And our children's future is bleak....

It comes as no surprise to me when Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the teaching of Science and Mathematics in Malaysia will revert to Bahasa Malaysia.

It's what happened when you let political expediency rules over common sense.

So that nobody will say I am one sided, here's the Ministry's argument:
1. Only a small number of teachers has mastered the teaching of Science and Maths in English
2. The percentage of passes for students for the two subjects have dropped since they are taught in English
3. The gap between the performance of those in the rural area and urban Malaysia has widened (i.e. rural students are being disadvantaged as they have poorer mastery of English)

I sympathise with these arguments as much as I sympathise with people who go around saying they can't make a living because they have never gone to school. Actually, that's precisely what many of our youngs will be saying in 10 years time when they can't get a job because they could hardly speak English. Or count to 100.

Some leaders, such as the estwhile Mahathir Mohamad has argued for the teaching of S+M in English to continue as the body of knowledge of these are mostly in English. I will not even go so far.

I have seen with my own eyes how thousands of great students, intelligent kids, are being denied employment because they cannot converse in English. And yes, many of these are rural Malaysians - Malays who believed learning English is an affront to the Malay language, and Chinese and Indians who believed that learning more English will erode their mother tongue.

There is a huge majority out there who believed the teaching of S+M should remain in English. These people are simply too afraid to touch on the raw nerves of the 'nationalists' to express their opinion. When the majority is silent, the minority and extremists rule.

I have been to many conferences including scientific symposia around the world - and in all of these, I have never met a single presenter from Thailand and Indonesia - because their mastery of the English language is so weak, few were brave enough to walk up the podium. And the Malaysians who do present are all, without fail, older academicians who were trained in English from a young age.

For a quick comparison, i typed the word 'genom manusia' in Google, and i get 25,100 responses - and most of them are in Bahasa Indonesia. I tried 'human genome' and I received 6,570,000 responses.

I let the numbers have the last say.

WHO'S SELLING OUT THE CHINESE?
I get equally exasperated when I found out that among those who influenced our dearest Minister of Education are Chinese educationists and Chinese associations. These are now hailed as heroes in the Chinese newspapers and radio talk shows. Their arguments are that by teaching more subjects in English, the importance of Chinese language will be dilluted, and hence the Chinese will loose their heritage and a big part of their culture. I don't disagree.

I am of Chinese descent, but I have never believed that the strength of the Chinese is our language. I am always of the opinion that it is the Chinese ability to adapt and to change with times that has enabled the Chinese civilization to survive for thousands of years, when others such as the Mayans are all but wiped out.

My parents still rue their decision to send my older siblings to Chinese schools. All of them failed to advance beyond Form 3, because they simply could not cope with the teaching of other subjects in English and Bahasa Malaysia when they reached secondary school. The fact that both my parents are illiterate did not help, as there can be no way they could help tutor my older brothers at home in English or Bahasa Malaysia - or on any subject for that matter. My 3rd brother, was luckier, he was sent to a Chinese independent school, where he excelled in all subjects but English and Bahasa Malaysia, and graduated with flying colours in his Senior Middle 3 Exams. Yet, he did not go to university, because we could not afford education in Taiwan, which with his poor mastery of English, was his only option at that time.

My younger sister and I were more fortunate. We were sent to national school where we learned both Bahasa Malaysia and English. In a decision that must have pained my parents, we were both sent to foster homes at the age of 6, so we could learn from people who did go to school, and could tutor and guide us academically.

By denying young Chinese of the ability to master the language of science and technology and of commerce and trade, these 'educationists' and Chinese politicians are doing no less than selling out on the Chinese.

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]