A not lame post.

While I was reading the handbook by the faculty of behavioural sciences I got from the orientation. This article caught my attention. So let me just bore you with one of this article, as an update. =P

The relevance of psychology in Malaysia Today

The origins of psychology can be traced back to the writings of ancient Greek philosophers, in particular Aristotle who used the term psyche to refer to the essence of life; translated to Greek to mean “mind”. Fundamentally, modern day psychologists are akin to Aristotle in their quest to understand the entity of ‘mind’ through the study of human behaviour, thought, and feelings.

Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. Psychological theories, like any empirical science, are based on research that that have undergone stringent tests of validity and reliability. From its early days, various psychological theories have had a profound impact on the way society has understood human behaviour and mental processes. *cut a lot*

This constant renewal and infusion of new ideas has been absolutely instrumental in ensuring the relevance of psychology in society today. It is currently understood that a person’s psychological make up is determined by various factors, including their genetic make-up, personality, education, life experiences, family and culture. Therefore in their efforts to understand human behaviour, psychologists perform assessments from a holistic perspective of the person, his life and his culture. This explains why psychology has a broad field of study, encompassing areas like bio-psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology and human personality.

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At the community level, educational psychology has provided new methods and models for improving learning and creativity among children and adults. Children with learning disabilities who were previously institutionalised have now, with the help of educational psychologists, entered mainstream education and made successful transactions into adulthood. At the global level, industrial and organizational psychology has enhanced workplace dynamics, selection processes, communication, job satisfaction, and organizational structure to increase productivity and ultimately improve the economy.

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The Ministry of Health has launched a concerted effort to train more clinical psychologists to serve in hospitals and clinics across the country, in response to many cases of mental patients going undetected and untreated. What is encouraging is that more and more Malaysian psychologists are making considerable efforts to develop and customize psychological theories and practices to suit our local culture and environment. The psychology community in Malaysia, both academic and practitioners, will need to work towards building a truly strong tradition of psychology in this country, rich with its unique cultural identity and applications.

One thing is certain, as Malaysia makes steady progress towards being a developed nation, there is a growing awareness that psychology will play an increasing important role in developing and protecting this country’s most precious resource, the hearts and minds if its people.

Written by Dr Goh Chee Leong,
Chitra Karthigeyan and Mile Glamcevski

Maybe staying in Malaysia as a psychologist is worth while after all. By the way, orientation was superb. Couldn’t be better. :D