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Malaysia is going the Indonesian way. Few Indonesians can speak English, not even some of the "professors" there. They may be knowledgeable, but they look thoroughly pathetic in international forums. Soon many Malaysians are going to be like them. Many of our professors already can't write in simple, good English. Literature review is one of the most important aspects of a PhD pursuit; if you don't have a good command of English, how can you do a good research?

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Malaysians speak MANGLISH, Singporeans speak SINGLISH, AMericans speak American, Australian speak Australian, Carribean speak Pidgin - so all slightly "bastardised" form of English - even the British don't speak properly ENglish - try listening to a Cockney, Scouser, Geordie, Scottish, Welsh or Irish speak - only the Queen uses Queen's ENglish - SO CHILL OUT - as long as the next person understands you enough that you get to go to the toilet, eat and drink, all settled !!

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They are using OUR children as guinea pigs!! Their own children are sent overseas!!

I checked my 9yr old son's English exam paper recently. There was one question that caught my attention : "There were 2 pictures ............. on the wall." He was supposed to choose between "placing" and "hanging". He wrote "hanging". His teacher marked it wrong and wrote "placing". What sort of English teacher is that?

What is to become of our children?

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Fully agree with the author that teaching then was a passion. I was born and bred in Petaling street, KL, just a kilometer from the Methodists Boys school. I spent my early childhood from std 1 to form 3 there from 1955 to 1964. The teachers were fantastic. Each had their own characters but running common through them is that teaching is a noble profession. We were taught like their own kids. There were also no racial identity then. Some of my best friends were Malays and Indians. We eat, play, study together, get punished together and sometimes we fight together (particularly against Victoria Institute Students). It was the same through my high school days right through University of Malaya. We, Malays and non Malays, then study and grew up toghether as Malaysians. But somehow things changed after may 13. The ultra nationalist and religious extremists' philosophy had taken over. Even the cross of the MBBS school badge was removed. Students were encouraged to think along racial and religious lines and gradually drift apart. Teachers were appointed mainly on racial grounds first, syllables were changed inorder to lower standards to pass more Malays instead of helping them to achieve higher standards like the pre May 13 schools where students are treated as just students and not as Malay or non Malay students. Gradually the teachers and the school lost the respect of the students and the students lost their sense of belonging. Malay students lost their self respect because they were brainwahed by UMNO to think that they are inferior intellectually and needed them and the NEP to look after them. It become - just a school to get a paper and not an education, and the teaching became just a job and not a noble profession. Yes, BN/UMNO had done a fantastic job in destroying the education system. Any hope for the future? I dont think so. Just save and send your kids overseas.

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Well, its sad to say ....within next decade....what we will be having brunch of people whom can't even read and write and speak proper English! See indonesia... looking at them.... are they going furhter with their bahasa indonesia when comes to international business dealing? Or even any international conferences do you see them speaking english or even you might speak to any indonesian worker that works in malaysia understand english ...no they don't ! With that attitude will take you no where....even there is a lot opportunities raise for future generations to come why because of the screw-up ...will costs even more damages and lost of english speaking peoples within malaysia. and the country will not progress further.....it will be another indonesia... but now its half way of become one!

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There is a difference between being able to communicate in English using any ‘bastardised’ version, and using English in our work, our dealings, our research and our communications with companies and instituitions within and outside Malaysia.

Let us be clear on that.

When we send our children to study in our schools, we expect them to be able to excel and to compete with anyone in the world, unless we are in the minority who only expect their children to work only in Malaysia and nowhere else.

Science is never at a standstill. Everyone knows that, including MM and that is why the good doctor decided that Maths and Science had to be taught in English if we Malaysians are to compete with the rest of the world. In the process, we knew a number of people made a lot of money from selling overpriced laptops and LCD projectors. But hey! this is Bolehland and nobody is surprised.

But to reverse that decision now is disastrous for our children and their future. All this just for the sake of gaining political mileage with the rural Malay population. I can only hope and pray that the rural rakyat is not so gullible now and reject BN in the next General Elections.

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as long as the next person understands you enough that you get to go to the toilet, eat and drink, all settled !

ahh.. that's the problem. on a recent shopping trip to West Malaysia, my wife and i found to our dismay that so many youngsters working in shopping malls could not converse in English properly. every english question we made was answered in BM or Cantonese/Mandarin.

not comprehending English in technical discussions is what keeps Malaysia backwards and this new policy by the gov't will make us worse than many third world nations in years to come.

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The goverment's idea is to keep the people stupid so they can keep fooling and brainwashing them.

You are right to say that speaking english fluently will open up avenues for us. Its only because I speak fluent english, today I am able to earn good money as I deal with lots of foreigners and tourist. I could not get a good decent paying job simply because I am an indian despite the fact the I have lots of experience and expertise in my field. So I decided to start my own freelance business and only because of my fluency in english today I earn more than what I would, having a full time job.

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