Give thanks with a grateful heart

Appreciate the good and bad in your life and be optimistic about the future

WITH two days left for this year, it is time to reflect and make fresh resolutions for 2016.

I have learnt to give thanks for all things – good or bad – that came my way.

But why be thankful even for the bad?

Truth be told, it took me a long time to be willing to accept misfortune and longer still to give thanks for them.

Now I appreciate there are far too many factors that I cannot control despite my best efforts.

So I just learn from the sad experiences to avoid repeating them and hold on to the hope that something good will come out of them later.

2015 has been a victorious year for me with more blessings than woes.

With a grateful heart, I choose to remember the former with rejoicing and overlook or forget the latter.

Wonderful blessings

Firstly, I am thankful that everyone in my family is in good health.

My biggest blessing is my baby, Cat.

My life has completely changed since her arrival in mid-year and everything I do now revolves around this little bundle of joy.

Healthy, joyful and growing well, she sits, crawls and listens whenever we speak to her.

On her second swimming class, she was submerged briefly in water and has been doing this with ease ever since.

In a couple of months she will start her nursery and music appreciation classes.

Meanwhile, she is learning to recognise words being pronounced and images with the aid of picture cards.

Being an inexperienced mother, the help and support from my husband, his parents and my parents has been invaluable.

My mother is a great help in tending to baby Cat and teaching me many valuable lessons about caring for my baby.

Everyone knows how difficult it is to hire a maid these days.

The timely arrival of our maid who is well-mannered and an experienced mother to take care of the many household chores lifted a heavy load of me.

It spite of the current weak economy, our architectural firm has been successful in securing several commercial and residential projects in addition to our appointment to design automotive facilities throughout the Asia-Pacific region for an upmarket marque.

We are continuously developing talented architects and designers while fostering in them a passion and enthusiasm for their work.

My 95-year old grandmother fell very ill in September but has since recovered almost fully.

She has good health except for occasional bouts of sleeplessness for a couple of days after which she will be groggy for two or three days and regale us with funny tales.

I am thankful to have clean air to breathe for the next few months before the haze sets in again, and that our economy is not too bad and personal safety here is much better than most other countries.

Looking forward

Our family has a saying that “next year will be a better year”.

Thankfully, it has been so all these years.

I eagerly await the time when baby Cat begins to talk and walk.

I am certain my heart will melt at the sweet sound of her voice when she calls me “mummy” and the sight of her staggering towards me for a hug.

After several months’ hiatus, I am getting ready to return to work which I miss very much.

Meantime, I have to trim off at least 6kg to get back in shape.

With determination, it will take three to four months.

I am yearning for the opening of our new automotive facility which specialises in the restoration and maintenance of classic and exotic cars.

Renovation work on the premises is in their final stages and business should commence in the first quarter of 2016.

Everything seems bright

Ever since my father told me about the downfall of his arrogant business principal, I have always reminded myself to be more careful when everything seems bright.

After a conference in a five-star hotel in Madrid, he asked the latter why he was wearing dark sunglasses in the coffee house.

Puffing a cigar, the principal replied that his future was too bright.

He lost his job soon after and his fortune has dwindled further ever since.

While I receive blessings, I remember there are many poverty-stricken people.

I shall rekindle my passion for charity and do my part for orphans and old folks.

We cannot do much about the burning national issues but I hope that they will be settled expeditiously so that the government can begin to organise itself to take care of wage-earners who are hard-pressed due to the rising cost of living.

On balance, I am optimistic about the future because the scriptures teaches me to always have hope and that the righteousness of God will bring peace and joy to anyone who puts it into practice.

May you be blessed with peace, joy, love, excellent health and prosperity in 2016 and beyond.

