A Vote For The Future Generation

Got an SMS today morning and learnt that Tun Dr Mahathir is giving us a chance to vote on his blog (http://chedet.co.cc) on whether we the people of Malaysia would prefer to have Science and Mathematics taught in English, or if we would prefer to move backwards, and vote for the subjects to be taught in Bahasa Malaysia (BM) instead.

I’m not the most political person, nor do I like to blog about anything political, but this is about the future of our education system in our country and I believe every Malaysian regardless of their political affiliations should have their say. Whether you’re a supporter of BN, Pas, DAP or KeAdilan – if you feel that these subjects being taught in English will benefit the future of our young one’s then you should put away your admirations for your individual parties and vote without prejudice.

If the number of votes is in our favor, Dr M himself will represent the people to fight for these subjects to be taught in the English medium, whereas if the votes are against us – Dr M will have no say, Science and Maths will be taught in BM from 2012 onwards and it will truly be a dark day for the education system in Malaysia.

It doesn’t take a genius to see why we need these subjects to be taught in English. I remember the first time I stepped out of secondary school and went on to college, I struggled at Discrete Maths, it was difficult to come to terms with many of the new translations, and formula’s – and if it was tough for someone like me, who speaks the English language fluently on a daily basis, I can only imagine how difficult it would be for those that had a lesser command of the language.

Like all good habits, the teaching of these subjects in English has to start at an early stage to mould the kids of the future and prepare them for the bigger stage. We need to think big and not just stay in our comfort zone. As much as I love the Malay language and treasure it, I’m smart enough to know of it’s limitations. Let’s not be oblivious to the international education standards of the world. For those who claim that the decision to teach in BM was a right step in the form of nationalism, I strongly disagree, there are hundreds of other ways to show the world that your proud to be Malaysian, holding on to this selfish mindset and false sense of nationalism is not one of them.

There are bound to be challenges and hiccups along the way, but it’s not an impossible plan and if we are truly Malaysian, we should not let our initial glitches get in the way of a bigger, bolder dream.

So let’s take this step to make an impact, it’s not too late yet, with the right number of votes we can still give the future generation a fighting chance. Head down to http://chedet.co.cc and do the right thing!