Republic of virtue, 7/09

Reliving the myth of the lazy native: the PPSMI issue and the denying of success to the poor PDF Print
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Sunday, 26 July 2009 10:58

Azly Rahman
http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com/2008/12/malaysian-education-can-be-fixed.html

The refusal to teach Mathematics and Science in English is not just an ideological position but an idiotic one as well.

It is an attempt to self-fulfill a prophecy that the rural children especially the Malays, cannot be challenged and must continue to be given easy passes through social promotion.

The refusal to acknowledge that English is currently a language of scientific progress, more than Bahasa Melayu, is an example of the policymakers' and Malay language nationalist's hypocrisy in dealing with success.

Based on spurious research findings headed by a teacher training university, sanctioned by other public universities, the government has erred in its decision that will not only impact the future of Malaysian children in a continually globalised world where English is the lingua franca.

And this will open up avenues for the establishment of classes of schools, increasing the demand for the setting up of private schools that will emphasise the English language as a language of instruction and a rigorous curriculum that will prepare students for a competitive world.

The premise that Malay children cannot follow instructions in English and therefore not only standards should be lowered and subject matter made easier, but the teaching of Mathematics and Science itself must be reverted to the Malay Language points to this: that Malay children especially are presumed to be losers even before all avenues of success are provided.

Because in one study they voiced their concern over their inability to understand instructions, the future of a generation is sacrificed.

It is like saying that the more a child says that he/she does not like school, the less the teachers need to work to challenge them.

While children of the privileged in urban areas get first class education through private and international schools or even in high schools abroad and master the English Language (so that they can be given places and sponsorship in English-speaking universities abroad), children of the rural poor are left to become victims of policies dictated by research findings that hardy make sense in the realm of educational futurism.

Retired professors, poet laureates, die-hard Malay nationalists who themselves are well-educated in the English language having tasted the successes and given national accolades become incoherent and hypocritical spokespersons to a government policy that will make the myth of the last native a reality.

'Strategically denying success to the poor'

These individuals do not understand changing times; that English is no longer a language of the colonials.

The colonies revolted against the colonials through the natives' mastery of the English language.

These individuals who are against the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English are giving wrong advice to the nation; mastering English does not mean challenging whatever status Bahasa Melayu has been accorded to.

The government is strategically denying success to the poor of all races, with this language policy reversal.

We are creating a nation at risk; incompetent in the language that will give them the chance to pursue their studies in good universities in the English-speaking world.

There is a specific process one needs to follow in order to gain access to Western education; especially in the fields of Science and Mathematics.

Many of the critical subjects are taught in English.

The multitude of English proficiency tests is evidence that one must understand English for specific purposes (especially in the Mathematics and Sciences) right up to being able to write a Bachelors, Masters, or even Doctoral and Post-doctoral dissertations in the English language - all these are stages one has to go through.

Especially for entry into American colleges where English proficiencyis given through tests ranging from the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) to the challenging GRE (Graduate Record Examination), which require consistent polishing of skills not only in English as a language but English taught in the content areas.

The government has blundered big time, succumbing to irrational voices disguised as those who care about the rural poor who are slow to master Mathematics and Science concepts in English.

Who said kampong kids can't learn?

There are enough success stories of children of the poor of all races coming from the rural areas slogging and struggling hard to master any language and to any subject matter and triumph to become world-class surgeons, engineers, lawyers, academicians, diplomats, musicians, and even culinary experts.

Who said kampong kids cannot be challenged academically? There is enough evidence that if you provide them with dedicated teachers, a nurturing learning environment, a supporting home, and a challenging curriculum, and constant reminder of "yes you can" and "when the going gets tough, the tough get going" - kids will excel.

Down with those who are out to underestimate the ability of our children to succeed.

We must ignore bad advice and demand for success for all - urban and rural, Bumiputra or non-Bumiputra.

We must demand a radical restructuring of our schools so that the same standard and support is given to all schools and the commitment to a philosophy that however we want our own children to succeed, we want the children of others to achieve similarly as well.

Start early in teaching English. Put an end to any effort to make the myth of the lazy native a reality.

We must remove our glass coconut shell.

