a multimedia reality....
"Hi Dad, I am coming
home this weeked", I heard my son's distorted voice via
my mobile phone."
How are you getting along in Kuala Pilah?I hope you are not homesick yet",
I asked."I'll tell you when I get back".He answered briefly as he was calling
from a phone booth.When it comes to money,he is our Mr Greenspan of our
family and he always carries a US one dollar note in his seasoned wallet.
My son was offered a place at UiTM Campus in Kuala Pilah,Negeri Sembilan.
My first impression of the place is more like a training camp for army
recruits than an UiTM Branch Campus. Anyway,it is only in its second year
of operation.The place was a former agriculutre department office, now
being converted and leased to UiTM to accommmodate 300 students for pre-science
and pre-accountancy courses. Whatever it is, I thank Allah for granting
my son a place to study and for UiTM for their efforts to help bumiputra
students. There are a few thousand more like my son who are waiting
for just a place in government instituitions of higher learning. UiTM has
done a lot for the Malays in education especially for those not qualified
to go straight for degree courses,unlike other universities who are too
proud to offer non-degree courses to less qaulified students. Let's give
some thoughts to those less firtunate with grade two and three.Where are
the colleges to accommodate them? Thr private sector is too expensive for
the majority!
When he came back last weekend, he told me about lousy food and crammed accommodation. I just smiled because I used to stay at the hostel for 8 years during my student days. Honestly,I am glad that things never changed! I believe young people should undergo a little bit of inconvenience and hardship before becoming an adult.It is good for the body,the mind and the spirit!
However, one thing that astonished me when he told me about the multimedia room for the campus. It is a classroom with ONE TV and ONE computer connected to the Internet for 300 students! What worries me is that the kampung kids may misunderstood what is multimedia is all about. Come on UiTM,you can do better than that.I know UiTM is building up an engineering faculty that costs more than RM 100m in Shah Alam and yet only spent less than RM 5000 for a multimedia room to cater for 300 Malay kids at Kuala Pilah?
Personally, I am fascinated
with the capability of multimedia in education.Its powerful features
like text,images,animation,graphics and sound will facilitate students
understanding of complex concepts in science and engineering. Sad
to note,there is not much work being done in this field i.e multimedia
applications in education.I heard this will be done through Smart School
Project.I think there is great business potential.Honestly, I have ventured
into this business but it got burnt half way during the last recession.May
be,now is a better time? Almost everyone now is jumping on the Internet-based
dotcom companies where people can becomes instant millionaires or billionaires
on IPO! By the way,I heard so much about Malaysia Multimedia Supercorridor
(MSC),but what I see so far is only the corridor and not much multimedia
products. May be the products are still being designed and processed.I
hope and pray our billion ringgit Malaysia Multimedia SuperCorridor
will not look like the multimedia room at UiTM, Kuala Pilah.