Malaysia, truly a-partheid-sia…..???

This is an interesting essay for Malaysians to read. It may be slightly lop-sided, but we all know there is some truth to it.

English or Inggeris?

A heads-up from malaysiakita to this student blogger who may get kicked out of university for blogging led me to an article he wrote on the standard of English among Malaysian university lecturers. This reminded me of a letter I wrote which was published in the NST when I was 15. Nothing has changed much in the past 7 years has it? Judge for yourself.

My letter from October 2000. I was 15.

English as taught to my parents

I will never forget the day my English teacher asked me this question: “How did you went home?” The mistake is obvious and the language, simple, yet she insists that it is correct. This is the standard of English that is being taught by many of the younger teachers.

I write in respond to the letter titled “Efforts have been taken to increase proficiency of English” by Dr. Sharifah Maimuinah Syed Zin (NST, Oct 2). She said that non-optionist teachers are being given special proficiency courses by the Teacher Training Division to ensure they are able to teach effectively.

What about teachers whose chosen option is English? The question “How did you went home?” was not taught to me by a non-English-option teacher. It was in fact taught to me by a teacher in training last year a month before my final exams. She was a trainee; theoretically receiving the latest training from the latest programs organised by the education ministry.

Grammar is now being taught in context in relation to a topic or theme and not for it’s own sake theoretically so that pupils can see the relevance of using a particular structure. Ask any student and almost all of them cannot name the eight parts of speech, almost none of them know how to analyse sentence structure, and there are university graduates who cannot even string a sentence together. I have seen letters to newspapers written by disgruntled employers complaining about bad English among their new employees, many of them fresh graduates.

During my parents’ time, just one generation ago, grammar was taught as it was; a noun as a noun, and a verb as a verb. It was not at all taught in relation to any topics or themes. This is very obvious if you only take the trouble to look into English grammar books used during those days. It was very basic, simple and easy to understand. Using themes is confusing to say the least.

The teaching of English grammar uses the direct approach. Exercises were given on the different aspects of grammar until the students could recognise the particular structure in any situation. The uses of the eight parts of speech were drilled into their heads until they remembered it for life.

Now, teachers spend time organising activities for English weeks, keeping records of the number of books we read, raising money, doing things which are not at all productive to the students, instead of drilling grammar into our heads. All of which look very good on paper but which is actually a waste of time.

It is acknowledged by all and sundry that the standard of English in Malaysia used to be very high. It is also generally acknowledged today that the standard of English of the younger generation including young university graduates has deteriorated significantly. This drop in standard is the product of our education system over the last 20 years. It did not happen overnight. Therefore, the system of English education in this country has failed.

Since it is acknowledged the standard of English 20 years ago was very high, it means the method of teaching English worked. Therefore, it is perhaps time we re-evaluate the English teaching methods of the past and re-adapt it into the present system.

The present crop of young teachers is the product of the education system that has been acknowledged to have fail in producing the right standard of English. These teachers are at this very moment teaching the same brand of poor English to us students. The drop in the standard of English is being compounded by the system itself. Whither, good English?

I actually know of one secondary school English teacher who can go through an essay and pronounce it perfect when in fact that essay contain 20 obvious grammatical errors. I have also seen a secondary school English teacher who cannot even speak English fluently. She stops periodically to compose her next sentence before she can say it out. All these are trained secondary school English teachers. Are these the teachers that we need?

With teachers like these teaching us, our English will never improve. It will instead get worse and worse. It is not so bad if we can see her mistakes but what happens when we can’t? We will be making the same mistakes over and over again once we leave school and there is no one to correct us.

English is the language of the I. T. world. It is the most commonly used language on the Internet. English is also the language of the knowledge-based economy that the government is dreaming of. I do not think Malaysia wants to be known to the rest of the world as the country where English is taught incorrectly.

To the education ministry, I beg you to spend more time researching the old method of teaching English rather than thinking up new ideas which might not work. The old system worked for our parents. Why can’t it work for the students of today? Remember, what you think is best for us may not necessarily be good for us.

Compare the above to what Rauff said here. Is it getting better? Or getting worse?

EDIT: Rauff just informed me his post will likely be deleted once the verdict is announce. For the good of posterity, I’m adding screenshots of his post.

Do we have to classify everything?

Is our population so stupid that we have to classify everything? Are we not able to judge for ourselves the difference between credible and not-so-credible blogs? Won’t professional blog-sites be more akin to newspapers? How will classification of blogs help to persecute bloggers?  What ‘rite’ do you have to control blogging?  What rite do you have to deny freedom of speech?

The majority of blogs are personal opinion. If blogs that ‘touch on matters enshrined in the federal constitution’ are becoming such a problem, isn’t that be a sign that people are not happy with the laws of the country? The more you stereotype us, the more united we’ll be. Classifying blogs into professional/non-professional is a very very very heavy form of stereotyping. The majority of blogs are personal. In the dividing of blogs into professional/non-professional, where would those blogs stand? Why professional/non-professional? Why not sopo/personal/work/etc or something similar and infinitely less discriminatory?

People read SoPo blogs for news which are not published in the mainstream media, which are controled by the ruling party.  Readers do not need to be told what to believe, they can make their own judgement.  Classifying the blogs won’t make a damned difference. We will continue reading. We will continue writing.

We, the blog-readers and blog-writers are not stupid.

2007/05/05

Zainuddin proposes classification of bloggers

KUALA LUMPUR, SAT.: Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin said today that Malaysia has to classify bloggers as professionals and non-professionals as a mechanism to prevent misuse of Internet blog sites.

He said he believes that professional bloggers are those who are more responsible in ensuring that their web content is based on the truth and not rumours.

“This classification will also facilitate the action to be taken against those found to have violated the country’s laws,” he told a press conference at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here.

Zainuddin said certain people in the country have misused blog sites for their own interest and that of their groups, like touching on matters enshrined in the Federal Constitution and others that sparked uneasiness among the multi-racial population.

“We have to control this. It is feared that these (blog sites) will be misused by those who have an agenda to spread slander. By right, there should be a mechanism to control this phenomenon, including by classifying bloggers as professionals and non-professionals,” he said.
Zainuddin said this is important in enabling the people to determine whether they can trust a certain matter and whether the blog content is the truth or a rumour that can cause discomfort or undermine unity.

The minister said that during his recent visit to France, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nice-Matin Press Group, Michel Camboul, had mentioned the need for the French government to classify bloggers and expressed concern over blog sites having an impact on newspaper circulation and the buying of advertisements in newspapers there.

Zainuddin said the Internet has yet to be widely used by the people in Malaysia and if blog sites become an alternative press that forces the shutdown of newspapers, the rural people who depend on newspapers will be denied the right to information.

He reminded bloggers not to touch on matters that have been agreed upon by the consensus of the country’s multi-racial population such as the special position and privileges of the Malays, the Rulers and Islam so as to maintain peace and harmony.