Linguistic Nationalism and the Realities of the Global Age We Live In
By Farish A. Noor ~ July 8th, 2009. Filed under: TOM_Main.
After several years of aimless mismanagement and half-hearted attempts, it would appear that the Malaysian government has finally thrown in the towel and scrapped the policy of teaching Science and Mathematics in the English language. To be sure, it was a flaccid proposal from the start, and the very idea that standards of English in the country could be raised and improved by the selective appropriation of certain subjects to be taught in English beggared the understanding of many an educationist in the country.
While the advocates of mother-tongue education are elated (for the moment at least) by the victory they have secured for themselves, there remain a host of questions that need to be addressed and answered seriously. What is more these questions pertain not only to Malaysia and the Malaysian government, but to practically all of the countries in the developing world.
What is worrisome about the developments in Malaysia is that the demand to end the use of English for the teaching of math and science came primarily from those who championed the cause of vernacular education for their respective ethnic communities. In the context of a plural country like Malaysia, this boils down to the simple fact that the representatives of the Malay, Chinese and Indian communities preferred to maintain the ethno-linguistic barriers that continue to divide their respective communities rather than to seek a neutral medium whereby some degree of inter-cultural exchange and dialogue could take place. Of course the arguments that were marshalled to the cause were from the expected repertoire of essentialist claims concerning ethno-linguistic identity and belonging, the defence of cultural identities, the defence of linguistic purity, et al.
Now Malaysia is certainly not alone in facing up to the problem of linguistic nationalism of this variety; and indeed it can also happen to the most developed of nations: Witness, for instance, the constant attempts in France to ‘purify’ and ‘cleanse’ the French language of English and American terms. I recall my stint in Germany seven years ago, when many German academics insisted on writing in German on the basis that the German language was and should be regarded as one of the foremost academic languages in the world. Sadly, the rest of the planet did not concur with this view, and my colleagues who insisted on writing their books and monographs in the German language found themselves to be increasingly marginalised in time.
It is undeniable that the question of language and the national language in particular is bound to elicit emotional responses such as what we have seen in Malaysia as well as in France and Germany. National communities – particularly when they happen to be complex, mixed and hybrid communities such as the Malaysian model – are often at pains to identify a common medium via which they can communicate and identify themselves with. Then there is also the historical baggage that is associated with English, French and Spanish that are historically the language of colonisers and imperialists; a rather sensitive point that has to be contended with as well.
Unfortunately the very real power differentials that exist in the world today have not and probably will never make room for any of the other languages of Africa or Asia to have the same hegemonic reach that the English language enjoys at present. But for nations to deny themselves access and competency in English on spurious historical grounds – the most common being that it was the ‘language of the coloniser’ – is not only counter-productive but ultimately suicidal for the nations in question.
Furthermore to suggest that the English language is permanently rooted in the moment of its cultural-linguistic genesis forever is to overlook the fact that languages also adapt and expand as they are spoken further afield. English, as it is spoken and used today, cannot by any stretch of the imagination be regarded as the language of the English people solely, for we have come to the point where English is spoken and used by more non-English speakers the world over. In this respect at least English has been removed from its cultural-historical moorings by virtue of its geographical expansion. Refusing to use, speak and write in English on the grounds that it is the ‘language of the coloniser’ is therefore a ridiculous claim to make, considering that it can no longer be identified exclusively with the country and people who first used it.
What then is to be done? In so many developing countries across Asia and Africa, linguistic nationalism has become the favourite tool of many an ethno-nationalist politician who favours the return to a precolonial past. Even in Europe the rejection of English often stems from a yearning for an age of unreconstructed nostalgia.
