~stand together~

This is in refer to the recent MoE's (Ministry of Education) proposal to make the English subject a compulsory pass in the SPM examination. And I think this proposal is a good proposal and should be taken seriously.

Of course, if you were to ask me on the relevance of this proposal, my answer would be a definite "yes". But hey, that's just solely based on my opinion who's been constantly indulged in the usage of English for almost 16 years (been learning English since I was 3-Peter and Jane). But taking into account of other people's situations and backgrounds, it would have been a different story, isn't it?



I would rather not go into details as to how disappointing and pessimistic as to certain comments that can be heard and be read from the newspaper or blogs, and I would also rather look into this matter without political influences that would corrupt my objectivity and the relevance of this proposal. (ISA dowh..)

English, without a doubt, is one of the most widely used language in the world. Or in short, if you CAN speak English, you CAN almost survive in any parts of this world. And looking at Malaysia back in the old days, it was necessary for students to have a pass in the English subject in the MCE (a precursor to the SPM). And surprisingly, I found out that Malaysia was one of best in the South East region in terms of the English language quality. But this policy was put into halt later in the 1970's. In my personal opinion, that's where we went wrong.

If you were to ask my dad who's lived long enough from the 1950's, he would strongly agree with you if you were to say that the quality of English among the students has significantly dropped. (I would also agree with that). Ok, lets go back to the present, shall we? Imagine a form 5 student or worse off, a university graduate who still don't have a good command of English, do you think he would have been successful if he were to apply for a post in a big company, or rather would the potential employee be even impressed with the individual who has scored like, exceptionally well in their exams, but can't speak well in English? (Please don't doubt this, I've already gone through the whole process of job interviewing and working, and English is a definite must if you wanna survive)

Reality hurts. Sure, someone would tell me: "Kesian lah kat orang2 yg duduk kat ulu dengan pedalaman, nnti diorang tak dpt catch up, tak pun ramai yang nnti akan fail dalam peperiksaan SPM.." or even "Dengan mementingkan bahasa Inggeris, kita akan mengabaikan pula bahasa kebangsaan kita nnti atau menjadikan kita kurang patriotik terhadap negara kita sendiri..". Yes, it would be really difficult for them, but just one thing that I can say to these individuals, don't underestimate those students, they have proven countless times that they CAN do really well if you give them the chance AND OUR OWN INITIATIVE OF GIVING THEM QUALITY EDUCATION AND LEARNING MATERIALS. (jst want to emphasize, not shouting...).

To those who think that it is still not the time to implement this proposal, then I would then questioned them as to when will it be the right time to implement this proposal? This is the future of our own generations we are talking about, not some old coot who's only waiting for their death invitation (Ok2, that's rather harsh).

Of course, I would rather not go into rash mode in this kind of proposal. To be able to implement it successfully, as I've emphasized earlier, we have to ensure that we have the necessary resources as to the learning materials and quality education. And self awareness among the parents regarding the importance of learning English would really help as well, as my parents did (that explains the Peter and Jane part...).

And last but not least, by implementing this proposal, it does not make less patriotic nor does it make into some kinda freak who forgot that he is a Malay (personally, I would prefer "Bahasa Melayu hilang daripada bangsa Melayu" rather than "Islam hilang daripada bangsa Melayu"), but by looking into a bigger picture, by having a good command of English, it has made me more confident in my own capabilities of conversing with other people, thus boosting my own self-confidence.

But, this is my own opinion, you must have your own opinion, and I would be more than happy if you were to share it with me or critisize me.

WaAllahua'lam.