Archive for category English
Manglish or Bahasa rojak. How can?
Posted by Kit in Defence, English, Mariam Mokhtar on Friday, 27 January 2012
Mariam Mokhtar | January 27, 2012
Free Malaysia Today
The inexcusable translation in our government departments is not just a question of lack of professionalism and education but, more importantly, of attitude, especially of those at the top.
Throughout Malaysia’s arms spending history, the government has forked out billions on defence procurement while millions more have allegedly been used for commissions and backhanders.
And yet the defence ministry does not see fit to apportion a tiny fraction of its massive budget on the services of a translator.
It cannot be a lack of funds or a scarcity of translators. Is it an aversion which started after one high-profile translator connected to a particular defence purchase met an untimely end?
When the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) posted its error-riddled translation on its English website to describe the dress code appropriate for staff, it received extraordinary attention on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The translations ranged from the painful sounding “Clothes that poke eye” to the more serious safety connotation of the “Malaysian Government take drastic measures to increase the level of any national security threat”.
Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi admitted that his ministry had utilised the free Google online translator. He subsequently ordered the site to be removed temporarily. It is easy to blame Google. Read the rest of this entry »
A conversation at the hospital
Posted by Kit in Education, English, nation building, Zairil Khir Johari on Thursday, 8 December 2011
By Zairil Khir Johari | 7 December, 2011
The Rocket
The most noticeable difference in experience between a private and a public hospital is the fact that in the former, the waiting room is air-conditioned. Other than that, the unavailability of parking lots, infinitesimal queue numbers and staff members adept at ignoring your eye contact are all characteristic of Malaysian hospitals, no matter how much you pay.
“Sometimes I wonder why we pay more for such service?”
I turned towards the source of the unsolicited comment. He was middle-aged, middle-class and probably undergoing a mid-life crisis judging from the way his hair was carefully combed to cover a bald patch. I smiled.
“My wife is here for a check-up,” he said, glancing in the direction of a neatly-dressed lady with an exasperated expression that said there he goes again.
Read the rest of this entry »
TIMSS study show students from progressive high tech countries score high marks in science and maths
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin, Education, English, science/technology on Friday, 11 November 2011
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor
The 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) shows that students from developed countries are the top scorers and they are the movers and engineers responsible to make their countries progressive and prosperous.
Hogging the top places are Singapore, Taipei, S. Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, England, United States and Russia, with scores from 10 and above.
Unfortunately Malaysia had low scores of 3 and are seen in the company of Indonesia, Colombia, Georgia, Ukraine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Botswana, Algeria, etc.
Malaysia at independence was as rich as Japan and had a high per capita income. But now Malaysia has been overtaken by Singapore, Taipei, S. Korea and Hong Kong. They progressed faster because of better education in science, maths and engineering.
Read the rest of this entry »
Towards a modern IT, High Tech, and High Income Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin, Education, English on Wednesday, 9 November 2011
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor
PPMSI since its launch in 2002 to achieve a modern IT society has not made progress because of lack of purpose and unity. It was the product of the Mahathir dynasty, when PM Mahathir was pushing the idea of Bangsa Malaysia or Vision 2020.
His target of a progressive Malaysia could be achievable if the people were well versed in Mathematics and Science and they could make the country progressive like other high tech countries in Asia, like Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, S Korea and Taiwan. And as English was the language of Science and Maths, so the quickest way was to educate our youths to speak and write in English. Hence his cabinet pushed the policy of PPMSI (teaching and learning maths and science in English). That was in 2002.
The year now is 2011, what are the results? Are the students competent in English and well versed in Maths and Science?
Unemployable graduates, with deplorable English. The results have not been encouraging. It is well known that most of the university graduates are not equipped or trained to work in the commercial and business world. They have no communicating skills and could hardly write a letter in English. The businessmen coined these graduates as ‘unemployable graduates’.
Read the rest of this entry »
Impotent rage
By Kapil Sethi | November 09, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
NOV 9 — So it’s final. No more PPSMI. Over a year of PAGE campaigning, petitioning, protesting and writing letters to the editors have come to naught. As the deputy prime minister remarked, the decision was made by the government in 2009 and it will not bow to the demands of small groups. The only concession is that those already under PPSMI will be allowed to finish their schooling under PPSMI.
