Police came down hard on some 8,000 people taking part in a protest march from Masjid Negara to Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.
They cordoned off the road leading to the palace, firing rounds of tear gas at the crowd as they approached the palace.
The march was organised by the coalition against the teaching of science and maths in English (GMP).
GMP, known in its Malay name as Gerakan Mansuhkan PPSMI, is a coalition of 14 NGOs. Some of its pro-tem committee members include opposition politicians.
Two GMP leaders - national laureate A Samad Said and former Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka director Hassan Ahmad - managed to get past police cordon to hand the coalition’s memorandum to the king.
“The police were very cooperative in allowing us to hand our memorandum to a palace official,” Hassan told reporters.
Samad (middle in photo), who is 76 years old, also marched from Masjid Negara to the palace.
He was seen choking from the tear gas and had to be aided by several individuals towards the palace.“This is what we have to go through in order to save our language,” Samad told reporters.
The memorandum states that the people are seeking royal intervention on the controversial policy, which is said to be implemented at the expense of mother tongue education.I think those who oppose the teaching of maths and science in English whether in national or vernacular schools are nincompoops. I am a Chinese. Cantonese is my mother tongue. I speak very little Mandarin. Most of the time, I converse and write in English. So, what does that make me? A BANANA loh. I get remarks like but you are Chinese? To these people, I will say, 'Balik China lah' WUAHAHA.
English is an international language. One should at least learn it. Better still, master it.
Najib said this yesterday:
Do not be “overly obsessed” with protecting Bahasa Melayu that we overlook or reject some aspects of foreign civilisations which are good for Malaysia, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“Foreign elements” which helped to enrich knowledge, enhance technology and even the local culture should not be pushed aside, he said.
“One has to be rational in choosing and determining what is good and beneficial and not reject globalisation and changes outright.
“While language reflects a race, the ability to speak, read and write in other languages must not be seen as an erosion of one’s intelligence and identity.
“In Malaysia, knowing another language does not mean Bahasa Melayu will be weak and meaningless,” he said at the International Malay Oratory Competition Finals 2009 last night.
Teeeheee...Altantuya, a multi-lingual lady, got connected with our Malaysian 'higher-ups' because she could translate Russian to English...Lastly, language does not determine how great a civilisation is but a great civilisation determines how great a language is.
2 comments:
True Josh, but I doubt she learnt Math and Science in English. To excel in English, I learnt English. And those fluent presenters on Chinese CCTV learnt English to speak good English. They may heve not learnt Sc and Math in Englsh.
Being a proud Malaysian, I speak Malaysian with Malaysians and English with non-Malaysians.
There are always two sides of a coin. In this case, as u said, knowing English doesnt mean belittling Malaysian. Similarly on the other side, upholding Malaysian as a medium in Sc and Math does not mean ignoring English, an international language.
And half of everyday words in Malaysian nowadays are "international", like "krisis ekonomi global". I heard Venezuelan President Chavez said the exact words in his speech recently. And he was not speaking English.
I can speak English pretty well but attending a seminar in KL where almost everyone speaks English while all of them knows Malaysian seemed a bit hypocritical to me. So when I need to present my thoughts, I stood up and said " My English is just ok, so, dengan izin,I'll speak Malaysian".
We are overly critical when someone or some signboards do not use proper English. But we do not practise such critical attitude if bad Malaysian are used.
I agree with you that those who oppose English language are nincompoops.
They politicised every damned thing in this Bolehland for their own personal agenda, forgetting that they are destroying the country's competitiveness in the global arena, and thus selfishly destroying the livelihood of future Malaysians including their own kin.
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