When Bumpkins Are More Than Intellectuals

There was a mob of UMNO-affiliated people who assaulted students at the Merdeka Square in the early hours of the morning. Not only I got pissed, but it turns out that Malaysia is churning more bumpkins then intellectuals. The bumpkin syndrome is obviously the opposite of progression and churning of intellectuals. It's not just that mob group but some politicians and grassroot members across parties on both fronts.

These bumpkins have been lately making immature statements. You got Azwanddin Hamzah declaring war on LGBTs at the expense of paying more attention to those that involve greater sins. You got PERKASA saying that APs are exclusively for Bumiputras only at the expense of equal playing field. Ahmad Maslan calls students as opposition tools And of course, the ringleader behind the early morning incident is the same fat asshole that was at the Asalkan Bukan UMNO event in Jalan Kebun in Klang.

Malaysia is in the state of disarray largely because many of its ruling leaders and politicians are bumpkins, despite having education certifications. Those of people who managed to watch the Parliamentary proceedings would at times have noticed that there are MPs who make immature statements. And our education system, emphasizing only on passing exams, teaching children to obey without questioning at all turns out to be creating more bumpkins instead of what the real world careers demand: thinking and creative people. There are some who have managed to get past it, which I am happy to say it. But many still have yet to do so. In school, children are not even taught of proper financial education, save for the "save for the rainy day" thing and the basic money management skills. Any economist would tell you to do the "let the money make money for you", but few know it. That's why UMNO-men keeps harping on "if PR does this then the country would go bankrupt" bogeyman thing.

Anyhow, today in light of the PTPN protest issue, my opinion is that the PTPN is mismanaged. It should have been done properly and the issue of "interest" from money is also another bone of contention to deal with. Since the fund is used by everyone, it is against the Muslim religion to have riba or interest out of it. It's considered as a sin right? If the claim that whatever profit gained from the interest amount to paid back is given to the alleged cronies in private colleges, then I supposed that there is a legit reason for kicking up the bucket to fuss about.

Out of those who don't really agree about protesting PTPN, the big percentage of it are those who blindly follow (aka, bodek) those who simply outright say no. In other words, you follow the fool and like them start to have foam in their mouths. A quick study of their characters too can tell them whether they are bumpkins (narrow minded) or otherwise.


Let me make one thing very clear. All those names (e.g Ibrahim Ali, Azwanddin Hamzah, Zahrain Hashim, etc..) I have mentioned are not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, if you know what I mean. They are the opposite of intellectualism. If you have any opportunity to personally interact with them you will come to the conclusion that they are country bumpkins. They are very narrow-minded and shallow in thinking

- Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties For Idiots, 16 April

Can you count around how many politicians currently part of the running government of the day can fall under that category above. Today, you have seen a few apart from Ibrahim Ali, like Sri Gading's Mohd Aziz, Khaled Nordin, Hishamuddin "Kerisman" Hussein and Ahmad Maslan (all Johoreans) making bumpkin-grade statements. It's a pity that many of the grassroot followers couldn't even establish the line between right and wrong. They just a product of the education system as to study hard and excel in exams, not to think out of the box and be given the creative freedom whenever they can.

Why do you think that there's more than half of people who didn't even reach up to the degree level?

Sometimes, what people from opposition say are by point right that Malaysia's brain drain still goes on and on no matter what programs and initiatives launched including TalentCorp. I can't really think of anything more than seeing the country going in groundhog mode with bumpkins running the show and the many Pak Pandir antics calling a day's work.

U Turns in PPSMI

Hold on, it's the MCA Youth Chief that said it before! On 18 January 2011, Wee Ka Siong said clearly that the Education Ministry is not going to take a u-turn on abolishing PPSMI. This excerpt from The Malaysian Insider on that day (note it is in BM) said as follows: 

Keputusan mengkaji semula PPSMI dibuat menerusi perbincangan meja bulat, selepas perbincangan panjang lebar, keputusan dibuat berasaskan hasil penemuan,” kata beliau kepada The Malaysian Insider.