So it’s final. No more arguments over amendments to the Employment Act. Three months of the Malaysian Trade Unions Congress (MTUC) campaigning, petitioning and picketing have had no impact on the government. The human resource minister called the picket illegal (November 1, The Malaysian Insider) and insisted “this is a policy issue by the government. If they picket, they are going against the law.”
Both PAGE and MTUC threatened to divert support from Barisan Nasional to the opposition if their demands were not met. The PAGE Facebook protest page garnered approximately 100,000 “Likes” while MTUC has over 800,000 members and counts on the support of 5.7 million workers. Even the Lynas controversy has managed to alienate a substantial portion of Kuantan residents, with no solution offered by the government beyond bare denials.
Read the rest of this entry »
PPSMI, a tough pill to swallow
— Dr Kamal Amzan
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 08, 2011
NOV 8 — This is déjà vu.
Back in Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s day, we saw many U-turns and flip flopping of government decisions.
The decision to build a crooked bridge, double tracking rail project, comes to mind. Malaysians were so tired of such fickle-mindedness that they voted the Opposition into a few states in March 2008.
Three years later, we usher in the era of PPSMI.
Within a week we saw two big announcements by the education minister. One was to uphold the abolishment of PPSMI, while the other was to extend PPSMI until 2021. Read the rest of this entry »
Pengalaman graduan tempatan di negara asing
— Wong Tan Kim
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 07, 2011
7 NOV — Sedang saya duduk berehat di sebuah hotel di kota Shenzhen, China teringin saya untuk menulis untuk bacaan The Malaysian Insider akan kehidupan seorang graduan tempatan di negara asing.
Saya dihantar oleh majikan saya di Malaysia untuk bertugas di kota Shenzhen. Setelah beberapa tahun berulang-alik di antara Malaysia (Johor Baru), Singapura, Hong Kong, Shenzhen dan Guangdong, saya dapati ada sesuatu yang tidak betul dengan sistem pelajaran di negara kita.
Saya seorang graduan lepasan UKM dalam tahun 80an. Saya mengikuti sepenuhnya dunia pendidikan saya di dalam Bahasa Malaysia. Saya mengikuti kuliah yang dikendalikan oleh profesor seperti Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, Dr Sanusi Osman, Allahyarham Rustam Sani, Dr Noraini Othman, Dr Ting Chew Peh dan ramai lagi pensyarah yang saya sudah lupa namanya.
Saya seorang bangsa Cina yang tidak boleh membaca tulisan Cina dan menulis tulisan Cina. Saya hanya boleh bertutur Bahasa Mandarin yang ringkas. Dengan latarbelakang yang sedemikian, boleh bayangkan cabaran saya di negara China. Saya melihat saya sebagai seorang rakyat Malaysia dan bukan warga China walaupun nenek-moyang saya berasal dari China. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin is “flip flop Minister who denies that he flip-flops” on PPSMI
Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s denial that he had been inconsistent on the government policy on the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in English (PPSMI) has only made him a “flip-flop Minister who denies that he flip-flops” on PPSMI.
That Muhyiddin had “flip-flopped”, there is no need to go further than to quote the chairman of Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim who told the Malaysian Insider that she was “pleasantly surprised” by Muhyiddin’s announcement on PPSMI last Friday, “pointing out that until Thursday, Muhyiddin had appeared bent on pressing on with the government’s original decision to scrap PPSMI completely next year”. (The Malaysian Insider). Read the rest of this entry »
When will four MCA Ministers make the formal proposal in Cabinet to make English a compulsory pass subject for SPM?
I welcome the proposal by the MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek to make English a compulsory pass subject for SPM, although it was a decade after I had made such a proposal.
On 18th May 2002, in expressing the DAP’s full support for the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s call to Malaysian students to master English as “necessary for communications essential to keep abreast of developments in the technical fields such as engineering and science”, I had gone one step further in proposing making pass in English compulsory in SPM, STPM and matriculation.
