Dear all,

Just posted below comment at Tun Mahathir's blog.

Dear PM Tun Dr Mahathir,

I am delighted to read a true voice of hope and reason from Dr Sharifah MunirahAlatas
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2020/02/15/what-ails-our-universities/

And I quote from her article:
“Recent discourses about revamping our higher education system have included the following: critical thinking, empowerment, humanistic values, future proof graduates and improvising teaching methods.”

Many Malaysians understood “critical thinking” as the ability to criticise something, and “future proof” as being immune from the future. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Politicians, civil servants, parents and civil society activists have uttered these concepts too often. They lament that our education system has failed.

Our leaders say we are a society devoid of critical thinkers. They swear blindly that Malaysians are left behind due to our inability to improvise in this age of rapid technological innovations.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said that the developed world uses English to their advantage, but we have not.

Critics also claim that developed nations are more scientific and technology minded, because they have the ability to think critically.

Innovation, improvisation and critical thinking have always been used in discourses of scientific, technological, technical and vocational education.

A “future proof” graduate with “humanistic values” would have acquired adequate and sustainable mental, spiritual and practical skills by now. Yet it seems the narrative we are familiar with does not tally with the reality, due to our misunderstanding of the fundamentals.

Malaysians can be globally competitive and widely respected if we decide to be consistent in the fundamentals. These fundamentals have not been mentioned as openly, but they are crucial to whether we surge ahead or fall further behind.” Unquote

The question that begs to be answered is what is the Malaysia’s narrative we are familiar with but does not tally with the reality; due to our misunderstanding of the fundamentals? (The narrative of “Race and Religion Supremacy/Ketuanan”)

We spend billions in public fund every year on education and religiosity and what we produced are a nation which is unsure of itself, people who are fractious, suspicious, resentment, disenchantment, angry and at odd with each other. Worst of all, we produced leaders of shameless kleptocrat, hypocrite, immoral, prejudice and bigotry with followers of pseudo-academics, inner barbarians, privileged bullies, highly-entitled thugs and sick minded bigots.

I hope Tun and our PH’s government has the correct fundamentals for nation building and reset our nation narrative to, “Inclusiveness and meaningful spiritual understanding of the religion”

Let’s start by educating each individual from young that each and every one of us is unique, regardless of our creeds, beliefs and faith. We will never have two alike; hence we must appreciate each other and live every moment. When we begin to appreciate each other and every moment, we will have a heart so open, an understanding so beautiful, and a yearning for appreciation so complete that when that moment comes.... we see exactly what it is. BECAUSE THE EYES CANNOT SEE WHAT THE MIND DOES NOT KNOW!

In this age of Google and Wikipedia – Let’s us not shortchange and cheat our children by funding futile way of outdated learning through memorization, rote learning and scripture recital which takes priority over cultivating curiosity, creativity and critical thinking.

Children need to learn more on Socratic Method of questioning (cultivate curiosity), Plato's Cave (the habit of thinking out-of-the-box) and Epicurus (systematic examination of factual claims). Teach them how to use their own brain more effectively, creatively and critically, so that they can adapt to the fast changing global technocratic landscape in order to survive independently; without anyone dictating to them the list of 'dos' and 'don'ts' throughout their adulthood.

Good critical thinking is the foundation of science and democracy. Science requires the critical use of reason in experimenting and hypotheses ratification. The proper functioning of a liberal democracy requires citizens who can think critically about social issues to inform their judgments about proper governance and to overcome bias and prejudices.

A critical thinker is able to deduce consequences from what he knows, and he knows how to make use of information to solve problems, and to seek relevant sources of information to inform himself without being influenced/spoon-fed by a busybody second or third party. Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man How To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime!

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following:
1. Understand the logical connections between ideas
2. Identify, construct and evaluate arguments
3. Detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
4. Solve problems systematically
5. Identify the relevance and importance of ideas
6. Reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values

Let us pray that there are more educators like Dr Sharifah Munirah Alatas comes forward to lead the society. When leaders fail to lead then society must be more vocal and take the lead for change and make the leaders follow.

Thank you

Yours truly,

SS LEE

P/S: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/sharifah-munirah-alatas/god-created-diversity,-it-is-ungodly-to-criticise-it/d/121002