“Tidak, tidak. Malah sekolah-sekolah aliran Cina juga mahukan pengajaran subjek-subjek ini dalam Bahasa Malaysia. Ambil contoh yang mudah dan dapatkan komen daripada kumpulan-kumpulan profesional, dan anda akan tahu,” katanya.

Wee berkata pihaknya menyedari kempen Page yang mahu mengenakan tekanan ke atas kerajaan agar PPSMI diperkenalkan semula tetapi menambah, Kabinet tiada rancangan untuk berbuat demikian.

“Ini keputusan Kabinet. Kita perlu mematuhi apa yang telah diputuskan oleh Kabinet,” katanya lagi.

On the 5 April, the MCA big man himself Chua Soi Lek wanted English for Maths and Science "in selected schools". In actual fact, there is no such thing as select schools. It's kind of saying it is picky. If Chua Soi Lek says that statement above, it clearly means two things: that it seems there is another u-turn coming up on the PPSMI, which is not even 6 months after Wee Ka Siong and Muhyiddin said no; and there is actually a clash between Soi Lek and Ka Siong on this policy, even both are MCA and from the same state of origin.

This is what Soi Lek said from the excerpt on The Malaysian Insider:

“We should adopt a more forward looking perspective with regards to education instead of taking the retrogressive approach in opposing the use of English.

“The teaching of the two subjects in English should be allowed to continue, especially in select urban schools where there is already a demand for it,” he said.

I am not really bothered of who's better between those two Chinamen but I feel the sense of flip-flops with one now saying "I want back", reversing the decision of  "No, I don't really want." It is indeed confusing people already including parents who have school children. There has no unanimous agreement from the officials and the general public over whether to cancel PPSMI or not. PAGE is a group that wanted PPSMI for schools because of the language application in its workings when working on jobs involving technology. 

Dr. Mahathir misjudged himself in the early 70s on having BM as main medium of instruction only to regret and want PPSMI before his retirement in 2003. I bet there would be some arguments between some parties again with this issue being reignited again. I do no doubt can see Chua being reprimanded by Muhyiddin, in capacity as Education Minister by saying "issue is final - no more discussion". 

We shall see how it unfolds then.

What's It Going To Be Then, eh?

This video details of India's emphasis and the foresight of science and technology. It is no wonder why India produces the best brains that they would go around the world. One thing noted is that they will have to shed the medieval ways in order to move forward.

And what about Malaysia? Malaysia is still practicing neo-feudalism and there are still many things that followed the medieval ways. The Malay saying "don't rock the boat" seems to be resonant everywhere and because they are kept reminded of the past disasters, that many have yet to move forward. Speaking of education, the current success rate is still abysmal with many completed up to secondary levels only.

No matter what the Education ministry is trying to do as of now, they have yet to achieve the satisfactory standards and level of high-economy. Talk about BTN, distorted history and emphasis on non-scientific related stuff, you can't reach that far!

The Simplest Solution To Interlok

The Interlok novel problem still remains unresolved officially as the National Writers Association are unhappy with the Education ministry's decision to go ahead with the novel, albeit with a few modifications to the original content. However, what many people do not get it is that by modifying the content of the novel, even though by a few pages, the structure of the story can be altered drastically. This will definitely be very much against Abdullah Hussain's intentions of the story when he wrote that novel and thus damaging the integrity of the novel.

Being Politicize and Provoked

It is a shame that the novel is being politicized by the Indians over a small matter. The word alone "Pariah" is somewhat considered a bane, but however, don't forget that it was written at that period, hence, Interlok is somewhat considered as a periodical piece set in that particular period. We will elaborate on that shortly. 

I simply do not understand whether the Education ministry has done a thorough read through over the story, and considered whether if the story is to be used particularly for a specific group / cluster of schools or not. But the Education ministry and the government should take the share of the blame because of committing to the decision of using this material in school. By going ahead in using this as one of the three possible literature books for Bahasa Malaysia, the Education ministry is either unintentionally provoking the other races into whacking one another, thus more racial tension problems or otherwise deliberately intending of doing so. Who really made the final decision on which novels to be used? One of the department heads of the Ministry? Muhyiddin or Wee themselves?

