese people must be proud of their achievement for it was the Chinese who invented the gun powder which was a precursor to the rocket.

Not only China, but all developing countries or the Third World shared the joy and achievement which was thought impossible to be achieved by a developing country.

Being a superpower, it is only right that China should take its place beside the United States and Russia in space exploration.

The country has come a long way since the infamous Cultural Revolution to show its might in science and technology.

It has paved the way for other developing countries to emulate China’s feat, which may not ­necessarily be in space exploration.

The successful lunar rover touched down “... on an ancient 400km wide plain ...” has restored the great civilisation that it had, long before other countries had invented rudimentary science and technology.

By landing its lunar probe on the moon, China had put smiles on all her past emperors and leaders who had painstakenly built the great nation which is now the envy of many.

Perhaps Malaysia will now look at China too besides the US and Russia in acquiring space technology by sending more students and scientists there.

Since the bamboo curtain has been dismantled, there is much that China can offer Malaysia in space science.


By HASSAN TALIB Gombak, Selangor, Malaysia

China 'ready' to launch Mars mission

Photo: Xinhua

China is likely to expand its horizon in space travel by possible Mars exploration, expert said.

After the unmanned Chang'e-3 successfully completed its soft-landing on the moon, people from both home and abroad have been wondering whether China will send probes to Mars, which has become a key goal for many foreign space organizations.

According to the chief designer of China's lunar probe program, Wu Weiren, China is ready.

"We have the potential to go there in the wake of the successes of the Chang'e-1 and Chang'e-2 missions," Wu said at a news conference held in Beijing on Tuesday, adding that the final decision is up to the government, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"We follow our own approach that respects stable progress and dislikes rash and reckless moves," he said. "We don't want to compete with any country in this regard."

Wu added that the Long March-5 rocket series with the maximum thrust of 1,100 tons can ensure the sending of a Martian probe.

"In terms of the carrying capacity of the rocket and the tracking and control system, China is capable of sending Martian probes," Pang Zhihao, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Pang said that the two deep space monitoring stations in China have shown their ability tracking Chang'e 2, which is about 64 million kilometers from Earth.

"But China still needs to build deep space monitoring stations abroad to make up for blind measurements to track deep space detectors round the clock," Pang said.

Furthermore, as scientists around the world have been exploring the possibility of living on the moon, the research on bioregenerative life support systems, which hold much promise for planetary bases, has been conducted in China.

The Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics has recently been praised for its work on closed ecological systems suitable for growing plants in outer space, according to the university's website.

Wu also noted that compared with the US spending 2 to 2.5 percent of GDP on its lunar exploration program at that time, China's input - only a few ten-thousands of the country's GDP - is not very much.

Besides, only about 40 percent of the 118 lunar probe attempts by the US and the Soviet Union during the space race in the 1960s and 1970s had been successful, while China's Chang'e-1 to Chang'e-3 missions have all succeeded, he said.

Although China has not officially announced any intention to fly a human mission to the moon, the door is now open and - if they have the will - nothing will stand in their way, said James Longuskian, associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics .

Contributed By Fang Yang Global Times

 Related post:

China's lunar probe Chang'e-3 landing on the Moon a success

Five tech-powered changes in next five years, IBM predicted

Technology stalwart IBM on Tuesday predicted classrooms getting to know students and doctors using DNA to customize care are among five big changes on the horizon.

IBM said that its annual forecast of five ways technology will change lives in the coming five years was "driven by a new era of cognitive systems where machines will learn, reason and engage with us in a more natural and personalized way."

And while software evolves to "think" in ways similar to the human brain, computing power and troves of data kept handy in the Internet "cloud" will enable machines to power innovations in classrooms, local shops, doctors' offices, city streets and elsewhere, according to the firm behind the Watson computer that triumphed on US television game show Jeopardy.

"Over time these computers will get smarter and more customized through interactions with data, devices and people, helping us take on what may have been seen as unsolvable problems by using all the information that surrounds us and bringing the right insight or suggestion to our fingertips right when it's most needed," IBM contended.

Predictions for the coming five years included "classrooms of the future" equipped with systems that track and analyze each student's progress to tailor curriculum and help teachers target learning techniques.

"Basically, the classroom learns you," IBM vice president of innovation Bernie Meyerson told AFP. "It is surprisingly straight-forward to do."

In another prediction, IBM sees retail shops large or small blending online and real-world storefronts with 'Watson-like' technologies and augmented reality.

Also, doctors will tailor treatments using patient DNA, according to Meyerson.

"Knowing your genetic make-up lets you sort through a huge variety of treatment options and determine the best course to follow," he said.

