PPSMI: The Language of Politics

With Muhyiddin Yassin slamming the door shut on PPSMI, the debate continues to rage on within both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat alike. PKR comes out to support the abolishment, whereas the DAP wants to give parents the choice.

PAGE, the English rights action group is submitting 7,000 petitions in favour of the teaching of maths and science in English to the Prime Minister. Gerakan is also whispering that they would prefer that parents have the choice. How did we get into this place in the beginning?

The implementation of PPSMI created controversy back in 2003, but if one were to gauge the results of the 2004 General Elections which swept Barisan Nasional back to power with the biggest majority in their history, there is little evidence to suggest that the implementation of this policy was detrimental.

After a while, we hear praise for the government policy being forward thinking from different sections of the society. The mainstream media also ran pieces about English competency amongst teachers, and how many had struggled to cope with the teaching of the subjects in English. Obviously, this did not reflect well on the federal government, who then spent millions on books, training courses and computer software to train the teachers to become competent.

I strongly suspect that the decision to reverse the policy to teach maths and science in English is based more on the fact that the teachers did not want to make the additional effort to learn English, rather than poor results, especially in the rural areas. At times, one hears stories as to how children who can speak better English than their teachers would proceed to torment and taunt them for their poor command of the  language.

Malaysian parents are by-and-large extremely concerned about their children's education, in order for their children to secure their future, both socially and financially. We had the Education Ministry boast of the best UPSR results in history not too long ago, but obviously dissatisfied, the government has decided that teaching maths and science in Malay once again would further raise the standards.

With the General Election fast approaching, the Deputy Prime Minister is obviously intent to prevent what are traditional Barisan strongholds fall to the Opposition. He has cleverly observed that because heritage and pride are something deeply emotional, he waves the flag of "I'm Malay first, Malaysian second" despite this being in direct contradiction with Najib's 1Malaysia. Therefore touting the fact that he is a nationalist and defender of the race, he gets rid of PPSMI to raise up the Malay language once again.

He then introduces the idea of "Uphold the Malay language, Strengthen English" or MBMMBI, without a concrete plan as to the implementation. Despite the DPM's claims that the change was not a rushed decision, I would beg to differ. Aside from saying that English proficiency would improve through more contact hours, he has failed to explain what methods would be undertaken to reverse the appalling degradation of English standards in our local school system.

Nevertheless, this is a calculated political gamble which could land Umno/BN some crucial swing votes in the rural areas. Their logic would be that proponents of PPSMI are from urban areas, and since urban areas are against BN anyway, they would have to pander to the sentiments of the rural population in order to retain the federal government. PKR has not ignored this effect, which is why they have also come out to say that they support the change in policy.

Pakatan Rakyat as a whole is also unable to provide a satisfactory alternative policy. The policy contained in the Buku Jingga speaks about direct fund allocation to the school system, producing qualified teachers, reviewing teacher's salaries and reduction in bureaucracy.

However, this does not tackle the most crucial reform needed, which is to revamp the curriculum. We need to know how to train our next generation as critical-thinkers by doing away with the current robotic system of information regurgitation. If Pakatan Rakyat can set out a clear plan as to how they would reform education, this would truly strengthen their position as an alternative government.

Unfortunately, the current batch of Form four students would be collateral damage as a result of this political war. All over the country, whatever they have learnt in English, they would have to re-learn in Bahasa Malaysia in order to sit their SPM. It is tragic that a new policy would potentially cripple an entire generation of school children to further political gain.*

Barisan Nasional has clearly shown that despite 54 years of experience, they continue to put their own rice bowls as priority, even if it means destroying the next generation. Muhyiddin Yassin accused PAGE as "ketinggalan zaman". Perhaps it is you sir, who are behind the times.

*Shortly after this article was published on Free Malaysia Today, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the current batch of students would continue the PPSMI until the completion of their SPM exams. Primary schools would completely phase our PPSMI by 2016 while Secondary schools would do so by 2021. I applaud the cabinet for seeing sense and doing the right thing for our children. However, I would continue to urge them to unveil their roadmap as to how to improve English proficiency in our school children and make English a compulsory pass subject. 
(12:09am 5/11/2011)

Published in:

Free Malaysia Today (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/11/04/ppsmi-the-language-of-politics/)
Malaysia Chronicle (http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=22364:ppsmi-the-language-of-politics&Itemid=2)
Malaysia Today (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/from-around-the-blogs/44711-ppsmi-the-language-of-politics)

English given a shove

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin must be under the sincere belief that political gain is more important than the education of our next generation. By pushing through his anti-PPSMI rhetoric, Form Four students will find themselves in limbo after being told that they would have to sit their SPM exams in Bahasa Malaysia, despite being taught in English for their entire school lives thus far.

