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SPEAK UP
theSun ON THURSDAY | MAY 8, 2014

EduCity losing its

stellar touch

The myth of
multitasking
BY DANIEL
CHANDRANAYAGAM

I SPEND a lot of time in

traffic. So when I upgraded
to an iPhone last year, I was Freespace
joyful. I can entertain my- Where young views rule
self, like other drivers! I
thought. After all, I have seen many people texting,
surfing the Net, reading e-books in traffic jams. What
a way to not waste time.
Bad idea! I am bad at multitasking. And lifting my
phone, even in static traffic, stresses me out. So the
phone remains where it is as I watch people enjoying
their traffic jam, while I twiddle my thumbs.
I never understood how multitasking makes one
more productive. If someone talks to me while I am
on the computer, I have to stop what I am doing and
then divert my attention to the speaker.
Research has shown that the human mind is not
meant to multitask. A 2009 Stanford research study
got college students to complete experiments that
involved switching between tasks. The researchers
expected frequent multitaskers to do well.
However, the results revealed the inverse. Regular
multitaskers did badly at all three tasks. Even more
damning was that only one experiment involved
multitasking. This indicated that even when they
focus on a single activity, multitaskers use their brains
less effectively. So much for being productive.
MIT neuroscientist Earl Miller found that when
there is a group of visual stimulants in front of us, our
brain can only focus on one or two items.
Miller found that when we try to concentrate on
two tasks before us equally, it causes an overload of
the brains processing capacity, especially when we
try to perform similar tasks at the same time because
they compete to use the same part of the brain. This
results in the brain slowing down.
Wait, it gets better. University of London psychiatrist Glenn Wilson found that even thinking about
multitasking can cause a jam in our brain. He found
that being in a situation when we are able to text and
email can knock 10 points from our IQ, similar to a
brain-fog caused by the loss of a nights sleep.
A study reported in the Journal of Experimental
Psychology revealed that multitasking caused the
release of stress hormones and adrenaline. This might
lead to a downward spiral, working hard at multitasking, taking longer to get things done, feeling even
more stressed, and then feeling compelled to multitask more.
But we do have a choice. What happened before
multitasking? We did things one at a time. And
perhaps that is the way we were meant to live.
There was a time when I would try to do many
things at once, especially in the morning. The day
would inevitably end up like those few moments
frantic, stressful and unhappy. I have exchanged
multitasking for mindfulness. I attempt to live moment
by moment. And usually my days pass with far less
stress and far more happiness than before.
Daniel freelances in writing and fitness training,
and has a deep passion for health, fitness, sleep
and travel. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

JUST JOHOR

DUCITY in Nusajaya is a brilliant

idea. Designed to showcase
Malaysia as a centre for western
education, it caters to the
growing demand among the middle
class in Malaysia, and indeed from
throughout Asia, for quality Englishlanguage schooling.
Parents spend a fortune every year
sending their children to British and
American schools. To help reverse the
trend and stem the massive resultant
brain-drain (it is conservatively
estimated that over 500,000 universityeducated Malaysians now work abroad),
the government came up with this
unique initiative.
It actively campaigned to woo
western schools and colleges to set up
branch campuses here.
The proposition was simple and

beguiling get the same degrees and

qualifications as in Britain or the US, and
at half the price, by sending your
children to the branch campus at home.
This is the premise behind the
establishment of EduCity a 242.81ha
education hub developed by Iskandar
Investment Bhd, a company jointly
owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the
Employees Provident Fund and Johorowned Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat
Johor Bhd.
So far, 10 renowned education
institutions have opened branches in
EduCity, including secondary schools
Marlborough College Malaysia, and
Raffles American School.
Marlborough is an international
boarding school owned by an elite
private school with the same name in
the UK, which boasts alumni such as the
Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton
and poet Siegfried Sassoon.

The rest are tertiary institutions,

including Raffles University Iskandar;
British academies Newcastle University
Medical Malaysia (NuMed), the
University of Southampton and the
University of Reading; Netherlands
Maritime Institute of Technology; the
Management Development Institute of
Singapore; the Johann Cruyff Institute
for Sports Studies; and a joint-venture
between Multimedia University and the
University of Southern California.
Most of the universities, however,
will only have one faculty or department
each: NUMed will focus on medicine,
Southampton on engineering, and
Reading on English language and
finance courses.
This unique model allows their
programmes to be set up at a lower cost.
More importantly, students from all of
the universities live together in one
student village and share sports and
leisure facilities far beyond those any
single university could afford, including
a 14,000-seater stadium and an
Olympic-length swimming pool.
This is truly a great idea.
But having secured the
commitment and participation by
these world-renown universities,
EduCity now seem to have gone
into hibernation with a hands-off
approach towards these foreign
tertiary institutions.
At two recent major education
fares, EduCity was conspicuously
missing. Instead, it was the
universities themselves who were
doing their bidding to woo students.
This is fundamentally wrong because
EduCity is a destination. Hence, all
promotions and marketing must be
anchored under the EduCity platform
and not on a piecemeal basis.
Highest on the litany of other woes is
EduCitys apparent indifference to visa
issues involving foreign faculty staff and
students, with some having to wait for
six months to secure clearance.
Sub-standard and under-equipped
facilities at the student village have also
upped the chagrin, with inadequate
public transport being the bane of all
and sundry, not to mention the lack of a
proper cafeteria and other basic
facilities.
Despite offering itself as a cheaper
alternative in obtaining education from
prestigious academies, EduCity is also
finding it hard to attract prospective
students and staff from Singapore and

