English, BM or mother’s tongue – Do I even care anymore?

During our citizen journalism class back in January, I chose this topic as my writing assignment. I am all for studying Maths and Science in English because these are international subjects and it will be silly for our children to translate to and fro if we study them in our own language. I know because I studied Fizik, Kimia, Biologi dan Matematik Tambahan.

I was the first batch of guinea pigs. Anyway, I failed miserably in these subjects except Biologi because I was never good at numbers. Either way, I would have failed so I cannot blame the language.

Then, my eldest son had to study Maths and Science, first in BM and then, switched to English when he was in Form One, I think. I believe it is not an easy transition because there is a vast difference in the languages. For him, he could manage because he has a father who can deal with his questions. Then, the other son also studied in BM till Form One and switched to English. The third one entered Standard One and started using English.

Now, my youngest will enter Standard One next year and he definitely will study in English because there isn’t time to print the books. But….I am pretty sure some morons up there are going to change their minds and make him switch from English to BM when he reaches Form One or maybe earlier.

So, do I care? Not anymore. We live in this crappy country where the education system changes with the Minister of Education. I remember the crap call Bahasa Baku formulated by Anwar where words are pronounced with those funny accents emphasizing the ‘a’. Then, he was out of the cabinet and political scene and Bahasa Baku disappeared.

Now, let’s flash back to what Brother Paul Ho, the retired headmaster of St. Xavier said about the teachings of Science and Mathematics :

And frankly, Chinese parents who send their children to Chinese medium school stand to lose out the most. The urban children probably have no problems with English and Bahasa Malaysia. But a majority is so comfortable with their Mandarin, they will turned out hopeless in conversing in English and Bahasa Malaysia.

Me? Who gives a shit anymore? It is hopeless. We are dictated by morons.

7 thoughts on “English, BM or mother’s tongue – Do I even care anymore?

  1. Lillian, I also don’t care anymore. By the time the switch takes place, my youngest would be out of school.

    All this ‘pi mai pi mai tang tu’ thingy is so ridiculous.Non English speaking countries are waking up and taking the learning of English seriously and we are going backwards.

    We all know who are the ones who are going to suffer in the long run.If these people don’t wake up soon, no one can help them.

    I am just glad that all my 3 children speak and write very good English.I believe they think and dream in English too.

  2. One small step for mankind, 2 backward steps for Malaysians! Malaysia Boleh!! Note to self: Must “pangkah” more prominently next time. Maybe my “pangkah” too small?

  3. “Chinese parents who send their children to Chinese medium school stand to lose out the most.”

    IMHO, you worry too much. Chinese are a race of adapt. English is not a language to master for everyday life usage. Unless you talk about literature usage, e.g. write a novel,etc.

    Take Hong Kong as example, the medium of conduct are Cantonese in primary school, with exception of those international or private school.

    And just look at Chinese farmer in Sekinchang, in Cameron, orchard farmer in different state, etc. They exchange technique with farmer in Taiwan,Japan. Not using English. No, they didn’t restrict themselves to learn from agriculture department.

    For Malaysian, English is just a tools for us to communicate to the world. But I must point out that, in Malaysia, what we get are actually the FORMS but not the substance of English.

    moo_t´s last blog post..Mr Tempeh new palace address

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