Macleans－－ 老牌右派报纸
Toronto Star －－自从 Michael Cooke 来后，已经右转了。Michael Cooke, 呈经为Conrad Black工作， 就是他将 the Province 转向右翼的。

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛To whom it might concern,


With regard to the article titled, 'Too Asian?', that you've published recently in the recent issue of university rankings.


I'm writing to protest against your publishing of the article which incites racism against Asian students;

I'm writing to protest against your publishing of the article which also suggests the instigation of rule changes in the Canadian universities so as to make the admission process unfair for hard-working Asian students;

I'm writing to request for your formal apology for this wrong-doing;

I'm writing to request that you take corrective actions commensurate to the damages you've done by publishing this article;

I'm writing to request that you fire the authors of this article, Stephanie Findlay, and Nicholas Kohler;

I'm writing to request that you fire the editor-in-chief who is responsible for publishing this article;


Most of the arguments in this article are based on biased, anecdotal opinions and subjective judgments of the authors and anonymous persons, rather than based on validatable facts. I can only see in this article that hard-working Asian students are blamed for their hard-working and their success in the academic arena.


Here are some basic facts:

- Most, if not all, of the so-called 'Asian' students are Canadian citizens or permanent residents, thus they have the same right of education as do the other Canadian citizens and permanent residents;

- These students are competing with other students under the same rules;

- Some students, including these successful Asian students, fair better in schools and universities because they are smarter, or work harder, or being smarter and work harder at the same time;

If our society truly value equal opportunity for all citizens, then race, skin color and ethnicity should not matter. As long as the participants are competing on the same starting line and following the same fair rules, why is there a problem at all?


This MacLeans' featured article sure will make the magazine famous, or rather infamous, especially when it's year 2010 AD, in Canada.


After reading it, I can only conclude that the article is racially-biased and it serves the purpose of nothing else than inciting racism against hard-working Asian students in the schools and universities.

And just by looking at the subtitle of the article, 'Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada', it's very clear what the authors of this article really have in mind. Probably they should have made it even clearer by saying that they 'Hope that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada'!

The two authors of this article are racially biased, they are lack of common senses and the basic qualities of being professional journalists who are responsible for our society. This is one reason, which is fairly enough, to fire these authors as staff working for Macleans. And the editor-in-chief who let this racist article slipped through the reviews and published should be fired too for his/her lack of judgments and tolerance to such a work of racism.


BTW, based on what I've witnessed, Macleans really downgraded itself to somewhere below the toilet, probably in the sewer, I don't think it'd worth a penny from my pocket. Glad I've never bought or subscribed to Macleans, and now I will do so in the future, and I am sure there are lots of people who are with me.


Shame on you, Macleans!


Yours truly,
XXXXXXXXX更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Dear Ms.×××

Thank you for writing to us with your concern. We would like to call your attention to certain aspects of the story.

The headline of our article, which was a question, not a declaration, is borrowed from the name of a 2006 panel hosted by the National Association for College Admission Counseling in the U.S.

In the U.S., as our article says, Ivy League universities have “limited Asian applicants and [kept] the number of white students artificially high.” There is evidence of a double standard being applied to Asian applicants, with one study finding that “they needed an extra 140 points on their SAT scores to be on equal footing with white applicants.”

We do not condone this; the article is clear on this point. We did, however, think it was important to investigate whether the same thing was going on at Canadian campuses.

Our article goes on to state: “Although university administrators here [in Canada] are loath to discuss the issue, students talk about it all the time.” We then quote students, Asian and non-Asian, from various parts of Canada, about these issues.

The point of the article is not in any way to challenge the meritocracy of university admissions. On the contrary, hard work should be and is rewarded on Canadian campuses. The article explicitly states: “It’s unfair to change the meritocratic entry system, so all universities can do—all they should do—is encourage groups to mingle … Newer, fresher ways are needed to help pry the ethnic ghettos open so everyone hangs out together.” That applies to “all-white” social groups as well.

