Quantity Over Quality?

Basically this is what Malaysia is all about. It's always about paying extra for some cheapskate stuff or marrying three or four wives or having too many kids and recently, competing to see how many subjects a single candidate can sit for in SPM. I mean what's the whole point of this? To prove that, hey, I have more so I'm better than you? Crap.

What I really don't have a slight tinge of idea of is why do some people chose to have an abnormally higher number of offsprings especially those who are financially contrained? Seriously, they would have realised by then that their life isn't actually what you call a luxury. Or do they oftenly get frissons and think, "Hey! Let's go make more babies because I just feel like it now!" Or could it be that maybe they can't afford any other sort of entertainment other than sex? And when they have sex did they choose not to wear a condom because it's not "syok" or condoms are not available in their local shops. It can't be that they can't afford to buy them because they don't really cost much.

Perhaps it might be the misconception that some people have that with more children they'll have more financial support as it is multiplied by the number of children they have. But does having so many children produce the desired quality? No, I don't think so. And why create so many individual life-forms to grow up surrounded by poverty? Does it really do any good? I mean yeah, of course they deserve every right to bear a child or two, but if you can't make it in life successfully then don't even try to be responsible of another's life. Imagine the social pressure that would impinge upon the children's daily life. Sigh.

And of course, the latest trend. Registering for as many SPM subjects as possible. Last year, it was that girl who got 17A1s and this year I heard it was another girl with 19A1s. So what next? 20A1s? It is a rather confounding matter to me. What's the point of taking every single available subject when later in life you can only choose to concentrate on one field? Does taking so many subjects prove anything other than that you're just like the typical Malaysian who thinks that quantity matter over quality? And imagine all those time wasted studying all those extra subjects which you won't ever need later in life. Those time could have been spent on much more productively on things that would actually help in the future.

However, decisions on taking more than the usual number of subjects may be influenced by our education system. In primary and secondary schools, there are no two ways to be the top student. All you have to do is to "swallow" as many textbooks as you can. That's all there is to it. BUT that is only during primary and secondary school years. The real challenge is when you step up into colleges/universities and later on into work life. It is a whole new different ball game and swallowing textbooks would not work as well as they did in primary and secondary education.

Honestly, in my opinion, taking as many as 19 subjects will not be revelant in life. The only thing that can be deduced from the number of As is how hardworking you are or maybe the ability of your brain power. The number of As you get in SPM does not necessarily determine your future. Your personal attitude and your ability to learn new things is what that counts.