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When Malaysia reaches the year 2020, the nation is supposed to be a developed nation and matured one. We have set our goal that in 2020, we will become a high income nation, achieved high human development index, advanced in the areas of science and technology and prosperous socially and socio-economically.

But towards achieving those goals, we must ask ourselves, we as citizens of Malaysia, how can we make the target of turning Malaysia into a develop nation possible?

I quoted before that the fate of a nation doesn’t rest solely upon the hands of the government, the fate of it relies on the rakyat. John F Kennedy once said, “Ask not what the country can do for you but ask what you can do for the country.” So what does this translate to? What are the key players for the nation’s betterment and what is the best way to achieve progression?

Education. Education is the most important element in nation building. One of the biggest hindrance in progression is ignorance which is our nation no 1 enemy at the moment and we must realise that.

In the 600s, Pre-Islam Arabia went through their dark age where they were socially and morally backwards and oppressed. It was in the 610s when the Prophet Muhammad received his first revelation by Allah through Gabriel on Mount Hira’.

The angel sent the earliest message from Allah to the illiterate prophet Muhammad stating; 'Read, in the name of your Lord, who created, created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is most bountiful. (He who taught) the use of the pen taught man which he knew not’.  And from that point of time, the prophet was convinced that it was his duty to kill ignorance by spreading the word of Allah through al-Quran and bring light from darkness for the human-race which is plagued by ignorance and lead them far from being astray.

It is clear that Muhammad’s duty was to educate the people. Prophet Muhammad even said that we must seek knowledge, seek it even as far as China. Without a doubt knowledge is power, and we must do our part to seek and gain knowledge to make a way for the betterment of our nation and propel it to greater heights.

We are living in the 21st century and what bothers us still is apathy. We don’t have the strength or simply too lazy to get ourselves to be more aware and having more knowledge about affairs and events that surround us. We frequently criticise certain public policy blindly without knowing the facts. In the eyes of the people, the government is always at fault when the nation is facing impediments.

This happens because we are lacking knowledge in matters involving governance, public finance, policy making or even constitutional affairs. This is a major obstacle to becoming a step ahead and the only way to lift this resistance towards progression is by strengthening the education system.

We’ve had enough of hearing people often complaining about the weakness in our education system, but problems come with a solution and we must find the solution.

We are living in the world that is advancing in technology and innovation. Our country cannot be left behind in those areas. Our country also is bounded by the law and constitution and we should not be apathetic in those matters.

An advanced country needs citizens who have the capability and knowledge to lead the country towards modernity and stability and those criteria lie within a good education. The younger generation will be well prepared to lead a nation if they have knowledge and skills to equip them for the future. We must equip themselves to have a better grasp in the knowledge of Arts, Science and technology.

So, we must start early. One will be able to learn faster and better when one is younger and it is the best time to nurture the young minds by introducing them to things that are useful for them in the future, and this is where quality education plays an important role.

Building unity through English

First, it starts with the knowledge of English. The English language is the language of advancement and technology. English is the lingua franca of the world and without English, we are taking a step back from progressing. All the things written regarding the economy, philosophy, engineering, finance or health are in English and if we have a poor grasp in English, it could spell a big problem to taking the lead and being advanced.

The Education Ministry should not close one eye regarding the poor command of English language amongst the students. If we realisethat in Malaysia, the Generation-X people have a better command of the language than Generation-Y, our parents’ generation might have a better English than us, and this is worrying.

This happens because since the 1980s we are still confused and un-sure whether to use English or Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of schooling and the implementation of the language has been in a back and forth manner. The implementation of English in schools it is neither here nor there. We must put this to an end and be serious and focused in putting the English language as a medium for teaching, and stop being adamant.  

Part of the solution is to make English a subject compulsory to pass, the same as Bahasa Melayu. Besides having English as a language to teach Mathematics and Sciences, all subjects should be taught in English, which include History and Business Studies.

Moreover, an advanced mind comes with creativity and that is what the education system is lacking. The education system in Malaysia is seen as dull and dry. Besides injecting competency in the system, it also should be made fun and interesting.

Teachers should be educators. Instead of routinely scribbling and explaining the subjects to the students and giving them homework, they should try different and exciting teaching methods. Learning new things should be exciting and not boring. Also, the subject being taught should not be digested just by reading a lot of the time and memorising each sentence word by word. Things being taught should be made meaningful, not meaningless.

A quality teaching session translates into the students being inquisitive and enthusiastic on topics being learnt. We must be able to capture their minds. Teachers should communicate well with their students and make them more involved and intrigued in the learning process.

So one of the best method is by making classes more interactive. Besides making the students listen and only read in classes, why not introduce the fun stuff such as play-acting or debates on a particular subject or topic?

To realise Vision 2020, the country needs its citizen to be prosperous economically and socio-economically. So what can we do? Recently, we have been ranting about the high cost of living. Nowadays the younger generations are said to be struggling to make ends meet. Besides that, income inequality kicks in and has become more severe from time to time.

These huge hindrances towards socio-economic prosperity can be solved by educating the people. Part of that is by introducing knowledge of economics from young. Economics should be learnt by all because scarcity is part of the world we are living in and we should learn how to make good decisions to be better off.

The Education Ministry should introduce Economy and Finance to students as early as in early elementary schools. Personal Finance and Budgeting can be included as a subject at the primary and secondary levels and can be taught once or twice a week, just like Physical Education.

Training the young to manage their ‘money’ well

We should train our kids to manage their ‘money’ well from young, even as early as eight years old. At a tender age, it is perfect time for us to train the young ones how to be prudent, not being wasteful and being well-managed to prepare them for when they get older.

If we emphasise on this, in the future we might hear fewer complaints from the younger generation of being financially stretched, having trouble in making ends meet and being debt-laden. I also suggest that the Economics be introduced as a compulsory subject at secondary level. Having a strong grasp in Economics can make one a good decision-maker.

The year is 2015 but we are still not as united as we had wished. Racial and religious tensions have been mounting for the past few years and this slows up the process of achieving Vision 2020 with our nation enjoying peace and stability. It is less than five years until we reach 2020 and we don’t have time left.

We cannot let racial and religious issues distract us from focussing on more important issues such as socio-economic and national economic problems. This is where education has a role in achieving national harmony.

The answers lies within inter-racial exposure, which is the main catalyst for unity. The younger ones should be exposed to other races and be comfortable to interact and socialise with them.

So how is it promoted in schools? Are vernacular schools still relevant to our nation that is striving hard for unity? We might think is relevant, because it is a better alternative to national schools and the standard of education may be higher. But this spells problems for the unity of our country.

I opine that it is a high time for the government to raise the quality, standard and competency in national schools so that parents prefer to send their kids to national schools, paving the way for the abolishment of vernacular schools.

Moreover, the government should revise the quota of non-Malays admissions to premier boarding schools. Healthy inter-racial exposure since at an early age in schools can make the kids more comfortable and make it easier for them to socialise with other races when they leave schools.

In conclusion, education is paramount towards achieving progress and stability, thus making it easier for our country to achieve a developed nation status. So let us come together to find a solution to make Malaysia a better place to live by strengthening the quality of education in our country.


ADDIN MOHD NOOR is a member of Aura Merdeka.

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