By Professor Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi

I fully support Tun M's suggestion to change the teaching of maths and science in English.

My reasons are different from Tun M's and many of those supporting this move. Many say teaching these subjects in English will make them better at understanding both subjects. Malay and Chinese groups disagree and say that teaching both subjects in the mother tongue is much more effective and they quote China, Korea and Japan as examples of PISA excellence.

My first reason for supporting this move by Tun M is that all public universities, except one or two, have decided to instruct students in English for all subjects except religious and MPU subjects. Even UiTM is fully on board on this matter. At UTM, I know that instructions are given 100% in English in the department of architecture. Assignments are in English, Drawing board presentations are in English and architecture crit or oral design defence which is on every semester is in English.

At private universities, all of them instruct students in English. Only in ministries and municipalities and religious offices is Bahasa Malaysia used. The rest of the world in Malaysia is English. Rightly or wrongly that is the situation.

If proponents of the mother tongue and BM language want to retain the two subjects in BM and mother tongue, they would have to deal with the public universities and also private universities about instructing engineering, medicine and architecture in BM or in the mother tongue languages. If not, these groups can be accused of looking after their own concern of heritage over the pragmatic issue of knowledge instruction and putting all our children in future difficulties.

Secondly, about the PISA issue. Well…I don't care two cents about it! All I need is for the students to be able to understand that the Sun is a Star and you could shoot a rocket and it will land on Mars by simple gravitational mathematical calculations. Our students do not have to be mathematical or scientific geniuses but they must know enough science to value vaccination over religious issues and also not to perform Umrah when there is an epidemic outbreak of contagious diseases. They must know enough science and technology in order to save our Sungai Kim Kim by prudent management and not corruption or dereliction. They should also know enough mathematics to be aware if someone is siphoning public money into offshore accounts.

Cukuplah! No need for little Einsteins. The future is about managing people and resources at a global scale in order to do business with everyone and for everyone on earth. Itu saja!

Thirdly, teaching in English would afford students with more contact time with that language so that they can read books and comics as well as watch television programs in English. I was instructed with science and mathematics in English in the old pre-Mahathirian curriculum. I read Enid Blyton books and hundreds of Hardy Boys, Nancy Drews, Tom Swifts and Famous Five series. I read comics like Archie, Beano, Dandy, Wheezer and many more. I watched Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Twilight Zone, Jony Quest and Scooby Doo on black and white television when I was in primary school…and understood all the words. I was never alienated from Christmas trees, crosses, pigs from nursery rhymes and Easter eggs. I am not jumpy like most Malays when they see pigs on decorations of Chinese New Year or hot dogs, or crosses or Christmas trees. My liberal and accepting disposition came from years and years of English reading exposure.

Malay children nowadays have very limited view of the world because the Drama Melayu or the Selamat Pagi Malaysia are all Malay-centric in culture and ideology. Malays are in a world of katak di bawah tempurung.

Fourthly, Malaysia is not China, Japan or Korea. These people are of a homogeneous race with very few immigrant communities. Besides, the populations of Chinese, Indians and Japanese are huge and their civilizations go back thousands of years. These people, though indigenous, are of various religions, unlike Malaysia where Malays only have one religion…Islam. If you are Malay you must be Muslim. If you are Muslim you are 98% of the time Malays. In Malaysia, we have people of diverse cultures and heritage as well as faiths. 50% of Malaysia are not Muslims. This sets up a different geopolitical construct of intra-faith and intra-race power sharing format. Instruction of science and maths in one language alienates 50% of Malaysians who do not consider BM as their mother tongue.

My fifth and final reason is that we now live in a global construct. Malaysians must know more than just BM and strive to learn English and Mandarin. Tamil is also a global language now. Bahasa Malaysia is restricted to a bare few million people. Even then I can't understand what the Kelantanese are saying! Forget about Javanese, Minang or Dayak languages. Why spend so much effort on a language that outside of Malaysia, people don't recognize anymore? Am I being disloyal to my race? I am thinking of its continued presence and prosperity at a global construct. Ignore English and the Malays will perish. The Chinese will still exist, so will the Indians speaking their languages. 

Takkan hilang Melayu di dunia? Melayu will hilang if they do not speak English well. The only secure job a Malay-speaking Melayu will have is with Umno…if it still exist in the next few years at best.

The decision of teaching science and maths must be based on pragmatic concerns and not racial sentiments. The fate of our children depends on us making the practical solution, not an egoistic one of race and religion over the concerns of globalization.

(Professor Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor at a local university.)