Rubble Rousers

I grew up in a family that don't speak either English or Bahasa Malaysia. So my first year in school was a struggle. I lost track of how many times I was told to 'keluarkan tangan anda' for the beating by my teacher as I struggled to identify everyday items such as table or chair in the national language.

But when you are thrown into the deep end of the pool, you learn to swim, fast. By the time I was 11, I was the captain of my school's debate team - speaking flawlessly in Bahasa. Throughout my studies, till Form 5, I've never scored anything less than 95/100 in my Bahasa exams. People who speak to me over the phone in Bahasa thinks I'm a Malay. It helped that 90 percent of the students in my primary school was Malay and till today, some of my best friends are Malays.

In fact, I don't speak much English till when I was 14 or so. But again, I had to learn fast - as people in my secondary school, St. John's, preferred English over Bahasa. Necessity is indeed a great teacher.

So, it disturbs me greatly to see the extent some people go to demand that the government revert to using Bahasa to teach Science and Mathematics, in the guise of protecting the national language.

I was taught early on in my life that you only hide behind things when you are scared of what's ahead.

Many of the arguments of the so called 'PPSMI movement' hold little water. The arguments: 1) that teaching more subjects in English will erode the standards of Bahasa; 2) that teaching these two subjects in English to students who are already weak in English is unfair; 3) that PPSMI will erode the standards of Bahasa. I can't find more shallow reasons than these.

It's the most selfish thing I've seen in a long, long time - to sacrifice the future of our children for misguided nationalistic idealism. It is beyond common sense that English is the universal language for Science and Technology. It is also common knowledge that our poor English is the top reason we have a large number of unemployed graduates even when the employment market was more robust.

I appreciate the delicate situation where thousands of rural Malay kids have problems keeping up because of their poor English. But then, so did the thousands of Chinese (including most of my siblings) who dropped out of school because they can't cope with the Bahasa. You do what's right, not what's expedient.

We're already lagging badly behind Singapore (where English is de facto national language) in almost all academic disciplines. It's an indisputable fact that most sources of scholarly reference are in English. By embracing English, Singaporeans have not lost their racial or cultural identity. The Chinese are no less Chinese (or kiasu) and the Malays are no less Malay. Contrast that with Indonesia and Thailand - two countries where English is spoken only among the elites, and you will find enough reasons why you must embrace English now.

The importance of English must not be challenged. Neither should the status of Bahasa Malaysia as our national language. But to speak of stopping the teaching of the two subjects in English is nothing short of shortsightedness.

I'm ashamed, but not surprised, that PAS and PKR is so vehemently against the teaching of science and mathematics in English. This revealed the short sightedness of their ideologies and the extent they will play the 'language', if not race card, to score some brownie points. But I am ashamed AND surprised that Pak Samad, my childhood hero, can allow himself to be used to such an extent by these people.

I am equally shocked to note that MCA, which claims to represent the Chinese have also adopted the stand that Science and Mathematics should be taught in people's mother tongue; i.e. in Mandarin among Chinese. I have never seen anyone s*cking up so badly to the Chinese educationists than this. This is certainly not the view of the Chinese majority. This is the view of a group of close-minded people who are worried of their power and livelihood if the use of Chinese as a medium of instruction is threatened.

I pray that our education minister, and a fellow Johannian, will not succumb to this cheap political trap. Dato' Seri, do what's right, not what's expedient.

[photo credit: www.thestar.com.my]