Blacklist the errant and greedy developer who destroyed old building in Penang

What a shame: A file photo of the entrance to the Prai market in Butterworth before it was demolished.

State govt wants firm which tore down market barred from building in Penang

GEORGE TOWN: The state government wants the developer who demolished the Prai market barred from undertaking future projects in Penang as well as disciplinary action against the police officer and lawyer for allegedly colluding with the builder.

Deputy Chief Minister ll Dr P. Ramasamy said the developer must be blacklisted and prevented from building in Penang for tearing down the 76-year-old market.

He said action must also be taken against the police officer whom he alleged had colluded with the developer during the demolition on May 17.

“I have written to the Penang police chief (Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Abdul Rahim Hanafi) and the Home Ministry to investigate and take action against the police officer.

“I personally want the developer prosecuted and jailed and disciplinary action taken against the police officer who abetted the demolition which is a ‘daylight aggression’ and a total disregard for the law,” Dr Ramasamy said yesterday.

On the action sought against the developer’s lawyer, Dr Ramasamy claimed that the court order was for only the eviction of the people and not for demolition of the market.

“The Bar Council must act on this.”

He said there were plans to conserve the market as a heritage building but the demolition ‘threw a spanner into the works’ to restore the building.

Three police reports had been filed against the developer over the demolition.

The Seberang Perai Municipal Council has now cordoned off the site.

The case against the developer for violating the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 was mentioned in the Bukit Mertajam magistrate’s court yesterday and would be brought up again on June 23
- Nu R. Sekaran The Star/Asia News Network

No getting off the hook - Greedy developer should be taught a lession, Says DCM II

Deplorable: A filepic taken in June last year of the rundown Prai Market that was flattened on Sunday.

GEORGE TOWN: The state government will hold talks with the Seberang Prai Municipal Council on action to be taken against the developer for demolishing the 76-year-old Prai market.

Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy said they would look into all avenues, including getting the developer to restore the structure and arch.

“We don’t have many buildings with heritage value on the mainland so we need to go all out to preserve these buildings.

“This greedy developer should be taught a lesson. The council has taken legal action against the developer before and I will ask them to do it again,” he said when contacted yesterday.

It was reported on Monday that a developer had demolished part of the 76-year-old Prai market despite a stop-work order being issued. The developer had gone against the council’s orders for a second time.

Dr Ramasamy was earlier quoted as saying that although the company managed to obtain vacant possession from the court in June last year, it still needed the council’s approval to carry out demolition work.

He said the state had identified the buildings surrounding the Prai market with heritage value, although it had not been gazetted yet.

A check by The Star showed that the arch at the market entrance with the year ‘1938’ on it was also torn down.

Meanwhile, a reader said it was disgraceful to read about the demolition by a developer who could not be bothered about heritage.

Sanjay C.S. said back in the early 70s, his mother used to cycle from their house in Jalan Baru to the market.

“And today, it resembles as if earthquake had struck there.

“In Nepal, their heritage was ruined by nature, but here, it was selfishly destroyed by human greed.

“The nonchalant developer should be heavily punished!” he said, adding that the state needed to protect its heritage buildings outside George Town as well. - By Tan Sin Chow The Star/Asia News Network

Destroyed despite MPSP's order - Prai market torn down, Penang govt wants action against developer

Destroyed: Workers demolishing the Prai market in Butterworth and (inset) the arch before it was torn down.

BUTTERWORTH: A developer has demolished part of the 76-year-old Prai market despite a stop-work order and the state government wants action taken against the firm.

What’s worse, the developer had gone against the Seberang Prai Municipal Council’s (MPSP) orders for a second time.

Deputy Chief Minister (II) Dr P. Ramasamy said the company managed to obtain vacant possession from the court in June last year but it still needed the council’s approval to carry out demolition work.

“I’ve instructed the council to take legal action against the company. The state government gazetted the buildings surrounding the Prai market, which have been identified as a building with heritage value.

“The workers moved in on Saturday morning and started to demolish the buildings during heavy rain when no one was around.

“This is the second time they’ve done this. They demolished three buildings the first time, and now four buildings,” he said yesterday.

Dr Ramasamy, who is also Prai assemblyman, said 50% of the compensation had been paid to the occupants and the rest would be paid when they move out.

“I would like to remind the company not to touch the Prai market as the council has listed it as a building with heritage value.”

Barber M. Thirunavakkarassu, 61, said he received a call from a friend at about 8am telling him that his shop was being demolished.

“I quickly rushed to my shop but it was too late. Someone could have gotten hurt as the electric supply was not disconnected,” he said.

A check by The Star showed that the arch at the market entrance with the year “1938’ on it was also torn down. MPSP president Datuk Maimunah Mohd Sharif said they would prepare the necessary documents so that the landowner-cum-developer could be charged in court for tearing down the buildings.

“This is the second time the developer had committed the offence without obtaining approval from us.