OUR USUAL REMINDER, FOLKS:
While the opinion in the article is mine,
the comments are yours;
present them rationally and ethically.
AND -- ABOLISH THE ISA -- NOW!

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written by red1, July 26, 2009 11:05:31
Imagine the country 20 years on, where we have a full generation of Malay officers, all struggling to compete against themselves in bahasa to come up in the govt service. Even after surviving the infighting, those who made it to the top will be running an administration that is easily defeated by the world that demands a more of English to survive.

The chinese will enjoy more up-stream market position because China will be the number one economy by then and knowing mandarin is apt. What govt policy in that future will Malaysia adopt to then reverse this backstepping policy of today?

More billions of taxpayers money i reckon. And not much of it when we are no longer competitive even compared to Thailand.
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written by lamakawan, July 26, 2009 11:41:53
Azly Rahman, I wish we have more people like you in Malaysia. This is what we mean by right thinking Malaysians. People who care for the future of the country. And not like the UMNO gangsters who rush for money and power for their own good.
THe gomen has certainly wasted a lot of the country's money by swithching back to teach science and maths in Malay. What is worse and more damaging is the fact that they are dragging the future children backwards. They do not care for the future of our children. They have their own children sent to study overseas even in primary schools abroad.
The future children will never be able to compete with their children that were sent abroad for education.
In a nutshell, when all children grow up and their children graduated from overseas, they will get their children to take over their positions in government. We can visualise they are creating a hierachy process of succession in the BN gomen.
Come election time, they will bribe you to vote for BN. And after election they will repeat the processes of robbing and plundering again.
Case are MAS Tajuddin scandal,
Najib scorpion submarine scandal,
Toyo disneyland tour scandal,
and on and on.....
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written by yellowwoman, July 26, 2009 11:42:11
The greatest irony, dear Dr Azly, is that the very people who claim to fight for the Malays' progress and wellbeing are the very people who are stifling their growth.

Who but the ruling Malays want the kampung children to be continuously backward and unable to compete anywhere outside their kampung? UMNO - The party for the Malays!!!! It is suicide and the rest of us know that only too well.

That is the irony. Now comes the saddest reality of all - that it is not only poor rural Malays who will be affected. It is ALL Malaysian children who will be dragged down by this idiotic policy and insecurity of one race. I don't blame the Malays if they choose to study in a language that will keep them backward, but i really pity the others who know and want to move forward but are bound by the chains of stupid education policies by the government of the day. (by that I mean UMNO because the other 12 component parties are impotent).
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written by NSTPravda, July 26, 2009 11:44:52
if we don't promote this line, then we have to answer intelligent and pesky questions from the Malay masses. That's too much work. keep them stupid, keep them weak and keep them forever addicted to UMNO's patronage, then we the elite can rule them forever. Just imagine them knowing and understanding how to count. Allah forbid!
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written by us marshall, July 26, 2009 11:55:17
what i dont get is when they say that the rural students cant catch up with the urban students. i dont get this logic.are the books,sylabus different from the rural schools and urban ones? NO!the other things that pisses me off is that they say that rural students cant catch up english like the urban students do. why the heck not? the english teachers in the rural school are trained as are the teachers in the urban schools. if the teachers are all qualified then there should be no problem for the kids in the rural schools to catch up.
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written by renoir, July 26, 2009 12:14:09
There's a strong case for use of mother-tongue for all subjects in primary schools, but English could be emphasized at the secondary level. As most people know by now, a stumbling block is the lack of teachers proficient in the English language, and this problem should be first solved at the primary school level before throwing our children into the arms of those whose mastery of the much-vaunted "lingua franca" remains suspect. Further, we can concurrently re-establish English-medium schools as another choice for Malaysians. Another measure is to provide easy access to good English books, which means anything from reducing taxes to having them printed by local publishers. Finally, try to entice retired English teachers and academicians to teach at our schools and colleges by paying them attractive wages. With proper vision and sufficient determination, we might be able regain our former position as one of the best English-speaking countries in the world.
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written by gorshan, July 26, 2009 12:15:47
tabik Tuan Azly Rahman. anytime we the non Malay are allowed to chose who to be our PM, you will be my first choice. i feel sad for all my fellow Malay brother citizen who will remain laggard in the private sector due to the non-requirement of English language mastery in schools by the govt.
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written by sltemp, July 26, 2009 12:19:32
What Dr Azly has written is right on the nail. Students in rural areas who only depend on government schools and teachers will be forced backwards in their development. Students in urban areas can always go for tuition or private schools to get ahead in English.