Read the Content and Other Material

I must concur with the National Writers Association's stance that the novel should be remain intact as it is. First of all, because of it's story setting period that comprises of 6 decades from the early 20th century to prior Merdeka, there have been social and racial prejudices against the Malayan society. Pariah, is a common prejudice as what the English would do to discriminate the Indians in the point of time. This means that Abdullah Hussain's book is correct, in historical terms, of painting the point of Indians at that time, before World War II and prior to Merdeka.

Actually, there is nothing to gain for taking the issue out of proportion, politicize it and to turn it into mass rallies and so forth just because we didn't understand the content nor going back to the early times to verify the history and the portrayal of the Indian community. If we didn't understand those things above, then what is the point of having a National Archive or a National library for? Turn books and historical documents to dust?  Isn't this problem similar to as what Gandhi and the India  faced back in India before the 1947 independence?  

Case Example in Burgess

Hussain's novel isn't the only one that suffers the brunt of anger over discrimination. If anyone of you have read the Malayan stories by the late Anthony Burgess (author of A Clockwork Orange), you would find that the content is pretty similar in here.

As in related to the context above, in The Enemy of The Blanket, (part 2 of the trilogy), Mr. Jaganathan is a supporting character who is determined to sabotage the anti-hero at all costs. The motive of his actions is primarily because of how the Indians were treated by the English. Example:

"Jaganathan, you're a bloody fool! I'd be doing a great disservice to the Malay if I get out and let you take over!"

"You will kindly not call me a bloody fool in my own house, Mr. Crabbe." Jaganathan shook. "Who are you to say that I cannot run this school? I was running this school when you were still writing your wicked articles about the necessity of having Communist bandits in the east. While you were only a foolish soldier, I was running this school."

This piece above is a retaliation of and a hint of discrimination - note of "disservice to the Malay" phrase that Crabbe spoke of above. Remember that because this novel is set in 1956, one year before Merdeka, the racial prejudice is still there, so therefore it is society structure and state at that point of time is historically accurate and clearly reflected in Interlok. 

The below excerpt is from Beds of The East, the final part of the trilogy:

“Chinese, isn’t he (Robert Loo) ? Pity about that.” Nik Hassan made a sour gangster’s face. “Pity he’s not a Malay. Though, of course, he could use a what-you-call…”

“Pseudonym?”

“That’s right, a Malay pseudonym. It might carry a bit more weight. After all, everybody knows the Chinese are clever. We’re a bit sick of hearing it. We’re just dying for a Malay genius to turn up.”

But Nik is an anglicized Malay. Burgess writes:

Nik Hassan liked to be called “Nicky”. It was chic to have an English name in his circle. His friends Izuddin and Farid were called “Izzy” and “Fred”

Have we actually asked our surviving elders whether they themselves or other friends of theirs do the same thing or encountering such situations at that point of time? If it's a yes, then it is socially accurate using that period of time. Therefore, to emphasize it: there is nothing to be politicized and provoked off.

The Simplest Solution

If this problem keeps going on and on with neither side wants to compromise and resulting with a neither side winning the argument, the solution is very simple - either replace the book with another title that will not offend everyone, or since each school gets to choose one of the three Malay novels to be used for the Bahasa subject, they can opt not to take Interlok and choose another one. When the literature component was introduced back in 2000, I remembered that students or schools get to choose one of the books. Because anyhow, in the examination paper, I recalled that literature question and answer will only be based on which book you're reading. So, if I read book A, I will only need to answer questions related to book A only.

It's one of the two options they can choose, and it's a win-win case. Everyone can walk away and save the mess from happening. Why want to make an issue out of it?

Their Version of History or The Real Version?

* This post is part 2 of my two cents on the UMNO assembly

HISTORY will be made a must-pass subject in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) beginning 2013, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin said that beginning 2014, History would be made a core subject in primary schools, too.

He said putting more emphasis on history would create a deeper appreciation of the concept of “negara bangsa”.

“In view of this, the content of the subject would be improved with more emphasis on understanding the Federal Constitution.

“Beginning 2013, History, like Bahasa Malaysia will be a must-pass subject to obtain the SPM certificate,” the Umno deputy president said in his winding-up speech.