“The Town and Country Planning Act 1976 states that a planning approval is needed before a building is demolished,” she said at the council building in Bandar Perda, Bukit Mertajam.
- By M. SIVANANTHA SHARMA and CHRISTOPHER The Star/Asia News Network

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The Malaysian Education: bleak and bright side, a wake-up call

The bleak and bright side of Malaysian Education

Malaysia may be getting dismal marks for education but there are dedicated people making a difference to improve scores.

IT’S probably the best definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

The famous quote is often wrongly attributed to Albert Einstein but whoever said that, it makes sense, especially in the context of the Malaysian education system.

It’s madness to continue spending billions on education without seeing any improvements in quality.

The Education Ministry has been allocated RM56bil this year, RM1.4bil more than what it received last year.

Our expenditure on basic education is more than double that of other Asean countries and also South Korea and Japan.

Yet Malaysia remains stuck at the bottom third of the global schools league, as confirmed by the results from recent assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2012 study, based on test scores in mathematics and science among 15-year-olds in 76 countries, shows that Malaysia is languishing at 52nd, way below top-ranked Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Our students were out-performed by Vietnam (12), Thailand (47), Kazakhstan and Iran (51). In Asean, Malaysia only ranked higher than Indonesia (69).

In March, Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he was shocked by Malaysia’s poor results in international education assessments and admitted that the standards were not good enough.

He said the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (Preschool to Secondary) and the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 (Higher Education) were designed to improve the system, stressing that time was needed to see the changes.

The truth is, we don’t have the luxury of time and patience is wearing thin.

We inherited a solid education system after independence, just as Singapore did. But over the past three decades, successive ministers of education have made a mess of tinkering with the system, mostly for political motives.

Earlier this month, Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar suggested that Malaysia emulate Singapore’s education system with English as the sole medium of instruction.

Urging the people to be open-minded about the proposal, he said Singapore’s single-stream education system had not only helped to foster unity in the republic but also created a prosperous society.

It is still not too late to bring back the era of racial harmony and unity experienced by people of my generation, who are products of English schools during the 60s and 70s.

As the Johor Sultan has pointed out, there would always be a gap between the races in the country if our education system continues to be based on race and language, not to mention the increasing influence of religion.

But in spite of the weaknesses in the system, it is heartening to see committed parent-teacher associations and non-governmental organisations pushing fervently to get situations improved.

Last Saturday, I was at Sunway University where groups of eager teenagers were taking part in a Young Inventor Challenge, organised by the Association of Science, Technology and Innovation (ASTI), an NGO of volunteers who have been mentoring and encouraging students to excel in science.

ASTI is led by the unassuming Dr Mohamed Yunus Mohamed Yasin, who is credited with bringing about change in the attitude towards science and maths in Tamil schools across the country.

I wouldn’t have known about the quiet science revolution if not for blogger Syed Akbar Ali’s recent post about what Dr Yunus and his group of dedicated friends have been doing over the past 12 years.

As a result of participating in ASTI’s Science Fair for Young Children, Tamil schools are scoring top grades for science and maths in the UPSR.

Last year, SRJK (Tamil) Taman Tun Aminah, Johor Baru, emerged as the top school for the UPSR with 43 pupils scoring straight 7As while others scored 7Bs.

They are making headlines abroad too. In March, three students of SJK(T) Ramakrishna, Penang, beat 300 contestants from all over the world to win first prize at the 35th Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition.

Durgashini Srijayan, Kumurthashri Ponniah and Sugheson Ganeson won the gold medal under the Excellent Youth Science Creation category of the contest for their invention of an eco-friendly thermo container.

In October last year, SJK (T) Kulim’s R. Prevena, V Susheetha and former student R. Rasyikash won the Double Gold Award at the British Invention Show in London for their energy-saving drinks-dispensing machine.

Building on the successes of the science fairs, ASTI started the Young Inventors Challenge, which is open to all secondary schools, three years ago. From the initial 19, the number of schools has since increased to almost 200, including a team from Singapore.

ASTI also organises Creative and Critical Thinking Camps designed for primary schools up to tertiary level, and the ASTI Innovation Community Award to recognise the contributions of individuals or groups using science and technology for beneficial projects.

It also works with Germany’s Goethe Institute in organising the annual Science Film Fest to produce documentaries and teaching films about science.

And it has been doing all these with an annual budget of RM800,000, raised largely from well-wishers, including its 400 volunteers.

Dr Yunus’ philosophy is simple: “Stop complaining, get involved. As patriots, we can help the country do well too.”

By Veera Pandiyan

> Associate editor M. Veera Pandiyan likes William Butler Yeat’s definition of education: it is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.

Take OECD education report as a wake-up call
- The Star Says

ITS does not feel good to know that a new report by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development places us at 52nd among 76 countries in terms of our students’ grasp of basic skills.

Singapore takes the top spot, thus reinforcing the recent call by Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Iskandar that we emulate the island nation’s single-stream education system, which uses English as the medium of instruction.

He said having schools in only one stream would unite Malay­sians and boost their competitiveness.

These developments tell us that our education system can be a lot better. Then again, we all know that.

The fact that Malaysia has two education blueprints – one focusing on preschool education and primary and secondary schools, and the other on higher education – shows that the Government is already taking steps to transform our education system.

