Sunday, September 17, 2006
A good article on the poor state of the education system
The New Straits Times dated September 12th, carried a very insightful article written by the former president of Transparency International Tunku Abdul Aziz. The article entitled "Be blind in race for educational excellence" pulled no punches and bluntly stated the obvious about what ails Malaysia's education system, that several decades ago, was regarded as one of the best in Asia. In a nutshell, Tunku says Malaysia must have the will to revolutionise the politically-biased education system which has become an embarrassment to the nation. As a consequence, Malaysian representatives at international conferences have become a source of shame and ridicule due to their lack of fluency in the English language.
I have also heard anecdotes about top government officials at international bio-diversity conferences making a complete fool of themselves bringing undue shame for Malaysia with their poor command of English. I applaud the New Straits Times for carrying this article; I sincerely doubt whether its competitor the Star, would have done so. I can't help wondering if the NST, being in the firm control of the Prime Minister's preferred editors, is throwing down strong hints that the ugly, unproductive racially-driven education system is going to be revamped. If this is the case, most right thinking Malaysians would wholeheartedly support such a move. It's high time since most Malaysians associate mediocrity and the education system in Malaysia as being one and the same. Whether the Badawi administration, embroiled in many distractive events, has the single-minded focus to accomplish the herculean task of facing down the expected uproar within UMNO, is questionable.
I am gratified that the NST allowed this particular paragraph to remain in this article; if this article was written by a non-malay, it would certainly have been removed. The paragraph in the article goes like this, explaining the system has in fact failed the Malays instead of being their salvation:
"The Malays have somehow become the unintended victims of misguided Malay chauvinism disguised as nationalism, the handiwork of over-zealous politicians with a keen eye on popularity."
I only wish this article would be reprinted in the Malay languages newspapers as the education system is in dire straits and the Malay community must not be continuously lulled into a sense of false security, in the face of the relentless globalisation. ¶ 7:45 PM
I have also heard anecdotes about top government officials at international bio-diversity conferences making a complete fool of themselves bringing undue shame for Malaysia with their poor command of English. I applaud the New Straits Times for carrying this article; I sincerely doubt whether its competitor the Star, would have done so. I can't help wondering if the NST, being in the firm control of the Prime Minister's preferred editors, is throwing down strong hints that the ugly, unproductive racially-driven education system is going to be revamped. If this is the case, most right thinking Malaysians would wholeheartedly support such a move. It's high time since most Malaysians associate mediocrity and the education system in Malaysia as being one and the same. Whether the Badawi administration, embroiled in many distractive events, has the single-minded focus to accomplish the herculean task of facing down the expected uproar within UMNO, is questionable.
I am gratified that the NST allowed this particular paragraph to remain in this article; if this article was written by a non-malay, it would certainly have been removed. The paragraph in the article goes like this, explaining the system has in fact failed the Malays instead of being their salvation:
"The Malays have somehow become the unintended victims of misguided Malay chauvinism disguised as nationalism, the handiwork of over-zealous politicians with a keen eye on popularity."
I only wish this article would be reprinted in the Malay languages newspapers as the education system is in dire straits and the Malay community must not be continuously lulled into a sense of false security, in the face of the relentless globalisation. ¶ 7:45 PM