By Chermaine Poo Slice of life

Chermaine Poo is a chartered accountant turned actress, TV host, emcee and columnist. Follow her on www.chermainepoo.com, Facebook.com/ChermainePoo, and Instagram.com/Chermaine Poo or drop her an email at info@chermainepoo.com

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Developers shift focus to higher-priced residential properties in Penang; Busy in construction sector 2016

Projects worth RM41bil in Penang next year

 

Chan: ‘We still foresee the volume and value transactions of properties to contract in 2016. However, the contraction this time won’t be so sharp." (Default Alternate Text: "Chan: ‘We still foresee the volume and value transactions of properties to contract in 2016. However, the contraction this time won’t be so sharp.

GEORGE TOWN: Five developers will undertake RM4.33bil in property projects in Penang next year despite a challenging year for the property market.

The developers planned to price their mostly residential properties from between RM480,000 and RM3.3mil.

The price range came on the heels of this year’s launches of between RM200,000 and RM400,000 in strategic locations.

The developers would be shifting their focus to higher-priced residential properties.The condominium units in Bayan Lepas will be from 1,000 sq ft and priced from RM480,000 while three-storey houses with built-up of 5,300 sq ft will be priced at RM3.3mil in Seri Tanjung Pinang.

The developers are IJM Land Bhd with gross development value (GDV) of RM415mil, Ideal Property Group (RM1.46bil GDV), Hunza Properties Bhd (RM600mil GDV), Eastern & Oriental Bhd (RM650mil GDV) and Mah Sing Group Bhd (RM1.2bil GDV).

Real Estate & Housing Developers’ Association (Penang) chairman Datuk Jerry Chan told StarBiz that developers could be shifting their focus to properties priced from RM400,000 as there was a large supply of housing priced between RM200,000 and RM400,000 targeting first-time buyers.

This did not mean that buyers have lost interest in affordable housing with built-up of 900 sq ft and priced from RM500 to RM600 per sq ft.

Chan pointed out that developers would continue to build housing in the affordable range to leverage on the higher density for plots of land but there would be a gradual shift to the “non-affordable” range.

He added that there would be fewer launches in 2016, due to the difficulties in obtaining bridging and end-financing loans from banks.

Referring to the incoming supply of housing that were currently under construction, Chan said this would be spread over a five- to 10-year period, depending on market demand and the size of the schemes.

The National Information Property Centre (Napic) report revealed that the state would see an incoming supply of 72,114 units into the market.

According to the Napic report, the existing stock of houses in the state stood at 393,303, compared with 383,484 in the first half of 2014.

“We still foresee the volume and value transactions of properties to contract in 2016. However, the contraction this time won’t be so sharp,” Chan said.

Ideal executive chairman Datuk Alex Ooi said the group had developed 4,840 units of affordable projects on the island for the last two years.

“We have sold about 60% of these properties. Moving ahead, the strategy is to move into the non-affordable range priced between RM400,000 and RM600,000.

“Ideal Property still has around 300 acres of land bank on the island. We have some 25,000 units of properties planned for the land bank.

“There are still 8,000 units of properties with more than RM4bil in GDV to be implemented over the next 10 years, priced between RM400,000 and RM600,000,” Ooi said.

‘Moderate to flat’ outlook

Ooi expected property market conditions to be “moderate” to “flat” in the coming year.

Mah Sing (North) senior general manager Law Wei Keong said the company had recently completed a survey on the preference of housing products in the country.

“The study revealed that a majority of the 6,000 surveyed favoured houses priced in the range of RM500,000 to RM700,000,” he said.

Of the RM2bil worth of housing projects launched in the country this year, about 16% were priced from RM1mil, while the remaining 84% are below RM1mil, according to Law.

IJM Land senior general manager (north) Datuk Toh Chin Leong said despite the weak market sentiment, the company would continue to launch properties priced below RM800,000.

“It will be a slow year for the property market in 2016,” Toh said.

 TrehausIJM Land’s pipeline of projects for next year in Penang included the RM232mil Waterside Residence in The Light Waterfront project next to Penang Bridge, the RM64.7mil Trehaus Condo Villa scheme in Bukit Jambul, and the RM118.4mil Senjayu Terrace project in Jawi, South Seberang Prai.

