Job Discussion Forums

snollygoster · Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 478

Yha said "there are many unqualified people on this programme".
That sure seems to be true, and the reasons they don't get another job as SMR ELT asks, is because they have poor qualifications, BUT the major reason is that a lot are experiencing their first "real" job, and do not have the funds to go back home if they so desire.

Make no mistake that there are (or were) also plenty of mentors with excellent qualifications and/or experience. Most in that catagory seem to have either left or been bullied into vacating positions to allow the "old school tie" to operate and let in one race only.

There are still a few mentors with experience and quals, but they are a dwindling minority, who see better prospects elsewhere.
The axe is about to fall as the Ministry of Education begins to open its eyes to the massive misuse of public funds that are lining the pockets of the foreign mismanagement of a noble project.

horse · Joined: 25 Apr 2005 Posts: 37

'' to allow the "old school tie" to operate and let in one race only. '' ??

I'm not quite sure I follow you there, old boy.

princessofquitealot · Joined: 05 Nov 2003 Posts: 38 Location: Malaysia

I thought SMR was a Malaysian company. Am I mistaken?

Expat101 · Joined: 09 May 2012 Posts: 108

yha asked, 'I wonder, with regard to the people who have left, did most of them give the required notice or did they just, in desperation, do a runner? '

I'm glad you asked this question! The notice is three months! Please see the quote below (taken directly from my contract), especially the part in red:

Expat101 · Joined: 09 May 2012 Posts: 108

SMR's motto is this:

horse · Joined: 25 Apr 2005 Posts: 37

Well, it seems fair to say that SMR employees were not entirely satisfied with the project. What about people who worked on the same project under the British Council?

Expat101 · Joined: 09 May 2012 Posts: 108

horse, it does appear that the British Council is making the best of things and if this

http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/58129

is anything to go by, I'd say they are moving in the right direction. I can't understand why they didn't get control of the whole project to begin with. They certainly have far more expertise in the area of ELT than SMR. Perhaps that's an understatement!

snollygoster · Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 478

Bravo British Council-At least some contractors have foresight in making a difference to teachers lots in Malaysia.
In fact, British Council made a downloadable resource centre for lesson plans to accompany each Unit in Year 1 texts.
When an SMR employee stated that SMR should have had something similar, I recall an undesirable level of sarcasm beinmg directed at the mentor who suggested it.
Princessofquitealot questions whether SMR is a Malaysian company. I believe it to be, however, within the ELT project managed by SMR, its noticeable which race holds the positions of power and influence, and how one race looks after its members better than some of the others.
Yes Expat- the contract is written only for the "victors", and even the small concessions made in it are not honored unsless its to SMRs advantage.

SMR ELT · Joined: 27 Apr 2011 Posts: 18 Location: Malaysia

I give up. No matter what anyone writes which is positive about the project in Malaysia there are one or two whingers who will by their sheer force of hiding behind anonymity will just make sweeping accusations and generalisations about things they have 'heard' or 'may possibly have happened'. The fact that there have been so many incidents is an indication of the openness and transparency and the reality of running a project with 120 people from differing backgrounds and experience. It has indeed been a challenge and many of the incidents referred to - even by the whingers - have occurred, but each one must be put in a context and a realisation that people have been involved in these things and I do not want to air everyone's dirty linen in public.

Having said that, I do feel that readers should be aware that in the past I have employed someone as a team leader who had a difficult year with his team in that he found that his teams ability to organise themselves better than he could extremely challenging and so at the end of the year he took to sending me a report that the local education department had expressed concern that SMR were employing lesbians in his team and this was inconsistent with the social norms of the society.

When I checked with the education department about this allegation they were extremely surprised at such a thing and denied making any such accusation. On further investigation of the individual he made numerous other accusations about his team which were all found to be eqally false. It became obvious that this team leader had lost all credibility and so I arranged his transfer to another state as a mentor - all of which he agreed to and I have it all in writing.

I agreed to pay the receipts for his removal and he submitted a claim for over RM6000 to move 200km. He submitted receipts for RM4000 which were duly paid but the balance was not as there were no receipts.

