Protest against the teaching of Maths and Science in English in last 2 weeks had attracted a large crowd,most of them are Opposition parties members.

These 2 Photos showed the recent protest against the teaching of maths and science in English, a policy known as PPSMI. This demonstration was reported as organised by GAPENA chairman Datuk Dr Hassan Ahmad . Their plan was to march to the national palace to present a memorandum to the King asking for a return to the use of Malay to teach those subjects.

From the news feedbacks, blogs’ comment,even some informal survey that i read, most of malaysians especially the Malays prefer this programme to stay on as it really benefits our next generation.I am quite sure this objection staged by this group is only representing certain minor group,the hardcore linguistic scholars.

Nevertheless, I’d like you to know some facts about English, as well as Malay, our national language.

1.  According to the Ethnologue 15th edition, the world top 20 spoken languages list English at 3rd place, while Malay is not in the Top 20, but at 53rd position. 1st Shame!!!

2.  Ranking of languages by number of sovereign countries in which they are official. There are about 55 countries adopting English as their official while only 3 countries with Malay. Another point to be considered on how important is the former language.

• 55 countries: English
  • largest: United States, India, Nigeria
• 29 countries: French
  • largest: France, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Canada
• 24 countries: Arabic
  • largest: Egypt, Sudan, Algeria
• 20 countries: Spanish
  • largest: Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Argentina
• 10 countries: Russian
  • largest: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus
• 10 countries: Portuguese
  • largest: Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola
• 7 countries: German
  • largest: Germany, Austria, Switzerland
• 5 countries: Dutch
  • largest: Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname
• 4 countries: Albanian, Italian, Serbian,
• 3 countries: Malay, Persian, Swahili, Tamil, Urdu, Hungarian, Mandarin.
• 2 countries: Aymara, Bengali, Croatian, Greek, Hindi, Korean, Quechua, Romanian, Sotho, Swati, Swedish, Tswana, Turkish.
• 1 country: numerous languages

3. According to Thomas weber report, the world Top 10 most influential languages in the world is none other than English too:

4. The fact till today is English is still the only Global lingua franca but Malay still considered at regional scale.

5. English is the most obvious example of a language on the way up. It has survived the fall of the British Empire without even slowing down, it has now gone beyond being the language of the world’s only remaining superpower (which in the long run would be a liability), becoming the first truly world-wide lingua franca. International English has become independent of any one English-speaking country, even the USA. A Korean manufacturer in an Athens hotel meeting the Brazilian buyer of a Swiss conglomerate will not only negotiate but order dinner from his room service in English. There may not be a single native English speaker in the hotel, but all non-locals staying there communicate with each other in English – as a matter of course. From, a certain level upwards, in business, sport, politics, science and many other fields, a knowledge of English has become not a matter of prestige but of necessity.

In science and technology the grip of English is complete. With growing computer sophistication it is becoming easier to put even the most awkward languages and script on screen but that does not alter the big picture.

Geography and history has made Mongolia one of the most landlocked and isolated countries in the world until recently, isolated especially from the West and from Western languages. Yet when the country opened itself up a few years ago, the change was signalled at once by signposting the capital’s airport – in English.

Not a small city in Brazil that does not boast at least two schools of English. Even in countries with strong cultural links to France the young want to learn English, not French.

Of course, these facts tabled above would not easily convince the GAPENA chairman Datuk Dr Hassan Ahamd. Fine enough, let’s argue further why we can’t use Malay in Science and technology subjects:

For example if we take Oxygen (Oksigen) which is a gas for analysis of its use. The Derivative
(cabang) from this word alone give following multiple meanings ;

• Oxygenation

• Oxidation

• Oxide

• Oxidants

• Deoxydation

• Oxidise

• Oxidification

• Dioxide

• Monoxide

• Peroxide

Do we have all translations of above words in Malay? If  we ask The Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) , the authority in defining Malay usage,of course they can do the translation but how good/fast they are?? Let me show you the result:

Words like “kualiti” for quality when it should be mutu, “cif inspektor” for chief inspector when it is ketua inspektor. Or how about one of the latest in the list – “ori” for original when it can always remain asal or asli?

While we are at it, does progress in the language mean conveniently turning every other old Malay word into a new anglicised term?

Forget the silly argument of comparing Japan, South Korea, Germany or France to Malaysia and saying that English is not necessary for this. Why not give examples of Iran, Indonesia or some country in dire straits as an example of nations that have done away or lack to see the importance of English? Their examples are a lopsided one. It would always be best to give examples from both extremes.

Recently, one exco member of the current Penang government has shamed the state if not country because of a claim that he is poor in his english command.See the following news report and his BRAVE yet IDOITIC defence.

My English is good, says exco man Law