The Education Ministry is being simply irresponsible for refusing to introduce the dwibahasa system in order to better facilitate the transition. The Deputy Minister's excuse that teachers are unable to speak English, let alone teach in it, is simply a cop-out and utterly inexcusable.

It is simply alarming that the federal government has completely failed to address the fact that their teachers were not qualified to teach Maths and Science in English since the policy's implementation. Now they use this as an excuse to re-introduce Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction for these subjects. In short, they use incompetence to justify returning to mediocrity.

When the system was originally changed from the English to the Malay language system, the standard of English was still high. What we see now is the steady decline in the command of the spoken and written language. This is especially evident in our younger generations, which is setting off alarm bells in parents. This also gives rise to parents forming interest groups such as PAGE to fight for better English education.

I have expressed before that Bahasa Malaysia is an important language as our Bahasa Kebangsaan or national language. It is what unites us as Malaysians, and it should be used our local lingua franca. Bahasa Malaysia transcends race and religion, and unites us as one people.

Having said that, English is the global language of commerce, and could almost be portrayed as the global lingua franca. Even a super power such as China, which is the world's fastest growing economy does not underestimate the power of the English language, with more emphasis on its teaching within their education systems.

In the business and scientific world, English is still the primary language. The Science Citation Index reported that 95% of scientific journals published are in the English language despite only half of them being native English speakers. What logic then can we give to the teaching of Science to revert back to Malay? When so many terms in science are translated directly form English to Malay, like "Oxygen" to "Oksigen", would it not be more logical just to teach the subject in English?

The current batch of Form Four students are going to be severely handicapped going into the new year. Without even a dwibahasa system, the policies of this Barisan Nasional government is going to severely cripple the lives and future of these students.

Going into an election period, with already so much bad press going against them, I am not sure how many parents would be happy with their children taking two steps back because of irrational and illogical thinking on the part of this government.

Published On:

Malaysia Today (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/from-around-the-blogs/44544-english-given-a-shove)
Malaysia Chronicle (http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=21999:muhyiddin-goes-for-political-gain-gives-english-the-shove&Itemid=2)
Free Malaysia Today (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/10/31/english-given-a-shove/)

Stemming the Malaysian Exodus

Recently, YB Teresa Kok asked me "Why are Malaysians so keen to leave this country? Life overseas is not necessarily easier!" I agree that life overseas is not necessarily. In fact my cousins living in Hong Kong, Singapore and London tell me regularly that they miss the food and that things are much cheaper at home. They complain about the weather, high cost of living and their long working hours. Despite this, when the possibility of coming back home is raised, they give me a smile and a shake of their heads. 

Is living in Malaysia really so bad? What is it that other countries have that we don't? Lim Kit Siang posted on his blog in December 2009 that more than 630 Malaysians are migrating overseas everyday, and that number is increasing year on year. 

This is a worrying statistic and the brain drain issue is one that the current government acknowledges that it is a problem. However, the best they can come up with to make them come back are tax breaks, and tax free vehicles. From day one, it has become apparent these 'perks' would simply not work. 

This government has a habit of tackling problems in this country by providing quick fixes. The 2012 Budget should really be called the 'quick-fix' budget as RM232 billion is mindlessly spent, with unrealistic economic growth forecasts to back it up. 

Yes, 60% of households would receive a RM500 relief and we thank the government for it. What then? RM500 does not combat rising costs, or inflation. How far can RM500 bring us nowadays? Not very far.  In no time at all, that RM500 has become a distant memory and we are back to square one. 

The Kedai 1Malaysia initiative was put in place by the government to sell cheap products subsidised by the government, and more are to be opened across the nation. Shop owners are now screaming in displeasure as they cannot possibly compete. If the government is intent on handing out subsidies, subsidise the shops which are already operating! Another poorly planned quick fix that provides no long term solution. 

Where is the long term economic plan? Where is the investment in our children's future? Fixing school buildings is an excellent initiative, but the real problem lies in the fabric of the education system. 

Our children are taught to be robots, to regurgitate material and not to question their teacher. Many scoff at the lowering of standards in the ongoing PMR exams, and an Additional Mathematics SPM paper was allegedly leaked out to tuition centres. Is all this in the name of grades, just to make the Education Ministry look good? How can this system prepare our children to be competent, effective members of society? The biggest losers in all of this are our nation's children. 

A friend over dinner told me earnestly that he was preparing to leave the country for the sake of his children. As disheartening as it was to hear, he proceeded to tell me why. 

His vision for his children was for them to grow up in a society in which they would not be discriminated against. Although racism is also prevalent in other countries, in Malaysia racism is institutionalised and sanctioned by the Barisan Nasional government. 

Furthermore, corruption is rampant throughout all levels of government. The payment of corruption money in cases of obtaining building or business licenses is so prevalent, that many businesses have included such a payment in their expense budgets. How can this continue be the case? 

