I was invited to attend a meeting and a Press Conference organised by Datin Azimah Rahim's PAGE (Parents' Action Group for Education) which seeks to ask the Government NOT to abolish the PPSMI (the teaching of Maths and Science in English). The Government has said that the PPSMI will be abolished for the school year beginning January 2012.
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You can visit PAGE's website here
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The Governmenmt has to really ask itself whose interest they are representing when they want to abolish the PPSMI? Indications are the majority of the population, especially the Malays support the PPSMI.
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I think this is also why the Government is shying away from conducting a referendum to directly ask the people their views. The Government knows that a referendum will support the PPSMI. The Government is taking a huge risk with the future of the nation, especially the Malays, just to avoid embarrasment.
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PAGE is trying to raise one million signatures in a petition to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister to keep the PPSMI. You can read the Petition online here .
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Please go to the page and sign the petition. It will take not more than one minute. It is for the future of all Malaysians. Here is the short petition :
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To: Malaysians
To,
YAB Datuk Seri Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak
The Prime Minister of Malaysia.
YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin bin Yassin
Education Minister of Malaysia.
cc.
Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohammad
Former Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE).
PETITION TO MAINTAIN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS IN ENGLISH (PPSMI) IN SCHOOLS
I, the undersigned, am in favour of maintaining the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) in schools.
This letter endorses my mandate and full support to any representing party that is seeking to maintain PPSMI in schools.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
(Datin Azimah, I think we need one in Bahasa Malaysia as well. Many parents who cannot speak English still want to support this petition).
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DEAR BLOG READERS, THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY AT CITIZEN AWARENESS AND CITIZEN GOVERNMENT. PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THIS PETITION AND THE WEB ADDRESS IN YOUR BLOGS, IN YOUR EMAILS AND POST IT TO ALL YOUR CONCERNED FRIENDS. LET US HELP PAGE GET THE 1 MILLION ONLINE SIGNATURES.
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This is a Vote for the PPSMI. Please lets hang together on this one or our kids will surely hang separately.
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We are already close to the Club of Doom. If we abolish the PPSMI we are much closer to the Club of Doom.
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Talking and listening to so many people at the meeting, there is a huge undercurrent against abolishing the PPSMI. The majority of Malaysians, especially Malays, support the PPSMI. They really want their children to be educated in English, at least in Science and Mathematics.
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I think for the Government to ignore all these voices of protest is to take significant risks. Abolishing the PPSMI may become yet another election issue. People are already not happy with the Government over so many things.
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People will vote FOR the PPSMI and they will vote against any attempt to abolish it.
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If the Government abolishes the PPSMI, the Government stands to lose a significant number of votes. The Bloggers are still fighting to regain support back for the BN Government. So I dont think it is advisable, at this juncture, for the Government to alienate a substantial block of voters who want the PPSMI.
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There were two big surprises for me at the PAGE meeting. The first was seeing Suara Perkasa (the newspaper of the ultra right wing Malay rights pressure group) writing a page length in support of PPSMI.
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Titled 'PPSMI : Apabila emosional mengatasi rasional' the article took issue with certain parties who have made the most emotional and nonsensical claims to support the abolishment of the PPSMI. One such person is the muallaf and very confused ustaz Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, a Chinese convert who is now more Arabic than the Arabs and more Melayu than the Melayu.
.The other surprise was the presence of another Malay NGO Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) whose president Azwanddin Hamzah showed the results of a survey done by the JMM covering 27,200 parents from predominantly rural areas. 70% of the people surveyed were Malays. Their 4 month research findings showed that 55% of PARENTS wanted to retain the PPSMI.
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Only 13% of parents are opposed to the PPSMI. 32% said 'Belum Pasti'.
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Of the students who were surveyed in the same areas (mostly rural areas) 79% of students said that they wanted the PPSMI to continue.
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Therefore, when the Government says they want to abolish the PPSMI, I am curious to know whose voices are they representing? It is NOT the suara rakyat.
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Is this a Government of the people or not? If the majority of the people and the majority of students want the PPSMI to continue, then why is the Government going against their wishes? What is wrong with the Government?
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Someone said there is no need for the Government to conduct a referendum for or against the PPSMI because the Government knows what it is doing. I think the person who said this will not qualify to audition as a clown for Malaysian Idol. He is making sick jokes. Even the Prime Minister has said that 'The days of 'Government knows best' are over'.
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I agree fully with the PM. And on this PPSMI issue, the Government has totally lost the plot.
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OK you can disagree with me. I can disagree with you. That is ok. But why does the Government refuse to listen to the majority who want the PPSMI? Why doesnt the Government conduct a free and fair referendum on this matter. Or at least the Government engage an independent consultant and conduct a wide ranging survey to get at the truth? The people want the PPSMI.
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And here is something else. While Maths and Science in English is being abolished, the Maktab Rendah Sains Mara or MRSM will have entire campuses devoted to teaching in the English Language !! Macam mana pula?
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"Di samping itu mulai tahun 2011, MARA juga aka melaksanakan program Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) di MRSM Tuan Abdul Razak, Pekan, Pahang. Pelaksanaan program Cambridge IGCSE di MRSM bersesuaian dengan hasrat MARA melahirkan pelajar yang global, cemerlang dan kompetitif" Sijil Cambridge IGCSE merupakan kelayakan peperiksaan yang berprofil tinggi dan bereputasi cemerlang serta diiktiraf di kebanyakan universiti di peringkat antarabangsa".