The blueprints’ plans stretch until 2025, which means we should not hope for many overnight improvements.

Meanwhile, it is wise for us to keep enhancing our understan­ding of exactly how our shared prosperity is built on education.

New ideas and insights in this area are valuable because they help us to shape and refine policies and practices relating to the education system. At the very least, they encourage us to see things in a different light.

It is clichéd to say education is the cornerstone of development, but what if somebody comes up with projections of how much economies can benefit if school enrolment and education quality go up?

In fact, the OECD has done just that in a report titled “Universal Basic Skills: What Countries Stand to Gain”. Published on Wednesday, it is the same report that has Malaysia in the bottom third of the class based on our teenagers’ mathematics and science scores in international tests.

Let us not get hung up on these rankings. The report is 116 pages long and has a lot more to offer than bragging rights and naming-and-shaming opportunities.

For instance, it makes abundantly clear that an underperforming education sector costs a country dearly. The OECD warns that poor education policies and practices will result in a loss of economic output amounting to a permanent state of economic recession.

The organisation also points out that high-income status does not automatically eliminate shortco­mings in education.

It is also interesting that the OECD argues that when there is universal achievement of basic skills in a country, its economic growth will be more inclusive.

The report suggests that there is still much to learn about how we can strengthen our education policies. We should be open to fresh thinking and approaches.

At the same time, we must not waver from the commitment and noble intentions reflected in the blueprints.

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Big homegrown successes in India from Sillicon Valley's returning 'fail fast' engineers

Taking failure as a norm would be a major cultural shift in India, where high-achieving children are expected to take steady jobs at recognised job

India learns to 'fail fast' with startups

Families that expect children to have respectable jobs may be beginning to accept failure as the tech industry starts to come of age.

After ping pong tables, motivational posters and casual dress codes, India’s tech startups are following Silicon Valley’s lead and embracing the “fail fast” culture credited with fuelling creativity and success in the United States.

Taking failure as a norm is a major cultural shift in India, where high-achieving children are typically expected to take steady jobs at recognised firms. A failed venture hurts family status and even marriage prospects.

But that nascent acceptance, fuelled by returning engineers and billions of dollars in venture fund investment, is for many observers a sign that India’s US$150bil tech industry is coming of age, moving from a back-office powerhouse to a creative force.

“There is obviously increased acceptance,” said Raghunandan G, co-founder of TaxiForSure, which was sold to rival Ola this year. He is now investing in other early stage ventures.

“My co-founder Aprameya (Radhakrishna) used to have lines of prospective brides to meet ... the moment we started our own company, all those prospective alliances disappeared. No one wanted their daughters to marry a startup guy.”

Srikanth Chunduri returned to India after studying at Duke University in the US, and is now working on his second venture. “I think what’s encouraging is that acceptance of failure is increasing despite the very deep-rooted Asian culture where failure is a big no,” he said.

IT’S OK TO FAIL

The shift has come about, executives say, as engineers began returning from Silicon Valley to cash in on India’s own boom, as hundreds of millions of Indians go online.

“Investors too want to find the next Flipkart, and most of them come from Silicon Valley backgrounds, so they bring that culture,” said Stewart Noakes, co-founder of TechHub, a global community and workspace for tech entrepreneurs. “That’s changing the Indian norms. It’s becoming ok to fail and try again.”

Big names like Flipkart can also mean the prospect of a lucrative exit for investors, covering a multitude of failures. To be sure, the pace of change is slow in altering a culture that has produced top software engineers for decades, but – as yet – no Google, Apple or Twitter.

Cheap engineering talent keeps startups afloat far longer than in Silicon Valley, where companies last less than two years on average. And the freedom to fail remains restricted to a small portion of India’s corporate fabric, booming tech cities like Bengaluru or Gurgaon outside New Delhi.

There is also still no revolving door with big corporates, whom one senior Bengaluru headhunter described as beating down salaries of executives who dared to risk – but then came back.

ROLE MODELS

India learns to 'fail fast' as tech startup culture takes root

But big homegrown successes like e-tailers Flipkart and Snapdeal or mobile advertising firm InMobi, as well as the multi-billion dollar firms set up by former executives from the likes of Amazon.com, Microsoft and Google, have created role models, encouraging graduates to take risks.

“With success stories, people accept it as a legitimate exercise,” said Ryan Valles, former CEO of coupon site DealsandYou and a former executive at Accel Partners, now working on a new project.

Meanwhile, billions in investor funding have fed the sector. External cash – as opposed to more traditional bank loans tied to individuals, or family savings – makes a difference. Failing there can involve walking away Silicon Valley-style, not years of court proceedings in a country with no formal bankruptcy law.

There has also been, to date, no major collapse.

“What’s happening is healthy: people recognising that some things will fail, that it’s largely a failure-based industry, in the same way that movies, music or pharmaceuticals are,” said Shikhar Ghosh, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School.

An estimated 70-90% of start-ups fail.

But the biggest test may be the first bust after the boom.

“That will be the test: whether people come back into the market and how they treat the people who lost their money,” said Ghosh. – Reuters

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