We thank you again for writing. We hope this article will encourage intelligent, open discussion of these issues. Your letter has been forwarded to the authors of the article and the editors, who appreciate the feedback.

Take care,
Maclean’s更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Macleans,

I don't think you answered the question, if my question is not clear, let me rephrase my question here, just one question.

The article's sub-title is 'Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada'. Now, in the article we can see that obviously the university authorities dismissed the idea of the universities being 'too Asian'. Here you can find the quotes here

{
...
“This is a non-issue,” wrote U of T president David Naylor in an email. “We’ve never had a student complain about this. In fact, this is a false stereotype, as we know that Asian students are fully engaged in extracurricular activities. So the whole concept is false.”

As Cheryl Misak, the U of T’s VP and provost, puts it: “We have a properly diverse mix, with no particular group extra prominent—we’re the rainbow nation and we’ve got every sort of student and everyone is on merit.” Waterloo president Feridun Hamdullahpur echoes a similar sentiment. “There is a great tendency in our society to learn more about other nations and other cultures,” he says. “Universities are the hotbed of these kind of activities. If you want to see more economic and political diversity, I think they star.”
...
}

Since the university authorities know more than anyone else about the issues on campus, and they have no concern over the problem of having these Asian students, my question is, where did you get the idea about 'Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada'? Who is thinking about this stuff? Who is talking about this?

Before this article titled 'Too Asian' published on Macleans, I never heard of or read anything about this 'Too Asian' issue. Could you explain, where did the 'worries' came from?


XXXXXXX更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Whatever intention Maclean's had in publishing "Too Asian?" by Stephanie Findlay and Nicholas Kohler, the story in the November 10 issue jeopardizes the magazine's reputation of producing "strong investigative reporting" by publishing careless writing that tries to pass off inaccurate stereotypes as "facts." Findlay and Kohler might as well cite Gilmore Girls' Lane Kim and Harold & Kumar's Harold Lee while they try to stimulate a dilemma by transplanting a hot American debate into a Canadian context:

"The dilemma is this: Canadian institutions operate as pure metritocracies when it comes to admissions, and admirably so. Privately, however, many in the education community worry that universities risk becoming too skewed one way, changing campus life – a debate that's been more or less out in the open in the U.S. for years but remains muted here."

At the end of the article, I was still uncertain about what the dilemma is in Canada. That the writers think Canadian universities operate as "pure meritocracies" is admirable. If both U of T President David Naylor and UBC President Stephen Toope are not concerned about the percentage of Asian students at their universities, why should Maclean's readers be?

So, what's the problem?

The problem is that Maclean's is trying to spin a non-issue into a debate about race for the sake of selling a extra few issues and luring extra clicks to keep their online traffic up. It's wreckless from a journalistic standpoint to publish an article that overgeneralizes and typecasts an entire race of people. This kind of writing belongs in a tabloid, not in a magazine that touts its highly acclaimed jounalistic reputation. Publications should be wary of green-lighting articles that may have negative social reprucussions by reinforcing stereotypes:

"'Too Asian" is not about racism, say students like Alexandra: many white students simply believe that competing with Asians – both Asian Canadians and international students – requires a sacrifice of time and freedom they're not willing to make."

"Too Asian" is, in fact, about racism. It's about taking Asian-Canadians and Asian international students at face-value and grouping them under the same umbrella, then stereotyping them as shut-ins and academic robots. Because Findlay and Kohler fail to address the cultural distinctions between Asian Canadians and Asian international students, they fail to aknowledge a large majority of Asian Canadians who are incredibly involved and by no means lack social skills.

They also fail to explore the make-up of domestic Asian students and international Asian students at each referenced university. Instead, they carelessly draw a big circle around all these diverse groups and label them "Asian" for simplicity's sake.

A first-generation Canadian, I was raised in Toronto and attended high school in the middle of the city at Yonge and Eglinton. My friends were a mixture of Chinese, Koreans, Serbians, Latvians, Dutch, Jews, Italians, Persian, English, and Irish. We were involved with school clubs and after school we socialized together.