"They don't have to carpet bomb your body to treat cancer," Meyerson continued. "There is the ability to tailor the attack to improve the efficacy against cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched."

Smart machines tapping into the Internet cloud will also be able to serve as "digital guardians" protecting people from hackers by recognizing unusual online behavior, such as shopping binges at dubious websites, and spying scam email messages or booby-trapped links.

"The digital guardian will know you are not someone who goes to a poker site and tops off your account," Meyerson said. "Not only does it shut down the behavior, but it tracks it back to who is doing it and passes the information on to authorities."

The final prediction was that cities will weave social networks, smartphones, sensors, and machine learning to better manage services and build relationships with citizens.

"The city will help you live in it," Meyerson said. "There is a new generation of leaders coming in who are extremely tech savvy and making good use of it."

Sources: AFP-Times

Asian students dominate global exam; Are the Chinese cheating in PISA or are we cheating ourselves?

Memento: In this file photo, parents take pictures of their children outside a high school in Beijing after they finished their national college exams. — AP

AS a ninth-grader, Shanghai’s Li Sixin spent more than three hours on homework a night and took tutorials in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry on the weekends.

When she was tapped to take an exam last year given to half a million students around the world, Sixin breezed through it. “I felt the test was just easy,” said Sixin, who was a student at Shanghai Wenlai Middle School at the time and now attends high school.

The long hours which focused on schoolwork — and a heavy emphasis on test-taking skills — help explain why young students like Sixin in China’s financial hub once again dominated an international test for 15-year-olds called the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa).

Students from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan — all from Asia — were right behind. In the wealthy city of Shanghai, where affluent families can afford to pay for tutors, the results are not representative of China overall, although they are ranked as a group alongside national averages for countries such as the United States and Japan.

Still, they are indicative of education trends in China and elsewhere in Asia — societies where test results determine entrance into prestigious universities and often one’s eventual career path.

Shanghai scored an average of 613 on Maths, as compared with the nearest rival Singapore (573), and the global average of 494. Hong Kong ranked third in Maths, scoring 561, while Japan was ranked seventh and scored 536. The test is given every three years.

In China, educators say hard work is key to their students’ impressive showing. “They listen carefully in the class and do their homework,” said Bai Bing, the headmaster of Sixin’s school, where about 40 students were chosen to take the global test.

Still, Chinese educational experts say the results are at most partial and covers up shortcomings in creating well-rounded, critical thinking individuals. “This should not be considered a pride for us because overall, it still measures one’s test-taking ability. You can have the best answer for a theoretical model but can you build a factory on a test paper?” asked Xiong Binqi, a Shanghai-based scholar on education.

“The biggest criticism is that China’s education has sacrificed everything else for test scores, such as life skills, character building, mental health, and physical health,” said Xiong.

“Shanghai is an exception, and it is by no means representative of China,” said Jiang Xueqin, deputy principal at the High School Attached to Tsinghua University in Beijing. “It’s an international city where its residents pay great attention to education and where there are many universities.”

Affluent Shanghai parents annually spend an average of 6,000 yuan (RM3,190) on English and Math tutors and 9,600 yuan (RM5,100) on weekend lessons.

Shanghai Normal University president Zhang Minxuan said Pisa does not measure students’ social abilities, physical health and aesthetics, and he cautioned against extrapolating to the rest of the country.

“Shanghai students’ top placement in Pisa is no proof of equal development of education in China,” he said, as reported by Shanghai Education News. “There’s no denying, China’s education still has a long way to go.”

By Didi Tang — AP
  
Are the Chinese cheating in PISA or are we cheating ourselves?

Andreas Schleicher

Whenever an American or European wins an Olympic gold medal, we cheer them as heroes. When a Chinese does, the first reflex seems to be that they must have been doping; or if that's taking it too far, that it must have been the result of inhumane training.

There seem to be parallels to this in education. Only hours after results from the latest PISA assessment showed Shanghai's school system leading the field, Time magazine concluded the Chinese must have been cheating. They didn't bother to read the PISA 2012 Technical Background Annex, which shows there was no cheating, whatsoever, involved. Nor did they speak with the experts who had drawn the samples or with the international auditors who had carefully reviewed and validated the sample for Shanghai and those of other countries.

Others were quick to suggest that resident internal migrants might not be covered by Shanghai's PISA sample, because years ago those migrants wouldn't have had access to Shanghai's schools. But, like many things in China, that has long changed and, as described by PISA, resident migrants were covered by the PISA samples in exactly the way they are covered in other countries and education systems. Still, it seems to be easier to cling to old stereotypes than keep up with changes on the ground (or to read the PISA report).