The Trehaus and the Waterside Residences scheme would be launched in the second quarter of 2016, while the Senjayu Terrace would be introduced in late 2016.

“The price of the three property schemes ranged between RM730,000 and RM1.3mil,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ideal would be launching the RM460mil Forestville, RM600mil Queens Waterfront Residences, and RM400mil Camerlina, located in Bayan Lepas, priced between RM480,000 and RM800,000.

“There is still growing need for mid-range houses that is reasonably priced, located within mature township, surrounded and supported by amenities such as schools with good accessibility, lower density with lifestyle concept,” he said.

Eastern & Oriental will develop the recently launched RM482mil Tamarind and 50 units of terraced houses with a RM168mil GDV in Seri Tanjung Pinang.

The Tamarind units, ranging between 1,000 sq ft and 1,770 sq ft, are priced around RM691,000 and RM1.16mil, while the terraced units, with built-up areas of 5,300 sq ft, are priced from RM3.3mil.

Its general manager (marketing and sales) Christina Lau said the Tamarind was scheduled for completion in 2019.

No date has been set for the completion of the 50-terraced properties.

Mah Sing to unveil Ferringhi Residence 2

Mah Sing will launch the RM735mil Ferringhi Residence 2, the RM350mil Icon Residence and an unnamed RM150mil project in Southbay City, Batu Maung.

“We are targeting the Ferringhi Residence 2 launch in the first quarter,” Law said.

The Ferringhi Residence 2 consists of three blocks offering 632 units with built-up areas from 1,208 sq ft to 2,910 sq ft, priced from RM775,265.

Law said the pricing for the unnamed project would be below RM680 per sq ft.

“The units have built-up areas of 750 sq ft to 1,000 sq ft,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hunza will develop the RM600mil Alila 2 project in Tanjung Bungah, 270 units which have built up of between 1,900 sq ft and 3,300 sq ft, priced from RM775 per sq ft.

“We will promote the 9.8acre project in Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Singapore early next year.

“The key attractions are the size of the units, which are extremely scarce on the island nowadays,” group managing director Khor Siang Gin said.

By David Tan The Star

Construction sector to be busy in 2016 with projects worth RM83bil 

KUALA LUMPUR: WITH over RM83bil worth of infrastructure jobs to be awarded next year, it is going to be a busy year for the construction sector in 2016.

“The 11th Malaysia Plan unveiled in May 2015 has reaffirmed the strong pipeline of construction jobs till 2020. The record awards of project delivery partners (PDPs) for four major infrastructure projects with total value of RM80bil have further reiterated the potential works,” said Maybank IB Research in a recent strategy report. This flow of contracts if they are rolled out according to plan, is a new record, outpacing the high of RM28bil dished out in 2012.

The strong job flows are expected to be driven from new tenders in public transport, oil & gas downstream infrastructure and water-related jobs.

New award phase for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Line 2, is set to take off from the first half of next year while the other rail project coming on strean is the Klang Valley Light Railway Transit (KVLRT) 3. The Gemas-JB double track, which is being reviewed, is another potential.

The total value of rail-related construction jobs was estimated at RM39bil in the medium term, said CIMB Research. “These could be broken into 17-20 chunky packages worth between RM800mil and RM1.5bil each, excluding underground portions,” the research firm said in its recent outlook report.

As for highways, there are the RM4.2bil Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (DASH), the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE), and the remaining West Coast Expressway (WCE) packages to be awarded. In East Malaysia, eleven more packages of the 1,090km Pan-Borneo Highway is expected to be tendered out in phases next year.

As for oil and gas infrastructure, Petronas’ Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Pengerang, Johor, is expected to see investments worth RM18bil based on Budget 2016.

On water-type contracts, CIMB Research reckoned that over RM2bil worth of jobs could be dished out and this excludes potential jobs from the private sector side.