This is what I said some 10 years ago:
“The government has been talking about the decline of the standard of English language in the past two decades and the urgent need to arrest it, but it had nothing to show for the results. Read the rest of this entry »
Nail in the coffin for PPSMI, says Muhyiddin
Posted by Kit in Education, English, Muhyiddin Yassin on Thursday, 3 November 2011
Nigel Aw | Nov 3, 2011
Malaysiakini
Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said today the decision to discontinue the teaching of mathematics and science in English (PPSMI) policy is final.
So, calls for the programme to be retained are two years too late, said Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister.
“In 2009, (when the abolition of PPSMI was announced) there was no negative reaction. The majority accepted it well.
“I presented it in the cabinet, everyone agreed, I brought it to Parliament and everyone, including the opposition at that time, agreed.
“But now, because there are some groups opposed to it, they (the opposition) want to jump on the bandwagon.” Read the rest of this entry »
Our school children as sacrificial lambs
Posted by Kit in Education, English, History, Lim Teck Ghee, Muhyiddin Yassin, nation building on Tuesday, 1 November 2011
By Dr Lim Teck Ghee | 1 November 2011
CPIASIA
During the past year, there have been three controversies arising from regressive policy decisions of the Ministry of Education which have set our educational system backwards. The three controversies revolve around
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The teaching of Science and Mathematics for Fourth Form students in Bahasa Malaysia instead of English
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The use of the Interlok book as a compulsory text in the schools
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The decision to make history a compulsory subject as well as a pass requirement for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)
All three – though simmering for some years now – are rapidly coming to a head during the tenure of the Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as the Minister of Education.
Read the rest of this entry »
Allow the re-introduction of English medium schools
— by Hussaini Abdul Karim
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 04, 2011
OCT 4 — Our New Education Policy, introduced in the early 70s and revised two or three times over the last few years, allows for national-type Chinese and Tamil schools where the mediums of instruction are Chinese and Tamil, respectively, up to secondary school level besides the national primary and secondary schools where the medium of instruction is Bahasa Malaysia.
All students are required to sit for the SPM examination in Form Five and Bahasa Malaysia is offered in all schools at all levels and it is a must-pass subject in order for students to qualify for the UPSR, PMR and the SPM. Looking at it, our New Education Policy is almost perfect. What is lacking, to make it perfect, is that the government does not allow national-type English schools to be set up. Otherwise, our New Education Policy and the whole school system would be the envy of almost every country in the world including some developed countries.
It is difficult to fathom why Chinese and Tamil are allowed as mediums of instruction in national-type vernacular schools, but the government does not allow the re-introduction of English-medium schools. Even the popular PPSMI syllabus where English was used to teach mathematics and science subjects will be abolished and come next year, all students in national primary and secondary schools will start with the all-new MBMMBI syllabus where the medium of instruction is Bahasa Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »
Why we need English-medium national-type schools
— Lan Boon Leong
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 25, 2011
SEPT 25 — It was reported in the press last month that the Education Ministry is sticking by its decision to abolish the PPSMI policy of teaching and learning Science and Mathematics in English.
The abolishment of the policy means that the two subjects will be taught solely in Bahasa Malaysia in the national schools, and solely in Mandarin or Tamil in the national-type schools.
Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi, the Deputy Education Minister, said he and many other academics believe the two subjects need to be taught in the students’ mother tongues.
UNESCO, in fact, advocates mother-tongue education for all subjects because children learn better in their mother tongue. However, mother-tongue education, although desirable, will make the national and national-type schools even more ethnically polarised.
Moreover, there are many Malaysian children of diverse ethnic background — Malays included — whose mother tongue or first language is English. But there are presently no English-medium national-type schools to accommodate them. Aren’t these students disadvantaged compared to their peers whose mother tongue is Bahasa Malaysia or Mandarin or Tamil? Read the rest of this entry »
Master the English language to be world class
By Hussaini Abdul Karim
August 27, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
AUG 27 — It is very pleasing and most delightful to the ears to hear many non-Malay Malaysians, both young and old (except maybe some of the older ones) speaking and writing in perfect Bahasa Malaysia, some without even a hint of an accent whatsoever, in the case of the former.
