It appears a metoer has streaked across the Canadian sky and the size of the fireball as described indicates that it was of a considerable size. So how did we miss this? Scientists may be wondering how on earth did we miss this meteor as it travelled towards Earth? Had it slammed into the ocean it could potentially have caused another tsunami or perhaps it could have hit a populated city. Could our surveillance have been better? Or is the sky just too large for Man to monitor every inch in detail?

Yahoo News(with video)

I read Marina Mahathir's article in The Star with great interest. Her belief that teaching young minds about new ideas should begin at an early stage of their education. Leaving it to the university will probably be way too late. But late is better than never I suppose.

Those that have been through the local education system will attest to the fact that freedom of ideas and expression is not always welcomed. Any deviation from the syllabus will be deemed as recalcitrant inviting demerit points. One is taught what the Government or some powers-that-might-be, feels is the right thing. Stifling fresh ideas or renewed ideology is the task of administrators and academicians, backed by political forces.

Unfortunately when one goes into the real world, unfamiliar territory strikes fear and maladaptibility has resulted in poor performance with many fresh graduates failing to make themselves marketable. Marina's point that English will be the forte for marketability invites fresh debate about the quality of English among graduates. When some top academicians in our local varsities cannot hold a full conversation in proper English, one wonders if this is reflective of the graduates as well.

For local universities to shine, acedemicians and university administrators should never stifle ideas be it critical or otherwise. Debating sensitive ideas with maturity marks the arrival of an era of a developed nation. Resorting to school-day tactics of silencing critics will delay the march towards progress.

Despite the presence of an august parliament, many debates are not fought with decorum. Issues deemed sensitive are shoved aside and the debates that do happen are fraught with profanities and unsolicited interferences. Debating with professionalism backed by sound knowledge of the topic at hand should be the intended achievement. Sadly, many elected members lack simple insight and are elected based on a loose criteria, giving the electorate little choices.

I do not place much hope on the current generation of politicians but there is renewed energy emanating from the young, where public debates are being slowly embraced. Anwar Ibrahim vs Shabery or Guan Eng vs Tsu Koon, these are fruitful debates that not only allows the public to gain insightful impressions about their leaders but will certainly help them judge their performances as vocally imprinted.

Written media is not much help in terms of fair reporting. Even the blogosphere can be sometimes deceptively biased. But there is more choices now, thanks to the era of the internet, where ideas are abundant. This has hastened globalisation.

Malaysia needs to compete with countries and therefore repealing repressive laws, thus liberalising the minds of our citizens is paramount to nurturing a powerful nation. A nation that is not bound by fear but the thought that their potential can unearth limitless power.

It certainly begins with how we educate our young.

It is perplexing that religions become suspicious of activities purportedly from other beliefs. Despite yoga originating from Hinduism, it has no doubt evolved into an exercise regime, for which individuals of various faiths practise. Yoga lessons are offered even in fitness centers and when one participates in its activites, will realise that there are no religious elements involved.

The recent fatwa against the practice of yoga could result in a domino effect involving other forms of exercises as well. Taekwando and other martial arts originate from the monks in temples. Should we then not forbid these martial art practices in Islam as well?

Islam is not the sole religion banning its followers from participating in activities related to other religions. Christianity too is equally guilty of this conduct. Each religion forming concrete borders segregating themselves from the 'impurities' of others. I guess in part, religion itself does advocate its followers to dissociate themselves from indulging in perceived uncleanliness.

So in Malaysia, if we are not demarcated by race, we are certainly demarcated by religion. We continue to find it hard to transcend racial and religious confines.

So what next on the menu to omit?

The recent 'dismissal' of Dr Rafiah as Vice Chancellor of Univerity Malaya has resulted in a stabbing reply from this no-nonsense academician in malaysiakini.com. Her accusation of political interference in university administration is surely to unnerve many in the ruling UMNO party. Perhaps it was her strict administrative style that had led to her 'dismissal' having stepped on one too many tails. Her soon to be released book is bound to tell all on the on goings behind the curtain of Malaysia's oldest university.

Many university policies are questionable to say the least.

I remain a strong opponent of the Skim Latihan Akademik untuk Bumiputera or in short, SLAB programme. The intentions are noble, however, the selection process is not transparent and littered with cronyism. As a result, many who are accepted into specialist training programmes are totally inexperienced with undesirable working attitudes. Upon graduation, these individuals are expected to teach medical students about medicine when life for many of these future specialists were spent in a cocoon, oblivious to the Malaysian medical system and the humility of working in under priviledged areas.

Four years of Masters training at a university environment will not equip these individuals with the skills to steer medical students in the right direction. These trainee lecturers should be given stints in public hospitals under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and to experience the dire situations that arises daily in the practice of community medicine.

Writing this article itself puts me in a unfavorable light and might jeopardise future attempts at job appointments at this university. However, I feel that the university should have a paradigm shift in the creation of future policies if it is to reclaim its position as the premier university in Malaysia. Accepting weaknesses is paramount to UM's future survival. Denying that the rot is not as serious as claimed is foolish.

Choosing the right candidates for the job is important. Merely appointing individuals to make up the numbers will be unrewarding and dilutes quality, hastening its end.