I think I support, to a certain degree, the government move to start introducing English as the medium of instruction for certain subjects or in all subjects. This is not to undermine my own mother tongue, but there is a need for us to master English and learn from the Western civilisation.

Throughout history the adoption of a language from a superior civilisation had taken place from time to time. The Persian adopted the Arab language, so did the Sindh, the Berbers and the Turks. However, after they themselves had become the master of their lands and had the ability to develop a distinct civilisation of their own, the language of their mothers prospered and in many instances gained equal footing with the Arabic language.

The Malays themselves throughout history have undergone the same process. We did not know for certain what was the language spoken by the Malays before the introduction of Sanskrit by the people from the subcontinent. The few prasasti ( batu bersurat ) that were found in Terengganu and particularly in Sumatera, were undoubtedly written in an old Malay language heavily influenced by Sanskrit.

It was only after the foundation of purely Malay sultanates of Samudera-Pasai, Perlak, and Melaka that the Malay language became dominant in the archipelago and gained lingua franca status.

When Islam came, the Malay language started to be infiltrated by Arabic words. Too many of our current words retain their Arabic origin, even the commonly used ones such as soal, ikhlas , etc. Had the Malay Muslim sultanates of Melaka and Acheh survived longer, perhaps Arabic language will subsequently replace the Malay language.

Therefore, the adoption or preference for another language in matter regarding knowledge is a common historical event. A thorough study of the grammar and philology of the language of civilisation/knowledge was a sine qua non (necessary condition) of entry into the world of letters.

Hence where the secular knowledge (such as ICT) is concern, the study of English is a necessity. Compare this with the study of the Quran. In order to appreciate the pristine purity and musical flow of its majestic prose, as well as to ensure faultless pronunciation of the divine word, it is necessary to make a scientific study of the language.

Understandably, the use of English as a teaching medium agitates certain quarters in the Malaysian society. Some of the reasons, perhaps, are purely political. But there are also genuine concerns.

First, Malay Malaysians themselves, after years of struggle, look upon this matter as something that can jeopardise the national language status in Malaysia. Secondly, the ethnic Malays in comparison to the Chinese and Indian Malaysians are a little bit behind in their command of the English language.

Together with a lack of science and mathematics mastery among the Malay schoolchildren, the Malay nationalists fear that this will further deteriorate (in what sense I leave it to you, the readers, to make the assumptions) the current condition of Malay Malaysians.

There is a need for the government to allay the fears of Malay Malaysians. The old generation like my father who went to an English language school may be able to give some thought about this. I think his generation, despite the English education they had, is perhaps much more nationalistic than the Malaysian youths today.

There must also be well-planned measures by the government to upkeep Malay as the official language. They must make sure that although English dominates academia, the development of Bahasa Melayu in literary and academic fields is not neglected.

One suggestion for the government is to make some studies in countries, such as the Scandinavian countries, where English and the native language are being used together in education. As far as those Scandinavian countries are concerned, there is no problem at all in maintaining the native language(s) while ensuring most of their people can also talk, and read (fluently!) in English. Travellers who had been to the Scandinavian countries will bear witness to this statement.

There must be some discussion on this topic. We have to look into it with an open mind. There are things we hate but are beneficial. There are things we like, but are harmful.

To end this letter, let me surmise the observations of Spanish-Cordovan Alvaro (c. 800-900AD), who was quoted by Levi Provencal in his La Civilisation Arabe en Espagneas . He noted that many young Christians could read the poetry and tales of the Arabs as they had studied the writings of Muslim theologians and philosophers, not to refute them but to learn how to express themselves in Arabic with greater correctness and elegance.

We should perhaps emulate them by improving our command of English so that we don't lose out in knowledge acquisition.