The call to place more importance on the subject was raised by several delegates including delegates from Perak and Kedah. - (Excerpt from The Star 24 October)

**********

Talking about History subject is something to be interested with here. Of course, History was one of the subjects in the PMR exams as well as being one of the five core subjects in SPM exam The only difference until now is that to pass SPM you need just to pass Bahasa Melayu of course. Having gone through secondary school, I can remember portions of what was taught in history. And of course my favorite part of history is not about the Malacca sultanate period but instead period depicted during the English residency period. You talk about Swettenham, Maxwell, Hugh Low, etc... well that's the part. And then of course the pre-Merdeka period, if you take merely the face value, you only hear one side of the thing, which we will come back to that shortly.

Before KBSR (primary school curriculum) was introduced, history was taught in the old syllabus. And then it became a subject in the secondary level. For those of you who have kids in school, do have some time to ask them for their textbooks, just to skim through what are the historical subjects covered. There are a few points that can be found from going through the syllabus. The first one is obviously you would notice that the spread of historical subjects, particularly int he upper secondary school levels seems to be a little unfair and partisan.

As a multi-cultural society, the spread of history should be even. Besides covering the usual Malacca sultanate, the after Malacca sultanate, the English colonial times, there seems to be too much leanings towards Islamic history. Waking up to reality, I noticed that many of my schoolmates previously when we studied history had a distaste of this sub-level not because of religion bashing, but from first glance, it is too difficult to know who's doing this and that. In school exams or even SPM exams, most would avoid answering any question that is related to Islamic history due to its complexity. One whole sub-section solely for that is a little biased and is more for the Malay students, sad to speak. There wasn't much of coverage of the European history, particularly during the Renaissance and the French Revolution because events that happened in the Revolution, revealed new thinking methods, philosophy and advocation of Enlightenism.

It's true that some political parties have complained that the Malaysian history is distorted. True. They students to learn from the UMNO version of history, not both sides. As like the saying, "History is written by the winner.",  which means, when the English gave a 1948 Constitution, it was considered a moral victory for UMNO because they were the ones who pressured against the Malayan Union concept. I can list down several pieces of history that actually existed but you can't see in text books:

1. The original date of independence was 17 August 1945, which the Japanese have promised to Malaya prior to their departure. Unfortunately the plan never took off because of the A-Bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

2.The term "Merdeka" was first uttered by KMM, a left-wing Malay group by. The Left-wing groups like KMM, API, SEDAR and etc.. were actually the first ones who would campaign for that. They even have submitted a "People's Declaration" to the English to be adopted (because it was people, on the ground oriented). But the English ignored it and when for the right-wing idea.

3. Hartal was first witnessed prior to the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu foundation. And then there was a witchhunt against all left-wing leaders including Ibrahim Yaacob.

4. We were told that the Singapore riots in 1964 occurred because of Indonesian and Communist provocateurs. But in truth, it was started from agitation by Syed Jaafar Albar and several ultra-nationalist factions of UMNO (as noted by Lee Kuan Yew and Australian High Commissioner W.B Pritchett)

5. The 1969 riots happened because UMNO is not happy over losing their customary 2/3rds in Parliament. In an interview with Tunku in his later years, he said that "if Razak really wanted my job, he could come straight away to me and ask me for it.", which means that Tun Razak and several people instigated the riots as a coup de tat against Tunku.

Note: These above are based on several witness testimonies and some papers covering the two periods of history.

MCA and DAP have been asking for a review and fix on the syllabus. A significant excerpt (full article here):

MCA deputy publicity chief Loh Seng Kok also noted that newspapers had reported the subject would soon be taught from the primary level onwards — at present it is a core subject only in secondary schools — and would incorporate Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, which touches on the “special position” of the Bumiputeras.

“There are also anxieties of the possibility of misinterpretation where ‘special position’ i.e. a ‘privilege’ maybe taken to read as an ‘automatic right’,” Loh said.

Again, to stress the statement above:

According to the original constitution Malay rights never existed. "Rights" as opposed to "privileges". 