True, like other emerging economies, Shanghai is still building its education system and not every 15-year-old makes it yet to high school. As a result of this and other factors, the PISA 2012 sample covers only 79 per cent of the 15-year-olds in Shanghai. But that is far from unique. Even the United States, the country with the longest track record of universal high-school education, covered less than 90 per cent of its 15-year-olds in PISA – and it didn't include Puerto Rico in its PISA sample, a territory that is unlikely to have pulled up US average performance.

International comparisons are never easy and they are never perfect. But anyone who takes a serious look at the facts and figures will concede that the samples used for PISA result in robust and internationally comparable data. They have been carefully designed and validated to be fit for purpose in collaboration with the world's leading experts, and the tests are administered under strict and internationally comparable conditions. Anyone who really wants to find out can review the underlying data.

Short of arguments about methodology, some people turn to dismissing Shanghai's strong performance by saying that Shanghai's students are only good on the kind of tasks that are easy to teach and easy to test, and that those things are losing in relevance because they are also the kind of things that are easy to digitise, automate and outsource. But while the latter is true, the former is not. Consider this: Only 2 per cent of American 15-year-olds and 3 per cent of European ones reach the highest level of math performance in PISA, demonstrating that they can conceptualise, generalise and use math based on their investigations and apply their knowledge in novel contexts. In Shanghai it is over 30 per cent. Educators in Shanghai have simply understood that the world economy will pay an ever-rising premium on excellence and no longer value people for what they know, but for what they can do with what they know.

PISA didn't just test what 15-year-olds know in mathematics, it also asked them what they believe makes them succeed. In many countries, students were quick to blame everyone but themselves: More than three-quarters of the students in France, an average performer on the PISA test, said the course material was simply too hard, two-thirds said the teacher did not get students interested in the material, and half said their teacher did not explain the concepts well or they were just unlucky. The results are very different for Shanghai. Students there believe they will succeed if they try hard and they trust their teachers to help them succeed. That tells us a lot about school education. And guess which of these two countries keeps improving and which is not? The fact that students in some countries consistently believe that achievement is mainly a product of hard work, rather than inherited intelligence, suggests that education and its social context can make a difference in instilling the values that foster success in education.

And even those who claim that the relative standing of countries in PISA mainly reflects social and cultural factors must concede that educational improvement is possible: in mathematics, countries like Brazil, Turkey, Mexico or Tunisia rose from the bottom; Italy, Portugal and the Russian Federation have advanced to the average of the industrialised world or close to it; Germany and Poland rose from average to good; and Shanghai and Singapore have moved from good to great. Indeed, of the 65 participating countries, 45 saw improvement in at least one subject area. These countries didn't change their culture, or the composition of their population, nor did they fire their teachers. They changed their education policies and practices. Learning from these countries should be our focus. We will be cheating ourselves and the children in our schools if we miss that chance.

International comparisons are never easy and they aren't perfect. But PISA shows what is possible in education, it takes away excuses from those who are complacent, and it helps countries see themselves in the mirror of the educational results and educational opportunities delivered by the world's leaders in education.
The world has become indifferent to tradition and past reputations, unforgiving of frailty and ignorant of custom or practice. Success will go to those individuals, institutions and countries which are swift to adapt, slow to complain and open to change. And the task for governments is to help citizens rise to this challenge. PISA can help to make that happen.

Andreas Schleicher is deputy director for Education and Skills, and special adviser on education policy to the OECD's Secretary General.

In response to criticisms and questions regarding the validity of high scores achieved by 15-year-olds from Shanghai, China, in the recent PISA assessment, he posted this article to the OECD's education blog http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.fr/.

Sources: The Sydney Morning Herald

Related post:
 Malaysia, US, UK and Australia lag in global education ranking as China and Asian countries rise to the top

China keeps an eye on Abe as Japan PM seeks to rally support from Asean

 Japanese PM Shinzo Abe BEIJING: The Chinese media kept a close eye on Tokyo as leaders from Asean countries gathered in Japan for the Japan-Asean Summit.

The three-day summit, which marks 40 years of ties between Japan and Asean, was seen as an opportunity for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to rally support against China.

In the latest episode of China-Japan feud, China has declared a new air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea, which overlapped the territory claimed by South Korea and Japan.

As expected, Abe brought up the restriction on freedom of flight during the summit in an indirect reference to China’s air defence zone.

A Japanese official reportedly quoted him as telling the Asean leaders that “moves to unilaterally change the status quo, moves to put restrictions on the international aviation order, which is built on freedom of flight, are strong concerns”.

