I was bored last saturday morning. So I spent some time reading about PPMSI. I hop from one blog to another. Finally I found a very interesting article by Mansor Puteh. I would like to share his post with the reader of this blog. Please be aware that I am neither a fan of Mansor Puteh nor hold the same sentiment/thought in politic like him. However, his take on Malay language is almost inline with me.
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Mansur Putih's take on English for M & S
STUCK WITH THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WITH NO WHERE TO GO. SINGAPOREANS HAVE REVERTED TO MANDARIN. LOOK AT THEIR FILMS AND TELEVISION DRAMAS.
By Mansor Puteh.

For all my life I only studied in English-medium schools from standard one at a Catholic missionary school, in Melaka at that, all the way to university in America. Although the administrators would not dare to admit that they were that? It was true.
I remember being the only Malay student in some of the primary classes, and for catecism (is this how they spell it?) I was the only student to be asked to leave the class, take my chair and sit out in the corridor by the door.
I could hear what they were saying or learning, and could recite some of the prayers the Catholics do.
And for ‘ugama’ classes, we were put together with the other Muslim students from the convent, since we were too few to form a class for ourselves.
Yes, some of the students started to use English names when they were older and aware how their own names did not sound good or right. Many became Catholics.
But despite that two of the Chinese and Indian classmates of mine, would later convert to Islam with one marrying another Chinese woman and the Indian man marrying a Malay woman, who turns out to be more religious than I do.
I find the politicizing of Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Inggeris is typical of some Malaysians. They think too highly of the English language as their savior and passport to a better life.
But alas, the type of English that most Malaysians have or are able to speak in, are passable; their vocabulary is limited.
They can only speak in the language amongst themselves in local forums but not elsewhere. The reason being they do not possess the special skills to attract the attention of those abroad.
Once they go abroad, especially to England or America, and even Australia, New Zealand or the other English-speaking countries, they would not dare open their mouths.
Those who do theater in English all the time, dare not go to these countries; they remain where they are to perform at the same small stages in the city.
Yet, many say, if one is conversant and adept in English, one can go very far.
Go and check the Aborigines of Australia; the Maoris of New Zealand, and even the Blacks in America, and one can see that they are still where they are and not about to be a sensation in America.
Even the Canadians just can’t cross over to America and attract attention in whatever they do. Only a few of them actually get the opportunity to act in Hollywood films.
Ironically, the non-English or non-Whites who have made it there, are mostly from Hong Kong and China. And surprisingly, if not shockingly, they did not speak much English and had to learn until they are now able to speak just a bit of it but not too much to be able to argue with anyone.
Malaysians, who think too highly of English are deluding themselves; they are daydreaming about the wonderful things that they think they can do with the language and how they think they can become scientists and engineers and other technicians by studying Science and Mathematics in the language at an early age.
Ironic, it may seem, but most of the scientists and engineers in Malaysia are the Malays who do not have any real passion for English. But this did not stop them from pursuing their education abroad and passing.
There are more Iranian students at MIT (this institute is so well-known that it can be described by their initials) are those who studied Science and Mathematics in Farsi. Yet, they could come to MIT and learn English and excel in their education, well enough to allow Iran to now possess nuclear capability.
Malaysians, on the other hand, are stuck where they are. Even the Singaporeans are now reverting to Mandarin. Many of them have no choice but to do so.
Just take a good look at the films and television dramas they produce some of which are also shown in the country, and they are doing it in Mandarin with a smattering of the other Chinese dialects.
Their English language television series is basically a sitcom where they use English in a funny way, because they could not sound too English, or else they could be charged for not having their own identity. So that is why you have Pua Chu Kang.
Can Malaysians who speak in English well have mobility and go anywhere they like and find employment? I doubt it. They are lucky if they can find any job in Malaysia.
And the only reason why there is now a stress on English is because those who are bent on getting it used more are those who wanted to sabotage the development of Bahasa Melayu as the lingua franca of the country as well as the region which comprise of 300 million Malay-speaking people.
It is also to deny many Malay university graduates employment in their companies, because soon all of them would have staff who are Malays.
So by saying that English is a preferred language of commerce, they can in one swipe get rid of the 60,000 Malay university graduates and force them to be unemployed.
It is nothing but a ploy, that must be exposed.
Whereas, Bahasa Melayu was meant to be the common language of commerce in Malaysia so by the year 2020, most companies in the country communicate in the language.
But this was denied.
The use of English for Science and Mathematic is said to be very convenient; it will allow the students access to all the books that are published elsewhere. But those people have neglected that it is our responsibility to produce those books ourselves, or we will forever become a pariah country, using knowledge that is discarded by the other countries.
No wonder, everything that we do are not original; they are all copied from somewhere.
The study of Science and Mathematics is just the first step to reject the use and development of Bahasa Melayu.
If it is more interesting and convenient to use the language for these two subjects, then in time, they will start to demand English be used for the teaching of History, Geography and the other subjects.
Not satisfied with it, they will also demand the use of English in the courts. No non-Malay lawyer in the Bar Council will not support this proposal if it is made.
After the courts, then it is the parliament. Then it is the Palace. Yes, some will also say that in the English Court they use English and it sounds better.
In the end, Bahasa Malaysia will be pushed back further into the woods together with the Malays who speak in it.