Many urban families nowadays, whether Malay, Chinese or Indian, speak English besides their own mother-tongues and have less difficulty to be proficient in English. Not so the kampung Malays who solely depend on teachers to teach them and have no access to English tuition.

So the void between the have and have-nots become bigger. Instead of equal opportunities for everyone to excel, the government has chosen to dumb-down everyone. One whole generation will be condemned to mediocrity. Can Malaysia even survive the next generation?

In the past Malays could speak English as well as any other race. Our dear Tunku Abdul Rahman and other Malays at that time would not have been able negotiated with the British for independence otherwise. Even our Constitution was first written in English.

The government has decided to lower the standard to the lowest common denominator. Instead of setting the bar high to inspire achievers, the government has lowered it so low that there is no real use for school examinations. Instead of training bright young minds, we will have simpletons to carry the torch for the future of the country. Tell me who is not afraid of this bleak scenario?

In life we always try to set the bar higher to gauge our achievements and abilities. Everyone tries to run faster, swim faster, jump further, jump higher, etc. This is how we progress forward. But in Malaysia, the government has this radical thinking to regress backwards. Do they know something that everyone else don't?

In the end who suffers the most? Not the Chinese or Indians in urban areas but the Malays themselves. So to spite the face, they have chosen to cut off the nose!
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written by KKchan, July 26, 2009 12:22:59
UMNO and by extension, BN is doing this for its own survival. The Malays and the non-Malay Bumis are generally Malay speaking and they form the majority. In politics, if you control the majority you control the country. Unless the target group wakes up and demand to be free from UMNO's grip, we will get more of the same and the country suffers.
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written by Huador, July 26, 2009 12:26:33
The more buffaloes in the Kampung, the easier for the crooks to rape the country. Period.
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written by miwaki, July 26, 2009 12:49:40
Ini semua mamad Kutty puya pasai,because of his whim and fancy,English was replaced by BM as the medium of instruction in all secondary schools during the 70s.

Now,he wants Math and Science to be taught in English,not knowing that it is necessary to teach all subjects in English,not Math and science only.
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written by Ranulaw, July 26, 2009 12:50:51
NSTPravda made a good point.
It's all politics. Much easier to mislead the uneducated & ignorant than the intelligent & knowledgeable ones. Therefore create more of the former & use "fear" tactics to make them follow.
Any knowledgeable person will tell u that learning English is not unpatriotic but beneficial to one's future. How can learning something extra ever be a disadvantage?
We may not know African but I certainly don't think knowing it will be to our disadvantage although it may not be a big advantage.
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written by yy88, July 26, 2009 12:58:48
The nationalistic Malays want Maths and Science to be taught in B.M because they wanted an easy way out as learning English for them is too difficult. They are ashamed to admit they can't comprehend the 'colonial language'.

It is not the rural Malay student who can't grasp the language, it is the parents' refusal and the teachers incompetence that make English so phobia. Looking at the current level of English competencies in our tertiary institutions, the professors would be learning the command of English from the students 10 years down the line.

Malay parents in Singapore communicate with their children in English at home and Malays students were top in their PLSE exams in some years. The difference is that they do not feel mentally handicap in their learning capability as compared to others.

The reverse in this policy is the educational 'deja vu' of the economic "NEP". The BN felt that the Malays were weak and needed a handicapped privilege. After 50 years, the rural Malays were still at where they started and yet to catch up. The crutches mentality provide them the excuses for not able to catch up with the others. Do we want the same disaster to befell our children as the NEP failure.

