A study conducted by The Star co. shows that 20% of secondary school teachers scored higher than 67 or higher on the evaluation of their proficiency in the English language, followed by a more disappointing 10% by teachers from primary schools.
According to John Lee, a prominent blogger for educationmalaysia.blogspot.com talked about how unready the Malaysian government was 8 years ago when PAGE (Parent Action Group for Education) or better known for its Malay acronym PPSMI (Pelajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Math dalam Bahasa Inggeris) was implemented. He also stated that no professional help from English speaking countries such as England, Australia etc were sought, and that the PPSMI scheme was being forced into implementation.
Sadly however, there was a recent proposal suggesting that the teaching of the subjects Mathematics and Science should be reconverted back to its maiden language - Bahasa Malaysia. Sure there are pros and cons to it, but studies have proven and statistics have shown that the implementation of PPMSI produced better quality, higher achieving students. Then again, its statistics.
Here's a scenario.
I paid a visit to Muzium Sultan Alam Shah, situated in the heart of Shah Alam. It was opened to the public in 1989 by the late Sultan of Selangor Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah. I've been there countless of times, and I am still impressed by how well preserved the 'items' were.
On the other hand, whilst admiring the items displayed in pristine condition, I took notice of the descriptions by the items which were explained in both the Malay and the English language. Boy what a huge offset it was to me. Here’s why:
· Bahasa Malaysia: Jika ingin maju di dalam sukan, hantarkan jurulatih berkuasa di luar negeri, insya-Allah sukan akan Maju.
And when translated into English:
· If want to improve sports, sent the coach to have training in overseas, God willing sports will improve.
This begs the question. Why on Mother Earth are the commands of BOTH these languages so embarrassingly poor? Mistakes like these would be noticeable even to children with habitual exposure to the English language. Given the fact that the museum was built in 1989, it bears no excuse to keep an eye closed on mediocre English. If it were to be a government’s building then sure, knock yourselves out. But it's a museum for goodness’ sake, a tourist attraction! Enough has been said. We now know how ignorant and how sad our government is. Personally, it is infuriating how manipulative the Malaysian government is when it comes to education. Maybe the idea of suppressing intellectual students is their way of ruling the country. I’m not saying it is, but maybe. There’s a saying the more you think you know, the lesser it is that you actually know of. How are you to use it is entirely up to you. I rest my case.
Matthew H. Tong
