Sunday 12 July 2009

I WONDER WHY

I wonder WHY the subject of Mathematics and Science could be taught in Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese language (i.e.Mandarin) and Tamil, BUT not in English.

Isn't English a common language in our beloved multiracial country? We ought to remember that English also happens to be the number 1 lingua franca in the world, a truly international language.

WHY Mathematics and Science cannot be also taught in English in Malaysia? Why its okay with Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Tamil but not English?

The mother-tongue of an Iban boy in Ulu Kapit is not Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese or Tamil, so are we depriving him of his rights to learn Science and Mathematics in Bahasa Iban?

I still wonder ...


p/s Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad is running a poll on his blogsite HERE, and Utusan Online is running another poll HERE.

Utusan's poll appeared after an overwhelming majority from the over 60,000 respondents to www.chedet.cc were against the Government's recent decision to STOP the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English.


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3 comments:

Alizul said...

It's strange to hear those "pejuang bangsa" (such as GMP) now saying that they support the reversion to Bahasa Melayu AND bahasa ibunda when they have all this while been fighting tooth and nail for BM. What language are they supporting now - BM only or both BM and bahasa ibunda? See the irony? They continue to question the argument that without PPSMI the Malays will regress. The reality is that even in BM the Malay students find it hard to understand Science & Maths. So, is the language at fault?

Regarding the polls, there are now three sites that are conducting polls on the issue. Here's the poll results (at this time of writing) of the three sites:

Utusan Malaysia:
Yes - 8,429 votes (72.0%)
No - 3,069 votes (26.2%)
Don't Care (Tak Kisah) - 203 (1.7%)
Total Votes - 11,701

Tun Mahathir's Blog:
Yes - 10,577 votes (14%)
No - 64,230 votes (86%)
Total Votes - 74,807

Nobisha's Blog:
Yes - 176 votes (48%)
No - 194 votes (52%)
Total Votes - 370

I'm tempted to total up the votes of all three sites but they may not reflect the true voting patterns - not knowing the voters' composition (low-income, middle-income, etc), duplication of votes (some may have voted in more than one sites), etc. etc. But bearing in mind these limitations, let's do it anyway

Total for all sites:
Yes - 19,182 votes (22%)
No - 67,493 votes (78%)
Don't Care - N/A
Total Votes - 86,878

You can draw your own conclusion. Will it end the polemics? I doubt it. Arguments for and against the poll results will persist, e.g. pro-government stance of Utusan, pro-Mahathir bias in Tun's blog poll, inadequate sample size in Nobisha's poll, etc. For sure, Utusan's headline will scream "YES to scrapping PPSMI" when the polls end.

How do we end the polemics and find a closure. Referendum? Many bloggers have already suggested this. But will the government be willing to do it? Your guess is as good as mine. Our reasoning is simple: the education and future of our children is at stake. And if bloggers who are concerned about the issue can unite and collectively pressure the government, then who knows...?

As blogger Mind No Evil puts it forcefully, we are "messing up our future generation".

AJAI62 said...

Salam Bro

Orang Melayu juga yang nak membodohkan orang Melayu/Bumiputra. Akhirnya yang malu alah orang melayu juga. Yang akan ketinggalan orang melayu juga sebab asyik Pungguk rindukan bulan, orang lain dah lama pergi ke bulan...orang kita tak abis2 rindukan bulan...Tak ada jalan pintas untuk berjaya. Apa kata sekolh antarabangsa yang ada kat Malaysia diharamkan bagi semua rakyat Malaysia tak kira kaum dan taraf kekayaan seseorang baru adil. Semua sekolah dalam aliran Bahasa Malaysia...tiada cina atau india..Kerajaan ada berani ke?

Science Bloggers Association said...

Nice Blog. Congrats.
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