Tuesday, April 27, 2010

To Criticize a Critic

We've all heard it -- that criticism is hard to swallow. But in order to grow, we must grin and bear it. I would like to think that I am the type of person who can receive criticism with an open mind. But in some occasions, sticks and stones don't hurt nearly as much as the potential threat of an ill-worded sentence.

Yes, I would like to place an emphasis on the term 'ill-worded sentence'. Sometimes, it is not the criticism itself which is loath to be accepted, but the manner in which it is presented. In this, I mean proper use of grammar.

Let's face it, I live in Malaysia. I don't expect flawless, impeccable grammar at every corner. To be frank, I don't presume my own English to be Jayathiroyish at any rate. But for a lecturer whose medium of instruction is supposedly English, I would expect at least a minimal command of the language -- at least good enough to be heard without one's face screwing up in incredulity. So when the draft of my thesis with corrections from my second panel was returned to me, imagine my frustration upon reading comments such as

"Correction need to be corrected as mark inside"

and

"Please see me coz your report its not full report. Less discussion".

And when a sentence in future tense which I had overlooked was circled in red and accompanied by the remark "This research already or not.", I simply could not bring myself to accept my mistake being pointed out by someone who displays such blatant ineptitude in using proper English.

Alright, about a third of the corrections made are actually justifiable. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. *Crosses arms and blows a raspberry*

8 comments:

Pepper said...

Hahaha, memang bengong lecturer macam, sepatutnya dihormati jadi dibenci. Palis2...dak mo aku jadi macam dia.

magenta said...

hey, i love your blog. been reading a few past entries and i can't agree more about the part where you said you feel so alien among your own gender sometimes. feel the same way. and i love robert miles' children :)

Nani Othman said...

i would have screamed. i really would have scremed if i'm your shoes. sumpah i would.

to think that you have someone you should look up to because they should know so much more than you do, who points out your mistakes incorrectly!

hey. cheer up. XD

Jiyuu said...

@Pepper
Yes, palis2...

@Magenta
Thanks! Yeah, I think the whole gender stereotype is so inappropriate. And Robert Miles rocks! Appreciate your comments =>

@Nani
I almost screamed. I was shaking, trying not to scream. Oh, and I didn't go see her. Ha! My supervisor, the great Dr Sooi, says we can just ignore what she says and he'll go talk to her to make sure she doesn't mess up my grade. Yaay! Dr Sooi, the epitome of what a lecturer should be.

Max J. Potter said...

oh that's nice. XD at least there is a hero around to save the grade!

Silverleaf said...

waaaa...she even used 'coz'....maybe she asked her son to check ur paper...

Jiyuu said...

lol. She can't use that excuse since she's single....

Anonymous said...

Yes, correctly.

RPG character