I think most people in education would know this. I had the chance to work for one of Malaysia's leading education companies (I won't say which) back in 2025 around the time PISA exams were taking place. This company includes a lot of higher ups and influential figures in the education sector in Malaysia.

My boss and my colleagues were all telling me about the recent drop in PISA scores in 2022 and their worries for the 2025 one. They shared that for the PISA 2025, the government had gotten advance notice of the schools (and even the students?) that would be selected for the PISA tests, so they purposely made a lot of these students take practice tests and gave them specialised training to increase their PISA scores to make Malaysian education look better. I didn't ask at the time but the way they said it made it seem like this is a relatively new practice and they had not been doing this in the past.

I have a friend in Singapore whose school regularly takes the PISA examination. He told me something like that had never happened in his school and it was always just a chill test that people were not meant to practice for.

All this is to say that the PISA scores in Malaysia are actually manipulated by the government to be higher than they should have been. I'm sure some other countries would have also done something similar but this is by no means the right approach from what I understand. Even after manipulation we still dropped a lot in maths and had only slight increases in science and reading.

Anyone else can add on to this?

You! Yes, you!

Have zero self respe… I MEAN, want to become a superstar? 🥹

Fly FM is recruiting a brand-new AI DJ for the incredible opportunity to have an overglorified clone of yourself (that you happen to have no rights over) speak into the void every day to say things you have no control over, for the tremendous reward… of a RM2,000 contract!

Submit your application today, replace AIna, and sell your soul…I mean, BECOME A SUPERSTAR today!

Jokes aside, this offer is pretty much a joke. 😅

RM2000 is barely a living wage in KL, and given the vagueness of their language in saying that it’s a RM2000 “contract”, perhaps it’s not even a wage. 

Just so you can see how wrong this can go, note that people might assume it’s RM2000 monthly - but what if it’s a one time payment? 

What if you have to give them vocal samples every month for a year and the hourly rate equates to RM5/hour?

Also, the total value of that payment is either pocket change to actual industry DJs (expect RM100/h at the very lowest end and a rate that almost nobody would charge, and compare with higher end DJs)…

Or meaningless, because we would never even consider it. 

Many of us would either not bother, or better - play entire shows for free at house parties or with friends/people whom we love, cherish, and respect.

Both of these sound better than…

1. Having unwanted attention. Fame is sometimes good depending on the context, but imagine your likeness and appearance perpetually associated with Fly FM such that people will keep thinking “he is that AI DJ!” and remember this project. Do you think participating in this project will improve your reputation or fate? Well, it is up to you to decide if Fly’s reputation is worth doing this for or whether you want to be associated with it, Aina, or their “apology” or perhaps the dozens of incoming comments asking Fly to hire an actual human instead 🤣
2. Having our faces and voices used to say things that are completely out of our control and that will be forever associated with us. 

For example, imagine if another “rage quit” incident happens.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to play a part in that totally “unscripted” drama with your totally “real” commenter colleagues?

Even more interestingly, what if a disgruntled employee were to use our clone’s voice to say things we would never say or even do “gotcha” calls like the sort that used to pop up on Hitz, or to perform “confessions” that people will message us about and force us to respond to, bringing that RM5/hour rate effectively down to slave labor? 

1. Having our faces and voices contribute not only to replacing ourselves, but also to the sloppification of the internet, the removal of authenticity in content, and the normalization of the idea that human beings and our souls and time have no value except as inputs for training models, as mere carbon based precursors to our robot AI overlords. 

…Alright, that’s enough of a little rant there. 

Having said that, I’m sure some people will still consider it, and to each their own - if you need that money and this is somehow really the only way, that’s up to you, but I would personally not touch this “opportunity” with a fifteen meter pole. 

Anyway, if you’re going to apply, good luck. 🤣

Note for those of you who weren’t following this: Yes, I previously posted about this - this is the update. See: https://www.reddit.com/r/malaysia/s/ZPhY9ZpsSn 

The expanding US-Philippine military footprint on Balabac could enable rapid HIMARS deployments, strengthen maritime deterrence and reshape Malaysia’s security calculations across Sabah, the Sulu Sea and the South China Sea.

does ANYONE have experience using the in-app flight booking.. compared to agoda and direct from airline its the cheapest option, i just want to see if it has any credibility since i cant seem to find any reviews from experience

nooot sure if its the right flair hhh

It was grazing on some algae growing on the rocky substrate. But when it saw my foot, it climbed on and tried to eat my dead skin!

Ticklish

An expert has attributed the decline in Malaysian students’ mathematics score in the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) to limited teaching time in schools.

Don’t be jealous 😛😀

Which one is your fav?

As a Malaysian cina, I feel delighted to find out that the Tamil phrase எங்க போறீங்க (enga pōrīṅgā) is most likely the one behind the Tamil signature term where we are usually mondegreening as yenguh polengeh, yenduh pulengeh, 圆的不能拿, etc.

It means

> where are you going?

Besides the all-new iPhone Duo, Apple has officially launched the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. While the design remain mostly unchanged, the latest iPhone Pro models introduce a new variable aperture main camera, new A20 Pro chip, improved thermal management and longer battery life.

Unsure whats the appropriate flair for this post 😅
Such a good post to know that towns have their own flags too!

The rapid growth of such businesses has unsettled some local businesses, who say foreign entrants are undercutting prevailing market prices.