BM, English, BM, English

I would like to comment on the current issue brought up by the good Senator with regards to switching back to Bahasa Malaysia for the subjects of Math and Science in schools.

I disagree that we switch back to Bahasa. As a parent I feel our children are constantly at the losing end. In the long run they do not benefit if we keep changing policies at the whim and fancy of some politician.

Some say we should agree with the Senator’s suggestion quoting that the Japanese and Korean “masih boleh hebat di kacamata dunia walaupun kekal dengan bahasa ibunda masing masing”. All I can say is this - masaalah nya bangsa malaysia tak sama dengan Bangsa Jepun.

The sad fact is the Malaysian mentality – more specifically the Malay mentality is nothing like the Japanese or the Koreans. In general we lack that drive to succeed and that burning passion to reach for the stars. The sooner we are able to admit to that, the quicker we can all truly move forward.

The generation of my parents all studied in English, at a time when they had no tv, much less Astro. They had little access to English books without any large bookstores around other than what they had at the school libraries. Their means of speaking English were generally confined to within school hours where they interacted with their teachers. Now, have they all turned out forgetting how to speak Bahasa Malaysia or God forbid become totally westernized and forgotten their roots? I don’t think so.

If anything, when our children enter universities, local or abroad, they will not be intimated when they suddenly find themselves with learning materials that will be in the English language,. The fact is they will be able to communicate with ease when they join the workforce because when you begin life as a working adult English is widely spoken, whether we like it or not.

One does not abandon one’s culture that easily. We are all proud to be Malaysians – studying Math and Science in English is not going to make these kids any less Malaysians…dear Dato’. We have much bigger issues to fret over, let’s put that energy to better use. Finding capable teachers would be a good start.