I just wonder what type of national policy context was established when two years ago, out of the blue, the government imposed the use of English in the teaching of Maths and Science in schools without allowing adequate intellectual discourse to prevail first.

Elected representatives should continuously bear in mind that they are mere custodians and trustees of voters' aspirations to cherish our dignity and self-esteem while steering our nation towards prosperity.

Where on earth are democratically-elected governments ferociously degrading a very important attribute of their own pride and dignity - their own mother tongue? Tell me what country-models are being followed?

Perhaps India - does one think that India's technological capacity will be undermined if Tamil was used in academic discourses, particularly in the learning of Maths and Science? And surely Korea, Japan and Taiwan can't be your models. So do many European countries too.

Tell us why many Asian students in American and European universities fare better in Maths and Science although they were not taught the two subjects in English back home? What has motivated our government to such counterintuitive decree? Economic reasoning?

And tell me why new foreign direct investments (FDIs) are not flocking to us, but rather to China and Vietnam - is it that their English has become increasingly better than Malaysians? Doesn't the government realise that our students in rural areas are weakest both in Science and Maths? Can this be attributed to their mother tongue?

Poor Bahasa Melayu. The government is giving us an impression that learning Maths and Science in English will miraculously instil a culture of innovation and strong appreciation for science and technology among the Malays and fellow Malaysians.

If this was true, then why chatter about empowering Bahasa Melayu in the international arena while our own academic planners are rejecting it? By the way, why not impose English in economics and business subjects as well since it is the global language of business and commerce?

Doesn't it make more sense? English is undoubtedly important in the increasingly globalised world but the approach the government has taken isn't the way to promote it - either to augment competitive capacity or to alleviate the deficiencies that are inherent among less productive Malays.

After two years the authorities have only succeeded in making teachers 'clowns' in classrooms while depleting the federal budget by sending thousands of them for ineffective crash courses. The government gives the impression that it is incapable of holding our trust and heading our quest for dignity.

The government has not been grateful to us, the electorate and has in fact failed us miserably in protecting and promoting our beloved mother tongue. But we are not a forgetful lot as they might have thought.