BN wanted the rural Malays to be deprived of their avenues of seeking information and knowledge so that they can be easily conned to vote for them. They wanted the rural Malays to stay backwards,uninformed to preserve their votes for them so that they can continue to milk them off the malays' rights and entitlements. The reverse policy is more for UMNO's survival than for the good of our future generation.
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written by sydput, July 26, 2009 12:59:47
I was passing an indonesian primary school pupil in KL and even they speak english.
Reason why mahathir u-turn his malay policy is because of china and india.
We should be like switzerland and belgium, where the school gets to teach in the language the community chooses. But whether they are french speaking, german speaking, italian or romanian, they can all converse in english.
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written by Loh, July 26, 2009 15:15:57
PPSMI as initiated by Mahathir had the primary intention of emasculating the teaching of mother tongues in the vernacular schools. That is confirmed by his hostility against the non-Malays and hence their languages, as evidenced by his writing at his blog, reproduced hereunder.

There it no necessity to require primary schools students to learn mathematics and science in English, because they would not be able to benefit from the latest discoveries in science and mathematics. It makes sense to use English as medium of instruction starting from high schools.

The current government has decided to reverse PPSMI partly to satisfy people who made use of Malay language for political gains; that included Mahathir who utilises double standards. He started quota system in UMNO party election when he was in control, and he argued against it when AAB was.

///15. Tidak seperti di negara-negara yang membenar hanya bahasa kebangsaan mereka sahaja untuk semua sekolah nasional, orang Melayu bersetuju bahasa Cina dan Tamil dijadikan bahasa pengantar di sekolah bantuan Kerajaan. Bahasa Kebangsaan (Bahasa Melayu) tidak menjadi bahasa kebangsaan seperti di negara-negara jiran dan di Eropah, Australia dan Amerika.///-- Mahathir

The declaration of Human rights in the 20th century by the United Nations Human Rights convention provides for the parents the right to choose for their children to study mother tongues. Malaysians’ forefathers of the different communities had the foresight which the United Nations found it proper to support. Malaysians should be proud that the education system since the British colonial days has capitalised its strength in diversity.

Mahathir has recently defended the use of English. It seems a different logic works here when immigrants’ language are involved. He still respects his colonial master, the British. How low can a racial mercenary go, in terms of making seditious remarks?
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written by Loh, July 26, 2009 15:27:36
For more comments on Mahathir's "kaki Dalam Kasut", please read comments under Azly Rahman's article Malaysia no longer a Tanah Melayu at
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/24615/84/
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written by harryo, July 26, 2009 16:01:56
Can't understand maths and science when taught in English but can follow a step by step method to download pornographic materials from internet. Refer to recent news reports. How about that?
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written by InEffective, July 26, 2009 18:58:02
generation of victims, courtesy of our racist nationalist politicians.(don't be a victim)imagine how much more self-capable, self-reliant in learning, any student would be when he is able to learn in english regardless of his language of origin.
(and you won't be dependent or at the mercy of cunning politicians bent on leveraging race or religion for their self-gains)
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written by rams609, July 26, 2009 19:57:57
Densemy,

Why is that almost all your comments have to belittle my religion of Islam?
Have you (or any of your close siblings) ever been raped or sodomized by one of us that you've got to flaunt your displeasure towards it?

Dr. Azly was talking about us poor Malays being poor in English, that was it; wasn't it little devil?

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written by Eskay Lim, July 26, 2009 20:13:16
Sure, make the Kampung folks disadvantaged through the English language deficiency and they will toe the line and support Umno for another 50 years.

Whereas children of Umnoputras receive English education overseas will return to become leaders in Umno while the kampng people will forever be supporters.
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written by Sutha, July 26, 2009 21:26:24
Instead of finding ways to get the rural kids overcome their difficulties, if at all there was real difficulties in learning English and using English for the learning Mathematics and Science, the governemt had effectively penalised the urban ones for a better future.

If getting suitably qualified teachers for PPSMI is a problem, then train enough of them! Is it dificult to get committed teachers to attend such trainings on a regular basis? Non committed teachers should be placed in cold storage and there are plenty of graduates willing to do a better job. After all, teaching is a profession not just any job.

The least the government could do is have English medium schools for those who seriously want and leave the Malay medium scholld who think they are nationalistic people. In 10 years, the nationalists could see the market demand and who actually excel. Fools got to learn the hard way.

But Umno politicians would never agree to having the English medium. They are the real hindrance and obstacle to national progress because they like to keep the citizens under them like slaves and will never do anything good for the people's future. Objective: SELF-SURVIVAL and LIVE AT THE EXPENSES OF OTHERS.
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written by truthbespoken, July 26, 2009 22:27:23
Dr Azly,

It is crystal clear to all that UMNO is sacrificing the future of young Malaysians especially the rural ones for their continued political survival! Worse that their insincere actions are supported by some of these Malay retired professors, poet laureates, die-hard Malay chauvinists who are actually narrow-minded and short-sighted elements!

