Two days ago, an article from Malaysia’s The Star stated that English-medium schools is very unlikely to happen on Malaysian soil. As a blogger, I cannot help but be shocked at the news but at the same time feel sorry for Malaysians who not only speak English as a mother tongue but also want what is best for their children and grandchildren when it comes to learning English.
From what I am told by many Malaysians living overseas or living on Malaysian soil, the standard of English has been dropping for the past 30 years and sadly, not many younger generations of Malaysia could string a perfect sentence in English, written or orally unlike their older counterpart who grew up during the colonial era pre-1957, the 1960s and 1970s. Once upon a time, colonial Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak (before it became Malaysia in 1963) used to be the cream of the crop of Southeast Asia where most people saw learning English as a gateway to better opportunities and further education in life. Which would explain why the older generations of Malaysia could speak and write better English than their younger counterparts. Before I forget, there were many English-medium schools in those good old days of Malaysia (before 1980) until they were done away with around 1980 by a rigid national education policy. Sadly, I cannot say the same for most Malaysia youngsters in this day and age.
With PAGE (Parent Action Group for Education) coming into Malaysian headlines many times repeatedly over the PPSMI policy issue, I couldn’t agree more with PAGE (good on PAGE for fighting this battle) making a point that the policy of teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science in English is beneficial for Malaysian kids ( to give them the edge to compete internationally in the fields of sciences and mathematics). Secondly, I also agree that the policy should remain to give Malaysian children the right to learn Mathematics and Science in English especially those whose English is their mother tongue. Dr. Lan Boon Leong, featured in StarEducation article, made an excellent point that the present Malaysian education system does not cater for Malaysians whose mother tongue or first language is English.
A politician claiming it is impossible for them to set up national English-medium schools unless changes are made to the policy and the National Education Act (1996) is nothing but a load of crock. An education policy can be changed according to what Malaysian citizens want best for their children rather than change it according to the politicians’ and policy-makers’ whim and fancy as if they are changing costumes for some colourful festival many times in a day. Secondly, Malaysian schoolchildren are NOT (I repeat not) guinea pigs to be experimented with over some sudden and unannounced education policy changes! For goodness sake, this is unfair on Malaysian children.
As a blogger, I say let English-medium schools be set up on Malaysian soil for the children and younger generation of Malaysia. Just because having a national or state English-medium school for Malaysian children does NOT mean they are going to become Westernised or corrode local Malaysian cultures. Whoever says having an English-medium school is going to threaten local cultures of Malaysia or turn a Malaysian child into a fake Westerner is actually talking nonsense. English is a global language commonly used in medicine, sciences, entertainment, media, law, diplomacy, commerce and politics. So, stop with this whole politically-correct nonsense and let Malaysian parents have the right to put their children in an English-medium schools. The same goes for ‘minority’ Malaysian children whose English is their mother tongue or first language. That is totally unfair on them. Why can’t some people just get real and accept that English as a global language is a gateway for their children to be able to compete internationally? Lastly, I want to say this: Do these people not realise that allowing Malaysian children to become fluent in written and spoken English as well as learning maths and sciences in English actually help them to cope as university students when they choose to study in an overseas university where English is the medium of instruction?
What says you about setting up national English-medium schools in Malaysia? Do you think or believe it will benefit ‘minority’ Malaysians whose English is their mother tongue or first language? Do you think the Malaysian education policy needs to be flexible to accept change especially with the English-medium schools issue? Opinions are welcome (but no profanity please!)
Wow, what an eye opening article. It’s so sad to know that kids and parents have to struggle so much just to get a substandard education. I guess it doesn’t matter where you live in the English speaking world, our education can be second rate at best.
Before I continue, I’d like you to watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vxE7cWWSFA
I believe that the key to opening up people’s minds to the so-called international language is RESPECT towards local languages in the form of localization. The more I read people calling for PPSMI to be reinstated, the more I wish that all Disney animated fare and the ilk are dubbed in Bahasa Malaysia. The resistance toward English among many stem from it being found in the wrong places in their culture.