The country’s New Education Policy to switch from English to Bahasa Malaysia introduced and implemented in the early 70s must have done wonders. With the introduction of new laws, rules and regulations, the policy makers have found a very effective way to teach the national language which is now widely used and accepted throughout the country at every level including in the home. Read the rest of this entry »
Why can Mara teach Maths and Science in English?
G Vinod
Free Malaysia Today
August 10, 2011
The government wants to abolish the teaching of Maths and Science in English next year but Mara junior colleges will teach the subjects in English under the Cambridge programme.
PETALING JAYA: Even Mara understands the importance of English. Their junior colleges have decided to offer Cambridge programme, said Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page).
Page chairperson Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said in a statement this showed that even Mara, which largely caters for rural Malays, understood the importance of the English language.
On Saturday, Bernama reported that Mara would be offering the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education programme, equivalent to an O-Level certificate, at all 45 Mara Junior Science Colleges (MRSM) in Malaysia by 2016.
Currently, Mara director-general Ibrahim Ahmad said, the programme is being offered at the Tun Adbul Razak MRSM in Pekan, Pahang. Read the rest of this entry »
Wary of flip-flop tag, Cabinet dithers over English
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
May 27, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — The Najib administration has not decided on switching back to English for Science and Mathematics (PPSMI) because several Cabinet ministers feel any change would be another embarrassing flip-flop.
The Malaysian Insider understands the Cabinet has discussed the issue but ministers are still divided, leaving Datuk Seri Najib Razak to ask the Education Ministry to work out the various options.
“They don’t want to appear to flip-flop like the Abdullah government,” a government source told The Malaysian Insider recently.
Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s rule was marked by several policy U-turns that led to him being mocked by predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and other critics. Read the rest of this entry »
PPSMI options
Page
The Malaysian Insider
May 24, 2011
MAY 24 — “We will consider the Prime Minister’s views and what can be done to fulfil the wish of certain groups.” — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, April 4, 2011
“We have not made any commitment on this yet and we need to assess the feelings of parents. We want to see if it is possible to have some flexibility on this.” — Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak, April 7, 2011
“The teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics can be carried out bilingually according to the capabilities of the teachers or students.” — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, April 24, 2011
Prior to the Sarawak state election over a month ago, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak made an encouraging announcement, on the possibility of using two mediums of instruction for the teaching of Science and Mathematics in schools. Parents are eagerly looking forward to a meaningful dialogue with the Ministry of Education. However, there has been no subsequent follow-up since then, leaving many of us in the dark. Read the rest of this entry »
Poor English skills bad for economy
by Stephanie Sta Maria
Free Malaysia Today
January 18, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR: A nation’s economy is only as good as its education system. So powerful is education that even the subtlest tweak has the propensity to either elevate or relegate a nation on the global stage.
Policy-makers therefore tread with great care when proposing policy amendments, acutely aware of the staggering impact their decisions would have on the country’s future.
Malaysia’s policy-makers, however, appeared to have lacked this attention to detail when deciding to reverse the teaching and learning of Science and Maths in English (PPSMI). And that move has placed Malaysia’s economy on shaky ground.
Cheong Kee Cheok, a Senior Research Fellow with the Faculty of Economics in Universiti Malaya, expressed grave concern over the system’s failure to produce the human resources needed to propel the country forward. And this, he warned, would severely cripple the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Malaysia.
“One of the benefits a country reaps from FDI is the acquisition of technology,” he said. “But we can only acquire it if we speak the language of technology, which is English. Unfortunately, we are losing out to the Thais, Vietnamese and Chinese in our ability to communicate in English.”
“We have enjoyed FDI for 30 years but what technology have we acquired? To a certain extent, piracy is a key indicator of a country’s technological prowess. China is able to pirate almost anything whereas our piracy is limited to DVDs.”
The inability of a nation to acquire a certain strength leaves it no choice but to be dependent on other nations. This stagnancy will gradually reduce its competitiveness and eventually ease it out of the economic supply chain altogether.
“Our lack of technological expertise will dissuade technologically capable industries from investing in Malaysia,” Cheong said. “Right now we are still locked in a supply chain but our position will shift as other nations become better.” Read the rest of this entry »
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