If we say "Rights" it means you have the power and the ability to do whatever it is permitted.

If we say "Privileges" (keistimewaan is actually privileges), it means say if you are Malay, you stand to gain something additional as guaranteed by law.

Unfortunately, this has already deliberately been made an issue by UMNO themselves. Other parties didn't make a fuss out of it. Parent groups are starting to get angry over it, even the MCA and DAP have been asking for review. But the inferior motive is almost similar to BTN, instead of brainwashing people, it would be school children instead if neither opponents raised the issue of concern. But Muhyiddin is doing this because the UMNO grassroots have been asking for it, which PAGE has alleged of the reason behind the decision.

I think that English is more important than History because I have noticed that there are still people out working who don't even know English, in which in fact I noticed that some of my managers expressed frustration over their inability to understand a universal language. Bahasa Melayu is still not yet a universal language, unlike English. I mean, let's face it, we are seeing half-baked people outside who claimed to be very good in studies but could not convey in English properly since it's used prominently in business.

TO BE CONTINUED

AUKU / UUCA Makes Students Bodek! Porah!

From Khairy's Twitter:

1. Here's a hint for the Cabinet: You want the youth vote, start by trusting them. #fb about 10 hours ago via UberTwitter
2. Cabinet decision not allowing university students to be involved in political parties is gutless & indicates outdated thinking. There. #fb about 10 hours ago via Twittelator

Cabinet Decision on Undergraduate In Politics Is Gutless - Malaysian Insider

 

I went to one forum on discussing the UUCA act last month. I only went there once out of the series of four, due to work but the first part of the talk is a very eye-opening thing. Since the 1975 amendment by Dr. Mahathir (then Education minister), the results from that is that we are not seeing many pro-active students, students activism beyond their studies but instead, students who merely knows what to read and just think within the box.

Today's solutions no longer just confine into solutions in the box, but requires unorthodox to accomplish it. And since the UUCA has put down student activism, we have no longer seen the oratory quality that a person should have. The remaining oratory figures in Malaysia are those who studied prior to the 1975 amendments, like Hishamuddin Rais, Syed Hamid Ali, Anwar Ibrahim, and those prominent figures in University Malaya prior to the Baling protests.

It was shocking to see with the implementation of the UUCA, originally intended to streamline and govern multiple universities in Malaysia under one law turned into somewhat a tool that the Higher Education ministry can do at the discretion. One example is the university's administration hierarchy. During the talk, I was taken through the comparison of the hierarchy before and after the UUCA act. After the 1975 amendment there no longer exists multiple parties, including student government bodies that helps the check and balance process in selecting the university administration.

As of this time, the entire administration, e.g. University Malaya is selected by the Minister himself. 8 persons running the show. But this means that the de facto man running U.M is Khaled Nordin himself. Not jointly by all parties including student bodies. This means there is exert of control by government itself.

The more interesting inference drawn from this matter is that AUKU makes people stupid. And the Cabinet's decision of refusing to change the AUKU / UUCA coupled with the news media gag simply shows how immature and gutless they are, as what Khairy was talking about. In the process, it is making things more stupid. What "Blackbeard" Muhyiddin and his yes man Khaled Nordin does from that is the stupidity project is still continuing on. More robots and zombies are created over people who can really think properly besides application of knowledge. Less people to think differently and act uniquely.

If you really need to ditch the AUKU next time round, well, you have to be a voter and send Barisan Nasional out. UUCA hardly works at this point of time really, unless you choose to be an idiot and a slave.

Again: Are you guys trying to make a fool out of students?

Young Guns vs UUCA Act

It is surely a relief for 4 students when the court granted an injunction against UKM to convene a university tribunal to charge them under Section 15(5) of the UCA Act 1971. I have been observing the events unfolding recently, and the four of them, in opinion have shown an example of young guns, upcoming men have stand up and challenged old laws and those that are contradiciting directly with the Constituition.

I see that in that current scenario, an inferior angle on having that such law is that the old men running the country wants the young to grow up in their mold, as it was back a few decades ago. However, in this time of the century, young tend to rebel against the old - an instinct perhaps. Such desire by the old men creates problems right now. New ideas, exploration, suggestions, approaches to problems can be explored by the young only if they are given allowances to try new things that cannot be held back by the restrictions imposed by the UUCA act. 