The country’s strengthened ties with China have also injected further optimism into the construction sector.

“Chinese contractors have expressed interest in the rail projects, specifically, the Gemas-JB double track rail and Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail. Local contractors could partner them in bidding for the projects. With the Chinese companies’ ability to offer attractive financing packages, this would raise their chances of winning the projects, while allaying concerns on project funding issue,” said Maybank Research.

One other key project to watch for is the Penang Transportation Master Plan (PTMP) that is said to have contract value of RM27bil.

As for stock picks, Maybank IB Research has Gamuda Bhd at its top pick. The stock was a likely beneficiary of the PTMP and could also clinch additional jobs from the mega rail projects including KVLRT 3 and Gemas-JB double track rail, the research firm said.

CIMB Research also has Gamuda as its big-cap pick for the largest exposure to MRT 2. Among small/mid-cap it has Muhibbah Engineering Bhd as the preferred stock for the company’s US-dollar theme and exposure to Petronas’ Rapid.

“In the water segment, Salcon Bhd could emerge with a bigger share of wins. The company’s tender book currently stood at RM1bil to RM2bil,” said CIMB Research.

On the other hand, Public Invest Research has a neutral “call” on the sector as “most of the counters under our coverage were already fairly valued.”

“Currently, the construction index is priced at 13 times one-year forward earnings, which is also equal to its long-term mean. Hence, we believe the sector is fully valued for now, with most positives already priced in.”

As for stock picks, the research firm favours WCT Holdings Bhd as its job replenishment was better than expected with RM2.7bil clinched to-date, bumping up its unbilled orderbook to more than RM5bil. “Hock Seng Lee Bhd is expected to benefit from the Pan Borneo project, while Gamuda also looks attractive after the stock dipped below our fair value.”

By Gurmeet Kaur The Star

Venture scheme accelerates growth of start-ups

KUALA LUMPUR: The New Entrepreneurs Foundation's (myNEF) unit Rave Ventures Sdn Bhd is looking to raise RM50 million to RM100 million in the next five to 10 years for its business coaching and mentoring programme, called Rave Accelerator.

The 12-week accelerator programme, which consists of a network of experienced entrepreneurs and industry members, hopes to provide promising start-ups with venture building and funding.

Speaking to SunBiz after organising a Rave Mentor Pitch Night a few months ago, Rave Ventures' CEO Rizal Alwani said that the accelerator had previously signed on RM800,000 and RM1 million sized funds for its first and second batch programmes respectively.

Rizal said the accelerator would connect the founders of start-ups with its wide connection of investors and venture capitals, to ensure the start-ups get the right funding for their business.

Apart from that, he said it also makes sure that the founders get proper information and knowledge on how to conduct vesting agreements by providing advice and consultation.

"Working on a 90-day venture building methodology, we engage the selected start-ups to further refine their product, presentation and execution of their business. Our goal is not only to get start-ups to the next phase of funding, but also to ensure sustainability and growth," Rizal noted.

Meanwhile, on the objective of the Mentor Pitch Night, Rizal said it is to introduce the new third batch start-ups to the experienced entrepreneurs and industry members.

"Our goal is to find the right mentors for all the eight participating start-ups, where their mentors will help to guide and accelerate their businesses further."

The start-ups consist of social matchmaking service, known as "Halal Speed Dating", sports clothing e-commerce Summersault.my, home decorations e-commerce Jiham.my, Above and Beyond Concierge Services, JomJamban Bathroom Services, Laundry on the Go Services, MyMakBidan Services and Toy Library Club (TLC) Services.

The eight start-ups were short-listed from 400 young companies, and started their acceleration programme on Sept 28, 2015.

As part of their business coaching and mentoring programme, Rave Ventures also organises what is called as Demo Days for start-ups to be showcased to local and regional investors.

Demo Days are attended by key start-up ecosystem players including big IT companies, early stage funders, influencer and government agencies.