Under the aircraft identification rules which came into effect on Nov 23, all foreign aircraft intending to enter the zone have to report their flight plans to the Chinese authority and adhere to relevant instructions once they enter the zone.

The Chinese officials reserve the rights to adopt defensive emergency measures when aircraft fail to abide by the identification rules or obey the instructions.

State news agency Xinhua said Japan’s inclusion of air zone safety as a key security issue in the summit was a move to “plant a poisonous thorn”.

In a commentary, it said Abe’s frequent visits to nations in the Asean regional bloc in the past one year aimed at roping in the countries to rein in China.

It criticised Japan of using the East China Sea and South China Sea territorial issues to cause chaos and discord within Asean and to undermine the relationship between Asean and its partners.

Global Times was in the opinion that Japan would not succeed in its bid to get Asean to confront China.

“No matter how Tokyo creates waves, it will not gain a strategic advantage over China in South-East Asia.

“No countries will confront China for the sake of a declining Japan. Even the US, Japan’s patron, has to maintain relations with China while keeping its support to Japan,” it wrote.

During the summit, Japan has promised ¥2 trillion (RM62.7bil) of loans and grants to the region over five years. The pledge was interpreted as an attempt to increase its influence.

Tang Chunfeng, an expert on Japanese issues in the Research Institute of the Chinese Commerce Ministry, told the Chinese version of Global Times that Asean countries viewed Japan as the “God of Prosperity” who is willing to give them money.

“They are reluctant to offend Japan, but at the same time, they will not let China bear a grudge against them. They are only using Japan.”

Tsinghua University’s Institute of Modern International Relations deputy director Liu Yongjiang added that Asean would not take sides in this issue.

“Most Asean countries want the region to develop in a stable and peaceful environment, but Japan is constantly causing trouble.

“It will worry the Asean countries and even lead to dissatisfaction,” he said.

Commenting on Abe’s remarks to gather support from the Asean countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said China is aware of the relevant reports.

“We believe that countries should not target a third party or undermine the interests of the third party when developing ties with each other.

“They should instead make efforts to maintain regional peace and stability,” he said in a press conference on Friday, the transcript of which was available on the ministry’s website.

Contributed by Tho Xin Yi The Star/Asia News Network


Don't make waves on China's ADIZ

If Tokyo truly seeks a peaceful and secure Asia-Pacific, then it is in its own interests to call off provocative moves over China's establishment of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

According to a recent news report, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is going to stage again its China-is-to-blame game at the summit of Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

It is also reported that Abe seeks to drag the ASEAN members into an agreement to counter Beijing in searching for "maritime and air security."

While, for the record, it is believed that anyone with only half a brain knows that it is Japan who intentionally set the region on fire in the first place.

Following its provocative purchase of China's Diaoyu Islands, Japan has wasted no time in trumpeting up the China-threat theory, and deliberately paints itself a victim of Beijing's development, which is in fact invigorating regional and global economic recovery.

Instead of chilling down the flaring regional tension of its own making and ending the decades-long economic stagnation, the cunning Abe administration has labored to drive wedges between China and its regional partners and neighbors.

Many might wonder why Japan chooses to bury its relations with China half dead over building up mutually beneficial partnership with Beijing, which would mean greater business and trade opportunities?

While, the truth is, Mr. Abe and his government have done their own calculations, but only with a flaw that could backfire.

For decades, an economically-strong Japan has attempted strenuously to return itself to the ranks of a "normal country," and become an influential power by shaking off military expansion yokes forged by the pacifist constitution in the wake of Japan's defeat in the Second World War.

To that end, a number of Japanese administrations have been expanding its military powers, buying votes for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and denying its history of aggression.

The smarty-pants right-wing Japanese politicians also believed that their ambitions for the comeback of their hegemonic role in the region would be categorically concealed as long as it can promote China's growth a threat to the US national interests, and safety and security of other regional countries.

In fact, Tokyo has made so big a mistake that its inflammatory moves have already efficiently worried or enraged many of its neighbors. It seems to have forgotten that a constructive relationship with countries around it is the first step toward the final destination of a normal country.

If keep missing that point, Japan, which can never move out of Asia, can now kiss good-bye to its "big dreams."

Against the backdrop of world peace and global integration, China welcomes closer ties between Japan and ASEAN, and Tokyo's active participation in the regional integration process. However, Japan should never jeopardize China's interests and relations with any other third party.

As for China's establishment of ADIZ, it is just, reasonable and complies with international practices, and Beijing's normal growth of national defense capacity does not pose a threat to any country.

Beijing always advocates resolving territorial and maritime disputes through dialogue, yet it will never allow any country to infringe upon its territorial sovereignty.