May UMNO and this group of nuts be damned forever for restricting the opportunity for young Malaysians to learn and gain knowledge at a faster pace! Given any opportunity, sensible Malaysians must, repeat MUST, mercilessly kick UMNO and these nuts out of the way for the long term good of all!
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written by Chrisho, July 26, 2009 23:03:05
Dear Dr Azly,

your article is spot on and so are the comments, very valid, true and passionate. It seems that you will have a big majority of Malaysians supporting the cause that maths and science should be taught in English, no doubt.

To my logical thinking there must be a more valid reason on why the government have made up their mind to go bahasa on maths and science.These reasons i am sure are more in depth, maybe this will stop the brain drain down the road, keep the 'Katak under the Tempurang forever' Keep our future Malaysian students from going oversea and thus keeping the fees and what not from going abroad, more new university and institute of higher learning to be build in Malaysia thus becoming a regional education hub. To me the decision of the Malaysian Government must be money and economic related, pure and simple. There is no other valid reasons beside what is already outlined by you and other comments. Correct me if i am wrong in pursuing these string of thoughts and argument.

Chrisho
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written by rams609, July 27, 2009 00:21:08
Super Admin,

Appreciate your editing of the unsubstantiated and uncalled for points in one of the comments above.

I'd go for an unbiased and balanced view had the person stayed focus on the subject discussed.

Let MT be a free forum for all. Free of hatred and prejudiced minds like the one above.

Thank you.

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written by yellowkingdom, July 27, 2009 01:45:14
We have a smart-aleck Education Minister, who said, "How could anyone learn English if grammar is not taught at schools?" (where has he been all this while is anyone's guess)
Yet, he now claims that we can master English by "fine-tuning the methodology". Back-tracking on "English must be made a compulsory pass for SPM" to expecting our children to master the English language when they enter tertiary and learn Science and Maths in English. DUH....???
The next Education Minister will remark upon taking office of his predecessor, "How can anyone learn Science and Maths in Bahasa and then be expected to switch to English at the flip of a coin?" This will then reflect the intelligence of our politicians as they struggle for one-up-manship.
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written by educationist, July 27, 2009 05:51:48
Ah! I'm interested in the analogy of the glass coconut shell! what's the difference with the ordinary one?
Another masterpiece by Dr Azly that puts the PPSMI in the correct perspective!
But sadly those 'idiots' that decided on the policy reversal are found at the highest level of PKR & PAS as well.
If the PKR & PAS have not joined in the opposition to the PPSMI there may have been hope.
And so we cannot even hope for change, hope that the next general elections will bring a new set of leaders with the right perspectives to the issue.
Well, life must go on!
So the disadvantaged, those without a good command of English will be our local mahasiswa/wi & continue to join the burgeoning bureucracy .
The rest, while the sky's the limit!
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written by Pakyeh, July 27, 2009 13:51:25
I disagree with you Dr Azly.
Uderstanding of whatever subject is alway better with the mother tongue.Mathematical and scientific terms/vocabulary need not be changed.You can maintain the English words or Malaysianise or Indonesianise it...reform becomes reformasi.
Islam for example is better taught in the mother tongue than in Arab. When taught in Arab the Malays become stupid and unable to understand the message. As such many Malay are led blindly by Ulamas who teach Malays to read the Quran in Arab without understanding the message at all. This form of Ulama type of education is called de-education or "making one more stupid."
Similarly English cannot be used to master Mathematics and Science if the language is hardly spoken and understood.
Besides Russians,Japanese,Koreans and Chinese do not use English for their Maths and Science, and yet they are at par to the English.
Your belief in English as the proper method to understand Math and Science is just a myth and is unscientific.
The haqiqah my brother ! Learn the haqiqah ! Then you will not go wrong!
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written by Nick V, July 27, 2009 22:13:27
Dear Azly,

I'm of the opinion that the real reason the UMNO-BN regime has chosen to digress back to Science and Maths in BM is because it serves as a double-edged sword.