"We are basically backed by myNEF. For the last two batches, myNEF foundation has invested about RM400,000 into the programmes. Starting this July, myNEF allocated another RM500,000 for the operation costs," Rizal said, noting that the accelerator programme is wholly funded by myNEF since it began its first batch programme in July, 2014.

MyNEF, which was formed in 1997, is a non-profit organisation established by ICT and creative industry players in partnership with the government.

By Wan Ilaika Mohd Zakaria sunbiz@thesundaily.com

Startups put through paces 
 

The programme gives startups the right pressure and motivation to succeed, says Rizal.

SPEED and focus are vital in starting a business, particularly at the start-up phase, budding entrepreneurs heard at the “RAVe Mentor Pitch Night” at the New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF) headquarters in Empire Damansara, Damansara Perdana on Oct 9.

“In focused programmes such as our accelerator plan, we make them do things in three months for things which companies use a year to achieve,” said RAVe Ventures Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Rizal Alwani. RAVe is a subsidiary of myNEF.

During the event, the third batch of eight start-ups were given an opportunity to pitch their ideas to mentors and investors.

“Our entrepreneurs are not exposed to the serious level of competitiveness in the tech eco-system and are also less hungry, so in our programme we give them the right pressure and motivation to succeed,” Rizal said.

The eight start-ups, shortlisted from over 400, had to work up to 4am in the morning to achieve their respective deliverables.

“They were all given deliverables, including their three-month revenue target, and they had to find ways to achieve it, including applying guerilla marketing campaigns,” he added.

The accelerator had been running the programme since 2014.

“By the end of the three-month period, we hope they will become investible companies, be it by grants or by venture capitalists,” Rizal said.

Some of the ideas that the start-ups pitched on that night included being a tech platform for helper services including things like cleaning residential and office spaces, laundry service, post-natal care, purchase of wall furnishings. There was even an idea for a halal speed dating service.

The start-ups were given an opportunity to do a short presentation on their business model, their motivation for doing it and what had been achieved so far.

Subsequently, they were asked by mentors and investors on how they would acquire customers and the acquisition cost. Some mentors also recommended contacts to help the start-ups.

Rizal concluded that the event was to prepare the start-ups of what was to follow.

That would be Demo Day for local investors in December and subsequently in Singapore for investors from the South-East Asian region.

By Lim Wing Hooi The Star/Asia News Network

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Let there be a better year ahead

It's not been a year to shout about with a litany of woes plaguing the country and much of the world. But as 2015 comes to an end, it's time to count of blessings and hope for better times ahead.

IT feels like only days ago that we were wishing everyone a Happy New Year and suddenly it’s time for Merry Christmas. But between Happy and Merry, there has been little joy, has there?

It’s not been a year to look back upon with much fondness.

The ringgit is down, oil prices are down, the economy is down, and many of the people are feeling down, too. And it’s not just in Malaysia. Throughout much of Asia and many countries around the world, it has not been good news.

For us, there was the GST, an all-encompassing tax that has had many people grumbling.

But it brought a hitherto little-known Customs officer to fame. Datuk Subromaniam Tholasy was the face of the tax as the GST director and the man truly believes that this value-added tax is the way to go for the country.

Thus, he worked very hard for it despite the many brickbats. But it was not without its problems. There was the on-off-and-on again prepaid phone card tax problems.

The latest to make the rounds is the supposed GST on tolls. It has been clarified that GST will be charged on the 50sen service charge on Touch ‘N Go top-ups. So, it’s now 53 sen.

Tolls rates may go up soon. And the electricity tariff, too. It’s not going to get lighter on the pocket anytime soon.

Politically, it’s been a problematic year. Almost all parties are in turmoil. The 1MDB controversy and a RM2.6bil donation haunted Umno and saw the Deputy Prime Minister being ousted, only the second time that this has happened in the country. The first deputy prime minister to be ousted was also in the news – he has been sent to jail.

