I read with shock that we’re now turning tail and running from our failure to persuade everyone to teach Science and Maths in English.
At the end of the colonial era, everyone wanted to be part of the patriotic movement and blindly embraced a ‘national identity’ that speaks nothing of improving ourselves but instead we choose to carpet bomb everything into Bahasa Malaysia.
Smart moves.. but 40 years down the road and we’re faced with dummies that can’t cope, can’t compete, can’t talk with their peers on their international stage. Dummies that stammer and unable to express themselves confidently nor can they vocalize their theories for lacking a SIMPLE understanding of technical terms. Sorry but PEPEJAL and SEBATIAN in chemistry just don’t cut it when faced with a room full of Nobel laureates while trying to explain your next big bang.
So what do we do? We turn tail and hide. Unable to withstand the pressure under the international spotlight of peer review (when no one gives a shit about learning BM or Mandarin or Tamil to understanding what they’re trying to say), we crawled back on all fours back to our little cozy corner of the world to avoid being laughed at, sniggered at and most importantly, feel comfortable with fellow dummies and most importantly, know what the heck they are talking about.
I must also say I have never felt so much SHAME in our teachers that they can’t even be bothered to learn in teaching a new language when the 40 odd students in a class is trying hard at the same time.
Teachers have seriously lost their glory. I still remember when teachers have to pass exams to be eligible for promotions and when most of them failed, the Government scrapped the exam. I would still like to see the Gov scrape SPM subjects because the passing rate is too low. They can start off with Advanced Math followed by Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Leave Moral and History studies at the bottom of the scrape list. Those are VERY important. /sarcasm
To make matters worst, now those same bunch of teachers are having trouble teaching in a language that the rest of the world uses on a daily basis, and what does the Gov do about it? Giving them the finger and cut their pay for failing their competency skills? NO! The Government is going to scrape the whole English thingy and going back to teaching in BM (where everyone feels right at home, I must add).
I pity the new batch of students. They are the one that will be in a limbo over this, English in primary, BM in secondary, then English in College/Uni and then possible BM again in the work force. If I’m any one of them and with enough cash, I’ll just enroll myself in an international school, then continue my University course in some private Uni and when the time is ripe for me to join the work force, I’ll send in my CV to Boleh-land in French or German out of spite and go look for a job in Singapore.
The patriotic can keep staying under this well of theirs and leave the unpatriotic ones serving humanity in whatever language the rest of humanity understands.
Teachers! If you are reading this I’m ashamed of you! Especially so if you are from a Mandarin / Tamil school and are teaching Math and Science in your mother tongue. You can go all mother hen protection on your oh-so-proud ancestral language and watch your entire generation fail in their future!!! I hope you can sleep well tonight!!!!!!!
PS: If I ever get the chance to interview anyone with sufficient qualifications from I-don’t-care-which-local-Uni but is not proficient in English, I’m going to send them back to their schools to get 50 signatures from their teachers that agrees that they have F***-ed up their future and thanks for nothing.
