Who are they to speak?

Let me first begin with an anecdote. There is a famous legend which goes like this: French society during the time of the early Bourbon dynasty was fraught with deep poverty and hardship.

The royal family and aristocracies were however blind and protected from these harsh realities. So much so that when it was related to the French Queen Marie Antoinette, that people on the street had no bread to eat, she uttered, “Let them eat cake!"

This was quoted by Nouri Farshad in The Malaysian Insider. He was speaking about the PPSMI issue.

As always, when a keyboard is present, everyone has an opinion. Here's mine.

PPSMI, for those of you who don't already know, is basically the policy that Tun Dr. Mahatir came up with that decreed Maths and Science be taught in English in schools. At the time, it was lauded as a great move by our then Prime Minister, and it should be even now, in my eyes.

The world is moving forward in English, like it or not. The global medium for intellectual discussion is English, no one can deny that. International forums are being conducted in English. Even here in Malaysia, as much as they try to use Bahasa Malaysia, English always finds a way to creep into their speeches.

Thats not to say that we have totally forgotten Bahasa Malaysia. Taking a walk down any prominent street in KL and you will hear Bahasa spoken quite frequently. It is still the language of choice of Malays, and since Malays are the dominant race in Malaysia, the language is still very much alive.

But English is the way to go if Malaysia wants to be seen as a truly global nation. Why does one language have to take precedence over another? I am sure Malaysians are perfectly capable of being bilingual, heck even trilingual. Being fluent in both English and Malay not only gives us an advantage, but also makes us unique in the eyes of the world.

So back to PPSMI. Forget the argument of wanting to improve English through Science and Maths, because thats why we have English classes taught as a subject. Is that not the point of English class? How much English can one learn through Science and Maths? I'm pretty sure most people already know the numbers in both English and Bahasa.

It is the issue of these future students having to move on to English based tertiary education that should be the core concern of every person involved. Being a science student, as well as a great advocate of the English language, I've found my transition from secondary school to pre-university education seamless in terms of language. Everything is in English!

The main concern is the fact that translating scientific terms would be a real hurdle. Some of these words sound complicated as it is in English, to translate from Bahasa to English would be a nightmare.

One might argue that a substantial amount of students go on to public tertiary education institutions. The main mediun there would be Bahasa. Is it? Then I say, change that to English as well! Instead of treating children like guinea pigs, why not make the ones who are mature enough change? It would serve a better purpose for them anyways.

This is not fair opinion as anyone who knows me would know, I live my life using English. Everything I've written is in English, save for a few "karangans" that were poorly articulated in Bahasa tuition.

But as I try to remain objective, I do stand by the fact that switching to Bahasa would not be a good idea.

That said, whats done is done. In the words of Tan Sri Muhyiddin, our dear DPM, "it might be a democratic country, but the Government's words are final."

It really is the people's fault that this Government is in power. But who's to say that the Opposition would be any better? PAS, who wants to implement hudud law, which is basically Islamic law, would probably champion the implementation of Bahasa so really, there is no upside at all.

But why is it that the people in power have made this backward decision, without consulting the people they are implementing it on?

Let the students have a voice. Which is a totally different issue, by the way.

But yes, let the students have a say. I don't mean PAGE, which are just the parents who quite frankly, probably have not considered the wishes of their children, but are more afraid of the fact that their children would not land high paying jobs if they were to be educated in Bahasa. I'm not being fickle, most parents I know have that train of thought. Mine for one probably do, although its a relief that it won't be affecting me.

Children are getting smarter and maturing at a faster pace, with the Internet and what not.(no dirty thoughts here please.) So let them decide! If they want Bahasa, go with Bahasa. If they want English, go with English. This is true democracy. Allowing old men who were educated in the 50's make this decision is beyond my comprehension.

Let's not be old fashioned and stick the younger generation with a burden they will have to bear in the future, purely because we want to preserve Bahasa. That ship has sailed a long time ago.

It really is saddening.