These issues are all correlated, and opportunities continue to be stifled. Talented people leave because Malaysia appears to have no appreciation for their abilities. Nepotism and favouritism are practised on the basis of the "Lu tolong gua, Gua tolong lu" principle rather than getting the best person for the job. 

Our English standards have been lowered in order to record more exam passes, but quality is sacrificed as a result. If even masters degree holders from local universities are unable to speak proper English, how can we then become a globally competitive nation? 

After this budget, more and more people are convinced that this BN government cares only about staying in power and not for the long term development of the nation. The exodus of talented individuals will continue unless necessary reforms are put in place. 

On a recent trip to the United States, on our stopover in Hong Kong, a fellow passenger remarked that they could finally talk about issues of Malaysia as they dared not voice out their displeasure at home. Recalling so many holding up their fingers to their lips to shush their friends from bringing up national issues, it is obvious that many feel that we are living under oppression. 

Finally, one of my old schoolmates residing in Australia told me that he wanted to come home to take care of his parents. "But the biggest thing stopping me from coming home now is the government". A change in government may not automatically bring Malaysians home, but what it would do is provide hope for the future of our nation, and hope for our future generations. 

Change is needed, and change has to happen now. 


Published in:


Free Malaysia Today (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/10/13/stemming-the-malaysian-exodus/)
The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/stemming-the-malaysian-exodus-douglas-tan/)
Malaysia Today (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/from-around-the-blogs/44095-stemming-the-malaysian-exodus)
Malaysia Chronicle (http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=21042:stemming-the-malaysian-exodus-easier-said-than-done&Itemid=2)

Deplorable State of English

The ability to communicate effectively is what makes or breaks a business. As a person involved in the management of a public listed company, we all know that our companies are as strong as our weakest link.

Therefore, the recruitment of good people has become a pseudo art form, with head hunting agencies pouring through potential candidates and our own human resource department, thumbing through job applications one by one to determine who is worth their salt.

With this in mind, I have become increasingly discouraged of late with the quality of candidates applying for positions in my company. The issue is not so much the pay, as opposed to the grey matter between their ears.

Although this is perhaps not such a major problem for middle or higher management, the language abilities of the candidates I had to interview of late have been extremely poor. When the business requires one to deal with foreign clients, can you possibly ask them to converse in Malay or Chinese?

Of the ten candidates who have sat across from me who applied for the position of a sales executive, I can confidently say that only one could hold a decent conversation with me. The rest were uneasy, shifting in their shoes, with some to the point that I had to allow them to speak Chinese or Malay in order to express themselves. Is this how it should be?

Personally I find that by allowing them to speak their mother tongue, I am probably wasting my time. If my customer in the UK or US are unable to understand their e-mails or their verbal explanations, is that not going to be more costly than not to have them at all?

The level of education is no longer a factor to determine one's proficiency in the English language any longer. I had recently interviewed a masters degree holder from a top local university who was clearly unable to string a grammatically correct sentence together. What hope is there then for the fresh graduates who are looking for employment?

Poor English skills is also giving rise to overall deterioration in customer service. In the United States, staff are trained to address the customer as "Sir", "Madam" or "Ms." and they use words and phrases such as "Certainly", "Not a problem" and "How else may I be of service today?" This is in stark comparison to the "Ya, OK" responses which we are so accustomed to.

Is this a fundamental problem with our education system? Should we not be looking to make English taught at school more practical for everyday usage with more emphasis on oral skills?

Columnist Erna Mahyuni on The Malaysian Insider commented today that our kids no longer can read or comprehend English literature. Although this is heart-wrenching enough, I would go so far to submit that in 10 years time, our kids would not longer be able to speak English let alone read it.

Does this mean we get rid of Bahasa Malaysia or Chinese as mediums of instruction? Absolutely not! Parents should have every right to choose what medium of instruction their children should partake in. There is no doubt we all should be proficient at Bahasa Malaysia as it is our Bahasa Kebangsaan.

However, we need to observe education systems in countries where their populations are proficient in English although it is not their mother tongue. Those from Nordic countries, Germany, and the Netherlands are famous for their ability to communicate in English despite it being rarely spoken amongst their own people. The Education Ministry should take a leaf out of their book to see how to reform our current system rather than stick to the status quo.

The PMR English exam is being sat across the country today. I pray that these kids do not underestimate the value of the language, and when they eventually come out to work in the next couple of years would enable Malaysia to take that step up towards a more confident, international nation.

Published in:

Free Malaysia Today (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/10/05/deplorable-state-of-english/)
The Star Newspaper (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/10/6/focus/9640145&sec=focus)
Malaysia Chronicle (http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=20714:manglish-malaysians-deplorable-state-of-english&Itemid=2)