Malaysia Boleh ???

Whatever happened to “Malaysia Boleh” ? I am still grinding my teeth over the decision to switch the teaching of Maths & Science back to BM. I thot Malaysia Boleh means we are capable of moving forward . I didn’t realize it also means that we can move backwards.

How are we able to compete in this global borderless age when our citizens don’t have good English ? So many students who come to my workplace for their training and placements can’t even string a few proper words together in English. When they finish their research I balked at their research papers coz the presentation in English was so poor.

I always tell my staff that unless they improve their English, I will never let them attend any conferences and seminars abroad. All the good conferences are always in English. What is the point of attending seminars presented in English if you cannot understand??? What a horrendous waste of money. Yet I see that happening many a times.

Few years back, Philip and I went to attend a Music Therapy seminar in KL. We noted that some people who attended couldn’t understand English, so they were always the last to arrive everyday and the first to leave. They spent their time over long breakfasts and lunches!!!!

So when are we going to stop this atrocious decline in English? I hope very soon which means today. We cannot afford another generation of bad English. Malaysia Boleh means in our population we will have people who can teach English and our students will also be able to learn English well.

It’s high time we shine again in our English.