NOT that I love the English language less but I love the national language more. As a Malaysian, I find it disturbing that after more than half a century of political independence, some Malaysians are still engaging in polemics about the role and relevance of Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction in schools. Several have called for the reintroduction of English-medium schools, conveniently forgetting that the national language plays a major and noble function to unite our multiracial, multireligious and multicultural society, which our country hopes to achieve through the instrument of our National Education Policy (NEP).
To compare NEP with that of other nations is not realistic. One has to be reminded that Singapore, for example, has no vernacular schools in its education system. As such, Singapore has no racial baggage to worry about. In our case, the noble attempt by the Education Ministry to make our multiracial children learn and mix under one roof, in the case of the Sekolah Wawasan Programme, was fiercely opposed by some. Interestingly, those who doubted the ability of the NEP to produce competitive and English proficient students are silent on the divisive nature of our vernacular school system. Instead, they’ve come up with various suggestions that compounded the already intricate NEP and diminished the role of our national language.
Being knowledgeable themselves, they should be aware of the Gordian knot in our NEP but none have the moral courage and political will to sever it. When the Apartheid Government of South Africa introduced the Bantu Education Act 1953 that legalised the separation of races in educational institutions, the late Nelson Mandela had this to say: “No system, however improved, will ever be accepted as long as it is a racially separate one.” We should draw some wisdom from him. Until such an occasion happens to cut the knot by an “Alexander”, the sharp edge of the Sword of Sophocles will remain hovering precariously over our NEP.
Having said that, I regrettably observe that, while we call for proficiency in English language among our citizens, we fail to observe that Malaysians do not have proficiency, let alone mastery, of our own Bahasa Malaysia to reflect its status as our national language and medium of instruction in schools. I cringe with embarrassment listening to some of them talking on television, among them, politicians, lawmakers and those in the corporate sector.
This does not include ordinary Malaysians who would just shake their heads or gesticulate with their hands when requested to express their opinion in Bahasa Malaysia. Despite that, we are calling on our students to learn the technicalities of English grammar, to understand proverbs, metaphors and similes and other parts of speech, when they don’t yet learn and understand the subtleties of Malay grammar and the meaning of Malay proverbs such as “di mana bumi dipijak di situ langit dijunjung”. Not that the government is lacking in its efforts to promote the use of our national language but some quarters are not participating passionately, thus, the projects and programmes implemented are more honoured in its breach than in its observance.
Regarding employability and competitiveness in the job search, favouring those with English proficiency, Mohammad Abdul Khalid, in his book, The Colour Of Inequality, has this to say: “The preferential treatment is prominent in the private sector — in the form of lower salary, delayed promotion, limited access to training and even employment denial. It is in this sector that the disparity in employment and favouritism towards the Chinese as against the non-Chinese is evident”. He added: “Random checks on main newspapers in Malaysia, mainly the Chinese and English language newspapers and the Internet-based job search engines showed that advertisements requiring either Chinese or Mandarin proficiency are not uncommon.”
The ministry is doing its level best to implement NEP. Recently, it announced the introduction of the Dual Language Programme and the High Immersion Programme. I hope those involved will implement them as planned. It is said that a bad plan is a good plan unimplemented. I hope that any attempt to make our students proficient in English be made in the proper context and not to injure the sanctity and sovereignty of our national language, like the Malay proverb “Kita menang sorak, tetapi kampong tergadai” (We won the applause, but the village got pawned).
n HAJI SAARI HASSANAyer Keroh, Malacca