Yet the world will not wait for any nation, and nor does the world owe any nation a living. The champions of vernacular education in Asia and Africa may find momentary comfort and solace in the familiar territory of a vernacular culture that they recognise as their own, but refusal to face up to the realities of the global age we live in means that we are in danger of condemning the future generations of our societies to a marginal position. It was not too long ago that I had to reject a paper that was written by not one but three professors of a Malaysian university that once claimed the honour of being among the best universities in Asia. No longer. The very first sentence of the paper was littered with four grammatical errors and two spelling mistakes, and the laborious reading of the rest of the paper did not bring me to the safe harbour of a clear conclusion or even a consistent argument. If this is the standard of English that we can come to expect from the professors and lecturers of our universities today, then one shudders at the thought of the academic writing to come in the near future.
Dealing with the bugbear of our colonial past, our cultural-linguistic anxieties of the present and the challenges of the future will be a task that no nation can avoid. But dealing with the thorny question of language and the politics of language policies will require more than emotional humbug and patriotic essentialism that we have come to expect from some of our politicians. If anything, what is required now more than ever is a heavy dose of realism and intelligence.
July 8th, 2009 at 22:12
Our leaders live in the stone age & insist that we should all follow them. Sorry-lah. Me, my family & friends feel that English is a tool needed for a particular purpose, survival.
Even without English being taught in school we will master it.
We know it’s potential.
July 8th, 2009 at 22:15
I would like to suggest the authority reintroduce the English School and call it the Sekolah Kebangsaan Jenis Inggeris. We already have Sekolah Kebangsaan Jenis Cina and Tamil, so it would not be that difficult to set up another Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Inggeris. With the Sekolah Kebangsaan Jenis Inggeris we could easily produce ten of thousands of English Speaking graduate in one generation. Thanks.
July 9th, 2009 at 06:35
I believe Malaysia used to model Japan, the self-sufficient and non-English speaking nation. Probably it is a half-baked attempt but it doesn’t imply that such an aspiration is not achievable.
I came across a few Malaysians who are pursuing their phd in Australia and I really salute the struggles they have to make in overcoming their language handicap. I admire their determination and I thought it makes them more flexible and resilient.
July 9th, 2009 at 08:31
wow, what a great idea by pak idrus, i think is the way to go, everything thought in English, that would be something good. start one school to test it out. then if is successful then another.
the only problem is they will need to be separately assess, as UPSR,PMR,SPM all would need to be in english. but i think overall is a good idea.
i would think that majority of the educated malaysian’s would prefer english as their children’s foundation of education this would surely give and added advantage to them as most higher education around that world a given in english, at least the popular ones where most malaysians seek for higher education,(canada, australia,uk, and the mother of consumer economy usa.)
soon people will slowly pick english schools for their kids as they realized the importance and necessity of english.
in india, 100% of their higher education student speaks and communicate in english.
this is not about staying true and whole to your country. we cant in our current situation be like germany or france as they have very advance research and development and capable of producing and creating advance technology that would in future generate income for the country where their technology later turns in to product which is able to generate income for them. which then forces other countries who speak different language to communicate with them in their own terms.
malaysia is not where there, malaysia is a”copy paste” country. where we get and purchase product from those advance country.
and sorry to say malaysia’s R&D is very far behind. and would be useless if we use malay as a language in science and math.
is time to face the truth we are a servicing, resource selling, manufacturing base country. and NOT a “inventor country”
we need to follow them not them follow us.
i really do hope things will change, for the future of malaysia.
July 9th, 2009 at 08:36
Agreed 100% with Pak Idrus. People should be given a choice. Then those that are in favour to have it in the vernucular have a choice and those that want it in english are not deprive.
July 9th, 2009 at 09:51
Saya merayakan kejayaan ini dan atas berkat usaha orang-orang yang jahil dari semua kaum yang menyokong kembalinya pengajaran bahasa-bahasa ibunda dalan matematik dan sains, anak-anak saya yang berkacukkan Cina-Keling telah dijamin masa depan yang cermerlang.
Ini kerana anak-anak saya fasih berbahasa Inggeris. Saya pula telah menmberi dorongan kepada anak sulong saya sekiranya dia dapat bercakap dalam 5 bahasa ( Inggeris, Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin, Kantonis dan Tamil )secara fasih apabila dia mencapai umur 12, saya akan memberinya sebuah I-Phone.
