Of dodgy degrees and kiasu....
There is a lot of hot air being blown about at the Malaysian Education blog in regards to their latest post about dodgy degrees. There are some idiots on there who seem to think that it’s justified that someone should be allowed to buy a degree online because they cannot afford to go to Oxford or Cambridge. Their reasoning is so absurd that I can’t help but be extremely amused by this as I feel the only reason one might resort to buying a degree is not because they can’t afford to go to university but rather for quick and easy social status gratification.
Its funny how their first port of attack at Tony Pua, one of the bloggers and Oxford graduate, is and I quote “not every one has your brains and more so rich parents perhaps like yours to be able to join top class universities in UK or US.” I find it funny that this poor commenter has seem to be going completely OT on the topic because the post is an attack on people who would rather pay for some dodgy degree from some dodgy institution which hides behind the mask of being one of those non-traditional institutions that focuses on long distance learning as opposed to going to lectures at 9am. I’m not going to deny that for some, there is a thin line between those dodgy money making institutions and those non-trad long distance learning institutions, but I’m sure all can agree that there is a huge step between someone who is working full-time while doing a part-time, long-distance course and someone who basically pays for a degree from some dodgy institution without having to lift a finger to work other than to type in their credit card details for payment.
When it comes down to it, I have a greater respect for someone who has worked and studied independently with no regards to whether they were studying at somewhere like Oxford or Open University resulting in getting a degree then someone who got a degree with a few clicks on the internet. And as for that poor excuse of not being able to afford Oxford, I am wondering how much these lazy buggers are paying for a piece of paper which doesn’t have any value in it whatsoever? I’m pretty sure it doesn’t cost a tenner for one of those degrees. And if you’re so poor, why not spend the money you would have spent on a fake degree or work part-time or find a scholarship and work a little harder to earn a degree the honest way. It’s true that not everyone will be an Oxford or Harvard graduate, hell I’m not! But I think getting a legitimate degree from some lesser known university is way higher in the moral high ground than some dodgy university where work is equivalent to how much you are willing to pay. One of my cousins went to UPM, another went to the University of Manchester and I went to Royal Holloway but in my books we are all equals because despite what university we went to, we all went through the process of higher learning and gaining independence in our lives.
I’m sad to say that all these hoohah boils down to the basic fact of the Asian thinking of Kiasu. Its presence is strong in the whole of Asia especially with the Chinese communities, and it means a “fear of failure”. The thought of losing face in some way whether it’s your job status or education status, you care not allowed to lose face. Lie, cheat, steal if you have to but NEVER LOSE FACE. Sadly, this applies to whether you have a degree or not. If you have a degree, preferably from a foreign degree from some Western country, you are automatically socially better than someone else who has a local degree. With this in mind, people will buy fake degrees from Western sounding institution regardless of whether they are a real education institute or not.
Its funny how their first port of attack at Tony Pua, one of the bloggers and Oxford graduate, is and I quote “not every one has your brains and more so rich parents perhaps like yours to be able to join top class universities in UK or US.” I find it funny that this poor commenter has seem to be going completely OT on the topic because the post is an attack on people who would rather pay for some dodgy degree from some dodgy institution which hides behind the mask of being one of those non-traditional institutions that focuses on long distance learning as opposed to going to lectures at 9am. I’m not going to deny that for some, there is a thin line between those dodgy money making institutions and those non-trad long distance learning institutions, but I’m sure all can agree that there is a huge step between someone who is working full-time while doing a part-time, long-distance course and someone who basically pays for a degree from some dodgy institution without having to lift a finger to work other than to type in their credit card details for payment.
When it comes down to it, I have a greater respect for someone who has worked and studied independently with no regards to whether they were studying at somewhere like Oxford or Open University resulting in getting a degree then someone who got a degree with a few clicks on the internet. And as for that poor excuse of not being able to afford Oxford, I am wondering how much these lazy buggers are paying for a piece of paper which doesn’t have any value in it whatsoever? I’m pretty sure it doesn’t cost a tenner for one of those degrees. And if you’re so poor, why not spend the money you would have spent on a fake degree or work part-time or find a scholarship and work a little harder to earn a degree the honest way. It’s true that not everyone will be an Oxford or Harvard graduate, hell I’m not! But I think getting a legitimate degree from some lesser known university is way higher in the moral high ground than some dodgy university where work is equivalent to how much you are willing to pay. One of my cousins went to UPM, another went to the University of Manchester and I went to Royal Holloway but in my books we are all equals because despite what university we went to, we all went through the process of higher learning and gaining independence in our lives.
I’m sad to say that all these hoohah boils down to the basic fact of the Asian thinking of Kiasu. Its presence is strong in the whole of Asia especially with the Chinese communities, and it means a “fear of failure”. The thought of losing face in some way whether it’s your job status or education status, you care not allowed to lose face. Lie, cheat, steal if you have to but NEVER LOSE FACE. Sadly, this applies to whether you have a degree or not. If you have a degree, preferably from a foreign degree from some Western country, you are automatically socially better than someone else who has a local degree. With this in mind, people will buy fake degrees from Western sounding institution regardless of whether they are a real education institute or not.