“Whoever says having an English-medium school is going to threaten local cultures of Malaysia or turn a Malaysian child into a fake Westerner is actually talking nonsense” — who’s gonna believe this? Look at our local ‘Malay’ artistes these days, so many posers, they speak rojak, even dress skimpily, and the list goes on.
So, I’d like you to make up for the loss of the role of BM in the school by tackling pop culture, you know.
I should be thanking my dad for making the decision to speak to us children in English at home. I didn’t have a hard time struggling with my English in school because of that while some of my schoolmates are having a tough time because English wasn’t their main language at home. I did pick up our mother tongue dialect as we grow up from listening to elders’ conversations and I learn to speak Mandarin, Bidayuh and Iban when I enter the working world. I would also would like my future kids to study at English medium school too but that will probably happen overseas seeing this current situation is happening at the moment.
Just my opinion folks. Everybody is entitled to their opinions and this is mine.
“English-medium schools is very unlikely to happen on Malaysian soil”
I can foresee that parents who want their kids to be educated in English medium schools will bring them up elsewhere to get that education that they wanted for their children if they can afford it.
I would want my future kids to be in English medium schools too.
I grew up speaking English at home. My parents decided that it is for the best that we learn the language from young. We didn’t have tough time struggling with that subject in school and in college overseas.
We children did pick up our mother tongue from listening to our parents n elders’ conversation as we grow up and I picked up many other languages n dialects when I enter the working world (like my multi lingual mother who can speak quite a number of dialects fluently). No regrets there. We have the best of both world. I guess our parents knew that they made that decision.
Just my opinion. Everybody is entitled to one and this is mine ^_^
The same issue occurs in the province of Quebec, Canada where French language tends to dominate over English. Canada is officially a bilingual country which basically means by federal law, a Canadian citizen can request for government service from any Canadian federal government agency, in either English or French.
Also by law, as a citizen one can request to have their court case handled in French or English which means testimony/evidence provided to the courts in 1 of those languages.
Other languages…well, good luck if one doesn’t speak/understand either English or French.
Parents in Quebec do wrestle with the reality of their children learning French, when they are aware that English fluency is very helpful for a child long term in business, scientific fields (world-wide), etc.
I agree that pop culture makes any language fun to learn and easier to use, but does not always promote use of accurate word usage and grammatically correct sentences. Do keep in mind that speaking a language on a daily basis isn’t intended to be always grammatically corrrect. So I would be abit careful about being too critical.
It would be great if there was the option for English language instruction for some subjects in Malaysia, particularily in business and applied sciences. However before that happens, it depends if English language learning is more than 1 hr. of instruction daily.
Regardless of the school of choice and language learning, children whose mother tongue is Malay should be instilled with pride and fun in using their language. You must give them freedom to use Malay in fun, creative ways to motivate them speak it casually and effortlessly.
I don’t agree demanding a child to speak English and downgrading the mother tongue. That does not instill cultural pride and natural use of mother tongue at all. The natural erosion of mother tongue will happen once the child leaves Malayasia or hangs out with non-Malay speaking people alot.
The language medium of teaching in the Philippines is English. We do have a Filipino subject though. Being an archipelago there are more than 100 dialects. Using English in the education system here, did not detract the usage of the Filipino, Cebuano, and Ilocano(these are just some of the most spoken), in fact the number is ever growing vigorously. Having a good handle on the English language does give you an edge globally, saying this does not mean I love my mother tongue less.
You know what, if it comes to the point that the pro- and anti-PPSMI need some kind of peace treaty, I’ll do the honour to give the pros what they want – Science and Maths in English and English-medium schools – with one tit-for-tat condition – restrictions on the use of English in public space and mass media to placate the antis (prepare for American crime dramas that sound like Ultraman).