It was sad to note that, during the post-MTV Asia Awards which was held in Singapore recently, the foreign press left the press conference when they realised that Malaysian singer, Siti Nurhaliza, could not respond in English ( The Sun , Feb 14).

I just could not help but feel sad that it was yet another missed opportunity to promote our country, especially to the young audience worldwide. More so when the foreign press took leave so abruptly during the press conference, which is a subtle way of isolating Siti Nurhaliza from the other international entertainers.

All Asian entertainers, including the Thais, Koreans and Indonesians, spoke English that night. One noticeable personality was Zhang Zi Yi, the star of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , who has just started to pick up the language. The question now is, how much longer are we going to wait before we get cut off from the rest of the world?

Besides entertainment, English admittedly is the language of information technology (IT). If one had read the papers recently and watched Discovery Travel (Chn 11 Astro), the Chinese in China are now highly motivated to study English. English language centres are set up in all the prominent cities to allow their citizens to master the language.

Besides using the language to apply technology, they are also preparing, or have been preparing for years now, for when China finally becomes a member of WTO. It is so inspiring to see how the citizens are so charged up to reach their goals.

Bill Gates and many of the IT gurus in the US have said that the English language in the field of IT is only the first wave. The second wave, which will be here soon, is Mandarin, and anyone can understand why. Again, are we ready?

I happened to chance upon a Taiwanese game show over TVSB (CH 31 Astro) on Feb 24, whereby the organisers invited Mandarin-speaking Americans to participate. During the show, white and black Americans spoke Mandarin with their Chinese counterparts.

Times are a-changing and the faster the government acknowledges such changes, the better it will be for its people. Unfortunately, it cannot be said about our mentality here. Mandarin-speaking Americans are no less patriotic as an American, and if a Chinese speaks English, it does not mean he/she is less patriotic as a Chinese/Taiwanese.

My next door neighbour is a Chinese. When they moved in five years ago, they spoke mostly Mandarin. Since then, they have picked up English and are now bilingual.

I applaud the Malay parents who have the foresight to send their children to Chinese schools. The ability to speak Mandarin enables the children to venture into commerce with other Asian countries where the language is used. One must remember that Mandarin is not confined to countries such as China, Taiwan or Hong Kong alone but the written characters are also used in Japan and Korea.

English, rather than the vernacular languages, is the language that unifies the people of Malaysia as my observation of the following shows :

When a game show is conducted in a vernacular language over our local TV stations, the contestants are mainly from one race. However, when the show is conducted in English or at least allows a good mix of content in the language, you get Malaysians from all walks of life participating.

The 1970s talent time show Bakat TV is one good example. During the MTV Asia Award held in Singapore, I could see Singapore youths of all races gathering together to have a good time. Try to attend a concert here and you will feel out of place.

I am just wondering how many Chinese/Indians will turn up for a Sheila Majid or Zainal Abidin concert? But when you get an English rock group like "Deep Purple" performing here, Malaysians of all races will be there.

In fact, one local Deep Purple fan asked me after the concert, "Do you know who really is the unifying force for us Malaysians — Deep Purple! It has been such a long time since we Malaysians really got together, although it was for only an hour and a half."

On the Malay radio phone-ins, you don't often get Chinese or Indian listeners calling in to chat with the DJ. Tune in to the English stations and it is so much more pleasant to hear a cross-section of the Malaysian public calling in to participate.

In the field of education, a visit to Universiti Malaya will tell you how far racial segregation has come. In the 1960s and early 1970s when the tutorial language was in English, students of all races would group together to study, off or on campus.

Many non-Malay parents are clamouring for more Chinese and Indian schools to be built. This phenomenon did not exist when English was used in schools.