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.
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Suara Perkasa makes it clear : "Ibubapa,
guru dan pelajar bersetuju dengan PPSMI. Cubalah Dr tanyakan kepada
pelajar-pelajar yang menduduki ujian SPM, apakah bahasa yang mereka
pilih untuk menjawab soalan sains dan matematik".
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Even Perkasa shares the view that "Ibubapa, guru dan pelajar bersetuju dengan PPSMI".
Coming from the most extreme ultra right wing Malay NGO in the country,
with a following in excess of 300,000 (YB Zulkifli Noordin the MP for
Kulim - has just been elected a VP of Perkasa) this endorsement for the
PPSMI by Perkasa is more proof that the Malays are in support of PPSMI. I
hope the Government is listening.
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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.
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