Dan baru hari lepas dia telah berbahasa kantonis dengan saya.
Nampaknya dengan pemgembalian kepada status quo ante PPSMI, tiada ramai insan yang dapat bersaing dengan anak-anak saya di pasaran tenaga kerja 20 tahun ke depan.
Terima kasih kepada nationalis Bahasa-Bahasa Vernacular.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:21
My children are the victim now. I feel sad for them.Did the govt realize that the teachers are weak not the children?So, why drop PPSMI rather than rectifying the teacher’s standard of English.Yes, we need Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Inggeris.I bet more parents would like to enrol their children in Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Inggeris
July 9th, 2009 at 12:43
Its such a sad day for Malaysia that English will no longer be used to teach Science and Mathmatics. It spells the end of of any vision for Malaysia. I can truely understand Tun Dr. Mahather’s sadness. How can our DPM brief TDM about the present situation regarding the teaching of English when he did not even know that English is not a pass subject in the SPM Examinations? What had the present DPM being doing all these while in politics. For those who opposes the teaching of English, you are those who have no visions for this nation of Malaysia. How many of you are not educated in English? How many of your children are not educated in English? Don’t try to bite the hands that feed you. You are just a group of ungrateful fellows who got all the benefits of English and now trying to discourage othes from learning English so that only you and your family can stay on the top and control those below you who do not know English. How wide is BM used? Save for Brunei or Indonesia perhaps. “Interviu” for interview, “komited” for “committed”, what a shame? Is this what you call greatness of BM. May God bless those who opposes the used of English for teaching Mathmatics and science.
July 9th, 2009 at 13:25
After years of putting great efforts to teach Science and Mathematics in English Language, the decision is now reversed to the detriment of future generations of Malaysians to make any headway in Global Mastering of Science and Mathematics and the English Language itself. Such a sudden reversal will not affect the rich and the mighty politicians of UMNO and BN but it does affect the poor Malaysians who cannot afford to send their Children overseas to pursue their Education in advance Science and Mathematics although they may have the talent. There is a selfish ulterior motives among the ruling elites of UMNO and BN as their decisions does not directly affect their Children who can afford to study overseas but their decisions have selfishly denied the Children of Poor Malaysians the opportunity to pursue the most advance of Science and Mathematics in English Language without the need to translate accurately to Bahasa which could become inaccurate when translated with the limited vocabulary of Bahasa in terms of Advance Science, Mathematics and Technology of today.
July 10th, 2009 at 15:34
Hello dear friends.
Sorry for beloved Malaysia. Many are getting swine flu and mad cow already, thinking with their butt, be PM, TPM, Pakatan. English is superior language while BM just poor. Always think, speak and write in English, BM will free flow, simple as that. Don’t be cheated by them. Make sure all family members learn in English and get good job in listed and multinational companies. We are not like Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Lebanon etc. We need to work hard be competitive globally. Leave Malaysia alone for Allah’s sake.. we will there to compete and win.
July 11th, 2009 at 06:18
Farish,
You said, “advocates of mother-tongue education,” and then I was looking forward to reading you demolish these so called advocates. But you did not.
It would seem like when dealing with language, especially, mother tongue, what we all fail to see is the hypocrisy that drives the argument. Even more the lie told by every advocate of mother tongue education as well as those who submit to these advocates and seemingly endorse their argument.
And how come in this sense it is only Malay, Tamil and Chinese that are considered mother tongue when even Mahathir’s father would have told you that Tamil was not his mother tongue and yet Mahathir never for once tried to include the teaching in Malayalam for those Malayalee Malaysians? And amongst them are Hindus, Christians as well as Muslims and possibly in almost equal numbers. And what about the Kadazans, Muruts and Ibans? surely theirs is not Malay as thought in our schools? I forgot, even the Kelantanese would object if one were to suggest that Bahasa Malaysia was their mother tongue. And if I am not mistaken Khir Toyo’s mother tongue is Javanese!!
