Warning: This is going to be a SUPER LOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG post so grab a cup of iced coffee or iced Milo (in case you're caffeine intolerant, which is a waste because caffeine is AWESOME) and probably some snacks before reading this.
Okay, just so you know, recently Curtin has just awarded Rosmah an Honorary Doctorate, or more precisely, Doctor of Letters (an honorary title for someone who contributes to society). For those who's oblivious about general knowledge or whatsover, this seems like a good news. Hey! A Prime Minister's wife received the title Dr (FYI it's NOT PhD) from an Australian University. Surely she will be more respected by public, or either that, the university will gain a higher reputation. Not every university gets to award a politician (or related to the politician) in a university.
Unfortunately, things are not as good as it seems. Curtin graduates, for the first time, felt disgusted to attend their graduation. There was an uproar caused by Malaysian students in Curtin University. People began spitting out spiteful remarks on Rosmah's newly-obtained titles (First Lady of Malaysia and the Doctor title itself). Soon, they moved to Curtin University. They bashed Curtin University mercilessly until the entire Facebook page was flooded. Of course, there will be some chiak-pa-bo-su-cho (bored) passer-bys who joined in the "fun" and bashed Curtin as well.
Well, how did Rosmah retaliated these critics? She stated that they might be jealous of her achievements. Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!! Bullshit. But it makes sense for Curtin graduates or even those currently studying in Curtin. Meh. I am one of them (but I am not jealous, it's just that I felt disgusted). Why jealous? I knew my hardworking and capable seniors who graduated or graduating soon will be conferred a degree with Honours. They worked hard, sacrificing their sleeping hours and probably health and leisure time for a degree with Honours. The total time spent were four years minimum, and it was only a degree. As for PhD holders (my fellow lecturers), they dedicated so much time and effort to complete their research for years and of course deserved the Doctor title. But someone who has done nothing to the university, nor putting in any effort to deserve the Doctor title just obtained it a few days ago, thus ultimately putting a disgrace to all those degrees, Masters and PhDs awarded to the alumni. What do all those hard work and effort mean to all of them, if someone who doesn't even know how to speak proper English and clamied that Japan was not green enough, thus causing an earthquake could just buy it so easily? Well, if not buy then what? The art of seduction? Definitely not, as she doesn't have the looks nor the body, and with the fluffy wig on her head, it was definitely a turn-off to all male on planet (quoted by a friend of mine, 2012).
Well, okay, according to Curtin, she was awarded because of her contribution to early childhood education under the program Permata. In accordance to Curtin, currently there are about 600 Permata childhood centres all over the country. From those posts I have read on Curtin University's wall (no link, they deleted all the posts), Permata was a government-funded program. For this program, she was allocated with RM100 million in 2010, and in 2011, the amount was increased by RM11 million. And whose money was that? The government money aka the hardworking taxpayers' money. It was unimaginable to see our hard-earn money spent probably about 1/10 (I assume this, it's not a fact) to Permata and the rest to luxury goods, Botox injection and jeweleries. Thing is, did Curtin make a thorough background check on the program itself? This is because I have heard that Permata program was unsafe in one of the posts on Curtin University facebook page. For more information you may google it; I am lazy to actually find the link itself. I have lots more to say. Obviously they don't, because of the fact that they stated the 600 Permata childhood centres. By common sense, it is impossible to build 600 kindergarten in such a small country. Even KFC (don't touch the fight scene issue, please) has around 445++ outlets throughout Malaysia. Logically speaking (this is purely based on my thoughts so please don't say I simply give wrong information if I am wrong), no one can build up to 600 kindergarten within less than five years. I bet Curtin University divided the amount of money without thinking the rate of development. If 600 kindergarten can be built in Malaysia that fast, then why do Malaysia show such SLOW development rate today? I am sure Curtin is smarter to know more than this. It is obvious that the Permata program was just a cover-up behind the real "business" going on between them.
