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How does declaring something make it so? If our universities are also breeding grounds for ahmad-ismail wannabes and politically pretentious academic deadwoods, then we might as well save the money as a national trust fund for the really bright ones to get their higher education elsewhere. After all, the money for apex comes from too many of the rakyat whose children can't get into the courses they're already overqualified for.

And they want to make 100,000 ph.d's as well. In what fields, from which candidates, and on what basis? To do cutting edge and citable research, there has to be passion on top of knowledge and skill. Do our present degree-mills produce enough of those calibre of people who would want to spend another five years chasing the abstruse just to meet the numbers?

The achievement record of Umno in the field of education in this country is dismal. It's all messed up. They even use SPM model answers for sejarah to prop up BN. That's propaganda. And how come the majority of the lecturers and admin staff in all the public universities are of one race?

A university is not an isolated oasis in the desert. It has to be synchronised with the world, both academic and industrial, and there must be honest and willful forces operating to attune its performance as close as possible to what's universally defined over the centuries as best of class. It's not a place to champion political causes disguised as academic visions. On top of that, one must also think of the motivating factors for people to want to make careers as researchers. How are they to make money beyond their pay and allowances if the incubator and venture capital mechanisms have not been developed even till today?

So you're going to have a situation where the money will not go to where the real brains are. Then later it will be just window-dressing of numbers, and another debate will rage as to how come we have yet to achieve better ranking.

They should sit back for a minute and think again the way they want to really do it. Take a faber-castell eraser (or any other brand) and erase the line that divides public uni from private uni. Once the line is erased, you will see one blob (maybe smudge). In that blob, find out where the brains really are. That's where you spend the money to put the research. Or if you can't do that, attract them to go to your labs. Not just give to those who are identified by race or present post to apply for the money. Then after doing something right for a change, sit back further and find out how to integrate all the projects so that there be no duplication across all labs or projects. Can one expect the same level of honesty in the grants disbursement as in the admissions, scholarships, and recruitment exercises? cough.

Apex is mostly about brains and merits. Those who are inflamed by the word meritocracy just wave their hands whenever it's mentioned as if they know something better. That solution doesn't even touch the perennial and overriding problem of this country.

And if you want to get foreign students in, shouldn't the locals you have rejected by race be given place first and you create more places for the foreigners? If no, why not?

Fifty one years after independence, they still play the great zero-sum game. More for me by less for you.

How is that apical?

Hi, my first degree is also from USM. How is this declaration going to help? Even 25 years ago the rot has started. Lecturers are pressurised to pass students, special "tutorials" given to certain students, etc.

BTW I think the third class honours was "invented" at USM. Previously those who score GPA below a certain level would get a general degree. But come a VC (who later became Minister of Education), it has "developed" into a third class honours. So who gets a general degree from USM? Those who have completed the maximum 7 years there but still have not accumulated enough credits hours to graduate!!!!

from The Star news "PUTRAJAYA: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been granted apex status. With it, USM can expect hundreds of millions of ringgit in additional funding to transform it into Malaysia's first world-class university"

trying to substitute a thirst for knowledge, innovation, creativity, curiosity with plenty of money shoved down the throat of USM does not seem the most logical approach of getting to the apex

it is artificial and will not be self sustaining in the longer term, one even has to wonder if it will work

while hardware is important - which money can buy, software thrives on FREEDOM and DREAMS which money cannot buy

studies have shown that nothing motivates one to improve, innovate and rise to challengers as much as rivalry and competition

open USM up to competition, maybe put the courses in line with industry needs, give it freedom to be the hotbed of ideas, then stand back and give the university time to find it's own equilibrium

it may not be at the APEX but surely it will move in that direction

(we will realistically realise that weaker students will be left behind and that brings us back to square one - The Dillema, this is where we have then got to come together to discuss the best way to break this vicious cycle while not leaving anyone behind)

then do this for the whole of malaysia, hey, we may get more than one institution of higher learning in the top 200 (really not asking for that much)

wanting for more phd's should then naturally follow

all this will take years, and to think that one can literally destroy it overnight

APEX status, so what?

If our universities still practice quota-style, what kind of status also meaningless.

If our education plan is to produce KAMPUNG KINGS and not produce GLOBAL WARRIORS, whatever good name also useless.

Maybe someone will be happy because of the APEX status, but not me; tell you what: one day we didn't improve our education system, one day we still step on the same place.

Don't be cheated by ourselves.

MALAYSIA...? Bila baru BOLEH...??