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Daulat Tuanku! Sultan’s push for English timely

YOURSAY ‘English-medium schools need to keep up with rest of the world.’

 

Sultan: Adopt S'pore education system

Tell the Truth: Sultan Ibrahim Ismail, I congratulate you for your far-sightedness for Johor and I wish all the other sultans will speak out for the same. We cannot deny that English is the lingua franca for the world.

 

As the world gets smaller, we need to be able to understand that language lest we get left behind in the backwaters of development.

 

Mother tongues can still be additional languages. For that matter, Bahasa Malaysia should be made a compulsory subject to ensure that everyone can still speak it. Many progressive Malaysians support you totally on this.

 

AJ: Maybe the push for a better Malaysia should come from the royalty. Our politicians have dragged education into the gutter and will continue to do so. Take politics out of education and save our children’s future.

 

Vgeorgemy: It is revolutionary thinking. If it is implemented, it will take this nation to next level. The only issue here is Umno and its ultra-rightwing ideology.

 

Kangkung: Even teaching science and maths in English became a major issue in Umno; having English as the medium of instruction will cause a riot.

 

Abasir: Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, is from Johor, no? Will he respect the wishes of his sultan? Or will he say; Malay first, English maybe?

 

In any case, all those who are prone to gushing should recall that old English saying; “one swallow does not a summer make”.

 

Pisasu 7: Over to you Muhyiddin. You said world class? Your sultan thinks otherwise.

 

Watchtower: Daulat Tuanku, thank you for the suggestion. I and many others have been waiting for a long time for a single school stream with English as a medium of instruction.

 

Yes, I agreed fully that it will promote unity among citizens and they will have a good command of English. Of course we can study BM, Mandarin or Tamil as a second language - it’s up to parents and students to choose.

 

I hope our ministry will take note of this very noble suggestion.

 

Hplooi: The Malaysian system is not only riven by race and language, now there’s a new divide - the class divide between the rich (private schools) and the rest (public schools).

 

But potentially even more divisive would be the religious divide which will destroy the country. Can HRH (His Royal Highness) bring this up at the highest level (at the Council of Rulers)?

 

Can HRH and the Council of Rulers rein in the extremists who now run rampant (in the name of a religion supposed to be defended by the rulers) in all sectors of Malaysian life?

 

Pemerhati: Unity in a multi-ethnic country can only be fostered if all its citizens are treated fairly and equally (currently because of the ‘bumiputera’ privileges and the New Economic Policy, about 40 percent of Malaysians have been made into second-class citizens).

 

A single-stream education system will help to foster unity as children of various ethnicities can interact with one another from a very young age and develop lifelong friendships as happened to the older generation of Malays, Indians and Chinese after independence who went to English-medium schools.

 

If the same type of schools comes back but if the apartheid-like discriminatory policies against the non-Malays are not removed, then real unity cannot take place.

 

Another big hurdle the schools will face is in getting good teachers as Umno’s racist policies have resulted in the recruitment of a large number of very low quality teachers.

 

Chipmunk: The first thing HRH should do is to revert the weekend back to Saturday and Sunday, in line with Singapore's administration. This is in the best interest of businesses and family bonding on both sides of the Causeway.

 

Anonymous_1430271909: At last, someone has the gall to speak the obvious in spite of the backlash (behind his back of course) he might receive. Let's see how far his suggestion progresses. This will indicate how much respect the goons have for the royalty.

 

NuckinFuts: Yes, will Perkasa protest?

 

Kathleen Ong: Daulat Tuanku. I'm proud to be a Johorean. If the rest of the rulers agree and put pressure on the government, this will mark a gigantic leap for this nation. Long live my king.

 

Haveagreatday: It will be well and good if the meritocracy system of Singapore is adopted as well.

 

Swipenter: I will consider moving to Johor or at least send my daughter to get an ‘English’ education there if what HRH suggests is implemented there. I am sure I won’t be the only one thinking along this line.

 

Sending her to a private/international school here in Kuala Lumpur is going to break my bank account into many fragments even if I could afford it in the first place.

 

Doc: Today one Malaysian leader will come out with the usual "emphasise English" rhetoric. Tomorrow another leader will go on the "emphasise BM" rhetoric.

 

This will be followed by the "emphasis English" rhetoric the day after that by another leader. Shortly after that will come more "emphasise BM" rhetoric by yet another leader.

 

The only constant is that our national education curriculum's quality is deteriorating and deteriorating and is at the point that it will not be able to produce a capable and professional workforce in the near future.


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