From today’s Star (trunc):
Dr M: Don’t forsake English and ruin children’s future
PUTRAJAYA: Parents should think about the future of their children when deciding whether to agree or to oppose the Government’s proposal to make a pass in English compulsory for a student to pass the Sijil Pelajaran
He said, English was a necessary component for students to get good jobs once they leave school or for them to go overseas for further education nowadays.
He said if parents continued to reject the importance of the English language in their children’s education, then the future of the country would be at stake.
He also slammed those who oppose the move saying that these people were less concerned about education than politics.
“It is more like politics than education. They are not interested in education or acquiring knowledge. All they want to see is how many votes they can win. So I am afraid the country will go to the dogs,” he told reporters.
Asked about the possibility that the policy on the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English would be scrapped Dr Mahathir said: “I feel very sorry. In future, all Malays and Malaysians will be stupid.”
I would like to add something to the Science and Mathematics in English issue. A few champions of their respective languages (Malay and Chinese) have boldly stepped forward to defend their language of choice.
Once again there is no great altruism, love of their bangsa or love of language involved here. They are more worried about their own pocket. This is a recurring theme throughout human history when one group of humans depends on the support of the masses for anything. It usually involves money.
Please note that the folks who are making the loudest noises against the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English are the same folks who are connected or tied to the book publishers who tend to gain millions of Ringgit from publishing school text books if Science and Mathematics are switched back to the vernacular.
The dewan bahasa folks are well connected to the school text book publishing mafia which basically hijacks the direction of the school syllabi in this country.
Have you wondered why your children’s school text books keep changing so often? New books mean new printing contracts. More money to be made by someone.
Then to decipher the correct ‘approach’ for the new textbooks, the school teachers need to be sent to attend ‘kursus pengenalan kaedah pengajaran baru’ too. That is even more money to be gouged from the Ministry of Education because the same guys who are behind the new text books may also conduct the ‘kursus’ for the school teachers.
And Chinese schools have their own mafia, starting with the school headmasters (or principals?) who have significant say in the choice of text books to be used in their schools. Again big money is involved. There was some scandal about this in the papers a few years ago.
Its all money folks, and also politics. These so called ‘champions of their mother tongues’ all have a larger vested interest.
And the politicians, especially the PAS braders are like the hyenas. They come and feed off the carcasses to gain a few votes. As Dr Mahathir says, they don’t really care about the country’s future. These are traitorous folks.
Lets do an experiment : lets start a national debate if every Malaysian should cultivate at least one pet cockroach in their houses. And then lets see how long it takes for the politicians, especially those from PAS, to latch on to the idea?
It does not matter whether it is English, Japanese or Norwegian but we need a language that can fast track our people into the modern, scientific and technical future. Sorry folks but our beloved national language, bahasa Melayu, has not yet come of age to play this role effectively.
Anyone who disputes this does have the moral right to defend their position. They may have the higher moral ground too. It is a terrible thing to say that our national language is not the language of progress. But let the bare truth and the bare facts speak for themselves : we cannot play “trying to catch up” for ever. It is just not happening.
Malay as a language of rapid scientific and technical advancement is just not here yet. Please do not quote
We already have a good English infrastructure in this country. We are extremely fortunate in this regard. In the 70s, French was still considered a major competitor to English, especially in Africa and the
We must strengthen the use of bahasa Melayu through our education system but the language of technical subjects like Science and Mathematics plus all subjects that require logic and incorporate ever changing new knowledge like accounting, law and economics should also be taught in English.
There are just not enough words, concepts and usage of bahasa Melayu to be the vehicle to impart new knowledge in too many areas of modern human endeavour. It will happen ultimately at its own pace but let us fast track our journey up the learning curve.
This is not the time to experiment, to main-main or to sacrifice our future to fish for votes or make money from book publishing contracts. Lets be serious.
15 comments:
Salam Brother,
Totally agree with Tun. We have stupid politicians and "pejuang bahasa" that currently paving the way to a stupid Malaysia in the future.
And some of us call them "Pejuang". Even gave them medals!
Agreed with you bro...
I even wrote it in my blog..
I am a single parent and due to time and financial constraints, depended so much on the Internet to tutor my kids at home.
OMG, so many free tutorial sites, videos/powerpoints/tutorials/worksheets that I can download to teach them myself to on English Reading/grammers/science and Mathematics.. And if I am not able to be around, my kids can independently serve the net themselves..
For instance, my kids were taught their 5 to 9 multiplication tables within 5minutes, using their fingers, courtesy of a free site step by step video tutorials!!
Try looking for simple BM topics, Puisi/kataganda or whatever, unless you pay for the on-line packages, you get almost nothing!
Mind you, I teach all my kids personally how to read BI from the net, the abundance of FREE HOMESCHOOLING SITES made available to us 24/7 from the comfort of our own homes!
Sad, if they decide to take away these facilities from our kids..
WIDOW
We don't need to look at Indonesia, we should look at Scandinavian countries. They use their mother tongue as medium of education, but still their literacy in English is quite good.