As each of us moved on to university, we each continued to make new friends of all races and creeds and continued to be involved in extracurricular acitivities on and off campus. The reason why my Asian friends and I got into university cannot be accounted for by "fact(s) born out by hard data" (whatever that means) or by our tendency to be "strivers, high-achievers and single-minded in (our) approach to university."

I succeed because I choose to surround myself with a group of motivated individuals, based on character, not race, who motivate me with their own strong work ethic and enthusasim to continue to achieve on and off-campus. I earned my spot in university based on academic merit. The fact that I am Asian should be irrelevant.

For every five metaphorical steps any Asian takes forward to defy popular Asian stereotypes it seems that some new ceiling appears right after the previous had a chance to be broken. A magazine of Maclean's' reputation and reach should help lead initiatives that nurture intercultural dialogue instead of publishing articles based on lazy journalism.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛To Louise Brown (Education Reporter), and whom it might concern,


This is regarding to the article titled, 'Asian students suffering for success', published on November 10, 2010 on Toronto Star.


I'm writing to express my deep concerns about the motives behind the article that you've written and published.

I'm writing to protest against your publishing of the article which is misleading and which incites racism against students of Asian ancestry and their parents;

I'm writing to protest against your publishing of the article which also suggests the instigation of rule changes in the Canadian universities so as to make the admission process unfair for hard-working students of Asian ancestry;

I'm writing to request for your formal apology for this wrong-doing;

I'm writing to request that you take corrective actions commensurate to the damages you've done by publishing this article;

I'm writing to request the resignation or firing of the author of this article, because of your sympathy and promotion of racism;

I'm writing to request the resignation your editor-in-chief who is responsible for publishing this racist article for the lack of judgments and tolerance to racism;





In my opinion, your article selectively quoted sources that are racially biased, misleading, and without consideration of the context of each source, and mixed irrelevant materials together to create yet another piece of work to mislead people's opinions, to promote racism, and to suggest racial discrimination against hard-working students of Asian ancestry.



In your article, you quoted materials from two sources:

----------------------------------------------------------------------


1. An article titled 'Too Asian?', with subtitle 'Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada', which is published in the latest issue of Maclean's University Rankings;


The main idea of this article published by Maclean's, is that there are too many 'Asian students', to a point that it caused some resentment among certain people, thus causing so called 'Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada'.

It's very obvious that, most of the arguments in this article are based on biased, anecdotal opinions and subjective judgments of the authors and anonymous persons, rather than based on validatable facts. Just as you've noted as in your article on Toronto Star,

{
...
“An ‘Asian’ school has come to mean one that is so academically focused that some students feel they can no longer compete or have fun,” the article says, quoting non-Asian high school students who say they wouldn’t choose the University of Toronto because it’s largely Asian.

The article also quotes non-Asian undergraduates complaining their Chinese and Korean classmates don’t mingle with others.
...
}


However, also noted in your article on Toronto Star is that, U of T provost Cheryl Misak told the Star she finds such comments “rather alarming, and I am heartened they have not surfaced in any substantial way at the U of T.”


And Maclean's article did acknowledged that, the university authorities immediately dismissed the idea of the universities being 'too Asian'. Here you can find the quotes here in the article:

{
...
“This is a non-issue,” wrote U of T president David Naylor in an email. “We’ve never had a student complain about this. In fact, this is a false stereotype, as we know that Asian students are fully engaged in extracurricular activities. So the whole concept is false.”

As Cheryl Misak, the U of T’s VP and provost, puts it: “We have a properly diverse mix, with no particular group extra prominent—we’re the rainbow nation and we’ve got every sort of student and everyone is on merit.” Waterloo president Feridun Hamdullahpur echoes a similar sentiment. “There is a great tendency in our society to learn more about other nations and other cultures,” he says. “Universities are the hotbed of these kind of activities. If you want to see more economic and political diversity, I think they star.”
...
}

Since the university authorities know more than anyone else about the issues on campus, and they have no concern over the problem of having these students of Asian ancestry, my question is, where did authors of the article get the idea about 'Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada'? Who started talking about this stuff?

