Our DPM said non-Malays have yet to catch up on Bahasa Malaysia. I dispute that.

If I am not wrong, he reckons most are still not up to the mark from a recent news report.

In fact, the new breed of Malaysians are eloquent in Bahasa Malaysia.

Of course, they can speak it fluently and can also write competently because it is taught in all schools.

But like it or not, English is still the language used in the international market for business.

I was lucky that I had the chance to learn English in schools which used only English as the medium for teaching, in the old days.

Knowing English has actually helped me a great deal during in my work.

Well, when I was working as the regional sales and marketing manager for a British-owned manufacturing company, I had to shuttle to and from Malaysia and Singapore on a bi-monthly basis.

In my job, I had to correspond with all the manufacturers and suppliers in the UK, USA, France, Sweden, Italy, Australia, Japan and India in English.

And, when they were here on a business visit, getting along with them was easy because we all spoke English - the international language.

But and most importantly, in my time, the clientele too spoke fluent English and that helped the principals put forward what they had in mind, with ease and confidence.

English is used globally and widely in international trade, science and IT, education, and communications, so if you want to be a part of an international corporation, you must be proficient in English.

But what has happened is our schoolchildren are being brainwashed to put English in the backseat, judging from the DPM who recently said the performances of non-Malays in Bahasa Malaysia are falling behind the Ministry's expectations and so, he reckons, more time should be spent teaching it.

This is not true because from past exams results, the non-Malays have shown that they had done well.

This is so because Bahasa Malaysia is a compulsory subject for all exams and, that means every single student will have to get at least a pass in order to get through the whole exam.

However when the children grow up as adults then they will have problems dealing with foreigners or people from other nations - simply because they can only speak and write one language, and that is Bahasa Malaysia.

This makes a Malaysian monolingual when other people in the world can speak two or three other languages, giving them a strong advantage.

If the government remains arrogant and complacent, then they will see more Malaysian graduates and experts who have a good command in English being headhunted by other nations.

By and large, this is one of the main reasons for Malaysians migrating and eventually settling down in a foreign country. Of course there are other benefits such as better remuneration, prospects and recognition based on their individual merit.

There is yet one other thing to ponder. It is a question for all our ministers and deputy ministers.

Whenever they go on an official visit to another country, did they ever realise that it was really easy and convenient to talk face-to-face with their counterparts on bilateral matters, especially when both parties speak the same language - I mean English?

There you go! You don't need a translator to interact on your behalf with your contact because you can handle it all by yourself.

And you have full control of the discussion or meeting. This is an advantage. You see, a translator might twist the facts or say it out of context to a third party.

On the home front, we have problems with students who did not get a place in our local government run universities and these are people it should check out to find out what has gone wrong in our education system.

The government just can't ignore this group of students not because they didn't do well but because they could not enter due to insufficient places for them.

These students have to fend for themselves and sort out what they should do, which is unfair to them and their parents who are all taxpayers and had contributed to the government revenue over the years, so the government should expand the universities, to provide more places for these deserving students.

Students who fail to get admitted to our local government universities, most of them have a phobia when asked to go abroad for tertiary education because they know that they are rather weak in English.

And, since all courses are conducted in English they are really afraid that they will have difficulty understanding lectures. So, they would rather stay put and do something else instead.

Let's take another scenario for instance, like when you have two local graduates applying for the same job, in a sister company with its head office in the UK; one of them has good command of spoken and written English while the other doesn't.

You should know who has an advantage here. You are right! The guy who speaks and writes good English.

The bottom line: Do not put English in the backseat, it is and will continue to be an important international language for trade, science and IT, education, and communication.

English, in the long-term, will bring knowledge and wealth to the people and Malaysia.

LAU BING is the Chairman of the Consumers Association of Subang Jaya.