Malaysian Education

Note that this article may contain materials that are sensitive so some sensitive persons. Otherwise view this as a little article that I'm writing and has no relation whatsoever to your life. I have the right to say what I think as long as I am not hurting peoples with my words. 

OK with that? If so you may proceed, or else don't even bother to read. :)

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Malaysia and its Epic Phail Education

By Chris "AlbaX"

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First Epic Phail - English and Malay Dilemma

It has been a hot debate - English or Malay for Science and Maths? For a long long time English has been an established language in Malaya ( Note, not Malaysia ) during the British Colonial era, it is an important language during that time ( and now, it has never lost it's importance ), but since the Independence Day, English lost it's role in the government, Malay replaced the use of any official paperworks.

But overall, English still retains it's importance in Science world, whether or not anyone wants to accept the fact, English is the Lingua Franca of Science and Technology. 

But one serious problem occured, in Malaysia, Science and Maths are taught in Malay in the pre 21st century era, many terminologies are created for Malay as a translation for the English terms. And to be honest, IT IS TEH FAIL!

But some "smart" people came to realise that, and somehow they convinced the Education Ministry that English is the way for Science and Maths, and they made an effort to change the whole education system for Science and Maths. Tada~ In year 2003, the plan was implemented and it millions of Ringgits were spent just to make sure the whole project works.The result? Well improvements needs time, and obviously 5 years is not enough to see any results. But the Education Ministry expected to see instant results and jumped to conclusion that English IS TEH FAIL!

And so they decided to review the teachings of Science and Maths in English and if needed to revert the medium of instruction back to Malay. Sounds like a hasty decision I know. The Ministry decided that some peoples can't master English well enough to absorb the information taught during the Science and Maths subjects, therefore they say mothertongue is the best language to teach Science and Maths until secondary where it will then be taught in Malay ( the national language ). 

And so I present my case for English to stay:

First of all, 5 years is just too short to see any results. What did they expect? That eveyone gets an A for those subjects? At least 11 years is needed before any reviews are to be done, for it covers a span of a student from Standard 1 to Form 5, and then you'll see result.

Millions are spent to educate the teachers on English to prepare them to teach, millions are spent to prepare the apparatus needed to teach Science and Maths in English. And for what? Just to let it go waste? I say continue what we're doing if it's not the wrong way, if we revert back to the use of Malay, thenEVERY money spent will be going down the drain, and that's your money, the taxpayers' money.

What of the mothertongue? Not all Chinese speaks Chinese, not all Indian speaks Tamil, I'm sure there are Malays who doesn't speak Malay. So what of the mothertongue? So how would you wanna educate them in mothertongue? Hmm... God knows?

From the view of vocabulary, indeed English has much much more terminologies than Malay when it comes to Science and Maths. And it's probably the easiest language to be used to search for information on the internet. Compare this, would you type "Moon" or "Bulan" if you want to do a research? The answer is obvious enough. And most international scientists uses English to communicate too, how were they to communicate if they are education in Malay for these subjects?

I know some of you wanted to say that in Japan and Korea those subjects are taught in their own language. All I can say is --- DON'T COMPARE!!!

Why not? But why yes?

Japan and Korea are advanced country that have many of their own research institutes, and the world looks upon them, learn from them. Is Malaysia as respected as Japan as a country of technology? Not exactly. So don't compare is the best way, we do what we're doing and we'll be fine.

The conclusion is, we really do need English for Science and Maths, just for the sake of the future. It's the peoples' money, we have the right to decide for our future. 

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Second Epic Phail - Moral as an Examination Subject

So, who here hates this subject as much as I do? Don't be shy, I know most, if not all, of you do.

This subject was introduced to educate the students of moral values in life and how to be a good person in life, yes? So far, after years and years of moral lessons, think about it yourself, is it doing any good to you? Probably no.

So am I meaning to say that this subject is really unnecessary? Yes, it is. Look at the country. See for yourself. Before the subject came, we have murders, we have rapes, we have robberies, we have kidnaps, drugs, crimes, all sorts of stuffs, and when it was introduced, did you see any changes? Not really, life goes on, Moral Education or not. Desperate peoples are still desperate peoples, they'd kill just to have a meal to fill their stomach.

MORAL EDUCATION = 0% Efficiency subject

True, the subject forces us to memorize tons of terms JUST TO BE PREPARED FOR THE EXAM. Is that the meaning of education? Isn't education means a process of educating? So in what way does preparing for a Moral Education Exam educate us? No way, it doesn't. Moral needs to be taught not as a subject, but as a value by family and teachers.

Still not convinced that Moral teaches us to lie to ourselves? Look at this example:

Moral teaches us the value of honesty, that we have to speak nothing but only the sincere truth. What if in exam came a question that looks like this? "What would you do if you saw a blind man trying to cross the road?"

For persons who wanted marks for their Moral paper, they'd answer "I will give him some help". Kaching~ 2 marks into your pocket. But is that the honest answer? Do you really give help to a total stranger and in that case to a blind person trying to cross the road? Think not, you wouldn't, like everyone else in the society. 

So I came to a conclusion that Moral Education doesn't really teaches you Moral values, it's too exam-oriented to be effective. But then again, if teaching Moral as a subject doesn't work, what will?

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Thursday, November 6, 2008