Well, obviously, Curtin students and graduates are very displeased with this scenario. It not only disgusted them to think they are actually associated with a corrupted woman, but also put their effort in obtaining degree/Masters/PhD to a waste. This somewhat degraded their value of their degree/Masters/PhD because since a doctorate title can easily be bought, then what do their degree/PhD mean? What would people out there think of the graduates? They graduated because of money? I, for one, am one of those who felt that myself. All my effort and my sleepless nights (and I'm still in second year) cannot be compared to someone who has tons of hard cash (from the poor citizens who faithfully paid tax every year).
What I don't like though, are the passer-bys that I have mentioned earlier who have nothing else better to do. Curtin graduates and students have the every right to protest and to speak out their mind, because they were the ones involved. As for the passer-bys, of course it was best for them to butt off but if they were to speak out too (freedom of speech), they should speak out something that helps to make situation better. Either do that or shut up. But no. Some brainless idiots ridiculed themselves by posting nonsense such as "Chicken University", "I am the employer and I will never hire employees from Curtin anymore" and "Yuck! Curtin Pui!" when they are not even the students. For those who posted insulting remarks, congrats. You just proved yourself to be a lifeless person who possessed a single-digit IQ. As for the employer remark thing, you just proved yourself to be the stupidest boss ever. Stereotyping will not get your business/firm anywhere, love. You just missed out many potentially capable employees because you judge them by the university they attended. Only a smart employer chooses his future employees based on interviews and how they presented themselves. One may be a degree holder from Harvard, but who knows he stammered while speaking and panicked when facing difficulties in real working life. Idiots nowadays...
Sadly, all we Curtin students can do is to swallow all these shit. Curtin will never revoke the award given. The reason is simple. It was because Rosmah is not just an ordinary woman. She is PM's wife. Well, some people might think that since it is an independent Australian university, they had the right not to revoke it. The sad thing is, things are not as simple as it seems. We Malaysians must not forget that there is a Curtin campus in Malaysia. Miri, to be precise. My campus. The campus which served extremely costly and oily food. The campus where a rape case just happened not long ago. The campus with terrible student services. The campus with terrible ICT services. The "prestigious private" campus which does not even have a swimming pool. The campus with terrible bus shuttle timetable and often short of buses. The campus with an extremely small library that can never find a place to seat due to lack of seats. Ah, the digression. Anyway, imagine Curtin revoked the title away. This would cause her to bear an ultimate shame of holding a doctorate title for a few days only. LOL. What will happen to the campus in Miri? Hard to obtain government loan or subsidy. Probably Curtin will be closed down (hey it's not impossible) and I will have no university by then. They too are in a dilemma. Cannot blame them.
Anyways, how do I take this shame/disgrace/disgust?
My first option: Looking for options to transfer. If Curtin can do that to Rosmah, there is a huge possibility that they did it to many other people before, now and even after. Call me a person full of pride, but if you were me, you would do the same right? I already had many bad impression on Curtin, but this by far was the worst. I really felt disgusted studying in a university which has such low creditability. I'll still be studying in Curtin while searching for other universities.
Last option: In case I cannot transfer because of scholarship/troublesome/rejected by other uni, then I would just continue studying and graduate in Curtin (definitely NOT transferring to Perth anymore). I will just study properly and obtain a degree at my best and when looking for jobs, I'll impress the employers with soft skills, work capability and intelligence. After all, like I mentioned before, a smart employer sees those mentioned above, not the university you graduated from. Ahhhhhh....I shall use this to comfort myself.......hahahaha XD
For Curtin students, if you are unable to transfer like me, just use this last option mentioned above as a motivation =)
For Curtin graduates, no fret. You ought to celebrate your hard-earned degree/Masters/PhD. You don't have to prove to anyone about your capability as you are the one who knows best =)
For those passer-bys, GET A LIFE!!!
##Update: A petition has been set up to revoke Rosmah's title. And as much as those people out there had said and requested to revoke the title, the petition came up to 739 only (up till now). So I guess people do not really care, huh? Big words but no actions made. *facepalm*
###Update: No one remembers this shit anymore. Hence, case closed. I will continue studying but the intention to transfer to Bentley campus totally died down. Hehe.
