MCA President and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat should not provide a third example of his being “Hero outside, coward inside” by securing Cabinet agreement tomorrow to modify its PPSMI decision last week by allowing optional use of English to teach mathematics and science in secondary schools from 2012.
I stand by my strong criticism of the Cabinet decision yesterday for the PPSMI decision, particularly for secondary schools from 2012, when I said that Malaysia will have the world’s most crazy educational system, where students in Form 4 in 2012 will have to switch to Bahasa Malaysia for mathematics and science in the last two years of secondary education, after nine years of learning these two subjects in English – again to switch back to English for the next five or six years for pre-university and tertiary education!
I challenge any Minister or even several Ministers at one time to a public debate in any language, whether Bahasa Malaysia, English or Chinese who dare to defend such a crazy system of nine years of mathematics and science in English from Std. 1 to Form 3, followed by two years in Bahasa Malaysia in Forms 4 and 5, and switch back again to English for the next five or six years of pre-university and tertiary education; how they could impose such a crazy educational system on millions of Malaysian students, even turning them into “guinea-pigs” not once but twice in their educational process!
Would these Ministers want their children to go through such educational turmoil and madness as to become guinea pigs twice in their primary, secondary and tertiary education?
I believe I can get majority support for my statement that those who want to impose such an educational system, requiring students to study the two subjects in English for nine years, then switch to Bahasa Malaysia in Forms 3 and 4, and switch back to English in pre-university and tertiary education for the next five to six years must have their heads examined as to whether they are fit to be in the Cabinet in the first place!
Ong Tee Keat should not provide a third example of being “Hero outside, Coward inside” on the Cabinet’s crazy decision on PPSMI.
Ong has already provided two such examples:
- His heroic boast “outside” Parliament when he returned from his junket to the Paris Air Show last month that he welcomed a full debate and prepared to face any questions in Parliament on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal when he finally appeared in the second week of Parliament on June 22 to make his Ministerial statement. But once “inside” Parliament, he became a coward and refused to allow any question or interruption in his eight-minute “Ministerial non-statement” which did not reveal anything new on the PKFZ scandal.
- His “heroism” in exposing, and rightly, the RM30,000 “leakage” in the renovation SJKC Kung Yu in Muar in 2006, but his cowardice to “reveal all” about the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal. How many times is the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal compared to the scandal of the RM30,000 “leakage” in renovation of a Chinese primary school? It is the astronomical 416,666 times!
It is no use Ong, the other three MCA Ministers, and even Koh Tsu Koon, claiming that English should continue to be used as medium of instruction for maths and science in Forms 4 and 5 from 2012, when they were full parties to the Cabinet decision last Wednesday to turn the Malaysian education system into a crazy 9-2-5/6 system, with students going through nine years of the two subjects taught in English, two years in Bahasa Malaysia in Forms 4 and 5 and then reverting to English for five or six years of pre-university and tertiary education in maths and science.
Other modifications of last week’s PPSMI decision Ministers from UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP, PBS and other BN component parties should decide tomorrow include:
- Immediate implementation of the abolition of PPSMI “One Size Fits All” disastrous experiment for all national, Chinese and Tamil primary schools for schools which are ready for such reversion to use of mother-tongue medium of instruction in the two subjects, particularly all the Chinese primary schools in the country; and
- Endorsing the proposal of Parents Action Group for Education (Page) that schools should be given the option to teach science and mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia or English or in one’s mother tongue.
So now OTK who realises it might be good to get English back so he can win some brownie points is also useless? I mean Mr LKS, what the heck do you want la? For goodness sakes, he is doing something to take English back to the schools. You really hate him don’t you? What about DSAI who says take English out? That is ok is it?
Reminds me of the saying,
“They whom the Gods seek to destroy they first make mad” by Euripides.
This so-called final solution is truly a national disaster and is worse than when we were before the switch in 2003.
It was also reported that much more funds will be allocated for translating more works from English into BM.
I guess that is probably the main reason for the decision – look for the money trail. With such a scheme, there will be more jobs for those unemployable graduates.
I mean how difficult is it to translate books into BM? Just misspell the English word and VOILA! an instant BM translated works
Teaching Science and Mathematics in English to kampung Malay kids who know nuts about English is like using Tamil to teach Science and Mathematics to them. They don’t know the difference.
