A-G Defends CLP Exam’s Integrity. Does He Have A Choice?
The Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has gone out of his way to explain in detail the mechanism governing the Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) examinations and very reasonably concludes, “if the person has failed, the person deserves to fail. If the person has passed, he deserves to pass,” adding that there was no controversy over the issue.
While he has every right to describe the process of how papers were marked, it would appear ridiculous for him to say that there is "no controversy over the issue." That is for us to conclude, not him. In the first instance, even the most unfair and unjust marking system can be explained away with clever descriptions of aboveboard checks and balances apparently put in place. The Malaysian education system, the communal politics intermingled with it, the racist connotations attached to it and the patently unjust practices employed in it, makes it very difficult for anyone, however open-minded, to unquestioningly accept the Attorney-General's clarification.
A reasonable inference if this were to happen in countries which practice fair admissions to universities and maintain impeccable standards like Singapore, would be that the students are not up to par. However here in Malaysia extraneous influences and sinister political intentions tend to colour the issue and more often than not it isn't the academic standard of the candidate but his ethnicity which matters.
Such suspicion, however unjustified, on our system of doing things is simply not going to disappear or be wished away. As long as racist policies are practiced by the government and 50% of the population is disadvantaged by the four-decade-old Never Ending Policy (NEP), the authorities can forget about the people listening to or believing their explanations, clarifications, justifications etc. Sometime in the near future the government has to cut the umbilical cord providing sustenance to both the needy and the undeserving. For if they don't, the needy will remain forever begging for breadcrumbs and the undeserving will for all time be the rent seeking parasite they now are.
In the meanwhile those who feel that they have been shafted by the system in this CLP examinations would have moved on to other things and through the adversity they are experiencing now would have become stronger and more resilient. They would be the final winners, that much I'm sure.
While he has every right to describe the process of how papers were marked, it would appear ridiculous for him to say that there is "no controversy over the issue." That is for us to conclude, not him. In the first instance, even the most unfair and unjust marking system can be explained away with clever descriptions of aboveboard checks and balances apparently put in place. The Malaysian education system, the communal politics intermingled with it, the racist connotations attached to it and the patently unjust practices employed in it, makes it very difficult for anyone, however open-minded, to unquestioningly accept the Attorney-General's clarification.
A reasonable inference if this were to happen in countries which practice fair admissions to universities and maintain impeccable standards like Singapore, would be that the students are not up to par. However here in Malaysia extraneous influences and sinister political intentions tend to colour the issue and more often than not it isn't the academic standard of the candidate but his ethnicity which matters.
Such suspicion, however unjustified, on our system of doing things is simply not going to disappear or be wished away. As long as racist policies are practiced by the government and 50% of the population is disadvantaged by the four-decade-old Never Ending Policy (NEP), the authorities can forget about the people listening to or believing their explanations, clarifications, justifications etc. Sometime in the near future the government has to cut the umbilical cord providing sustenance to both the needy and the undeserving. For if they don't, the needy will remain forever begging for breadcrumbs and the undeserving will for all time be the rent seeking parasite they now are.
In the meanwhile those who feel that they have been shafted by the system in this CLP examinations would have moved on to other things and through the adversity they are experiencing now would have become stronger and more resilient. They would be the final winners, that much I'm sure.
posted by The Malaysian. at 11/02/2006 11:38:00 AM
1 Comments:
Passing the CLP is possible. No doubt about it.
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