Therefore, if history is too embarrassed for politicians in Tokyo to face, they should at least face the facts on the ground and start to pursue its national agenda in a rational manner. - Xinhua

Abe targets China at Asean Summit  

 China is expected to top the agenda at this weekend's summit between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as Tokyo seeks a united front against China's newly established Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and aims to restore its influence in Southeast Asia.

The Japan-ASEAN summit in Tokyo, starting Friday, is held to commemorate Japan's 40-year ties with the group.

It comes after China's setting up of the ADIZ over the East China Sea and amid speculation that a similar zone would be imposed over the South China Sea, where several ASEAN countries are locked in territorial disputes with Beijing.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wasted no time in seeking support from ASEAN countries.

During a meeting with visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday, Abe reiterated his criticism of China's ADIZ. According to Japan's Kyodo News, Najib expressed his understanding of Japan's protest.

A draft statement for the leaders "stresses the importance of freedom of flight through airspace over the high seas, as recognized by international law," Kyodo reported last week. The document reportedly does not single out China.

"Abe intends to defame China and pile up international censure on Beijing," Gao Hong, a deputy director with the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Acedemy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times, but noted it is doomed to failure.

Citing the fact that even the US didn't stand up to demand a revoke of the zone as Japan had wished, Gao said it is unimaginable that ASEAN, who have benefited from China's good neighborly diplomacy, would act in accordance with Tokyo's will.

Zhang Yunling, director of the Institute for International Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that while ASEAN is counting on Japan to counterbalance a rising China, they wouldn't accept statements that explicitly criticize Beijing.

Responding to the Japan-ASEAN summit, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei on Thursday said that China hopes relevant countries will not target a third party and harm the interests of the third party.

The summit is the second of its kind between Japan and ASEAN. Zhang said, compared to the first summit held in 2003, this year's summit also eyes competing with China over influence in Southeast Asia.

While Japan used to hold a big sway in the region, China has surpassed it in recent years and is ASEAN's largest trade partner.

In a bid to restore Japan's influence, Abe has visited all 10 ASEAN members  since taking office a year ago, bringing a raft of business deals and aid to the region, while pushing for joint action to "maintain regional peace."

Abe plans to announce at the summit this weekend that Japan will extend 320 billion yen ($3.1 billion) worth of aid to boost disaster prevention and cultural exchange with ASEAN, Kyodo reported on Thursday.

On the sidelines of the summit, Cambodia and Japan are expected to sign four deals including defense cooperation and Japanese assistance for Cambodian road and hospital development.

Reuters reported that Japan is also going to pledge a post-typhoon loan to the Philippines of some 10 billion yen.

Hu Lingyuan, a professor with the Center for Japanese Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times that Southeast Asia is only second to the US in Japan's diplomatic priorities.

"In recent years, Japan has been using territorial disputes in the East China Sea and South China Sea to draw Vietnam and the Philippines to its side. It is also helping the US to lower China's influence in Myanmar," Hu said, noting the aim is to exert political pressure against China and reap economic benefits.

Although dwarfed by China in trade, Japan has more investment in and contributes more aid to ASEAN, Zhang said, noting "therefore ASEAN countries are willing to maintain close ties with Japan and use the rift between Tokyo and Beijing to maximize their own gains."

Sidebar: Abe's 10-country tour of 2013

January 16, Vietnam

The two countries reached economic and security agreements. Japan will provide $500 million in new loans.

January 17, Thailand

The two countries agreed to strengthen economic and security cooperation.

January 18, Indonesia

The two countries discussed economic and security issues, including the East China Sea.

May 24-26, Myanmar

Japan endorsed Myanmar's reform program by writing off nearly $2 billion in debt and extending new aid worth $400 million.

July 25, Malaysia,

The two agreed to cooperate in high technology such as high-speed rail, water and waste treatment. They will also collaborate in finance and security in the Malacca Strait.

July 26, Singapore

Abe said he intends to promote "strategic diplomacy" in the region, particularly with an eye to strengthening ties and its economic partnership with ASEAN.

July 27, Philippines

Japan agreed to provide 10 patrol boats for its coast guard to help counter recent maritime advances by China.

October 9, Brunei

At the 16th ASEAN-Japan summit in Brunei, Abe called for security cooperation with Asia-Pacific nations "with which we share fundamental values."

November 15, Cambodia

Japan offers support in investment, democratic reform and health, while promoting it will "proactively contribute to the regional peace and stability."

November 16, Laos

The two decided to seek the launch of a security dialogue framework. Japan agreed to provide infrastructure and medical aid.

By Yang Jingjie - Global Times