Reversals and Regressions

I have not been updating lately because – in addition to the Internet connection being a real pain since five days ago - I have been somewhat at a loss for words.

The reason? I was - and still am - appalled with the state of things as they are right now.

Most may say that I am keen about politics. That I like politics. On the contrary, it's the complete opposite; I abhor the system, the over-the-top controversies and allegations, the politicians' stupid antics and the dumb decisions that they make.

Yes, I am referring to their unthinkable decision of reverting to the mother tongue for the teachings of Science and Mathematics. The main argument for the verdict is that the rural students were too far left behind in their achievements compared to their urban counterpart, attributed to the former's lack of proficiency in English.

I dare not deny that. But what irked me was that the government screwed up big time 6 years ago when they got over-excited about the idea, and when things did not turn out the way they had planned, they have the unmitigated gall of committing a graver mistake of going back - which brings us as a nation backwards. And they owe their guinea pigs an apology.

I vaguely remember that the issue of doing it in English 6 years ago stemmed at a time when there was another hot issue going on. I suspect that it was to diverge the attention of the people from the latter - although what it was exactly escapes me at the moment. Of course, of that I may be wrong, perhaps there was no rival issue, but the truth remains - the Malays get over-excited too easily, and that everything is politically motivated.

[Not too off-topic] I don't care about this 1Malaysia the PM is trying to pull. I'll just keep quiet about it and see if it ever produces a positive outcome. I guess every PM needs to have a 'project' that is their trademark; Tun Dr. M has his Vision 2020 (...) amongst other things in the span of 22 years he helmed the PM seat, Tun Pak Lah his Islam Hadhari (*grimaces*), and so Najib just followed suit (*gags*).[/Not too off-topic]

*Facepalm*

The fact that English is the main language in which knowledge is disseminated in cannot be refuted. As much as some people may hate to admit it, nobody can deny that the latest discoveries and advancements are mostly from the English-speaking (primarily or secondarily) Westerners. Sure, one may erupt into an angry tirade of "going back to the glory during the old Islamic civilisation", but please, I beg of thee - be realistic. The Malays can't proclaim our own language as the lingua franca of the present time - and as long as we are less worthy, falling out of the competition owing to our own delay in acquiring, implementing or developing whatever knowledge already known to man, who are we to insist for such privilege? Note that this point clearly cancels out the Japan-is-technology-savvy-but-they-still-speak-zero-English argument; If the Malays - or Malaysians as a whole - are capable of half the competitive edge the Japanese are dishing out, then we can start teaching the two subjects in Malay.

The crux of the problem, in addition to the Malays' tak apa attitude and knee-jerk reactions, which the government totally overlooked back then, was that the state of English was sub-par at best, and abysmal at worst. The Ministry of Education should have first assessed whether the nation was ready for the 180° of change, and if it wasn't, the students and teachers alike - in short, the learning environment - should have been carefully and ingeniously steered towards an English-savvy one. Without the evaluation, it's like forcing a crawling toddler to sprint.
And I'm not just talking about the courses the teachers had to attend, because there's more to changing an education system than courses. Was the English syllabus reviewed and revamped? Were the teachers convinced and capable of performing up to the task? Were the students open to the idea of embracing a foreign language - one deemed as coming from "those greedy, unjust conquerers of yore" - and making it part of their communications, part of their lives?

It was all done wrong. While the aim was clearly praiseworthy, the execution was anything but.

What's the implication of the recent reversal? Now the Malays will never see how important English is. They'll be misled with the notion that they'll be safe now that it's back in Malay, so why bother with English? In the meantime, while they are lulled into a false sense of security, the Chinese and Indians will continue striving in their English - because they generally speak more English than the Malays do. The result? The Malays will be left several decades behind, that nothing more can be done. That's when things get really ugly, when the so-called bumiputera, the natives are doomed on their own soils, in their own country.

All because of their stubborn ego, and refusal to change their ways despite been proven inadequate.

Personally, in regards to my own history as a student, I didn't have much of a problem - which might make my view on the matter as over-simplistic or biased, even. I was taught in Malay in both primary and secondary school years, then in English during matriculation, and even until now when I am a university student. The shift was not too troublesome because, coming from an urban background and a family that recognises the importance of English itself as well as a school that glorifies the language, Science and Maths were not too alien-sounding to me in English. Sure, we joked with the literal translations all the time, but in the end, we were taught of what we should know - in Malay. When the government announced they were switching the medium of teaching, at a time when our batch was left out of the change, I was jealous.

And when we entered matrics, everyone knew that to have poor command of English is equivalent to being handicapped. Regrets set in. What good is there when our brains are full of brilliant ideas and great knowledge, and yet when we open our mouths, our speech appears disjointed and meek, and we speak no more eloquently and intelligently than a three year old?

The government should have just retained PPSMI, and complement it with English-enhancing plans. It'll probably save the country from a big hole in their budget.

...Although, I question if the huge amount of money they planned to use to improve the English syllabus and methods of teaching - [EDIT]RM6 million, was it? RM4-6 billion, according to 'Izzah [/EDIT] - would be enough to bring a paradigm shift into the Malay thinking and attitudes.

Current Music: I Hate This Part Right Here - PCD

P/s: There’ll be a short continuation pertaining to this later on, most probably with the heading of “(Malaysian) Politicians Say the Darnest Things Ever”…an example of which almost makes Sarah Palin sound smarter. Almost.

P/p/s: I actually finished a comic strip for this, but because the connection is not being cooperative in any sense of the word, it will have to wait. Just keep an eye for any updates in my other blog, if you're interested. Hee.