even Kuala Lumpur, with most students

coming from Johor itself.
Johor simply is not yet an attraction
proposition. And there are many
anecdotal accounts to back this claim.
A fortnight ago, five relatively welloff families drove from KL to explore
the possibility of registering their
children for Foundation courses at
EduCity in Nusajaya.
All backed out after only a day in
Johor Baru. Reason serious concerns
about the quality of the student
experience at the still relatively isolated,
no-frills facility in this city.
There is a glaring negative
perception about Johor, and changing
that perception will take time and hard
work. But at the rate EduCity is moving,
this sad state of affairs may never
change.
There are also serious bureaucratic
interferences, like the universities being
disallowed to put up billboards or even
hoardings around their campus to
advertise academic programmes.
It is worth mentioning here that
EduCity itself has done nothing to
promote and market this so-called
world-class education hub except for a
single inconspicuous sign that says this
is where it is.
The universities are also finding it
extremely frustrating because of
changes to entrance qualifications or
fees which must be approved by the
Education Ministry, whereas these
matters are dealt with internally in
England.
EduCity did an incredible job in
wooing these 10 colleges and
universities to set up base in Johor. But
having secured them now, it has failed
miserably to manage expectations and
propel this idea of an integrated campus
university project to greater heights.
At a time when Malaysians are
genuinely concerned about the poorquality of state-run universities and
shrinking academic freedoms, so much
hope was riding on EduCity and its
stable of world famous universities.
EduCity started off with a big bang.
But it is in danger of going out with a
whimper. And that would be a shame,
indeed.
Roy is a keen watcher of economic,
political and social trends on both sides
of the Johor Straits. Comments:
letters@thesundaily.com

The real cost of demonstrations

something confined to
one country, this was a
universal phenomenon as
protests marked May 1
around the world even in
our country.
Malaysia seems to have a new
culture of protests. While many are
against it claiming it wastes time,
resources and hampers business
the question remains why would
people go out to the streets when
they could enjoy a day off.
The answer is obvious at the
very heart of a protest is the fact
that people feel they are not being
heard. This is probably the last
resort in an attempt to air their
grievances and to satisfy the feeling
of inequality. People also tend to
believe that a protest will alter the
situation and change policies. Do
these many people feel that way
about certain issues? People also
protest because there is a sense of
identity and when people can feel
they belong to the collective

ON POINTE
TRYING to head to Monas,
Indonesias national monument, on
Labour day was quite the
experience. Busloads of workers
were headed to the centre to
demonstrate. In what would seem
like a dangerous place to be in, it
was a different atmosphere from
what the term demonstration has
come to mean. Looking out the
window while in standstill traffic, I
saw people singing, laughing and a
sense of solidarity. It almost looked
like a Family Fun Day.
I was a little confused. This was
Indonesias first May Day holiday
and I couldnt help but wonder
what would make people give up a
perfectly good day of rest to spend
it on the streets, in the heat taking
part in a demonstration. This is not

identity, they are more willing to

join protests if that is a cause they
strongly believe in.
Should we then listen to
protesters or is this like negotiating
with terrorists? I believe there is a
delicate balance.
Lets take the case of Malaysia.
Whenever there is a protest, it is
downplayed. Most media will
report the numbers, and protesters
are made to look like rogues. They
cause traffic jams, they hold places
captive by sit-ins and businesses
lose money. Not to mention the
cost of mobilising the police.
But if you dissect the crowd, you
will see that most protesters in
Malaysia are a mixed bunch of
people, who would normally not be
seen together, willing to walk the
streets of KL in protest.
So should protesters be heard?
While I was a little disappointed
that plans were halted as the streets
became a parking lot, I realised that
the costs of demonstrating are not

high enough to the protesters

their cause was far greater than the
threat of being arrested or having a
mark on their record. They
believed they deserve better.
To the authorities, however,
public order is key. It is more
important that protests do not take
place and dialogue about issues
only encourages more protests.
Many governments and leaders use
this strategy. Yet delegitimising
concerns of a large group of people
is not wise especially when there is
little avenue to air their grievances.
But if people are expected to
behave, their leaders should behave
too.
If we go back to the cause of
Malaysias Labour Day rally, we
would see that people were not
particularly against GST but many
are convinced that GST is not the
right thing right now for the
country. While slanted
infomercials are meant to be a
remedy for peoples grievances,

simple observation of human

nature would say that in order for
people to obey authority, they have
to feel heard and have clear outlets
that work for their opinions to be
understood and received. In
Malaysia this proves difficult
because obeying authority is not
just based on access to be heard but
also on the fact that people need to
know that laws do not just change
willy-nilly and that there is fairness
for all. When all these three
elements are not in balance we will
see more and more protests.
Protests dont just happen, they
are built up from frustrations that
are not addressed and injustices
that are perpetuated. While we
might think the cost of listening
now is great, the cost of not
listening is really greater.
Natalie believes, the time
to listen is now. Comments:
letters@thesundaily.com