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So the IGCSE will "melahirkan pelajar yang global, cemerlang dan kompetitif". Habis anak orang lain semua boleh jadi kurang global, kurang cemerlang dan kurang kompetitif. Banyak cantik lah.
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There is already an MRSM centre in Seremban that prepares students for the International Baccalaureate examinations in English.
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Then we have also allowed the International Schools which are now mushrooming all over the country. Rich people, anak Menteri and anak VIPs can now send their kids to International Schools where children are educated in English and prepare for the British 'O' Levels, 'A' Levels and such.
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The ordinary people can send their kids to Governmenmt school where they will get a more ordinary education yang mungkin kurang global, kurang cemerlang dan kurang kompetitif. How does the Government answer this little oversight?
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Pasai apa pula kita wujudkan sistem pendidikan yang mempunyai aliran elitis dan aliran untuk marhaen (rakyat biasa)? Aliran elitis seperti MRSM Pekan dan Seremban mengajar pelajar terpilih dalam bahasa Ingeris, dan untuk mengambil peperiksaan peringkat antarabangsa (IGCSE dan International Baccalaureate). Kemudian "International School" pula dibenarkan untuk orang kaya, anak Menteri dan anak VIP. Anak orang biasa pula boleh jadi haprak ke? Pasal apa bahasa Inggeris dikhususkan untuk golongan elit saja?
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There is something seriously wrong with the Government's thinking here.
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There were many other things discussed. The Kamus Dewan Bahasa is a disgrace to the Malay race. The kamus Dewan Bahasa is written by pengkhianat bahasa. The Kamus Dewan Bahasa has ciplak hundreds and thousands of words from the English language, mostly scientifik words or "saintifik" words. Words like saintifik, genetik, DNA, elektron, mikron, fizik, mikroskop are all ciplak words from the English language. And the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka fellows say that they are pejuang bahasa! Pi dah mabuk!
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There is a simple reason why the pengkhianat bahasa at the Dewan Bahasa continue to ciplak words especially scientific terminology, from the English language and put it into their kamus. Because there is no "language infrastructure" yet in the Malay language to support concepts like saintifik, DNA, electron orbits, valence and such. "Konsep" atau concept pun belum ada bro. So that is why the Dewan Bahasa ciplaks words from the English language.
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But there is a major problem here. The kids in the towns, cities and kampongs cannot go home and engage their parents, uncles and grandparents in simple everyday conversation using words like elektorn, mikron, mikroskop and such. Why? Because not only these words but the concepts behind them are still alien in the Malay language. It is going to take time, a long time, before the Malay language evolves to abosrb and even create these concepts by itself.
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So without a supporting language infrastructure, it will be that more difficult for the kids to grasp these ideas. The Malay langauge spoken at home cannot accelerate their understanding of scientific concepts yet. Why? Sebab bahasa Melayu masih belum mempunyai kapasiti untuk membawa konsep besar disebalik setiap perkataan saintifik yang baru diciplak dari bahasa Inggeris.
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But the English language can. So instead of Dewan Bahasa 'stealing' words like saintifik, elektron, mikron, DNA, genetik, fizik, konsep, hipotesis, tesis and such from the English language - which has contributed very little to moving our nation forward, the easier (and more effective option) is to teach the kids science and mathematics in the English language. Orang kita akan maju dengan lebih cepat lagi.
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Tujuan kita ialah untuk majukan bangsa kita, bukan untuk membantu Dewan Bahasa menjual kamus yang penuh dengan perkataan yang di ciplak daripada bahasa Inggeris.
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Some very poorly informed people have also said that we can translate English materials into Malay. These are very poorly informed people who do not understand many simple things. Out of interest, I buy and read English books about Nuclear Submarines. I know of only one other person who may read such books. So I know only two people who may read books on submarines.
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If we wait for Malay translations, no one in their right mind will translate and publish a book about nuclear submarines when only two people or a handful of people will read those books in Malaysia. The same goes for solar energy, DNA genetics, animal husbandry, hydroponic farming etc. The market will be too small to translate such books from English to Malay. So if I cannot read English, I will not be able to access these books in Malay. I will become a katak di bawah tempurung. Worse I may become poor.
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We must just stick to the PPSMI. We switched from English to 100% Malay sometime in the 1970s. The result is there for everyone to see. Are we happy with our achievements? We are producing unemployable university graduates and school leavers who cannot even count.
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In 2003, we switched back to English (for Science and Mathematics only). It will take time but we are beginning to see some results. This PPSMI generation is moving up the learning curve, faster than the previous generations. To switch back now will be disastrous.
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There will also be an English speaking and non English speaking divide in the country. The International School kids, the elite MRSM schools that teach in English and those who send their children overseas will become the elite. The non English speaking will end up working for the English speaking (just like now).
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Sadly it will be the Malays who will get the short end of the stick. This is a certainty.
1 comment:
JMM's statistics are suspect. JMM is a pro-establishment racialist group pretty much like Perkasa and Jati. Its blog keeps bashing Pakatan politicians for no good reason just like our MSM. And five-figure respondents in a low-tech survey like this requires a LOT of resources that even Nielsen can't afford. I can't help but be absolutely sceptical of PPSMI's 'achievements'. That's why PAS and PKR are vehemently against PPSMI, while DAP keep begging for anything good about PPSMI that is trustworthy.
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