The problem here is the system. If we have a good syllabus, good teachers, good infrastructures and so on, we can be there. Now the 2 former are not up to the par. We have good infrastructures but certainly lacking in the qualities of the teachers and syllabus.
I say we tightened the selection of wannabe teachers and at same time improve their salary to attract those with good brains to be teachers.
The syllabus can be mapped to mimic the one in other developed nations but with our own environment. Stress more on course work and diverging field to harvest the potential of the kids. Not all kids want to be doctors, lawyers, engineers. So we provide them with the conditions conducive to them to shine with their potential. No more exam based system only.
Ducati7
Salams,
And once again ... Umno Haprak Ptuiih!
Que Sera, Que Sera ... Yes folks. The Key word for todays comment on par of " MALAYS & MALAYSIANS WILL BE STUPID - BY DR M"
Usuall la ladies & gentleman of numerous commentator ... where is the honey the money is there to bedazzled. We all know that ain't we? corruption is everywhere... but duit Ringgit bukan kuat sangat
Sooner or later, Oil Money habis, tu pon depa tak pakai akai nak pikiaq.
Hehe pergi interview when those mat salleh asked - " what is your receipe for success? - uhmm.. err Ayam Masak Merah ? dan Akademi Fantasia ?
Melayu B***h.
Anon911
Bro Syed,
Looks like everything in Boleh Land is for sale with politicians of all stripes and their cronies leading the pack in gambling away the nation’s future.
The Tun must have been really distressed at this whole language thing to have uttered strong words like 'going to the dogs' and that Malays and Malaysians will be stupid.
But that seems to be the trend - narrow interests masquerading as love for the nation while placing ridiculous obstacles in the path of the people especially the children.
In a similar vein, this morning's paper had another example of a top brain in the country exhibiting his brilliance. Thanks to Naib Canselor Prof. Datuk Dr. Zaini Ujang, UITM students will only be allowed 20 hours a month of internet usage. That works out to about 40 mins a day. Factor in Malaysia’s super fast internet service and the poor students will enjoy about ½ hr of surfing per day. That’s a university for you. And a technology university to boot.
The VC then proudly exhibits his luminosity further by saying that "Peraturan ini menjadikan UTM universiti pertama di negara ini yang mengamalkan kawalan penggunaan kemudahan itu bagi membolehkan pengguna mendapatkan maklumat yang tepat dan pantas." How not to be impressed.
Universities especially should be in the forefront of disseminating and accessing information not taking pride in showing how smart they are in making life difficult for everyone.
He obviously also doesn’t think too highly of his students either that they have to be curtailed like school children just because of their appetites for non-educational sites. Isn’t freedom of choice and responsibility for one’s actions major tenets of a free and progressive society? And if abuse occurs shouldn’t it be handled in a more matured fashion than penalizing everyone even the innocent and those really into educating themselves? Just say lah the university has spent a little too much on some pintu gerbang here or there, or on decorating the VC’s car park, that funds have to be diverted from more critical areas. Like internet facilities. Not all the bull being bandied about irresponsible students overcoming site congestion.
How not to be fearful of the country’s future when people in power exercise their clout not because they have to but because they can.
It is very sad that in spite of billions spent on improving English among schools, it is just not happening.
This is similarly true in other countries like Korea and Japan as had been reported in the news.
Even here in the blogs, there are many calls for improvements but rarely you read anyone posting how to do it?
MOEs did try. So what is the problem.
I have highlighted the reasons why ... read here.
http://www.paperlesshomework.com/Ybetterenglish.htm
It does not matter how many teachers you have or many more periods of English more. The certainty is that it would not change. Most school leavers will continue to speak "rotten" English.
Cheers all.
Alan
www.paperlesshomework.com
this system is only to promote and deliberate dumbing down of malaysian society to take away people ability to know right and wrong for instance Eulogy is a evil science.Think again
we can use our mother tongue to teach both math's and science but then we got to get the whip and make sure dewan bahasa dan pustaka translate every book thats ever written into bahasa malaysia. Dewan bahasa dan pustaka is not doing its job in translating books for the students or public as a whole. Countries like germany or japan has a thriving translation culture thus all their books even the most mundane is translated into their language.DBP for me has failed the malaysian public and its national language,frankly speaking how many books has it translated and published.Wake up DBP
Sir, What can I say, I totally agree with your views. I consider my self lucky for being educated in UK and USA where I was able to polish my english. I am now a senir lecturer in one of the IPTS. The medium of instruction is english. 95% of the lecturers are local graduates and obviously they are practically mumbling when delivering their lecture. Some english educated students do complain but the instituition cant do much. Again, It was the system that messed them up. I was lucky to be among the class of 75 where we were the last batch to sit for the OSC and HSC in 77. I think 5 years after 77, the "pejuang bahasa" ruined our academic instituition. My english may not be as good as those who have master this subject but at least mine is better vis a vis those 50,000 or more local graduates!! I rest my case.
