Tuanku is right, we shouldn’t be ‘5Malaysia’

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YOURSAY ‘He can articulate what five education ministers could not.’

 

Our education makes us '5Malaysia', says sultan

 

Doc: An important factor in ensuring an education system stays relevant and effective is that it has to evolve.

 

For decades, the US school education system was thought to be the gold standard as it produced the best and the brightest. Sadly, not anymore. Asian countries like South Korea, Japan, Singapore and China have superseded the US's education system in terms of relevance.

 

The above countries’ maths and science curriculum have evolved to ensure that their children function effectively in the digital age. Unfortunately, the American education system was developed for industrial age and had not been upgraded for its students to cope in this new age. The US government has realised this and is taking concrete steps to rectify this problem.

 

In this digital age, English is not only the language of communication but the language of high technology. So, if our government fails to rectify these faults in our national education system, our children will be left behind as the world makes the transition to the digital age.

 

Fair Play: HRH (His Royal Highness) sultan of Johor is right. Why turn our nation into 5Malaysia when we used to live as 1Malaysia before? I am happy as I live in Johor.

 

Rick Teo: Frankly I am surprised at the sultan of Johor. He is able, in one swift swoop, to articulate what five past education ministers could not. He is right. People learn a language that will make you employable and put food on the table.

 

Learning Bahasa Malaysia to be patriotic is good but does not put food on the table. That’s why Singapore graduates are all in demand because they are conversant in English language. Daulat Tuanku.

 

TC Chan: Our education system had been screwed up all these years. No politician from either side of the political divide can be spared responsibility for this.

 

Imagine if a BN or Pakatan Rakyat politician were to say what the sultan said. There would be a flood of police reports, investigations and threats of sedition charges. Now will someone report the sultan to the police?

 

He is right about our education system and I support him, but he has gone against the constitution.

 

Molbe: How to revert to English when you won't be able to find enough English-speaking teachers to teach since we have completely wiped out a generation of people who are conversant in that language.

 

The majority of teachers now can only teach using part-Malay and part-English with atrocious grammar and pronunciation.

 

NAK: Some people are ‘bijak’ (smart) but not ‘berani’ (brave). Others are ‘berani’ but not ‘bijak’. Tuanku is both ‘bijak’ and ‘berani’.

 

I don't know how to classify Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan. He has totally missed Tuanku's point. Tuanku's advice should have come much, much earlier.

 

Never mind, it's better late than never. There is still hope for Malaysia's education system if we seriously heed Tuanku's advice. We are now seeing light at the end of the long dark tunnel.

 

Abasir: Policy is made not by hand-kissing sycophants but by ‘ketuanan Melayu’ Umno hypocrites whose children allegedly go to boarding schools in Australia and the United Kingdom, and whose holidays are always in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.

 

And who powers the hypocrisy? The nitwits who thrive on a diet of ‘ agama dan bangsa ’ (religion and race).

 

Anonymous_1371796405: To use the word ‘Malay Language’ is not appropriate. We should use the words ‘Bahasa Malaysia’ and come up with common romanised spelling for each word. Right now we have all kinds of spelling within the ethnic groups.

 

If Malaysia wants to group the Malays to include the Javanese, Minangkabau, Bugis, Acehnese, Batak, etc - and even the Indian Muslims can be classified as Malay bumiputera -  that is fine by me but let us seriously come with a proper Bahasa Malaysia spelling, construction of sentences and so forth.

 

For instance, take any Malay-medium newspaper and check it out yourself. They are all ‘rojak’.

 

I fully agree with Sultan Ibrahim that we need to have a mainstream language and the English language is the most appropriate because it is the most popular language in the world.

 

I believe the Sultan of Johor has seen enough of all these hypocrites and I praise His Highness for his frank and direct response. Johoreans, pray that your ruler will rule Johor with great wisdom.

 

Tell the Truth: Tuanku, you are indeed a farsighted ruler and it is rulers like you and even your great grandfather, Sultan Ibrahim, who always showed courage to stand up against nonsensical rule. Please lead the people of Johor to greater heights.

 

I do hope all the other sultans share your views because you hit the nail on the head when you said the politicians are using language for political gains and not for the uplifting of the nation’s education system. It is time this has to stop.

 

BTN: We can see a lot of positiveness from the royal family in Johor. They are exhibiting progressive thinking. They may end up being the model state for all we know.

 

Kang Kong King: Tuanku, you are effectively blaming Umno as in the past 60 years, Perikatan and BN were running the country and Umno is the dominant party.

 

It should have been done a long time ago. So what if the Malays speak English? Does that make them less Islamic or less Malay?

 

Anonymous_1425871172: Daulat Tuanku. How we wish the PM and all his lackeys have the same wisdom to lead our beloved country.

 

But this is definitely not going to happen in years to come as the damage done is too severe. Just go to any government office and try to speak to them in English, they may end up giving you a sarong and asking you to leave the building.

 

Relevancy: "We have always adopted the best practices from around the world to enhance the Malaysian education," Kamalanathan said.

 

Why do ministers and deputy ministers seem to agree on something that is supposed to be good, but do the opposite? One can only wonder.


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