The mastery of the English language

The government has made its decision to revert the teaching of the Mathematics and Science subjects back to Bahasa Malaysia. Many opinions have been published on this matter, be it in blogosphere, in the comments section of online news portals or in the printed media.

This is the first time I am sharing my views on this issue. After mulling about it for the past few days, I decided that I should post something on a subject that is close to my heart.

I have been educated in the English medium all my life. From pre-school right up to university. I am one of the last batch of students that took Malaysia Certificate of Education (MCE) in 1979. At that time, the subjects that were already taught in Malay were Geografi (Geography), Sejarah (History) and Pengetahuan Agama Islam (Islamic Religious Knowledge). From 1980 onwards, all the non-language subjects are taught in Malay and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) became the only examination available to Form 5 students.

When the government switched the teaching of Maths and Science in English some years ago, part of the objective was to arrest the decline in English language skills of our students. It was feared that the poor command of English would make our students and graduates less competitive in the international field. Proponents on the use of Malay, on the other hand, worry that the national language would fall in prestige and importance. The proponents slogan of choice being, `Memartabatkan Bahasa Melayu'. In simple terms, it became a nationalist versus internationalist debate. Discussions and arguments have been raging on ever since and the latest decision announced by the Deputy Prime Minister cum Education Minister a few days ago may not see the end of it.

Let us analyse some of these arguments so that we can understand some of their merits.

1. The command of the English language among our younger generation is on a decline

In the course of my work, I have on many occasions, had young engineers as my subordinates. They come from both local and overseas universities. With very rare exceptions, most of them have lousy English. Some of them can speak it well enough, but when it comes to writing it down, reading their output makes me cringe. My favourite adjective used to describe their written English is `atrocious'. I even once told my young engineers to look this word up and tell me what it means.

But that does not stop me from continually giving them writing tasks such as preparing draft letters, reports and minutes. If they are willing to improve, then I am willing to teach. What is important here is to have the right attitude.

2. We do not need to learn Maths and Science in English to become a developed nation

The examples often quoted in supporting this line of thinking is Japan and South Korea. They are the two most developed nations in Asia and yet their general command of English is no where near as good as ours. This has not stopped them from being research pioneers in many fields.

True. But we do have to make cultural comparisons between the people of Japan and Malaysia to understand why the Japanese are light years ahead of us in terms of technological development. Having lived for a short period in Japan, the cohesiveness of the Japanese society is something I have never seen anywhere else in the world. They may disagree on little things but when it comes to the major issues, they are quite united. In Malaysia, we can't even agree if recycling our garbage is a good thing.

3. Our teachers are not skilled enough to teach Maths and Science in English

If the teachers cannot be relied upon to teach the subjects properly, how can we expect the students to do well?

This obviously, is a defeatist approach. Given time and resources, I am sure enough personnel can be trained to become good Maths and Science teachers. It is only a question of priority.

4. Teaching Maths and Science in English does not actually help in improving the English language

Mathematics is a subject that deals with numbers, rules and formulae. Physics deals with laws, principles and concepts. Biology is a study of living things while Chemistry is a study of all the different elements in this world. Teaching these subjects in English only helps the student to understand the terminologies in a different language but it doesn't make him a better user of English. A number is still a number, whether you say it in Malay or in English. Doing a medical degree course in Malay does not make you less of a doctor compared to having done it in English, Arabic or Russian. Salt is known as sodium chloride but in Malay it is called natrium klorida. In this case, the Malay term actually follows the chemical symbol (sodium's chemical symbol is Na).

This line of contention can be propogated either way. I tend to agree that having these subjects taught in English doesn't necessarily make you a good English user. But where it falters is the fact that you need a good command of English to expand and explore the sources of information and knowledge, in whatever field of study.

----------------------------------------------

Having said all that, it is perhaps pertinent to bear in mind the primary reason why the government is reverting back to Bahasa Melayu. This is revealed in yesterday's report on The Star Online -> Poorer results when subjects taught in English, says Muhyiddin.

It seems that our rural students (read : Malay), do poorly in examinations because the Maths and Science subjects are in English. If this is to continue, then the number of Malay students that do well in their SPM exams may dwindle and this in turn, may result in less Malays entering university. Apparently, this situation is quite serious and the government has to yield to the pressure of the proponents of change. In the end, it again boils down to the consideration of quantity.

Anyway, what are my personal views on the matter?

Do I think switching back to Malay is a step backwards? Yes, I do.

Do I think the government made a wrong decision? No, I don't. Having considered the position that Muhyiddin is in, I can somewhat understand the decision that he has made. Under the circumstances, I believe he has made the right choice, although for some quarters, not a popular one. Honestly, whether it is popular or not depends on which side of the fence we sit.