But when an MCA or MIC man was to talk in terms of protecting his mother tongue, somehow that call would appear to sound so sacred that both bureaucrats as well as politicians find themselves unable to dismiss the claim or to tell him to shut up.
Fact is only in Tamil Nadu in India is Tamil spoken. And even then if I were to go back to the rural village that my ancestors come from the only education I can enrol in at the school nearest to me would be in an English school. Also, right now, all over Tamil Nadu, even the taxi driver would tell you that his kids study in an English School. But, mind you, if the government of India was to force Hindi Education, they’d fail miserably. Many decades ago Tamil Nadu alone stood aloof from the rest of India’s transformation to Hindi. and you will see that traveling by train when you cross into Tamil Nadu you suddenly don’t see any more signboards in Hindi. it will be English and Tamil.
Anyway, coming back to Malaysia, that same MCA guy who “fights” for vernacular education probably already has his kids in an International school or maybe in some Western country studying in English anyway. And so are the kids of most of our UMNO leaders I would presume.
No sir, it is not for the preservation of language and culture that our race based political leaders, and this includes our Opposition leaders as well, advocate Vernacular schools. Its basically a political icon. Somehow it is supposed to be a reflection of your commitment to your constituents. How can you be a leader of a Chinese or Indian Political party if the only things closest to identifying with your own race is language? As for culture it is shocking for me to see the Chinese leaders trying to suggest that a lot of what they do, wear and eat is Chinese culture. For heaven’s sake, Bak Kut Teh, Laksa and Yee Sang are not Chinese as from China. Only Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese know what these are.
And all you need to do to change the minds of all these guys is just to give them a one way ticket to any western country and enough money for them to live a comfortable life, suddenly you will see all their “love” for language and culture go out the window!
But when the political powers shove a language that certainly does not match up to the languages of these other ancient cultures because they can and also possibly for showing who is boss and maybe, as a way to undermine any lingual advantage in any other language (well this is how many of us saw it when the changes were introduced in the 1970s), then you can imagine that the new lingual putsch will only be accepted under protest. And very soon they also realised that, like the tortoise does with its shell, going under the cover of “mother tongue” the people found refuge from the thrust of the might of the Malay politicians. And politicians in MCA and MIC found themselves a platform from which they could “lead” their flock.
But despite this, until the early 1980s I would not be too far wrong to say that the people did not make a quick switch. Vernacular schools continued on their downward spiral in admissions. But very soon things started changing. The demographics of the teachers being hired changed. When I was in school, a mission school, the only Malay teachers were the language teachers. You never had Malays teaching the sciences, maths, geography or history or for that matter PE. But this should not have mattered. I have myself hired Malays to teach at post secondary level and they did just as good a job.
Syllabuses started changing. I was talking to a 23 year old the other day and she told me that in Form 2 History, the entire year was spent on studying Islamic History. And of course when the teachers are Malays, there is the added spicing of the aura and awe!
We all started hearing of how after Standard 5 or 6 reasonably good Malay students were taken away to boarding schools. In a mixed classroom the teacher talks about scholarships and residential schools, exciting all the kids. but when the application forms were given out the Chinese and Indian kids saw to their disappointment that they were missed out. and then in Standard 3 or 4 when the Muslim kids started attending agama classes all of a sudden the Chinese and Indian kids find out that their Malay friends would avoid them. And very often they would also tell that it was their Uztaz who would have advised them so.
Then of course you had the uncertainty of gaining tertiary education within Malaysia which saw many of the non-Malays turning to private sector education and qualifications. And then the foreign tertiary institutions got wind of the Senior Middle 3 qualifications which 60 Chinese Private School students were gaining which never got recognised in Malaysia. But in the 1980s, it probably started with their recognition by Professional Institutes in the UK, and soon you could use that for University in foreign countries. Until then these Chinese School students could only go to Hong Kong and to Taiwan. Today you hardly hear of any, becaue they all go off to America and the UK or Australia.
