The more the Barisan Nasional government defends its plan to teach Science and Mathematics in English, the more the desperation behind the relentless push seeps out. BN leaders feel that they cannot turn back, for to do that is to give in to pressure and lose face.

The current 'muted'ness about it  this misallocation is damaging because it deprives other worthier causes or increases unwarranted public expenditure. That's the money of the tax-paying citizens of Malaysia.

And how do current teachers feel? The plan is now to pay RM100 per hour to coax retired teachers back to the classrooms, part-time. A full-time teacher who gets RM2,000 a month is being paid about RM16 per hour in class.

What about other subjects? This pay rate hammers a huge disparity between paying part-time teachers of Maths and Science in English and teachers of other subjects.

All this money, for a stop-gap measure to prop up a flimsy plan.

If we believe that higher hourly salary should give incentive to teach better, why not increase them across the board to attract better teachers in the long run?

RM3 billion. For the moment, that's squandered people's money. In the future, the price can amount to wasted years of scientific and mathematical education, because we were not prepared but bulldozed on.

Now the talk is that the BN government is being bold. Excuse me, what's so bold about this move that barely skims the surface of more basic problems in our education system and opts for a quick way out?

YBs of Barisan Nasional, it is not too late. It is still possible to fully retract the plan and reformulate a more comprehensive and sensible policy to redress the problem of weak English in Malaysia.

The teachers who have already been trained to teach in English will benefit to some extent. In addition, they will be spared the anguish of having to switch so abruptly their medium of instruction, and most of all, students will not suffer.

It is better to be wise and flexible than obtuse and rigid. Sincere, concerned Malaysians will not racialise the issue, nor regret if the BN retracts this plan, because backtracking will benefit society. These are virtues that BN leaders have repeatedly championed.

So come on, show the necessary resolve, pragmatism and flexibility. Above all, be bold to address more fundamental problems: inadequate ability and low morale among teachers, and poor teaching of English, full stop.

Those who reminisce about the days of old when you were schooled in English and later became successful, be nostalgic about the right thing: the capability and commitment of teachers, not the medium of instruction.

The danger now is not about letting racial sentiments flare; the danger is letting a fatally flawed policy come alive.