For instance, it is reported that the poll on former PM Tun Mahathir's blog indicate an 80% result for those who disagree with the decision. But blog polls are only as good as the composition of its blog readers. A similar poll on a pro-nationalist blog would yield the opposite results for sure. Even that, we need to be aware of the larger section of the population who do not have internet access.

The decision has already been made, by the government of the day, based on circumstances of the time. Perhaps this decision may result in our future leaders and professionals having such poor command of English that our manpower resources are no longer competitive in the global market. Perhaps our nation may falter in its vision to become fully developed by 2020. Worse still, the country may become a laughing stock of the whole world for its embarrassing English translations and join other infamous countries in Engrish.com.

But I do not think that will happen. For as long as there those among us who believe in the importance of a good command of English, there would always be a pressure group who would ensure that we do not slack too far. Perhaps, some years down the road, there may be a situation where a significant support for English would cause another reversal.

As it is now, let's move on. As parents, if we personally feel that English is important, then make sure we instill the correct attitude in our own kids to improve on their own. Don't blame the government if our own children's command of the language is atrocious.

Ke mana tumpah kuah

My eldest son, who is studying medicine at Jordan University of Science and Technology, has started his own blog.

It is called Safarku Di Bumi Syam. I hope he does well in his studies and his new blog-writing venture.

Gotta watch what I eat

The test results of my annual medical check-up came in on Saturday. The results are mixed.

The level of total cholesterol in my blood has dropped to 4.5 mmol/L (normal) from a high of 7.4 mmol/L just over a year ago. The level of LDL cholesterol (the so-called bad dudes) is down to 1.5 mmol/L, although triglycerides is still high.

On the other hand, uric acid level has shot up to 7.5 mg/dL, above the reference range of 3.3 to 7.0 mg/dL. High uric acid levels means that I may easily be inflicted with gout, a type of arthritis.

Three years ago, my cholesterol levels were borderline but my uric acid was high. Last year, I managed to bring down the uric acid level to within normal range but cholesterol levels increased. I've managed to control the cholesterol levels this time round due to the daily dose of Covastin 20mg and restricted consumption of my favourite foods (lamb chops and beriani kambing). However, the see-saw game by those uric acid molecules is pissing me off.

According to my doctor, high uric acid levels is predominantly caused by diet. The main sources are red meat, liver, anchovies (ikan bilis), sardines and even soybeans. Heck... all the food that I love.

Seems that I now have to go easy on that sambal tempe dan ikan bilis goreng during lunch... sigh...

Heroic failures

It is the desire of most individuals to succeed in whatever they do. Nonetheless, there are certain spirited souls who are never destined to make it big, no matter how hard they try. But for some of these `lucky' ones, being not successful actually made them famous (well, to a certain extent, at least).

I am now re-reading an old book of mine titled `The Return of Heroic Failures' by Stephen Pile. It is the second collection of failure stories compiled by Pile after his successful first book, which I wrote about -> here.

While it can be hilarious to read about other people's bungling attempts, there are some inspiring stories too. I am sharing one today... about the spirit of never giving up.

Marathons Can Be Fun

In 1966, Shizo Kanakuri set a new record for the Olympic marathon. At Stockholm, he completed the 26.2-mile course in an unbeatable 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 8 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds, having started in 1912.

He had run several miles before passing a group of people having a pleasant drink in their front garden. As he was suffering from chronic heat exhaustion at the time, he did the only sensible thing and tottered over to join them. Being a sociable sort of man, he stayed for a few more drinks whereupon he changed his race tactics dramatically, caught a train back to Stockholm, booked into a hotel for the night, boarded the next boat to Japan, got married, had six children and ten grandchildren, before returning to the villa where he had stopped and completing the marathon for the honour of Japan.

It is never too late to finish what you have started. This feat of Kanakuri's got him an entry in Wikipedia... and that is more than most of us straggling mortals can claim to have. So, never despair. If you think you did badly, don't worry... someone else has done worse.

The answers to 13 questions

I'm sort of in the mood of writing reviews this week. Continuing from the previous post, this entry is a book review.

When the movie Slumdog Millionaire won this year's Best Picture oscar at the Academy Awards a few months back, I spotted the book on which the film is based in a bookstore. I thought I would give it a read before catching the movie although there's a likelihood that I could be disappointed with the movie later on. It is the sort of thing that happens when you watch a film based on a book that you have read.

Anyway, the original book written by Vikas Swarup was titled Q&A. Not really an inspiring title, I must say, but Slumdog Millionaire doesn't sound that enticing either.