Let Ong Ta Kut be a hero lah….just remind him we are keeping a close watch on PKFZ. He had better be a hero on that one as well.
k1980 … your point is most interesting. Maybe that is why for the sake of the masses, the change is necessary in their view.
Imagine the burden to Chinese primary kids who move onto a National Secondary school. They have to study Science and Maths in Chinese during their primary days, then in Bahasa from Form 1 to 3 and then in English for Form 4 & 5! This is too taxing on these kids isn’t it? And this is a way to torture Chinese school kids formulated by MCA and its great President who claims to fight for the Chinese in Malaysia!
It is well known that OTK is a coward! Even a secondary school boy knows abt it!
ktteokt, you need to know that they common knowledge among the Chinese school children are that Maths and Science are taught (at the very minimal) at schools but when it comes to the UPSR exams, they are being told by their teachers that they can only answer in the Mandarin section though some of them understands and answers better in English. So, whatever suggestions that any the politicians are now making, are just plain distractions.
If any of them have the guts, all the BN components should sit down and come up with a proper working plan that includes the suggestions from the common folks who actually have children in the local schools and not like the one being announced. Then the government would not have so many people protesting to their plan.
Guess many would have forgotten by now how Pakatan Rakyat was formed.
Credit should goes to non other than RPK and his team mates for pulling 3 into 1 one week before nomination day at the Blogger House to prevent vote split.
Nobody expect PR to win as such many first timers, inexperienced candidates were chosen just to fill up the seats.
Can leaders in PR recollect and recognise what happen last yr, how the frigile the team was formed? You guys should take this term to strengthen your candidates and team and prepare for the next tsunami.
Believe many have forgotten the 1 yr old history and start taking things for granted.
The way it goes seem that the rakyat’s dream of having 2-party system in the country to have check and balance, to step forward into maturity in our country’s democracy process remains a dream after all.
BN is too arogant to learn a thing. The only way is to topple the sinking ship in order to clean up the garbage at the top. Unfortunately PR disintegrate by itself not by the rakyat but by its own self-serving leaders.
Sigh!
When Tun M switched English to Bahasa, what did the MCA,MIC & Opposition did. Kept quiet (no one dare say a word as those days anyone objected “His Highness” or against “His” policy would be jailed or chopped.No one wanted that to happen to them, so had to “kow tow” to “tai-koh M”That made “Him” a Dictator for 23 years, BUT ruined our education system with his selfish agenda. Tun switched back to English upon his stepping down as he realized his mistake and his objective did not bear fruits.People were elated. Now the new Cabinet is going back to 23 years ago following Tun M’s tactic (1) switch Eng to Bah (2) charge DSAI for Sodomy II. Are Opposition,MCA,MIC going to keep the same silence again? Have no guts again? Ruined the next generation again?
Please, education is the most important issue for parents, parents spend all their live savings just for a bright future for our children and here we are allowing some power crazy jokers to ruin it? Please protest on the parents behalf as we have no voice in the Parliament as you guys.We voted you guys to voice out for us, and not to mess up. Government has no right to intimidate parents and impose policies that the majority parents are against (is this called democratic?).
Why is the new Cabinet so sibuk with our children’s education and putting our children’s future at stake? Currently, our country esp the Klang Valley is burning in smoke every am (very unhealthy esp for young children & old folks) and H1NI is increasing, why isn’t the new Cabinet address these 2 most crucial issues first with urgency. What did the new Cabinet do? Just wait for the wind to blow it away or pray to Allah to make this go away? or just leave it to Allah (its Allah’s doing?). Years ago when there was a haze emergency, what did the BN Govt promised? That this would not happen again as they have firm contract with the Indonesian Govt on forest clearing & burning. Did that materialised? Any of the Opposition follow up or investigate or interrogate on this issue. We are suffocating and dying each day due to our Govt weak & fickle policies and “tidak apa attitute”. Act only when incident happen. It may be too late eg approvals to hill developments, only take action after incidents of landslides and death of hundreds, and so many other egs. one of which is now the haze & H1NI! Please Act NOW to protest the switch to Bahasa in Maths & Science.- Frustrated & Angry Parents.
You uncle lim are more like a coward. What have you really done for the Chinese . No nothing . Look at Kedah issue . Have you resolve it ????? You only know how to talk big .
Don’t try to be hero lah . I think Ong t k is much more better than u.