Happy day Bro,
I totally don't agree with Tun, he was at the helm for 22 years and he personelly saw how English was degraded, but then....he had no time to adress it, then..... why now ? only for maths and science, better to go back to basics and teach them proper grammer in english then proced where we all lost out. Better late then never.
Lol... Malaysia needs to know that they have a perfect role model at their southern tip for them to copy...
Syed,
May I share this with you & your readers....
Lee Kuan Yew on Malay vs. Chinese Culture
George P. Landow, Professor of English and Art History, Brown University; Distinguished Visiting Professor, National University of Singapore, 1998-1999
In Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas, his biographers relate how Lee sought explanations for the different economic approaches -- and degrees of success -- found in Singaporean Chinese and Malay communities.
Long before becoming Singapore's Prime Minister -- in fact, while still a student -- he had rejected colonialist notions that some races were superior to others, and so he sought other explanations.
Turning to contemporary anthropology, he came upon a convincing one in the work of Bryan Parkinson, a Fellow at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Hull, whose 1968 article in the journal Modern Asian Studies argued that Malays and and Chinese had different "maximising postulates" or ways of conceiving success:
This desire to succeed is no more absent from rural Malay society than it is from any other, but to the Malay success means something different from what it does, for example, to the Malaysian Chinese.
The Chinese seem to regard success as being the improvement of their economic position even if this requires fundamental change or innovation.
The Malays seem to regard success as doing what their forebears have approved and practised, but doing it as well as they can.
Wealth and economic advancement are desired by the Malays, but not at the expense of renouncing utterly the traditions and traditional occupations of their forebears to which they have grown accustomed.
Parkinson further argued that although there was "nothing irrational about Malay values," they would explain why Malay economic advancement has been and will likely "remain relatively low" in comparison to what Lee termed the "achievement-orientated, striving, acquisitive" Indian and Chinese communities.
Attempting to solve this "extremely delicate problem," Singapore has tried several approaches,
The first being a form of affirmative action that provides....
"Free education from primary school right up to university for any Singapore citizen who is a Malay.
This is something we don't give to the majority ethnic group -- the Chinese.
They pay fees from secondary school onwards."
Second, the government has employed "judicious intermingling of the communities so that, thrown into the more multiracial milieu we have in our new housing estates,
Malay children are becoming more competitive and more striving"
[147].
References
Han Fook Kwang, Warren Fernandez, Sumiko Tan. Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas. Singapore: Times, 1998.
Contd....2
Contd....2
Syed,
Question:
If LKY has been "Magnanimous" towards the "Minority Malays" in Singapore to provide that affirmative action, why are our UMNO/BN Leaders "Marginalising & Depriving" the Anak Bangsa Malaysia from achieving MERITOCRACY?
Bapak Borek...Anak MESTI Rentek & tak boleh LEBEH PANDAI pada Bapak?
Seeing the efficiency and the progress achieved by Singapore caused the Malaysian leadership to suffer from an inferiority complex.
That Malaysia should suffer from this complex was of its own making.
In a recent interview, Kuan Yew said that Malaysia could have done better if only it treated its minority Chinese and Indian population fairly.
Instead they were completely marginalised and many of the best brains left the country in drove.
He added that "Singapore was a standing indictment to what Malaysia could have done differently".
He just hit the nail right there on the head.
The PRESENT LEADERS on BOTH sides of the Political Divide are "Trapped" in their "OWN QUAGMIRE" with no Win-Win SOLUTIONS....
Malaysia NEEDS NEW LEADERS with Political MATURITY to ACHIEVE its Financial, Economic & Social CONSOLIDATION & STABILISATION.
Until such times Malaysia can IDENTIFY “Role Model” MATURED, EDUCATED, INTELLIGENT, ESTABLISHED Leaders & Politicians of HONOUR with Calibre & Tolerance without Fear or Favour,
Malaysia CANNOT even THINK of having a 2 or 3 PARTY Political System of Government to mitigate the IMPENDING Political & Financial fallout.
Cheers.
Syed and fellow bloggers
Several years back i was tasked to find two brilliant malaysian with good command of english to be send to the USA for training and later bring back the knowledge to start a new department within our manufacturing facility.
I advertised the vacancies in several major newspapers and received hundreds of applications of which i have shortlisted 7 candidates for interview. 3 malays, 2 chinese and 2 indians.
The malays i selected were cream of the crops in their universities. All graduated with at least a 3.5 CGPA. 2 of them were on the dean's lists.
It was sad that none of the malay students were really capable of expressing themselves in English. Many a time you can see that they actually think in Malay and then try to translate their thoughts in english. They fail miserable and we decided that they would not make good ambassadors to represent our company.
The chinese fellows were not so good either but the indians were very much better. Although academically they loose to the malay candidates, their english were good and as such they were selected for the jobs.
It was a sad episode but this is the reality. Although they excel in education, they poor command of english failed them against those who are not so cleaver but have better command of the english language.
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