Do What Make Sense To Make All Malaysians Having A Competitive Edge

Do what make sense to make all Malaysians having competitive advantage

by Sabarudin

I was born 48 years ago and I was the last batch to sit for LCE,MCE and HSC and prior to that those that are now above 55 years sat for the Malaysian Cambridge education and those born after 62 was just unlucky to sit for SRP, SPM and STPM. Speaking English doesn't make you less Malay , less Chinese , less Indian or less Malaysian for that matter. I am a better person today thanks to the LORD and because of my parents though they are "kais pagi makan pagi" but they eventually sent me to English medium school although they received lots of negative remarks from many who just don't want to see progress. My elder siblings who got better opportunities for Cambridge education speaks perfect English and for most of them in that age group too.

It was so depressing when I met many local graduates having hard times to express themselves in English which hindered them in many job and also promotion opportunities. I believe absolutely that they can express themselves better in Malay or Chinese or even Indian but not in the international arena where English is still the required form of communication/ language especially if you want to work and excel in an American or European company. It would be better still if you could master a few more languages like Mandarin, Japanese or even Spanish.

I was given an international assignment the last 6 years in Shenzhen, China working for an American company just because I am able to communicate in English with foreign customers and visitors. I regretted a lot that I don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese that will make it more easier to survive and compete in the unknown situations here locally.

Therefore I hope all the leaders that the Malaysians entrusted during the last GE make the change with clear, conscience mind and with open heart ...for the sake and the future of all Malaysians.

Malaysian will have been on par if not, better and should be enjoying the competitive advantage if we had stuck to the LCE, MCE and HSC at least and having all the local universities utilizing English as the communication medium too.

Another compelling issue is when the Thais, Singaporeans, Indians ( from India) and Indonesian colleagues don't have to worry accepting any oversea assignment because they can bring along their family as they can put them into international schools when abroad and there's no issue to return home at the end of their assignment period because their kids can enter and go into any schools as they still having English medium back home but not the case of us Malaysians as putting our kids into international schools back home will burn our pockets. As a result, many Malaysians turned down the oversea assignment/ opportunity or some decided to go alone in fulfilling their careers & dreams and aspirations leaving behind their family back home which created a lot of set backs and family issues... What kind of temptation a lonely husband can face in a foreign land or for a missing and sad wives and kids when they don't/ can't see their dad when in need. We are not walking our talk on Masyarakat Penyayang and so on as we don't support and think how to help the situation and most importantly to fix the root cause....which our education system needs to totally revamp so that our future generations can be accepted worldwide moving forward.

I am not going to continue to tell everyone sad stories and keep nagging & bitching about it. I am here to share my vision on how to make all Malaysians have the competitive advantage if I am today the President, Prime Minister or the Education Minister of Malaysia.

• Start at the grass root level - kindergarten where all Malaysian kids above 3 and below 6 must enter Malaysian Boleh kindy where the focus will be mainly in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Tamil or Hindi languages. Children at this age picks up languages extremely fast.
• All TV channels makes it compulsory to have advertisements on all the above main languages.
• There is only 1 school system from 6 years old onwards... Malaysian Boleh education system where English is the medium for all subjects but with compulsory few credit hours for Bahasa Malaysia , Mandarin, Tamil languages.
• Remove the History and Geography subjects and consolidate them as cultural study to make them more street smart.
• This above compulsory subjects will take the kids for 6 hrs ( from 8 am to 2pm).
• Then comes the optional language as everyone must take on 1 more of either Arabic, Japanese, Hindi or Spanish that will extend them till 3pm.
• They must play games or exercise for 1 hr between 5 to 7pm to make them fit and healthy
• Any religious class will start at 7 pm thru 9pm ( Islamic study, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity) due to religious backgrounds/ teachings
• They will have from 9pm to 10 pm to build rapport with their parents and family for Masyarakat Penyayang
• They go to bed at 10 and wake up the next morning at 6am ( they have solid 8 hrs rest for the next day)

And only then can the future Malaysia be in the competitive advantage to survive anywhere and anytime and will be only one Bangsa Malaysia as everyone understands everyone's language whilst living in harmony, mutual respect and above all, be respected in the globe or Malaysians will continue lagging and left behind as Jaguh Kampung where we should be in the world stage today.... My 2 cents worth !

Wassalam and Regards

Sabarudin