The main reason the UUCA act was imposed that time was to ensure that undergraduates will not be distracted by outside events and will allow them to focus on books and knowledge. That was in 1971 but at this time, it seems that rules, like this act are meant to be broken because of the current society and age.

At the present stage of a man's life, the youngsters are not bound by the chains of society and economy that burdens their ambition and their desires. 

In this age, the UUCA has made youngsters behave like old men, even if they are physically young and able. We have seen many graduates, as the result of this act become more or less robots, unable to discover new things, dare to be curious and question anything that will satrisfy their knowledge and curiosity. In the end, look at students, starting from secondary students. As the result of an education system that never teaches them to think beyond further and so forth, many have the mindset of a robot. And you don't have much of the white-collar professionals that the government have been whining about.

In other words, the old men have robbed the young of the freedom to choose, think and so forth while such act is still on. But in truth, it is the other way round, there is no country for old men. Sooner, they had to step aside and let the young run the roost. Hisham Rais once spoke of this matter. He once said that making a young man behaving like an old man is more or less tantamount of committing a crime against humanity. 

The intellectual level, collectively speaking in local campuses have reached to the suffocating point. The trend of having robots have turned employers away, particularly those in the MNC from hiring these graduates and prefer those who are graduated overseas. At least, the act has created more or less those with degrees but with the mindset of a blue-collar worker. 

In the case of the four boys in trial over the offence committed during the by-election campaign, I can say that is the unconventional, but a very daring approach to demonstrate what a real youngster should do. To challenge the UUCA act is to challenge the old men of the country, to show them the wrongs of the act. 

Something that I salute and would wish Khaled Noordin swearing and cursing..

Perhaps now the phrase from a WB Yeat's poem - 'No Country For Old Men' makes sense now.

Brother Lawrence Spitzig (1918-2009)

I only saw him twice. The first time was when he was visiting Ipoh and I was only 15 at that time. He held a talk about careers in a neighboring school in town.

The second time was somewhere in late 2007 where I managed to spend one Saturday afternoon at St. John's to talk to him. I introduced myself and reminded him of being in Ipoh 10 years ago and we started to talk. At that time of talking, he had a bad fall from the staircase, which was the prelude to the next few months of being bound to the wheelchair as he's weak to walk.

Being 91 is pretty good, considering that he outlived Brother Ultan Paul, whom I used to see when I was a boy. If there is a wake for all students to come and see, it's today and for myself, I've been through three or four wakes, mostly being my grandparents and the first one was on Brother Paul's wake back in mid-April 2000.

Condolences...

From The Malay Mail:

LA SALLIAN Brother Datuk Lawrence Spitzig, the former director of St John's Institution Kuala Lumpur (SJI), who dedicated his entire life to education and youth died yesterday at the Assunta Hospital, Petaling Jaya.

He was 91.

Brother Lawrence who was in a coma for the last five days lost his long battle with prostate and lung cancer.

His contributions to education have been immense. Among his most notable contributions to SJI was the fact that he wrote the lyrics for the SJI school song Cheer cheer & courage display, which till today is sung by its students.

Born in Feb 4, 1918, the Canadian served two terms as the school director (a role equivalent to school principal). The first was from 1955 till 1961 and the second was from 1979 till 1983.

After his retirement, Spitzig visited East Malaysia to help the poor who hailed from Sabah and Sarawak's indigenous tribes.

His six decades of dedication as a school administrator won him many titles and honours. He was awarded a Datukship by the King in conjunction with the Federal Territories Day this year.

He was also granted the "Jasamu Dikenang" award during this year's Teacher's Day celebrations. The La Sallian Brother was also honoured with The Order of Canada in 2004, which is Canada's highest civilian honour and awarded to outstanding Canadians.

Brother Lawrence's body will be brought to the St John's chapel in SJI today at 9.30am and his funeral service will be held at St John's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur at 10am tomorrow.

