Malay-language activists say 'no' to English schools, insist Singapore poll flawed

Nabihah Hamid Nabihah Hamid Updated 5 years ago · Published on 22 Nov 2017 11:00AM · 4 Comments

Dr Shaharir Mohamad Zain says the government should be consistent in its education policies. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, November 22, 2017.

MALAY language groups claim that a Singaporean study showing that a majority of Johoreans support the setting up of English schools was flawed, adding they will strongly oppose any effort to replace Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of education in schools.

Dr Shaharir Mohamad Zain, the adviser of the Movement to Abolish the Teaching of Science and Maths in English (GMP), questioned the integrity of a research by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute of Singapore, which found that as many as 82% of respondents in Johor supported the re-establishment of English-medium schools.

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Comments

  • I was one of the last batch of students taking MCE and HSC certificates. I can see that my siblings and friends who took SPM STP have less advantages die to the inability to converse in English. They cannot work for MNCs, not keen to travel abroad where English is used to communicate with the locals, their views on things and people they do not know well are limited and sometimes narrow. Such is a sad state for people who do not speak English.

    Posted 5 years ago by Tanahair Ku

  • Of course, the survey will be tarred by these so called nationalists. They are afraid because despite all their efforts and years of imposing on the education system, they are staring at failure. Worse yet, we as a nation is left far behind our neighbors in economic development

    Posted 5 years ago by HC Lung

  • Each of the arguments by D Shaharir can easily be rebutted. I need not go into them here. Suffice to say that Malaysia is not comparable to Nigeria and Zimbabwe, because we have large multiracial and multireligious populations. Deciding that (a) the minorities shall follow the language of the majority and (b) that this, in turn, will definitely make for mor social cohesion and unity, flies in the face of reason. Especially when the majority still has special privileges 60 years after independence while poor minorities have none. Especially when taxpayers funds are still used to maintain a standing army restricted to the majority. The unpalatable fact is that learning the language is forced upon the minorities without their equal treatment; meanwhile the wealthy, the connected quietly send their kids to private schooling in English schools, here and overseas. If you don't like it, too bad!

    Posted 5 years ago by James Dean

  • Why are they not as fast and hard to protest Arabisation from Ulamas and religo persons?

    Posted 5 years ago by Bigjoe Lam