'What has doing away with vernacular schools got to do with our standard of English? We have to realise that English is not properly taught in schools.'

Johor sultanah: Bersih 2.0 was hijacked

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: Johor Sultanah Raja Zarith Sofia Sultan Idris Shah should not be making any comments on politically sensitive issues even if she was merely expressing her personal opinion.

The royal family, being unelected, is supposed to be above politics and not hold any views on matters that can expose them to charges of political bias.

But pray tell, how did Bersih 2.0 get "hijacked"? Just because Pakatan Rakyat parties agreed with Bersih's objectives and join their platform - it became hijacked? The BN was invited too but they declined because I suppose they prefer electoral fraud and abuses.

Even if Bersih 2.0 had kept out Pakatan, it would still be treated the same way by the government just as in 2007. The fact remains, the BN government cannot tolerate any public expression of dissent.

Rick Teo: Coming from the sultanah, who is a very educated person, is most surprising. The objectives have always been the same for Bersih. All they wanted was electoral reforms. Whether the opposition joined the bandwagon or not, the objectives will not change.

You mean to say that just because the opposition supported Bersih's call for electoral reforms, that the movement was hijacked? That is a silly assumption.

Raja Zarith's call for the abolishment of the vernacular schools is most stupefying. The students from the vernacular schools far excel in English than the students from the national schools.

My four children, all from vernacular schools, have gone on to graduate from UK and US universities - two are lawyers, one doctor and one accountant.

Before giving your opinion on why vernacular schools should be abolished, I suggest you study the reason why non-Malays, and even Malays, are now flocking to Chinese schools to have their education.

Kosongcafe: I believe Bersih organisers did not plan nor expect the rally to be like those in the Middle East. At an interview, S Ambiga said she was wondering how best to publicise the event, but 'thanks' to the government's over-reaction, they got free and wide publicity.

It was not properly organised and the many groups or entities were disparate in their objectives but united by a common stand that the electoral system needs reform badly.

There is no way that the organisers or the opposition parties would be so naive as to believe what happened in the Middle East can happen here, unless the police or army brutalised those who took part.

Kee Thuan Chye: We don't need these royalty types to talk wishy-washy about Bersih 2.0. The truth is, she dare not come right out and say she supports Bersih 2.0, so she has to temper it by saying it was hijacked. She might just as well keep her mouth shut about it.

Karma: The sultanah is right, Bersih was hijacked. The BN took the rally as a display of might in countering what they thought was an opposition event.

They were either wrongly advised or miscalculated because the initial small fire was turned into a huge flame by themselves.

So it is only right to construe that the otherwise memo passing non-event was turned into a large scale demonstration by BN and its lackeys, Perkasa and Umno Youth.

ALZHSH: From Wikipedia - Raja Zarith attended the Datin Khadijah Primary School and then Raja Perempuan Kalsom School in Kuala Kangsar, before moving on to Cheltenham Ladies' College to complete her secondary education.

She attended Somerville College, Oxford and obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Chinese studies from the University of Oxford in 1983 and her Master of Arts in 1986.

Raja Zarith is a strong advocate of improving the use of English in Malaysia. In addition to Malay and English, she speaks Mandarin Chinese, Italian and French.

Chikadee: With due regards, your Highness, I have been in the education business for a long time. The Education Ministry has known for more than three decades that the standard of English teaching has nose dived.

The syllabus should be reviewed. Total reformation is needed, no tweaking here and there, and bowing to political pressures. The standard of English is the same in whichever type of school - SJK, SK or SRK, except that of private school. I have been to all.

Children of the upper crust are sent to private schools. The learning environment there is totally different. Looking down from the 13th floor of a condominium unit is not quite the same as looking down from a Bandaraya flat.

WhatLiesBeneath: After false starts, I wised up and put my last two children through vernacular schools.

On the subject of English, the good sultanah has got it wrong, completely. All my children have fantastic command of English, far better in fact, than many teachers in national schools.

Instead of looking for and giving simplistic answers, the sultanah should dig deeper to understand this phenomenon. Though for the rest of us, of course, it's all pretty clear.

Lin Wenquan: I will not dwell on Bersih 2.0, whether it has been hijacked or not. Much has been said about this issue and the ordinary Joe and Jane have already formed their own opinions.

Her cloistered and pampered life, coupled with, perhaps, an elite education in English from a tender age has blinkered her perception of the real world in Malaysia. Offering her counsel on Bersih and education is beyond her ken really.

To arbitrarily dismiss that the standard of English in vernacular schools is inferior to that of the government schools is pure bunkum. Whenever I talk to local graduates in English, I am horrified by the atrocious absence of syntax and grammar in their conversation.

Maybe her coterie of friends is like herself, elitist, privileged and English-speaking foreign-schooled. She would do better to talk about truancy, teenage pregnancy and other social ills affecting our students.

Don't dabble in something you are not familiar with to save all-round embarrassment..

Ferdtan: I used to respect her when she was not a sultanah, and was a columnist in The Star under ‘Mind Matters'. What she wrote then is not what she seems now.

She used to write 'feel good things' - I remembered the article of how touch she was when she was waved by a group of Chinese family in Johor; about racial harmony; and the story of visiting an Orang Asli community.

Now as a Sultanah, we guess people change. She is an Oxford-trained, speaks Mandarin, Italian and French, but her statements about Bersih 2.0 and the abolishment of vernacular schools (isn't this seditious?), don't connect to her intellect.

Superwoman: How to expect national school children to speak proper English when the teachers can't. I have attended all the PTA (Parents and Teachers Association) meetings to find this out myself.

What has doing away with vernacular schools got to do with our standard of English? We have to realise that English is not properly taught in schools.

Shanu: My daughter, who is at a private college on a scholarship, finds the silence among especially her Malay colleagues deafening when it comes to speaking in English. Mind you, these are among the best students from national schools who are there on JPA, Mara, YTN Petronas scholarships and yet they can hardly string a proper sentence together.

There are other Malays there from affluent homes, who are better adjusted in this new environment and can speak well. All Malaysian students, be it from national schools or vernacular schools, generally do not speak well in the English language. Surely, the call is not to abolish all such schools.

The privileged students get to learn good English, no matter where they are. The point is not to shut down these schools but to provide them and their students with English language teachers who can teach them in English, not in Bahasa Malaysia.

Paul Warren: With due respect, sultanah, when you make such a statement, it assumes that you may have some sympathy for Bersih, except that, according to you, it was hijacked, and so you are unable to give Bersih your unconditional endorsement.

Well, you may say that it was hijacked, but then again, it is a convenient position to take to explain your inability to give the unfettered endorsement Bersih has earned.

I cannot stop you taking that position, just as you cannot stop me taking the position that you really have no choice but cannot be seen endorsing Bersih as much as you would like to.

Anonymous: Your Highness Sultanah, the peaceful rally was hijacked by Umno-BN and its cronies to create chaos and fear in the country.

I am sure that your Highness has seen how rallies are conducted and permitted at least in UK where you spent several years of your life. Please talk to the government about it.

LSP: Yes, Bersih 2.0 was hijacked. Hijacked by the rakyat.

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