Pax Malaysiana

Well now, some Malaysian love their language, Malay, so much that they are calling for the return of the teaching of Maths and Science in Malay. It was only 6 years ago, in 2003, that Malaysia recognised that its graduates were facing a lot of difficulties when they try to go up the educational ladder - because all they knew was Malay Science and Malay Maths, that the government switched the language of instruction back to English.

Now, the same issue is being raised amidst the political and economic turmoil gripping the nation. I wonder why? A distraction a la "wag the dog"? I think these Malay demonstrators are ultimately doing themselves a dis-service. They are displaying how insecure they really are. They want their children, ultimately, to be crippled when and if they advanced through the educational ladder. For countries like Singapore, which boasts a strong educational system, these subjects are done only in English. How are they ever going to fit in, even if their grades say they can? Their grasps of the English language will be so poor that these educational institutions will not even take them in.

Which leads to the next question. Is it because the government wants to stifle the non-Malays from ever moving up in the world, if not out of the country? Well, to be fair, the government is resisting this, so it isn't a government conspiracy, if there were any at all. Let's hope that, for the progress of Malaysia, people proposing the Malayanisation of all things Malayan do not succeed.

This is one area that I agree with Dr M. But would people listen to him today?