1. Malaysiakini (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Benefits of English medium national-type schools, 27 September 2011
by Lan Boon Leong
It was reported in the press last month that the Education Ministry is sticking by its decision to abolish the PPSMI policy of teaching and learning science and mathematics in English.
The abolishment of the policy means that the two subjects will be taught solely in Bahasa Malaysia in the national schools, and solely in Mandarin or Tamil in the national-type schools.
Deputy Education Minister Mohd Puad Zarkashi said he and many other academics believe the two subjects need to be taught in the students' mother tongues.
Unesco, in fact, advocates mother-tongue education for all subjects because studies have shown that children learn better in their mother tongue.
However, mother-tongue education, although desirable, will make the national and national-type schools even more ethnically polarised than they are today.
Moreover, there are many Malaysian children of diverse ethnic background - Malays included - whose mother tongue or first language is English.
But there are presently no English-medium national-type schools to accommodate them.
These children are academically disadvantaged compared to their peers whose mother tongue is Bahasa Malaysia or Mandarin or Tamil.
The solution to these two problems - ethnic segregation and linguistic inequity - is obvious: the government needs to add English-medium national-type schools to our national school system.
These schools will clearly not be attended solely by English-speaking Malaysian children.
Many parents of children whose mother tongue is not English would also send their children to these schools because they understand the importance of English for their children's future.
English-medium national-type schools will therefore have a much better ethnic mix of students than the Mandarin or Tamil counterparts and the national schools, and thus able to foster ethnic harmony unlike our present schools.
Furthermore, children whose mother tongue is not English who attend these schools should be more proficient in English.
These benefits of English-medium national-type schools, which are vital to our country's future, are crystal clear.
So what is stopping the government from establishing them? It is not difficult to do so - we could start simply by converting some national schools, particularly the missionary schools, to English-medium ones.
If you are a Malaysian parent who is in favor of the establishment of English-medium national-type schools, please vote at www.surveymonkey.com/s/NKRJVDH and join Pens (Parents for English-medium National-type Schools) at www.facebook.com/#!/groups/PENSmember/ to help recruit more members.
If we do not push for English-medium national-type schools, they will never be established. But if we vote loud enough, there is at least a possibility. Vote and campaign for your children's future!
・LAN BOON LEONG is an associate professor at Monash University Sunway Campus.
2．Spero Forum(http://www.speroforum.com)
Malaysia: Malaysian PM to repeal emergency legislation from the 1960s, 16 September 2011
by Asia News
Current laws allow for indefinite preventive incarceration. PM also promises to ease restrictions on media and public assembly. Elections are set for 2012 and the premier has seen his public approval rate drop by 13 per cent in less than a year.
Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Emergency Ordinance would be scraped. The two laws have maintained the country under a permanent state of emergency that give the government the power to detain people indefinitely.
“The abolition of the ISA, and the other historic changes, underline my commitment to making Malaysia a modern, progressive democracy,” Najib said on television.
The decision comes two months after street protests led to the arrest of more than 1,600 people and a 13 percentage point drop in his public approval from last year, 6 per cent just between May and August this year.
Concern over rising living costs have also undercut his popularity, ahead of an election that will likely be held in the first half of next year.
“It’s a big step forward and will probably boost his standing,” said Singapore-based economist Chua Hak Bin. “Generally there is a clamour for greater openness in terms of the media” and “checks on the government.”
The authorities also plan to ease restrictions on media licenses and public assembly, Najib said.
The Internal Security Act was introduced in 1960 in the wake of an armed insurgency by Communist rebels, giving the police wide-ranging powers to detain suspects indefinitely.
It will be replaced by a law that incorporates more judicial oversight and limits police powers to detain people for preventive reasons, the premier explained.
In the past, opposition leaders have been held under the ISA and 37 people are currently detained under the law.
Najib’s pledges are a “positive development that opens up space for freedom of speech, rule of law and transparency,” said Ibrahim Suffian, a political analyst at Merdeka Center, an opinion research firm.
Najib did not revisit earlier promises to roll back policies favouring the ethnic-Malay majority.
The World Bank said in a report earlier this year the ethnic preferences have stifled economic growth and limited foreign investment, with more than one million Malaysians living abroad, led by ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
The Malaysian measures, implemented in 1971 following race riots, have provided ethnic Malays with cheaper housing as well as priority for university places, government contracts and shares of publicly traded companies.
Source: Asia News
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