Before this article titled 'Too Asian' published on Macleans, and your article published on Toronto Star, I have never heard of or read anything about this 'Too Asian' issue in Canadian universities. Can you explain, where did the 'worries' came from? I did wrote twice to Macleans and asked this simple question and they can not answer.

I think just by looking at the subtitle of Maclean's article, 'Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada', we can easily see what the authors of the article really have in mind. They should have been more straight-forward by saying that they 'HOPE that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada'!


I can only see in Maclean's article, 'Too Asian?', that hard-working students of Asian ancestry are blamed for their hard-working and their success in the academic arena.

As I've told Macleans, which in their reply they said they agree, here are some basic facts:

- Most, if not all, of the so-called 'Asian' students are Canadian citizens or permanent residents, thus they have the same right of education as do the other Canadian citizens and permanent residents;

- These students are competing with other students under the same rules;

- Some students, including these successful students of Asian ancestry, fair better in schools and universities because they are smarter, or work harder, or being smarter and work harder at the same time;

If our society truly value equal opportunity for all citizens, then race, skin color and ethnicity should not matter. As long as the participants are competing on the same starting line and following the same fair rules, why is there a problem at all?


After reading Maclean's article, I can only conclude that the article is racially-biased and it serves the purpose of nothing else than inciting racism against hard-working students of Asian ancestry in the schools and universities.


As I've suggested to Macleans, they should fire the two authors of that article, as they are racially biased, they are lack of common senses and the basic qualities of being professional journalists who are responsible for our society. Also I suggested that the editor-in-chief who let this racist article slipped through the reviews and published should be fired too for his/her lack of judgments and tolerance to such a work of racism.

It's so sad that in year 2010 in Canada, a country which is highly touted as multi-cultural, our main-stream media still come up with such work of racism. It is a shame!

By echoing what Maclean's has said in their article, 'Too Asian', you, Toronto Star has allowed yourself to downgrade to the same level as does Macleans, which is deplorable.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


2. Personal opinions expressed by participants during a conference, “East Asian Parents: Multiple Pathways to Success”, which is hosted by and for the GTA’s Asian community;


- It was suggested that 'Asian parents' should give their children more choices than just professional courses such as engineering, medicine, accounting or pharmacy. Parents are urged to let their children consider community college, skilled trades or even liberal studies at university.

As an example given in your article, TDSB staff, Maria Yau's son, is bucking the trend by studying liberal arts at a college.

- Maria Yau said, “Even though our children always seem to have high enough marks to get into university, the hidden truth is that they don’t always have the independence or social skills to survive once they’re there.”

- “A lot of our young people get good enough marks to get into university, but they have low confidence and no friends to talk to and no way to express their feelings and no connection outside their community,” said the founder of Markham-based Across U-Hub, a group that promotes activities to encourage youth of Asian ancestry to get to know people of other backgrounds.

- Your article suggested that: Of some 20 per cent of Toronto public high school students of east Asian background, fully 85 per cent of their parents say they expect their children to go to university, according to a 2008 TDSB survey, compared to 78 per cent of South Asian parents, 59 per cent of white parents and 49 per cent of black parents. In contrast, east Asians have the lowest rate of attendance at community college — only 8 per cent, compared to 14 per cent for Canadian-born.

Maria Yau said it’s not “natural” for any group to have so many students heading for university. “Can they really all be qualified or emotionally ready for that kind of learning?”


- Wong notes the Confucian tradition of respect for hard work and obedience “often overlooks creative skills and leadership and social skills. The focus on studying makes problems for our youth; if they get 95 per cent, parents will ask what happened to the other five per cent.”