The man who first ousted a deputy, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is also in the news. He wants to oust the current Prime Minister who ousted his deputy. It’s a merry-go-round that’s not so merry. This intense bickering is something that will go down in history.

Talking of history, Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee has been left out of the history books. This man was a true leader. I remember meeting him as a boy when he was the first Chief Minister of Penang. He came over to where the children were, patted them on their heads and told them all to study hard – and he spoke in Tamil! The man was a linguist and one who truly cared for all.

Great man: Wong was the first chief minister of Penang.

The first chief minister of Penang and a member of the Cobbold Commission that first drew up a working Constitution has been ignored in our history books. The reason? They didn’t want too many figures from the peninsula in the books, and wanted to balance the numbers with those in Sabah and Sarawak.

It makes no sense to me. History is history, it’s not a Maths lesson on the law of probabilities. MCA and MIC leaders were there at the birth of the nation and deserve to be recognised. The MCA is now fighting hard to have Wong, who made the declaration of Independence in Penang, recognised as one of the leaders involved in the early years of the nation.

The MIC is also, well ... fighting. Why they are fighting is hard to figure out as there are two factions, each claiming to be the rightful leadership.

It’s not just the Barisan Nasional. Things are even stranger on the other side. PKR is working with PAS to ensure the Selangor government is not rocked although PAS leaders are getting friendlier and friendlier with PKR’s arch-enemy Umno. DAP is at loggerheaders with PAS but works with PKR, again to ensure the Selangor government is not shaken.

In Penang, DAP has no time for PAS and PKR leaders are not happy with DAP. It’s a bit confusing. The ongoing rapid development is not helping things either.

Penangites love the island as it is, with as little change as possible. After all, the people are the living heritage of the place. I should know – I am a Penangite myself.

Elsewhere, too, there has been much misery. The two great Penangite sporting Datuks – Nicol David and Lee Chong Wei – have had a forgettable year.

Nicol is no longer the invincible girl she once was and has dropped out of the world No 1 ranking while Chong Wei was embroiled in a doping scandal, and spent the early half of the year serving out a suspension.

His return wasn’t remarkable and after some spectacular flops, he is finally picking himself up and could bring us all good news next year.

And never rule Nicol out. That lass has it in her to come back fighting every time she falls.

So, while much of the major news has been bad, it is the little people who have delivered the good news – those who continued feeding the poor even when the authorities wanted to ban them and throw the homeless into “reservations”, those who continue to teach the needy in the streets and in their homes and those who reach out to help regardless of age, race and religion.

And the year also saw the advent of G25, a moderate movement to stem the tide of extremism. Racial ties have not been at their best with some loud-mouthed leaders but the common folk are the ones rallying together.

The education system has again been called into question with several flip-flop decisions on English and the deaths of five orang asli children in Pos Tohoi. But even out of that came heroes who cared for the rural folk, the poor and the indigenous.

These are the people who we can depend on to keep the country intact - the way it was intended to be by our founding fathers.

Let’s hope the new year brings up better tidings, even if it is the common man who has to deliver them.

Why not?  By Dorairaj Nadason  - The writer, who can be reached at raj@thestar.com.my, wishes all readers Salam Maulidur Rasul, Merry Christmas and, yes, a Happy New Year once again.

Malaysian public research universities using short-cut measures to achieve world-class recognition

Other ways to achieve world-class recognition

I WAS bewildered by the news that some public research universities intend to increase their intake of foreign students so that they can achieve the so-called world-class university status.

This is a misguided strategy that, if followed through, will be done at the expense of local, especially non-bumiputra, students whose places would be taken up by the foreigners.

Take a look at the National University of Singapore, a top-10 university in Asia and top-50 in the world. It has only 8% to 10% foreign students whereas Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has 20%.

My point is increasing the intake of foreign students in our public universities to 10% and above is not a compulsory requirement to attain world-class university status.

I do not deny that a developing nation like Malaysia still needs to import foreign talents but they must be brilliant people and not just the average Joe.

