Malaysia Maths System

From email by a student

I find it most alarming that Malaysian schools teach their children the
> wrong things. I mean: can the children really apply what they are taught
> in school later in life? For example, can you imagine a mathematics
> question in a recent examination as follows?
>
> "If an egg costs fifty Sen, and if you buy one-eighth of the egg, how
> much would you have to pay?" Who in heaven's name will want to buy
> one-eighth of an egg? The shopkeeper will probably think you are crazy
> and he will be equally stupid to break the egg and measure one-eighth
> for you. Yet, this is how they structure the questions in Malaysian
> schools. Why not pose questions that would be more useful later in life
> when you go out into the world to earn your living?
>
> To help Malaysia 's Ministry of Education bet to face the realities of
> life, we are suggesting some questions they could use in our classrooms

> QUESTION 1
>
> If you drive from Kuala Lumpur to Penang along the PLUS Highway and
> there are four speed traps along the way, and if each speed trap would
> cost you RM300.00 in fines, how much in fines would you accumulate by
> the time you reach Penang ?
>>>>
> ANSWER (Choose one)
>
> 1. I would not suffer any fines as the oncoming cars would flash their
> headlights and I would slow down before coming to the speed trap.
>

> 2. I would only need to pay a total of RM80.00 as I would pay a RM20.00
> bribe at each speed trap.
>
> 3. I would not be stopped as I am an UMNO Wakil Rakyat so I am exempted
> from speed traps.
>
> QUESTION 2
>
> If your Bumiputera company is awarded a RM150 million government
> contract, and you make a 20% profit, how much profit would be at the end
> of the contract period?
>
> ANSWER (Choose one)
>
> 1. I will not be making a 20% profit as I would have to pay the Minister
> 10% and UMNO 5%.
>
> 2. I would make 30% profit, which is the progress payment I receive,
> afterwhich I will abandon the project and let the government call for
> re-tender.
>
> 3. My company will not make any profit> at all as I will siphon out all
> the profits and show a loss to avoid paying corporate tax.
>
> QUESTION 3
>
> If the ruling party obtained 54% of the popular votes the last election
> and won 151 or 80% of the seats, and if it saw an increase of 10% in
> votes
> this election, how many more seats would it gain?
>
> ANSWER (Choose one)
>
> 1. The ruling party will not show a 10% increase in votes, as it will
> stuff the ballot box with another 20% to give it a 30% vote increase.
>
> 2. The ruling party will win which are the newly created seats in the
> delineation exercise recently done.
>
> 3. The ruling party has already decided it will win 90% of the seats and
> the votes have nothing to do with it.
>
> QUESTION 4
>
> If the national petroleum company, Petronas, pays a 5% royalty to
> Terengganu State and if the amount paid is RM800,000,000 per year, how
> much should Petronas have in the bank accumulated over the last 25
> years?
>
> ANSWER (Choose one)
>
> 1. Nobody is supposed to know as Petronas need not show its accounts to
> anyone except the Prime Minister and this information comes under the
> Official Secrets Act.
>
> 2. Petronas earns only 50% of its petroleum revenue from Terengganu so
> Petronas' total income accumulated in the banks over 25 years should be
> RM800 billion.
>
> 3. Petronas has nothing accumulated in the bank as all the money has
> spent bailing out companies and financing mega projects .
>>>>
>
> QUESTION 5
>
> If the sentence for murder in our Malaysian court is 30 years, how many
> years would the man actually serve if 20% is reserved for good behaviour
> in jail?
>
> ANSWER (Choose One)
>
> 1. If the person is a V VIP he would be aquitted because the key witness
> suddenly cannot be found
>
> 2. If the person is a V VIP & high profile politician, he would not even
> be charged or suspected of murder because he cooperated 100% with the
> police to catch the 'real culprit '
>
> 3. If the person is a VIP he would serve 5 years in jail with full
> luxury as his home and holding meetings daily outside the prison