Okay, great. So the Malaysian government has decided that Bahasa Malaysia (or BM, as commonly known, Malaysia’s national language) shall be the language in which Science and Maths are taught in at school. We’re back to square one!!
Science and Mathematics will be taught in Bahasa Malaysia and vernacular languages, in stages, from 2012. At the same time, bold and decisive measures will be put in place to strengthen the teaching of English at all levels of education — primary, secondary and matriculation.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also education minister, announced the decision to revert to Bahasa Malaysia for the teaching and learning of the two subjects.
Muhyiddin said that with yesterday’s decision, the government was actually offering a new approach in the teaching of Science, Mathematics and English.
The consequences of this is going to to affect the Fitness Industry scene over here in Malaysia. I mean, already, it is bad enough that most Personal Trainers here don’t take their careers seriously, and it is ALREADY bad enough that most of them can’t speak decent English.
The last thing we need now, are MORE people from the younger generation coming into this industry with the same limited communication skills. As much the super athlete they could be, or the Greek god/goddess they may look like, at the end of the day - a Personal Trainer also needs to be an excellent learner, teacher, communicator and motivator.
- The syllabus and exams for internationally accredited health and fitness certifications that are related to the career of a Personal Trainer ARE IN ENGLISH.
- Almost all of the published research on the latest findings on health & fitness related matters ARE IN ENGLISH.
- International Health and Fitness Conferences, such as the upcoming ACE Fitness Symposium 2009 and similar exhibitions/trade shows, etc, that serves to take fitness professionals to the next level - ARE IN ENGLISH.
So how then, will a Fitness Professional who has a very poor command of English, be able to improve himself/herself and excel in their career? Watching Senamrobik on RTM1 will not get you anywhere. It will be tough. Really tough.
So, as smart as you may be - if your command of English sucks, chances are, you’ll just flunk the exam simply because you didn’t understand the questions - major career obstacle.
Speaking of poor English… yesterday evening, I was at the KFC at KLCC, where I overheard the customer on the queue next to me ask the server for some pepper - and the server handed him a stack of serviettes (thinking that the customer asked for paper). You see what I mean?
I am also reminded of one Personal Trainer from a health club at The Curve, who cannot distinguish between ‘deep breath’ and ‘deep breathe’ - it makes me laugh every time I hear him say it, and I’m sure his clients are laughing too.
I am extremely disappointed at the Malaysian government’s move. Hiring more English teachers is not going to solve the problem.
I wouldn’t be writing this blog, or have impacted as many lives as I have today, if my influence wasn’t primarily English.
Malaysia Boleh?
Please leave a comment - I want to know what you think.
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Against the decision as well. I’ve written my own view at my blog.
Mastering the English language is important.
It is not about corroding your mother tongue, or politics. It is a matter of survival in an increasingly globalized world. If you can’t speak the language, you’re done for.
PPSMI would’ve been a success if it was planned carefully. Instead of implementing it immediately and getting the teachers who do not have a decent grasp of english to teach, they should’ve invested some time to train the teachers (in english) first, then only implement PPSMI.
From what I gather, those who are opposed to PPSMI are mostly the incompetent teachers themselves and of course, our bloody politicians.
On a another perspective altogether, english can never be mastered if you don’t practice daily. This is where a single school system comes into play in my opinion. When people tend to mix with their own race, they also tend to speak only in their mother tongue. Those who mix with people of different race would most likely converse in english.
Another mind boggling decision by our government, here it baffles us yet again.
omg. here we go again.
it’s hardly surprising yet so very frustrating that we are going back to square one.
I myself had to learn Maths and Science in Malay. And had a swell of a great time in uni when everything was in English and I could not comprehend or make sense of much (when the fact was I knew it) - due to the language difference.
Not to mention throughout pre-u I had tutors/lecturers (local mind you) not being able to teach in English properly due to their own limitations of the language.
I had one lecturer who asked to speak in Malay - when we had foreign students in our class.
Sigh.
The command of the English language was way better during the earlier days. And even though looking at the majority, we still have a long way to go, it’s sad to see that the government plans to make this an even impossible task.
Yes mother tongue is important. Learning more than 1, or 2 languages is important. How can it not be.
But English is the universal language. It gets us far and wide, and it helps us in our careers, in our social life, when we are travelling etc
Why do some people have to be so sensitive, and so stubborn?
Interesting topic. Obviously Malaysia is not the only country that teach those 2 subjects in language other than English. And I doubt the standard of Maths & Science is lower than in the countries where they’re taught in English.
The standard or proficiency of English is also irrelevant to whether English is the medium of choice. Add to the facts that most students in Malaysia begin to learn to speak in more than 1 language when they’re in tadika, some as young as 3! We are a nation of bilinguals naturally.
For someone who spent 11 yrs in Bahasa Malaysia medium school, I’m comfortable in either Bahasa or English. And I also think it’s easier for me to acquire new language skills. I managed to learn enough of a few other languages to get by for a few days in a foreign land. Some of the people I know speak at least 4 languages and some of them speak better Bahasa than their native language. And then there are people who spent weeks overseas to return and forget they could speak Bahasa :P
Yet, it’s also not unusual to meet someone who spend a lifetime in Malaysia and yet their Bahasa is atrocious, which is why the idea of Malaysians unable to speak English properly is not shocking.
Well actually I come to this page because I have a debate tommorow and the topic is should Maths & Science be taught in Engish or BM?Why???
I have to say, both of them has benefits.
English: It is an International Language, we have to learn it for out future.
BM: BM is our national language, it is our duty to uphold it. If we contine using English, what is going to happen to BM???
I know some of you think that BM sucks because it is very hard. But we have no choice! This is our country. Do you know why Malaysia cannot be as good as other country like Melbourne? Because we hate our own country, people always compare their own country with others like Singapore. They will say” Singapore is so clean, Malaysia sucks!” If you want your country to be just nice as Singapore you should not hate your own country!
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