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9th March, 2009
KOTA KINABALU: Objections surrounding the use of English as the medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science in schools, had been discussed when the policy was first proposed.
Therefore, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said, there was no reason why the authorities should revert to the policy since the Malay language was not under any threat.
“I feel this matter has been considered, like eight years ago, when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad proposed it when he was the prime minister.
“All the objections that we hear today, were those that were already discussed, about eight years ago,” he told reporters after launching the Stacy AF first album, ‘Aku Stacy’ at 1 Borneo here yesterday.
“This does not mean we are ignoring the Malay language… I think Malay language is striving, we have succeeded making it the language of the nation, so much so, nearly all the homes in Sabah are using it as the first language,” Dompok said.
He said it was the right policy for Malaysia as a developing nation and that in order to gain essential knowledge and information it was vital to be well versed in English as it was the main language of today.
“We had a history of having mastered English at one stage (during colonialisation), so I think there’s no reason why we should not continue to master the language to be able to use all the knowledge stored in English,” he said.
He added that the Malay language was thriving and the usage of English as the medium for the two subjects at schools did not pose any threat to its survival.
“It (Malay language) is no longer a language that is under threat or challenged, so I see no reason why we have to go back to what was decided eight years ago,” he added further.
The policy which started in 2003 has been a hot topic following aggressive calls from some groups for it to be ended, forcing the Cabinet to call for a discussion whether it should be continued or retracted.
The government has announced that it would consider four aspects in deciding whether the policy should be continued, namely the status of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language, the ability of students to master English, the competency of teachers in teaching the two subjects and the achievement of students in Science and Mathematics.
The Cabinet is expected to decide on the policy sometimes this month.
On Saturday, some of the police were forced to fire tear gas to keep order when some 5,000 protesters gathered and marched from the National Mosque to Istana Negara to hand over a memorandum to the Palace to call for the King’s intervention in the issue.
This was followed by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah’s directive for an immediate decision to be made to prevent further controversy.
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