Reduce the intake and tighten the screening process to accept smart foreign students only.

Efforts to attain world-class status should be focused on research and development, rate of journal citation, efficiency of teaching staff and facilities, academic freedom, etc.

Let’s stop using short-cut measures to score full marks in the foreign student category.

I strongly urge public universities and the Education Ministry to fix the foreign student quota to no more than 10% and re-allocate precious tertiary education resour­ces to local people who are paying tax to the Government.

By doing this, we can also reduce the chronic problem of brain drain.

NKKHOO Cheras

Stop using short-cut measures

WE share NK Khoo’s sentiments regarding some public research universities intentionally increasing the intake of foreign students to achieve “world-class university” status in, “Other ways to achieve world-class recognition”.

It is good that over the past few years the Government has been serious and determined in improving the global university ranking and upgrading tertiary education of our public universities.

It is however unfortunate that in their eagerness to satisfy the ranking companies, we have seen some of the public universities sacrificing the quality of education as a whole and using their limited resources to earn “easy” points on certain measures, such as the QS World University Ranking’s “International faculty ratio” and “Student-to-faculty ratio”.

For instance, University of Malaya (UM) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) have shown a significant improvement in ranking in the “Student-to-faculty ratio” and “International faculty ratio” measurements. In the former criteria, UM and UTM had respectively climbed to 58th and 143rd in 2015, from 86th and 203rd in 2013 respectively.

There are also good signs of improvement in the latter criteria with UM and UTM ranked at 167th and 193rd in 2015, respectively.

The irony is that with these improvements in “ratio”, it still falls short in claiming graduates who are “good quality graduates” in our public universities in the last three years.

The QS surveys’ have seen declining “Employer reputation” (employers were asked to identify universities that they consider best for recruiting graduates) and “Academic reputation” (academics were asked to identify the institutions where they believe the best workplace is) of these universities in the last three years.

For UM, these “reputation” measurements have been declining from 200th (2013) to 246th (2015) for “Employer reputation”, and 184th (2013) to 175th (2015) for “Academic reputation”.

Given that the above “reputation” indicators are measured using QS global surveys, that drew responses from thousands of experienced stakeholders worldwide, it indicates the dire need for the leading public universities in Malaysia to catch up to earn their reputation professionally and internationally.

Further, one possible explanation for such a negative correlation between “reputation” and “faculty ratio” measurements is that these rankings by “ratio” do not reflect the actual quality of some of the academic staff hired by the universities.

The counter argument would be that investing taxpayers money into upgrading rankings is good in improving higher education, but should not be done at the expense of the teaching quality.

For comparison, the leading Singaporean university, the National University of Singapore (NUS) has shown positive correlation between “reputation” and “ratio” measurements. With “Employer reputation” ranked at world No. 9, its “Student-to-faculty ratio” is ranked even lower than UM, at 67th.

As compared to UM, with a relatively higher number of students per academic staff, NUS still managed to produce much better quality graduates who earned a high reputation from employers globally.

To emulate NUS’ experience, more autonomy to the administration and management of our public universities could possibly address the underlying problems.

For instance, a better and fairer reward scheme for high performance faculties, strict replacement system for under-performing staff, as well as ensuring that only truly qualified candidates enter public universities, would potentially help to improve accountability, effective work culture and reputation of tertiary education in Malaysian public universities.

As these universities are highly subsidised by the Government, it must be worthy of the money paid by the taxpayers. To this effect, the Government plays an important role in providing necessary support such as academic freedom and autonomy to public universities, and eradicating hurdles and constraints that restrain public universities’ improvements, particularly in teaching and research.

On the other hand, despite the shortcomings and flaws of all existing university ranking systems, results of comparisons between universities can still serve, to a certain extent, as indicators to gauge the international reputation of a university.

Some of these ranking measurements are useful for policy makers and academics to collectively improve the standard of tertiary education in Malaysia.

BK SONG and TINA NEIK Subang Jaya