Singlish or Manglish?

Malaysia has missed many opportunities to scale itself up the global economic chain.  Education policies have been a major contributing factor for the deficit. Those who can afford it, or even those who have to really stretch themselves to do so financially, would rather send their children to private schools or vernacular schools

Race and religion have been politicised to drive Malaysia’s education policies. This has accentuated the divide among Malaysians - between the haves and have-nots. Social mobility will only become more difficult over time, worsening from one generation to the next.

Education, which should be the leveller, is instead becoming a divider of society. The lack of proficiency in the English language has been discussed for decades. Instead of encouraging and instituting policies to deal with what is clearly a huge issue, politicians and their parties are more interested in communal sentiments. How many teachers from Singapore can we “import” to solve what is a nationwide and systemic problem? And do we prefer Singlish to Manglish? I am not putting down Singapore’s English which is definitely superior to ours.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Teachers in Singapore are paid well. Teaching as a career therefore attracts talent. Can Malaysia claim the same? Like many other areas, we need government-directed policies in education which focus on building a better Malaysia through good quality education for our youth. So, get the retired teachers and others to help improve the system. But the problem is we have a Minister who is more of an ostrich than an eagle! And we dither in taking concrete steps to success. We prefer to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!

Reference:

LETTER | M’sian education: A system broken at its core, Callistus Antony D'Angelus

Malaysiakini, 15 June 2024