A lot of Malaysian government actions(bribery) can be ignored by closing an eye pretending that they never happened before. However, on the 8th of July, the Malaysian Government announced that Mathematics and Science subjects will be revert back to Bahasa Malaysia, the national language starting 2012.

This in fact is an extremely serious matter that cannot be overlooked because it concerns the future of the present youth!

Reason of this Yet-Another-Political-Farce

“Only 19.2% of secondary teachers and 9.96% of primary teachers were sufficiently proficient in English,” he said, explaining the Government’s decision to revert to the old system.

These absurdly low percentages are the result of emphasis on Bahasa on Math and Science before 2003. I am extremely sure that these results have been constantly improving until yesterday when the Government decided to revert back to Bahasa again.

It’s an English Speaking World Out There

Look, the economy leader(the USA) educates their young in English. Educating our future leaders in Bahasa for Math and Science is suicidal. All of their secondary Math and Science educations are down the drain as they reach to tertiary level of education. I know this from personal experience, many Math and Science terms do not make sense in Bahasa Malaysia.

And more importantly Bahasa Melayu, unlike German, Japanese or Chinese, does not have enough vocabulary keep it updated with the technological terms introduced in Math and Science.

Malaysia is different! Even though Bahasa is the national language, most private corporate companies operate in English language. How do you (the Government) suppose not enhancing the English language education in our youth would do any good to the country’s economy in the future?

Of course, here is a quote from The Star that answers my question above

He (the Deputy Prime Minister) however added that there will be greater emphasis on learning the English language.

This is a joke I can expect from the Malaysian Government. Here’s how,

On efforts to emphasize the learning of English, the number of English teachers would be increased by 13,933 — retirees would be hired, as well as foreigners if need be.

Let’s assume 2 thousand salary per month for English teachers. That is about 28 million per month of tax payers’ money spent unnecessarily on teachers! We are better off without the revert and spending that 28 million properly.

What is worse is they now even started to spend on the foreigners! What happened to the Buy Malaysian Products Campaign?

and …

Primary schools will also increase English classes by 90 minutes a week.

That is 18 hours of English studies everyday! Give the children back their childhood days! The children need more childhood experiences, not some badly designed education system!

The bags are literally bigger than the size of their body. Picture From The Star.

On top of that, more tax money have to be spent on English illiterate teachers. We all know what happens when there are not enough “sufficiently proficient in English” teachers to be hired.

Discussion: What do you think about the Government’s decision? How will this reflect the future of our children and the future of Malaysia?

My Point Of View

I think the reason our teachers are so English illiterate (proved by the percentages) is because of these ever changing education system decided only by a handful of clowns. Answer me this question, 3 times since 1957, how do you expect the citizens to keep up?

This announcement also depicts the incompetence of the Malaysian Government that is unable to analyze Malaysia as a whole and make sustainable decisions. I completely understand that mistakes can be made even by the Prime Minister of Malaysia. What I do not understand is why is the government not improving from the mistakes they had made?

Perhaps there is a conspiracy behind these decisions considering the 28 million per month. Maybe it is another act of corruption that has been ongoing for ages in Malaysia. Or is there an invincible being that is more powerful and currently influencing the Malaysian Government? All we know is, this is another farce from our Malaysian Government … again.

On 30th May 2009, the Ministry of Education in Malaysia proved the naysayers of Malaysian education wrong by announcing to reduce the amount of core subjects from six to four by means of reducing the “My son/daughter scored 20As in SPM” frenzy. In addition to that, they also limited the maximum subjects allowed to take in SPM. From a general perspective, I must say the ministry is doing a good job, but until you look deeper into the roots only you will realize that it is not what it seems to be.

These decisions are decided based on the fact that parents have been pressuring their children to take more subjects, to eliminate the exam oriented education system and so on.

As news, I must say it is quite a welcoming one. First, students get to study for less subjects, second if History and Moral studies is not one of the core subjects (I hope so), then it would be a joy for almost all the students in Malaysia! Apparently, that is how you look at it from outside the box, now let’s tear open the box and see whats in it.

For more than 50 years Malaysia has not been capping subjects in SPM and we have been fine all along. This not only allows the student to enhance their broad knowledge, it also helps tuition centers to earn a living, both party win.

The pressure only starts to build when the examination results were scaled carelessly. That is when every parent thinks SPM is easy and starts to pressure their child to take more subjects (since they think it is easy). The fact is it is never easy to take more than 10 subjects, let alone 15 or 20. Then, the ministry decided to scale the results again to show the world how clever we Malaysians are, thus SPM becomes easier as the years go by.

The fact that a limitation of 10 subjects was introduced in SPM also allows me to think it as an act to limit the intelligence of Malaysian citizens. If a student has the capacity to take 15 subjects and score A in every single one of them (scaled or not), let it be. Why limit their potential to excel academically?

Exam oriented studying environment or not is a matter of how a student study for the exam. It has nothing to do with the amount of subjects taken.

Perhaps the ministry would like to consider abolishing or reduce the scaling of examination results and spend more time on making subjects more interesting at school. This would allow students to critically analyze their ability to even handle 10 subjects, or not.

Not only that, scholarship providers can also easily distinguish the best out of the best if scaling is abolished. Unlike the current scaled results where a straight 11A scorer can be an underdog in the university and be stripped out of their scholarship.

Also, imagine if SPM were to be capped and scaling were still to be done, everybody will be scoring 10 straight As. Now tell me, how is that good for anybody?

I am all in for the reduction of core subjects for SPM, since History and Moral Studies should not be taken into account to determine a student’s future. However the limitation of maximum subject is really a no-no for me since it spoils the education industry, spoil the students and confuse the scholarship providers.

Sometimes, the more you study in the same university or college, the more fed up you get. Seeing the same faces and experiencing the same environment every day. Eventually, it just gets into you. Otherwise, you might already have an aim since high school to enter whichever university you want. Then you work towards your goal. Nevertheless, transferring from one university to another is nothing like restarting the game of life.

Apart from all the fuss of getting your visa done, applying for a new passport, purchasing your air ticket, and all those foreseen problems, there are still ample of unseen hassles lies ahead of your university transfer. One thing I’d like to focus is *advanced standing (or credit transfer).

If you are granted for a credit transfer, you are basically everywhere. In your first year at university, you are second year student and sometimes you are third year student. When you’re asked which year you’re in, you will get confused. However, this matter just does not end here.

There is no guarantee that you will be fitting into the rest of the pack in your new university, academically or socially. Like my case, I am supposed to be in second year, but I am forced to take third year subjects, otherwise I might as well fly back to Malaysia. Anyways, taking third subjects as a second year student is a suicide. Understanding the course becomes much tougher because you have not acquired the foundations needed for the subject.

Blending into your classmates seems to become tougher as well. In this semester you will be mingling with your seniors, then the next semester you’ll join those of your level, then it rolls back again a semester later. This might be a good opportunity to know more people, but in a university, what you want is a decent group of people whom you really know that are able to team up with you in group projects.

Having said all these, it is still up to you to determine whether transferring university can be hard or not. You judge your life. However, let’s look at the bright side, earning an overseas experience while studying is undoubtedly the best thing that can happen in anybody’s life. Isn’t this worth going through all the university transfer hassles?

*Advanced Standing/Credit Transfer – When you transfer to another university from your current university, the credits of your course is considered in a case by case basis. If it fits into their standard/system of studies. You will be granted advance standing.