- Sociology professor Eric Fong told parents at the conference the east Asian students he teaches at the University of Toronto tend to memorize the textbook but rarely speak up in class. “Yes, they get good marks, but that is all I know about them,” which makes it tough to write letters of reference. He urged parents to encourage their children to reach beyond their social circles to get to know classmates and professors.





Well, I agree with most of the comments from the participants, however here are my opinions that I want to make clear:


- Yes, parents shall help the students to consider more options to decide which is best for them, ie., science/engineering studies vs. liberal studies, studying in a university vs. a college.

What the conference participants are trying to say is that it's advisable for the students to expand their horizon and explore a wider field of study, not just science and engineering, not just in universities. This is irrelevant to and can not be used to support the arguments of 'too Asian issue' in the Canadian universities as suggested in that Maclean's article.

Trying to mix the conference's idea and Maclean's racist idea in their article 'Too Asian?', coupled with the opening in your article, '...parents of Asian background are coming under fire from their own community for pushing their children into university programs...', is obviously misleading.

Here I can only see that you are echoing the racist comments in Maclean's article and that you are trying whatever you can to support the idea of racism against Asian students in the Canadian universities, even by mixing irrelevant, and even misleading materials.



- One of Maria's Yau's comments is true, in that not all students have the independence or social skills to survive in the universities. However it should also be clear that this will apply to students from all ethnic groups, not just students of Asian ancestry! In reality, students from all ethnic groups, not just Asian students, face the similar problem.

I believe the way Your article took Maria's comments out of its original context, and mixed it together with Maclean's article, 'Too Asian?', has confused lots of readers, and has mislead many people to believe that only the 'Asian students' have the problem. This is wrong.



- I think Across U-Hub is doing a great job in encouraging the youth to connect with people from other communities, I feel the youth of Asian ancestry in Markham area are very lucky.

However, in your article the existence of U-Hub is used to support your or Maclean's argument that 'Asian youth'/ 'Asian students' don't mingle with others. Seriously, do you know what you are talking about?! I think there are similar challenges among all young people to get to know people from other cultural / ethnic backgrounds, this problem doesn't just exist in 'Asian youth' community. What the youth need is help, not discrimination based on their race and ethnicity!

Once again, based on the way you select materials to support your arguments, I can only see that you were trying to manipulate the reader's opinions and promote racism against the youth/students of Asian ancestries.



- The fact that 'East Asian parents' have the highest percentage in hoping to sending their children to the universities, should be one reason that these parents be applauded, rather than condemned!

All sensible parents would hope that one day their kids would have higher education, no matter which ethnic group or race they are from. The reason is simple, formal higher education is the key to attain the skills and experiences necessary to contribute to the well-being of the society. Why is there anything wrong for the parents bearing such hopes?

Attacking East Asian parents for the hope of a brighter future is just ridiculous! I seriously think some people blame them out of jealousy.

Once again, the students of Asian ancestry are being blamed for their hard-work here, and their parents are blamed for supporting their hard-work here. Instead blaming them, everyone should learn from these students of Asian ancestry, and their parents, and compete on a fair ground, instead of whining, and blaming other's success because of his/her own laziness and the failure as a result!

What Maria Yau said here, 'it’s not “natural” for any group to have so many students heading for university', is wrong! To calculate the 'natural' percentage of students attending universities on an ethnic group's population among the whole population is wrong!!

Once again, as long as the participants are competing on the same fair ground, why should race, skin color and ethnicity matter? If everything else is the same, yet some ethnic group is not faring well in sending kids to the universities, it only tells that they are not working hard enough! You should think why your children can't compete with other children, instead of blaming the other children and their parents for their success!

And even if it's true that some of the students are not fully prepared for the advance learning in universities, or even post-graduate social life, so what? Just let them accept the failure, accept the reality, it's purely the choices made by the students and their families, it's their own problem, not yours. As Canadians we have basic rights to make our own choices in our lives, as long as we are following the rules and obeying the laws, you as a by-stander have no right to interfere. Just mind your own business!