The first and perhaps the main reason is, for a dated racial political party to continue surviving, they have to continue to retard the very people they claim to be fighting for so that the people will continue to stay completely dependent on them and will continue to vote for them because they need them. Unfortunately the people from the heartlands of Malaysia do not realize that the only thing that the corrupted BN government has done is stolen from their pockets to enrich a few racist elitist and worst, stolen knowledge from them so that their children will never have the keys to the world arena.

Now, the second reason? ... There's none!
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written by kzai, July 28, 2009 05:51:18
PPSMI not good for rural kids
By CLARA CHOOI in The Star on Sunday July 19, 2009
source: http://thestar. com.my/education /story.asp? file=/2009/ 7/19/education/ 4343590&sec=education

THE issue on the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (better known by its Malay acronym PPSMI) is indeed a sore topic amongst the teachers and students of rural schools.

To them, the matter is like trying to get a right-handed person to write with his left hand and then telling him to switch back to the right just when he was getting used to the change.

Although most are relieved that the Education Ministry had decided to reverse the teaching of Maths and Science back to Bahasa Malaysia, they are also upset that the PPSMI experiment had even been introduced in the first place.

During Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi’s visit to rural schools in the town of Lenggong, Perak, on Thursday, StarEducation had the occasion to interview several students and teachers and it was proven that it had been an uphill struggle for them since the policy was put in place in 2003.

One teacher who refused to be named said that in rural areas like Lenggong, exposure to the use of English language as the daily lingua franca was close to nil.
Dr Mohd Puad talking to SJK (T) Ladang Kota Lima pupils during his visit to Lenggong.

“Our students often converse to one another in the language that they are used to. English, to them, is just a subject they need to pass in the examinations.

“Unlike schoolchildren in the city, our students don’t often come into contact with the English-speaking community. Many are the children of farmers, estate workers or small-time businessmen who do not understand much English themselves.

“Bahasa Malaysia, on the other hand, is accepted as the common language between all the races so they are used to learning their subjects using it,” he said.

Hence when PPSMI was introduced in 2003, both students and teachers alike were left in a lurch, he said.

“The students were worried and so were we. Maths teacher Abdul Rahman Sidek (pic) of SMK Dato’ Ahmad, Lenggong, said that despite the training course he had to undergo, it was still difficult for him to make the switch.

“I was trained to teach and learn the subject in Bahasa Malaysia. So were my students...

... Fifteen-year- old Siti Basyira Farhana said that the switch had affected her grades tremendously.

“I scored 5As in my UPSR. When I was in Form One, however, I had to learn the two subjects in English, I only managed 2As.

“It was a great blow to me but I knew I had already tried my best,” she said.

Muhamad Afiq Mohd Azni, 14, said that although he managed well enough, he still preferred to learn Maths and Science in Bahasa Malaysia.

“I am aware that when I go to college later, I will probably have to learn my subjects in English.

“But for now, if given the choice, I find it easier to understand my subjects in Bahasa Malaysia. I am more used to it,” he said.

His Chinese and Indian schoolmates too agree that they would prefer to learn their subjects in either their mother tongues or Bahasa Malaysia.

M. Saraswathy, 14, and R. Mogilah, 15, said both their grades had dropped when they had to learn in English.

“I used to get about 70 out of a 100 for my Maths exams. When the switch was made, I began getting about 40 or 50 only,” said Saraswathy.

Form Two students Low Suet Yi and Low Suet Yee, both 14, said they would prefer learning the subjects in Chinese or Bahasa Malaysia because they didn’t understand English.

For Goh Kin Chye, headmistress of SJK (C) Yeong Hwa, Lenggong, introducing PPSMI was like jumping the gun.

“The main thing is, the standard of English must first be improved in schools.

She added that although SJK (C) Yeong Hwa was a vernacular school, her students’ grades in the English Language as a subject was not that bad.

“On average, they scored about 60%. It was not that fantastic but it was not that poor either.

“However, learning Maths and Science in English was not easy for them. Luckily, they were allowed to choose to learn the subjects in Chinese,” she said.

She agreed with the government’s decision to reverse the PPSMI policy, saying more needed to be done to improve the quality of the English Language in schools.
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