Welcome to "Learning About Today" – A New Chapter
For a long time, this space was known as Private Education Malaysia. It served as a record of mainly the private sector of education and my career as an educator in that sector. But as the world around us shifts—becoming louder, more complex, and increasingly fragmented—I have felt the need for this blog to shift along with it.
Today, I am officially renaming this site Learning About Today.
Why the Change?
My life’s work has been dedicated to education, but I have come to realise that "learning" does not end at the school gates. We are currently living through a period of profound digital noise. The traditional media "gatekeepers" are fading, replaced by a "many-to-many" landscape of podcasts, social media influencers, and independent blogs.
While this shift has democratized information, it has also created a crisis of truth. We are no longer just students of subjects; we are students of survival in an age of misinformation, "rage-bait" algorithms, and charismatic broadcasters who often prioritise engagement over objectivity.
What to Expect
Learning for Today will continue to feature my reflections on education, but the lens will be broader. I will be exploring the intersection of media, power, and the institutions of democracy.
We will look at:
- Media Literacy: How to deconstruct the "digital noise" and spot the tactics of modern authoritarianism.
- Democratic Advocacy: Why the plethora of new media can lead to confusion and withdrawal, and how we can stay engaged.
- The Educator’s Perspective: Why learning to navigate the news must become a fundamental part of our national curriculum.
Our First Lesson: The Drowning of Democracy
To kick off this new chapter, I am publishing an essay that touches on the very heart of why I am making this change: "Hiding in Plain Sight: How Digital Noise is Paving the Road to Autocracy."
In it, I discuss how the "colossal failure" of traditional media (most recently seen in the reporting on the genocide in Palestine) has pushed us toward a decentralized media world that—while liberating—is fraught with new dangers.
Join the Conversation
I am grateful to those who have followed my writing here and through my contributions to Aliran. I hope you will stay with me for this new journey. Democracy is not a spectator sport; it requires a public that is willing to keep learning, every single day.
Welcome to the classroom. Let’s start learning.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I would love to hear your comments.