- Yes, parents shall give the youth more encouragement, instead of setting goals impossible to reach; parents shall encourage the youth to develop creative, leadership and social skills. I agree with all these. That's why I think we as a society should help the youth by creating a supportive environment.

Once again I can see here in your article that you are promoting the stereotype, that students/youth of Asian ancestry are lack of creative skills and leadership and social skills. This is wrong.





From what I've read in your article, you are echoing the racist thinking of Maclean's article, 'Too Asian?', and by combining that article with other sources in a misleading way, you went even further to promote the racism against students and youth of Asian ancestry. This is very unacceptable, consider you are supposed to be a journalist and media professional and responsible to our society!


Because of this article of racism nature that's published on Toronto Star, I seriously doubt if it is a publication that is up to basic standards.

You should apologize, take corrective actions, and resign with dignity.



Yours truly,
XXXXXXXXXXXX更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Hi Maria,

Guess you must have received numerous emails recently, as your name turned up in an article named 'Asian students suffering for success', published on Toronto Star on November 10, 2010. Because of your inappropriate comments and poor judgments, Toronto Star suggested that 'parents of Asian background are coming under fire from their own community for pushing their children into university programs for which many have no real interest or talent...'

Personally I don't agree with some of your opinions as regarding to the success of the students of Asian ancestry. Here's some suggestion for you: As a public role representing the education authority, I suggest you watch out for what you say in public. Think about the consequences, be responsible.

I don't know what is behind your speech during the conference, “East Asian Parents: Multiple Pathways to Success”, but the fact is, what you've said was used in Toronto Star's article, together with quotes from Maclean's article 'Too Asian?', to incite criticism and racism against parents and students that are of Asian ancestries. I guess what have happened is not something that you've expected.

(
And according to the author at Toronto Star, Louise Brown,

“The conference caught my eye because it focused on parents and education. It’s true that a lot of parents of all backgrounds are obsessed by wanting their children to go to university and don’t let their kids consider other paths such as college.

“I’d never seen one particular cultural group address this in a conference however.”

Refer to this link:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/publiceditor/article/894113--english-star-falls-below-its-standard#article
)


In my opinion, it's very inappropriate for you, who represents the education authorities, and who also happens to be of Asian ancestry, to make such comments that there are too many 'Asian' students in the universities, to suggest that students of Asian ancestry are not quite qualified and talented, to suggest that it's the parents that are forcing the students into the universities. By doing so, you actually shows your racial bias and discrimination against the 'Asian' ethnic group, to which you belong too.



FYI. here's what I've mentioned in a comment made on Macleans.ca:
{
Based on what I've seen, the majority of sensible parents would hope that one day their kids would have higher education, no matter which ethnic group or race they are from. The reason is simple, formal higher education is the key to attain skills and get prepared to contribute to the well-being of the society. Why is there anything wrong for the parents bearing such hopes? Even if it's true that some of the students are not fully prepared for the advance learning in universities, or even post-graduate social life, so what? Just let them accept the failure, accept the reality, it's purely the choices made by the students and their families, it's their own problem, not yours. As Canadians we have basic rights to make our own choices in our lives, as long as we are following the rules and obeying the laws, you as a by-stander have no right to interfere. Just mind your own business!
}

Also, here are what I've mentioned in a letter to Toronto Star:
{
- One of Maria's Yau's comments is true, in that not all students have the independence or social skills to survive in the universities. However it should also be clear that this will apply to students from all ethnic groups, not just students of Asian ancestry! In reality, students from all ethnic groups, not just Asian students, face the similar problem.
- The fact that 'East Asian parents' have the highest percentage in hoping to sending their children to the universities, should be one reason that these parents be applauded, rather than condemned!

All sensible parents would hope that one day their kids would have higher education, no matter which ethnic group or race they are from. The reason is simple, formal higher education is the key to attain the skills and experiences necessary to contribute to the well-being of the society. Why is there anything wrong for the parents bearing such hopes?

Attacking East Asian parents for the hope of a brighter future is just ridiculous! I seriously think some people blame them out of jealousy.