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of a young man who works as a waiter in Mumbai, India. He is an orphan who goes by the name of Ram Mohammad Thomas. How he can have a name that reflects three different religions is neatly explained in one of the earlier chapters. It gives us, the readers, an early introduction of the racial and religious sensitivities prevalent in present day Indian culture.

Ram (or Mohamad, or Thomas, whichever you fancy) enters a TV quiz show called Who Will Win A Billion or W3B for short. The quiz follows the same format as the real-life TV show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, the Indian version of which was hosted by the popular actor Amitabh Bachan. In W3B, the contestant can win a cool one billion Indian rupees (over RM72 million at current exchange rate) by answering 12 questions correctly.

Ram in fact, answers all 12, well actually 13 questions correctly but rather than getting the prize money, he is arrested and thrown into a prison cell. The police, acting in cahoots with the quiz show organizers, suspect him of cheating because there is no way a waiter from the slums of Mumbai can know the answers to all the questions.

The book starts with a prologue of Ram in the prison cell. His captors torture and beat him up, in a bid to force Ram to reveal how he knew the answers. But Ram says he just knows. The police is not happy and the torture continues...

This book is not about the story of the quiz show per se, but rather about the life of our protagonist during the different periods of his growing-up years in various cities in India. Vikas Swarup has brilliantly used the backdrop of a quiz show to tell us this story. The life story of Ram Mohammad Thomas is not presented chronologically but follows the sequence in which the questions of the quiz show are asked. The heading of each chapter is the value of the prize to be won for giving the correct answer, starting at 1,000 Indian rupees (roughly USD20 or RM72). The chapter then starts with a story of a particular event in Ram's life, told in flashback. At the end of the chapter, we return to the present... in particular, to the TV studio scene where the quiz show host, Prem Kumar, relays the question to the contestant. When we relate back to the story we were just told in flashback, we immediately understand why Ram is able to answer it.

And so the story goes, question after question, all correctly answered... and the host continues to be dumbfounded. The tension builds as the prize money climbs higher and higher. The show organizers become nervous and they contrive to trick Ram into answering the last question incorrectly. I will not reveal how this is done but it caused our hero to face a thirteenth question before he can claim the jackpot.

I have made a summary of the quiz questions with the corresponding multiple choice answers. Click on the graphic below if you wish to know what they are. You may wish to attempt them yourself because I have not indicated the correct answers. Some questions relate to fictional characters and/or events... so please don't dream of hitting the jackpot :-)


Swarup has cleverly weaved different subjects within the fabric of his story about the amazing adventures of an orphan in India. While the book has been renamed Slumdog Millionaire, it is not purely about struggling for a living in the slums of Mumbai. There are stories on forced prostitution, child-beggar syndicates, life of Bollywood's rich and famous, train robberies and even vodoo. Ram's adventures takes us from Mumbai to Delhi to Agra and back to Mumbai. There is a final twist to the tale. Ram did not enter the quiz show with the intention of winning the prize money.

Generally, I find the book a good read although there are inevitably a few passages that are difficult for me to picture because of the intricate Indian settings. I guess, such difficulty would not arise if I am a Bollywood movie fan, of which I am not. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book immensely.

Vikas Swarup is a diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. This is his maiden novel and it has made bestseller list. In this respect, he is similar to Afghan doctor-turned-writer Khaled Hosseini, whose first book, The Kite Runner, also became an international bestseller. The Kite Runner was also made into a movie, which I have previously written about -> For you, a thousand times over...

These two gentlemen is giving me hope that one day, I might be able to come up with my very own novel too.

Book title : Slumdog Millionaire
Author : Vikas Swarup
Publisher : Black Swan (paperback)
Published : 2005
Pages : 361

Differences between book and movie

I have not yet watched the movie, so I can't really say what the differences are. However, I have read some of the movie reviews and from these, I gather that there are quite significant changes. First and foremost, the hero in the movie is now called Jamal Malik, a Muslim. Secondly, the jackpot prize in the movie is IR20 million. Let me watch the film and perhaps I can update this post with my views on the movie itself.

Update 6 July 2009 : I have watched the movie over the weekend. While the underlying story is still there, the plot has many significant changes. To put it simply, the movie is good... but the book is better.

The general observation therefore, still stands... that I tend to be disappointed watching a movie that's based on a book that I've read. I wonder if the reverse is true, i.e. would I be disappointed reading a book whose movie version I have already seen? Perhaps I'll test this with `Angels and Demons'. I've seen the movie but I'm mulling about reading the book.