Perfectionism is a double-edged sword: it may act as a motivational force in its adaptive state or it may bring many harmful effects in its maladaptive state. Currently, perfectionism is viewed as a multidimensional construct with three orientations: self-oriented perfectionism (SOP), other-oriented perfectionism (OOP) and socially-prescribed perfectionism (SPP). This cross-sectional study explored the multidimensional perfectionism of medical, dental and optometry at SEGi University, Malaysia using the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS). Medical students scored significantly higher than both dental and optometry students in the SOP subscale (p<0.05). International students had a significantly higher mean SOP subscale score than the local students, whereas those from the higher income group had a significantly higher mean SOP subscale score than those from the lower income group (p<0.05). The high achievers, on the other hand, had a higher mean SOP subscale score than the non-high achievers (p<0.05). Further exploration on the psychological impact of perfectionism on the students is recommended in future studies.

The English language has long been regarded as an important tool in creating a marketable human capital. To be involved with the current, highly competitive economy, a developing country needs to produce a generation of marketable human capital. This is of the utmost importance in achieving economic prosperity. Hence for developing countries like Malaysia, which regarded English as a second language, English is taught in school as a second language. However, the English Proficiency level of the new generation in Malaysia is dwindling and this affected the production of good human capital. Weaknesses that lead to the decline are both systemic and in its implementation as there exist lack of cohesiveness with the curriculum, the implementation and finally with the assessment. In the middle of this are teachers and their struggle in producing students who can use English communicatively. This paper aims to discuss the decline of speaking skills as a result of incongruencies of the curriculum and its implementation and teachers’ role in creating marketable human capitals amidst the existence of these incongruencies.