I consider myself as lucky. Lucky can be considered in many ways. I am lucky because I am having beautiful family and having a good healthy life. Another lucky I always admired was being born as a human especially in this soil.But as non Malay I felt not lucky because I was treated with quota system as a second class citizen.
As a Non Malay, I felt lucky because I can speak more language than the Malays friends. I speak Tamil as my mother language, Bahasa as a National language and English as a communication and knowledge language for the millennium. I am familiar with Cantonese and can understand very well on Malayalam (Language of the Malayalam’s from karalla India)
I feel the Chinese should be lucky too cause basically there can speak 3 languages as the Tamils. In this multiracial country, Malaysia of cause has all the facilities and walking language dictionary. The people themselves.
If anyone interested in learning languages in Malaysia, I think it is easier than going to classes compare to other country. We have all the sources besides us. Our friends can always be the information centre.
Currently, again Malaysians are talking about English language. From Minister to Professors are busy giving all type of ideas and pointing finger who to be blame for the failure of Malaysian students to concur English.
Logically, Malaysian Malays are the one who are lack in mastering English language. Not the Chinese or the Tamils problem. Solely this was our Malay friend’s problem. Don’t miss-understand me cause I am not finger pointing to Malays for the failure but this was the fact.
They hold the majority. If the majority failed, than everyone should felt the failure.
Let’s talk logic. Is that so hard for one to learn to speak English? I don’t think so. It was the attitude. The attitude that fails to foresee the future and the success what English can bring to someone.
It was the attitude that Bahasa should be the number one and English is number two. No way to let Bahasa to be number two. The national language must be number one and it was so sacred to let Bahasa to be number two.
This was a good nationalism and patriotism. But failure to adopt English can lead us to be number two. Even when English happens to be number one, but one should understand by neglecting it can lead us to be number two.
Many Malay brilliant top students fail to make it to the top because they fail to concur English. And there are students gave up offers to the Harvard because they simply can’t adopt English. It will be a waste of nation’s productivity in building a high tech country by producing high tech citizen who obviously need English to adopt high technology.
Making English as a must subject is not enough to improve the whole English subject in schools. English language should not be considered as a subject. It was not a subject indeed. It was a language. A language that used to communicate to each other. A language similar to our mother tongue.
Can we remember how we learn our mother tongue? Do we need a PHD holder to understand this? Learning language in classes is not enough for one to master English. The classes are only for technical terms for certain subject include English but it should be used consistently in order to master it.
English should be used everyday or at least the schools must practice English speaking day. Not a day in a month or a day in a week but at least half of the school hours.
English should start from home indeed. But it was not logic. How do we aspect English speaking from home of a fisherman in Kelantan but implementing half of the school hours is possible even in Kelantan rural areas.
Most of the Tamils and the Chinese student never have this problem because English were spoken at home. At least among brothers and sisters. Both of my parents never known a word in English. But somehow English was spoken in my house in my younger days among brothers and sisters and it goes on.
So, as a Malaysian this is something we must work together. We must communicate in English so that our Malay friends can catch with us. Let’s correct each other. My bosses do correct my spelling as well. I always take it as a credit for free lesson. And I am still learning.
So, don’t let the Malays left behind or the education system is going to be changed again and again. If they are slowing in growing than we are going to be affected. We are going backwards than. We have to wait in order for them to catch up. It will slow us down.
This later will be a similar failure of the Malays to achieve the target as per drawn in DEB (Dasar Ekonimi Baru). Once this happens, the others will have to wait. The others have to wait for the Malays to be success in order to proceed. The non Malays have to scarify their own growth in order to wait for others to catch up.
Than, the country will slowdown in growing. Everyone will be left behind. Malaysians will loose if we never achieve the target of vision 2020 to become a High Tech country.
Let us learn together, let us change the attitude of learning English can make Bahasa Malaysia become number two, let us starts from the school hours on English. Let us learn to familiarize the language. Let us start from speaking than we go into more technically. Make it as a habit indeed.
Thought for the day
3 comments:
KUALA LUMPUR: The Govern-ment recognises the need to improve students’ command of English to ensure they can compete globally.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said students must be proficient in the language and have other skills to interact with the global community and tap into knowledge.
“Equity of access must be demonstrated in the provision of the knowledge and skills that will facilitate this access,” he said when delivering his welcome remarks before Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak opened the 17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
“While we are aware of the importance of mother tongue instruction in the early years of childhood education, we also need to address the future needs of our youth,” he said.
Muhyiddin, who is Education Minister, said Malaysia has always believed in the sharing of experience and knowledge through partnerships with each other in the region and beyond to attain Unesco’s Education for All goals.
As lack of resources often limits access to universal education, all stakeholders including governments, donors and the people must act to overcome it.
He said Malaysia was working with its Seameo, Asean and Unesco partners to make Education for All a reality.
The conference, which was also the golden jubilee celebration of the first Commonwealth Education Ministers’ Meeting in Oxford in 1959, was an ideal platform to minimise the impact of the global economic crisis on the education system of member states, he added.
Speaking to reporters later, Muhyiddin said the Government was close to making a decision on the language of instruction for Mathematics and Science.
“I will be briefing the Prime Minister soon.”
The Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English policy was introduced in stages, starting with Year One, Form One and Lower Six students, in 2003.
The Star / 17-06-09
What about English in Accountancy?
RECENTLY, there have been heated debates on using English medium in the teaching of Science and Maths.
Policy makers should ask themselves which medium adopted would benefit the development of our young generation and hence bring our country to a higher level of development and being able to compete globally.
We should not make changes just because we face difficulty in implementation. We should identify the problems and rectify them.
Another subject which the Education Minister should seriously consider using English as a medium is Accounts. I don’t see the benefits of teaching Accounts in Bahasa Malaysia as the Malaysian accounting standards (FRS) are adopted from International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS ) which are written in English.
Students and working adults who wish to pursue further in accounting as their career by taking professional paper, such as LCCI or ACCA, will face difficulty in understanding the accounting terms as both papers will be set in English .
In addition , in today’s corporate world, have you come across any financial report published in Bahasa Malaysia?
I remember how during my university studies, I faced lots of problems in accounting subject as all reference books are in English. Should accounting be taught in English then, I believe I could progress better.
The same problem is being faced by my students now and they also wish that English was used as a medium of teaching at secondary schools. Hence, I urge the Minister to seriously consider switching accounting subject to English for the benefit of all parties.
CONCERNED CITIZEN,
Kulim, Kedah.
first of all....change this bloody goverment....this goverment stnks...
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