I have taken note of a news item recently that Indian NGOs want Science and Maths taught in Tamil at the primary level.

I am a Indian Malaysian professional of Malayalee desent but frankly this is the most ridiculous proposal anyone can come up with. Have they gone bankrupt of ideas? Are they shouting for the sake of being heard?

If they want Science and Maths to be taught in their mother-tongue, why stop at Tamil? There are 18 languages officially recognised in India by the Indian constitution. These being Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipur, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.

Each one of these are also spoken here in Malaysia among the Indian community. Let us also not forget there are 1,658 dialects spoken in India. If we have to listen to the logic of our NGOs then we will have to give importance to all the 18 official Indian languages.

But what are they trying to prove? What purpose does it serve? How is it going to help the Indian community in this country? If an Indian becomes Tamil literate in Maths and Science, is it going to give him a job as a scientist here in Malaysia? Is it going to give him a job as a scientist in India? The answer is no.

Let us all have a global outlook. Let us not be parochial or obsessively myopic in our outlook and demands. Let us not mimic other communities simply because they are making their own demands. Let us look at our own needs in Malaysia.

I want the Indian Malaysian community to become a well-documented community with dynamic intellect with socio-nationalistically capable individuals capable of making impeccable contributions to science, technology and the arts. Let us become a community of excellence in every sphere towards becoming a strong component towards achieving the Vision 2020 objective and thereafter.

Let the community not be permanently tagged as that of rubber tappers, one-ton lorry drivers, 'teh tarik' stall holders, road sweepers or, of course, notorious street gangsters. For heaven's sake, let us evolve into Malaysianised Indians with big minds and capable generators of nation-building.

This is what I want Indian NGO to focus their efforts on. If Indian Malaysians want to appreciate their ancestral origins, then perhaps they may wish to study the Tamil language as an optional subject in school or at private learning centres.

Please do not unload this cumbersome and complicated proposal to teach Science and Maths in Tamil to the government. There are far too many other priorities for the community.