PPSMI: BETWEEN EMOTION & RATIONALITY

Lately, the country's fate has been at stake due to the incessant rumblings regarding the Pengajaran & Pembelajaran Sains Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) issue. The once so-called democratic country which practiced democracy has now becoming "demo-crazy".

FYI, I'm consciously aware that I am in no standing at all to have my say on this issue - me not even a politician @ a teacher though - but, suddenly the call to ram-rod came when I figured out that our actions today will absolutely give major impacts to the future - so, I just don't want to be labeled as somebody who consumes food, doing nothing and yet taking up spaces!

So, here is my point of view. To me, PPSMI must be continued based on several arguments . PPSMI is the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English and NOT the teaching of English in Science and Mathematics. The reason why English is used is not solely to improve students’ English proficiency but to give them better access to the scholarly world related to science and technology.

Firstly, being typically Malaysian, we are often engulfed in emotion - leaving us astray in judgment - making us vulnerable in differentiating logic and rationality.

In simple word, we are just too much emotional handling this issue. To me, yes we can demonstrate our feelings etc. - we are not machine anyway - but, thing is, to go into the bushes, playing with people's sentiments, repeating the same thing all over again, condemning each other by parading around as if tomorrow is doomsday is completely codswallop!

Let me be straight-forward here, if you (anti-PPSMI, mostly lazy-ignorant teachers) truly against the system, why not you in your capacity as those entrusted to teach try to teach yourselves first of being rational? I'm sure they are rational, that's why they manipulate teenagers persuading them to go to the streets - so that, the blame will never be theirs!

Some are trying to claim the failure of PPSMI by spreading the reports prepared by US Department of Education on The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007. The sad thing is that, they spread it without reading it (or perhaps they can’t understand the content since it’s entirely in English and they prefer to read it in Bahasa Malaysia).

The pool of data collected from the TIMSS 2007 report is merely involving Form 2 students. We all know that those in Form 2 were just purely exposed to science and mathematics in English in Form 1. To me, it’s an unfair comparison and unfair to said that PPSMI is the cause of the drop of performance.

After all, why make it a fuss of something a totally foreign country especially the US said about us, when they are not living here, having the everyday experience sitting in the class listening tentatively as the teachers teach? Stepped up on reality folks, it's better to ask my little cute niece, who is just finishing her UPSR - only then, the study might slightly be appropriate, I guess.


I think the government also should be rational in this matter - to hire such incompetent teachers is like poisoning our future asset. Of course, NOT ALL teachers are like this. I've make it clear - I respect mine!

I remember of eavesdropping by a group of teachers chit-chatting about their postings.

A: "Mane mereke post U?"
B: "Leceh la, I dapat area pendalaman... susah la macam ni... bla,bla,bla..."

Hint: You can simply detect which part they are by means of their accent.

Point is, is this how our so-called teachers should behave? Again it's based on emotion. Rationally, from my understanding, they are being sent away to the remotest place so that they'll fully equipped themselves, be it physically and mentally before dealing with other complex cases. If they cannot stand this slightest test, how can they called themselves teachers?

By the way, how many teachers do we already have? hundreds? thousands? Question is, how many of them are qualified enough to be a real teacher? Poor Malaysians, I think only 1 in thousands!

Secondly, some quarters also mentioned that by having PPSMI, it'll in no time erode the very nature of our Bahasa Kebangsaan i.e. Bahasa Malaysia (not Bahasa Melayu). Is this true? Don't be emotional instead be rational.

If I'm not mistaken, English is the only preferred language utilized in Maths & Science and NOT ALL THE SUBJECTS. Still, one can converse @ communicate in Bahasa Malaysia in other subjects i.e. Pendidikan Seni, Bahasa Malaysia, etc.

C'mon peps, don't embarass yourself in front of the public by saying to me that - if we use English in Science & Maths then our precious Bahasa Malaysia will vanish - Is that true?

As far as I'm concerned, an EXTINCT LANGUAGE is a language which no longer has any speakers! So, to imply that Bahasa Malaysia is towards extinction, do you mean that Malaysians are going to be extinct? Holy crap on a cracker! ( I kinda like this expression by Penny in The Big Bang Theory sitcom)

Above all, to reverse this whole system is like to close up our door when something great is just about to roll in. I prefer to remain rational in this matter because it's involving the whole lot. Since it's all water under the bridge, why not give it a chance?

Till the next posting.