Once again, the students of Asian ancestry are being blamed for their hard-work here, and their parents are blamed for supporting their hard-work here. Instead blaming them, everyone should learn from these students of Asian ancestry, and their parents, and compete on a fair ground, instead of whining, and blaming other's success because of his/her own laziness and the failure as a result!

What Maria Yau said here, 'it’s not “natural” for any group to have so many students heading for university', is wrong! To calculate the 'natural' percentage of students attending universities on an ethnic group's population among the whole population is wrong!!
}

Below you may also find the letters that I've sent to Macleans, and the Toronto Star regarding this incident.


XXXXXXXXXX

...更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛To whom it might concern,

I am writing to express deep concerns about the role that Ms. Maria Yau has played in the recent incident of racism against students of Asian ancestry;

I am writing to request that you take disciplinary actions against Ms. Maria Yau, as I believe she failed to be a qualified educator;

I am writing to request that you review this incident and clarify TDSB's position to the public;

- In their recent issue of annual university rankings, Maclean's published an article titled 'Too Asian?' (subtitle 'Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada');
-On November 10, 2010, Toronto Star published an article titled 'Asian students suffering for success';

(
The copies of the two articles can be found online:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/11/10/too-asian/
http://www.thestar.com/article/888368--asian-students-being-forced-into-university-maclean-s
)

Like many people, I am outraged as I believe these two articles are racially biased, inciting racism against students and parents of Asian ancestry. Also the articles are beyond being ridiculous in blaming these students for their hardworking and their success.

Ms. Maria Yau was quoted by Toronto Star in their article, as research coordinator at TDSB. Based on her public comments during a conference, “East Asian Parents: Multiple Pathways to Success”, the article concluded said that 'parents of Asian background are coming underfire from their own community for pushing their children into university programs for which many have no real interest or talent...'

According to Toronto Star,
- Maria Yau said, “Even though our children always seem to have high enough marks to get into university, the hidden truth is that they don’t always have the independence or social skills to survive once they’re there.”
- Of some 20 per cent of Toronto public high school students of east Asian background, fully 85 per cent of their parents say they expect their children to go to university, according to a 2008 TDSB survey', ... Maria Yau said it’s not “natural” for any group to have so many students heading for university. “Can they really all be qualified or emotionally ready for that kind of learning?”

In my opinion, as a public role representing TDSB, the education authority, it's very inappropriate for Ms. Maria Yau to make such comments, and that these comments are misleading. Her comments suggest that in Canadian universities there are too many students of Asian ancestry, and that students of Asian ancestry are not qualified and talented, and that it's the parents that are forcing these students into the universities.

As I've mentioned to Macleans, here are some basic facts:
- Most, if not all, of the so-called 'Asian' students are Canadian citizens or permanent residents, thus they have the same right of education as do the other Canadian citizens and permanent residents;
- These students are competing with other students under the same rules;
- Some students, including these successful Asian students, fair better in schools and universities because they are smarter, or work harder, or being smarter and work harder at the same time;

If our society truly value equal opportunity for all citizens, then race, skin color and ethnicity should not matter. As long as the participants are competing on the same starting line and following the same fair rules, why is there a problem at all?

And based on what I've seen, the majority of sensible parents would hope that one day their kids would have higher education, no matter which ethnic group or race they are from. The reason is simple, formal higher education is the key to attain skills and get prepared to contribute to the well-being of the society. Why is there anything wrong for the parents bearing such hopes? Pursuing education in the universities or elsewhere is purely the choices made by the students and their families, it's their own problem, not yours. I have to say to Ms. Maria Yau and people alike, as Canadians we have basic rights to make our own choices in our lives, as long as we are following the rules and obeying the laws, you as a by-stander have no right to interfere. Just mind your own business!

Ms. Maria Yau has crossed the line between right and wrong in making such public comments, which are racially biased, of poor taste and poor judgment, and showed her lack of sense of responsibility as an educator.


Yours truly,
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