Muhyiddin Said This, Mahathir Said That

When the government has announced of reverting back to Bahasa Malaysia for teaching Maths and Science from 2012 onwards, I have noticed a stark contrast of statements to the press by the DPM Muhyiddin and Dr. M.

The Malaysian Insider has this excerpt that raises questions on whether it was a spin to the pressmen:

"We had a very long discussion, for more than three hours,” he added.

Muhyiddin said he explained to Dr Mahathir how the policy could not be implemented as intended.

Among the problems discussed, he said, was the huge gap between national schools and vernacular schools as well as teachers’ poor command of the English language.

“Me and my officers have clarified the progress and problems faced by those involved,” said Muhyiddin.

“Tun accepted our views,” he added.

However, Dr. M has a different view and this is what he said in his posting:
Although my views were sought, they are not reflected in the decision.

And Malaysiakini has pointed out that Dr. M is unhappy over the reverting of decision.

Dr. M is indeed correct in this point. What Muhyiddin did is to a one step backwards to help make Malaysians to be more intellectual. It is a sign of a slap in the face of Dr. M by the one -eye jack (hence his moniker of Mat Sembab). What are you if you initially go ahead with the proposal only to revert it back after a period or so?

That is wrong indeed. Or in other words, a flip-flop. It is remark to say that

Now then, this event, deliberately confusing the public of what Muhyiddin said against the real words of Dr. M seems to spark off another political game already. If Najib wants to promote 1 Malaysia seriously, then this decision by Muhyiddin is against 1 Malaysia. This subtly hints of Ketuanan Melayu again, and part of enticing Malay support at grass root level.

If Najib is losing support from his fellow Malay men from UMNO because of promoting 1 Malaysia, Muhyiddin is doing opposite.

All in all, Dr. M is, as I believe he's very unhappy at the DPM.

Without English, Malaysia Will Produce More "Idiots"

The talk of whether English should be made compulsory to pass in SPM is still debated in the last two days. If asked, I'd say yes, go ahead and make it compulsory. Looking into the distant future, English is still the international communication language just ahead of Mandarin and Malaysia has indeed become an embarrassment to those who speak English better than us including our neighbor Singapore.

The plan of putting Bahasa Malaysia first and foremost ahead of English for the sake of nationalism was a bad mistake and as the result, many people including those in the rural areas are suffering from the skill and knowledge handicap because most of the skills are taught in English, not in Bahasa Malaysia. An example in case of point is learning to do programming languages. Programming languages mostly used English as its base point, without that, you can forget about doing programming software. In rural areas, people there are ones who suffered the most because even the teachers themselves could not convey or teach them well in English given of lack of capability to do so.

The English language has become a precedence of everything we want to learn - science, computer languages, understanding classical literature and everything else. To help people learn and improve English will take more than teaching in classrooms and through books. As part of teaching them daily indirectly, signboards, official letters should be in English, not in Bahasa Malaysia. Government agency hotlines like the Inland Revenue Board has given expats especially working here some hassle by only providing a BM option and language choice.

I have sat down with a few Malay people in conversing in official matters and I find that 8 out of 10 whom I see seem to have speech problems in English. I sometimes observe and deliberately test them to see how well they speak. Because of the past policies, and other factors, it seems that Malaysia is producing more idiots instead of producing a huge number of practical oriented good brains.

It is indeed to late to reverse the problem right now, due to inaction by the Education Ministers including Hisham Hussein. If the problem is needed to be solved immediately, it is through radical means like:

1. Reversing the exam paper format and the amount of content of teaching on Bahasa Malaysia and English. In otherwords, requirements, format and teaching content should be swapped, BM reduced, English increased. As I concur with some people, English in Maths and Science is insufficient because students can only improve in scientifically aspects, not daily aspects.

2. Replace billboards, and signs with dual languages.

3. Get English language specialists, local and foreign to be associate teachers. It is necessary given of the current scenario and to help guide teachers in teaching English better.

I do not have to go further but to say to Mat Sembab that the current education system inherited from the 1950s still remains irrelevant despite various measures and there has to be a big change and revamp from everywhere including things that involve us daily.

Jangan jadi lembik.