He then wrote long spurrious letters to the chairman, made numerous accusations about lying and duplicity. Even claimed that we left him high and dry because his brother in law had died and he did not have enough money to pay for the funeral - after which he boasted to his team that he made that up to make SMR feel guilty. He even told us that because of the stress of moving his wife had a miscarriage and if this was the case then this is regrettable, but I have yet to receive a medical claim to indicate that his wife had such a condition. Eventually he wrote 7 pages of ranting and ravings about how badly he had been treated and sent it to 13 random addresses of mentors on the project.

In the end I gave him the ultimatum to withdraw his allegations or leave the project and he chose not to withdraw anything - just rant some more. I therefore arranged his dismissal at the end of April. Perhaps snollygoster could comment on this type of situation and unfortunately this type of situation is not in isolation.

Is this the fault of SMR. I do not claim absolute sainthood in all of these dealings, but many of the incidents that have been referred to by expat101 and snollygoster have been the results of selfish, disgrunteled so called trainers who when it came down to it, were just not up to the job. Please feel free to rant and moan and complain all you like, I know that the majority of the mentors who are here in Malaysia really quite enjoy the challenge of the job, of living in Malaysia and get on with it, despite these challenges. Please feel free to listen to the rantings of the minority and make your own decisions.

wesharris · Joined: 26 Oct 2008 Posts: 177

Wouldn't selfishness also qualify as self interest?
Especially in situations like this, self preservation
in a foreign environment, often calls for actions
that management, or the locals call being selfish.

Expat101 · Joined: 09 May 2012 Posts: 108

SMR appears to be describing poster snollygoster in his desperate attempt at character assassination. In case you haven't already noticed, character assassination is something he's especially good at. Notice that none of my truthful accusations were ever attacked or properly explained away. Why is that (you should be asking yourself)? Don't attack the message, attack the messenger who exposes the nasty truth, especially when you have no rebuttal, eh? If this were a debate, SMR would have lost of a lot of points with the judges!

Don't you find it odd that he criticizes someone for ranting and raving and then turns around and does it himself on this public forum - at great length? It sounds a bit hypocritical. I think he's far from giving up.

Obviously, the positives of the project have nothing to do with SMR! The project and SMR are not one in the same. If it were not for the mismanagement of this company, the project itself would be GREAT! In spite of SMR, I certainly had a wonderful relationship with my teachers, PPD and all of the admin. that I worked with at every school. In fact, I kept in touch with them for long after I left. Would you call that being 'at odds with the world?!' The thing I miss the most is the project itself, but SMR proved to be the damper on my whole experience.

I wish the other organizations working on this project the best of luck and I sincerely hope that if there is another project like this you are able to weed SMR out of the 'business.'

Warm regards,
Expat101

snollygoster · Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 478

Sorry Mr Ranter Raver- it seems you have mistaken me for someone else in your attempt at character assassination.
I AM aware of the person to whom I believe you refer, and shall alert that person to your rather off the mark personal attack.
That person does have evidence in writing regarding the matters you refer to , and having seen that evidence, I for one would not challenge it as you have chosen to do.
That person was widely acclaimed as an outstanding leader, even by you, so your accusation smacks of sarcastic rhetoric, probably for self preservation purposes as it appears your major weapon in this discussion is unsubstantiated accusations and fabrications.
Please check your facts before you attack me again, and remember there are 2 sides to every story, and to date, SMRELT, yours has drawn a lot of scorn. Where there is smoke there is fire.

Mr. Kalgukshi · Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 8:44 am Post subject:

Messages addressing the messenger rather than the message are not permitted here. If they do not cease immediately, sanctions of the severe order are more than highly probable.

yha · Joined: 08 Dec 2010 Posts: 7 Location: US

i managed to have coffee this morning with the ex employee of SMRELT. this person confirmed the bed bugs etc. at the Radius Hotel and felt that as far as the management were concerned, the right hand didn't know what the left was doing. my contact also mentioned having to stay at an equally dirty hotel later in the year, again with bed bugs, in order to attend an HR seminar which had nothing to do with ELT. The purpose, seemingly, was to display a sea of "white" faces to the conference.

as regards the latest postings, as an onlooker, I have no idea who these people are, but my contact can identify individuals. this is a public forum. it seems that enough has been posted here to identify individuals and it seems to me a very unprofessional approach by the SMRELT management who is posting. i've never seen "management" posting such detail about a particular employee. this is disgraceful. perhaps the people who are still on the programme might be concerned to see all this dirty laundry being aired publicly - they may, later, share the same fate. i haven't come across this sort of thing on Daves Cafe before.