PPSMI

As a Malaysian and a Malay, I watch with dismay and sadness at the alleged demonstration and subsequent unruly behaviour at the recent anti-PPMSI protest.

I think of and draw parallel to the HINDRAF demos. The statement by GAPENA’s Chairman, Datuk Dr Hassan Ahamd clearly illustrate this: “We will not stop here. We will continue with the protest and we hope that the government will REVIEW the implementation of the programme and PUT A STOP TO IT”. (reported in Borneo Post, 8 March 2009. The capital letters are mine for emphasise). Why do you want the government to review something when it’s clear that you only want one decision? Just say clearly that you are actually not interested in discussions and hearing other people’s point of view, the government must follow your demands.

I can’t claim to know if PPSMI is the solution to Malaysia’s and Malays’ problems, but one thing I know is that such a critical policy with long term survivability of a nation at stake shouldn’t be decided by how many people take to the streets. Right now its not the quantity of bodies on the street demos that we need but the quality of minds coming together for discourse.

What is the reality?

Firstly, I have been to several HR conferences and seminars in the last few years and in all of them, practising HR managers from various industries, many of them Malays, lament the lack of fluency communicating in English as one of the main causes why our graduates, especially Malays, are not that employable especially in big MNCs.

A comment by another of the protestors leaders on what’s the use of PPSMI for better employability if there are no jobs available (I read this before but could not find the exact article so can only quote the meaning of the statement) makes no sense to me. Because of the high competition for scarce jobs, shouldn’t Malays master English more in order to be more competitive in the job market with the other races?

Secondly, the linguists amongst us can perhaps testify that the mastery of a language is not just about learning the grammar and vocabulary of the language but also an understanding of the culture which that language is based on. I have met TOEFL students in the UK who have to read classic novels and watch TV soap operas as part of their homework, because understanding the language have to be taken in context of the culture.

It is not for nothing that Japanese students learning the Malay language, for example, come to Malaysia and Indonesia, to understand and assimilate the culture behind the language, some even to the extent of learning the cultural dance.

So in this context PPSMI by itself will not enhance our students mastery and fluency in the English language if it’s taken as an independent part by itself, divorce from mainstream communication process. Instead the whole culture of conversing and communicating in English must be done holistically.

Thirdly is the question of which is more important for the survivability of a people, the language or knowledge of the people?

Why is it that the Government spend tons of money teaching our selected students German, French and Japanese languages in prep schools and then sending them off to study in Germany, France and Japan? Is it because of our Government’s desire that more of our people master these languages per se? Or is it because these nations have knowledge and technology superior to ours that we need and to get them we have to accept their condition that we learn in their language?

One of my sons learn basic Japanese while in secondary school and did “pengajaran dan pembelajaran matematik & sains dalam bahasa Jepun” for more than 1 year in prep school before being send off to do electronic engineering in Kyushu, Japan by JPA. Does that mean that I want him to forget that he is a Malay, a Malaysian and a Muslim? Certainly not. It is only because we have to accept the Japanese electronic knowledge and technology is far superior to ours and the only way to get some of it is to learn their language. The hope is still that he will come back and serve the nation and the ummah as a Malay, Malaysian and Muslim, armed with Japanese knowledge and technology.

On the other hand, when we market Malaysia as the regional higher education hub overseas, do we make it a condition that the foreign students coming here must first master the Malay language because their medium of instructions will be in Malay? Or we tell them that the medium of instruction will be in English in order to ATTRACT them? Why? Because we do not have any significantly superior indigenous knowledge or technology that other people want so badly that they are compelled to study Malay to get our knowledge and technology.

I may be wrong, but our main “selling point” of being an international education hub is the cost factor and conducive learning environment, not so much the superiority of our indigenous knowledge and technology. For economic purposes Malaysia NEED these foreign students to come here, that’s why we cannot insist on them mastering the Malay language, otherwise they will simply go someplace where English is used.

The main point here is that whoever has superior knowledge and technology that other people want so much, can dictate what language to use, take it or leave it.

So as an extension, if we want the Malay language to be accepted as one of the global languages, then we must upgrade our indigenous knowledge and technology until other people line up to study from us, not because of the economic cost factor but purely because of superiority of knowledge and technology. At that time then we can dictate that they must first master the Malay language to come to Malaysia to study.

Perhaps those who are against PPSMI should better spend their energy, thoughts and resources in thinking of ways to improve the mastery of English amongst the Malays since the reality now is that English is still the most common international language for knowledge and technology and also for employability.

And perhaps those who are against PPSMI should better spend their energy and thoughts in thinking of how to help the education, higher education and human resource ministries to upgrade Malaysians (and Malays) knowledge and technology until it become so superior that other people will scramble to come to Malaysia to get our knowledge and technology. At that time then you can demand anything you want as far as the Malay language is concern.