With that opening, that is the ability to continue with further education,Chinese schools prospered. Tamil schools still floundered. But today, I see that Tamil schools in the city rejuvenated and overflowing in admissions. What gives?
I would like to suggest that the education dished out by the National School system as managed and administered by the Ministry of Education has been rejected. Not only that, given the opportunity, they all want to run away from the curriculum of the MOE and the influence of the MOE and the the teaching pool of the MOE. When my friends who are Chinese but English speaking and who cannot read or write Chinese, and every way very much western in their thinking and orientation send their kids to a Chinese School knowing they will not receive any help home, that shows what they think. They all walk.
Until and unless everyone, o.k. anyone from amongst the politicians, BN or opposition, is willing to say it as it is, we will always keep missing the turn we have to take. We will never make the correct decision as the politicians on both sides of the house dare not make the statement that needs to be made lest they be branded betrayers of their own race. That, no politician in Malaysia is brave enough to make. Sorry to say, I just cannot see us getting out of this cess pool that we are in. Unfortunately we have NGOs for everything. Saving the trees, the environment, religion, freedom, police, but can anyone direct me to an NGO that is working towards Education for the future of our children in Malaysia?
July 11th, 2009 at 20:07
My daughter is less than 2 years old and she can understand both English and Japanese, and later will introduce Malay, Mandarin and Cantonese.
http://daddyparentingtips.blogspot.com/2009/07/tip-161-reading-in-both-languages.html
I can’t see why we cannot take 1 step forward to integrate the BM textbooks few years back with the current English science and maths text books. Its a lot of effort, but why move backward instead of forward. We can allow students to use either English or BM to answer in the exams as long as the maths and science principles are correct.
Some good will surely come out of the dialectics at work between both languages instead of choosing either one. We need new advancements. We need Malaysia Boleh. Not some power struggle between languages.
When will Malaysia advance and not hold on to race and language as stumbling blocks but embrace our differences as advantages?
July 11th, 2009 at 23:25
The issue isn’t really about language - it should be the quality of teaching of math and science in Malaysia. So long as the scientific principles are taught correctly, and students understand the basics of science, the medium of instruction is not that important. This is why we have excellent scientists (and Nobel Prize winners, too) who were taught science and math in a language other than English.
No doubt, communicating scientific ideas in an international forum will require a decent mastery of the English Language. And likewise, publications in good scientific journals must be written in acceptable English, this alone had not stopped thousands of non-English speaking scientists from publishing their works in international journals.
Fix the teaching of science and math, and we can worry about the language later. Otherwise, we will have half-baked semi-scientific literate kids that do not know what science is all about (it sure isn’t all rote learning of facts as it is taught in Malaysia these days).
July 12th, 2009 at 21:53
Well done folks keep up the pressure and show your displeasure until positive steps are taken by this silly government to improve the teaching of English.
Please show our displeasure in the next GE and kick this BN and UMNO clowns out of the government.
Fight for Sekolah Kebangsaan Jenis English as suggested by Pak Idrus.
I am all for it and for our children
July 13th, 2009 at 10:06
i always believe science and mathematics are about thinking and calculating no matter in what language these subjects are taught.
am sick of teachers forbid the students asking questions simply because the teachers hesitate to answer in english.
how to determine the height of a building?
there are hundreds ways but it has nothing much to do with english.
July 14th, 2009 at 04:46
Was this implemented through a majority vote by the citizens, or did the governement just decide to implement it?
July 23rd, 2009 at 07:26
I agree that Math and Science to be taught in Malay language so that Malay language can be expanded and developed along with the nation and country. It saddens me when we want to develop a nation, but we fail to take its national language along with us.
I will be ashamed if one day we cannot explain math and science in Malay anymore. If any of us Malaysian decided to pursue studies overseas in fields which are not well documented in Malay language, just take extra English classes. Come back and help to develop our language to be a language of knowledge too. Reseach should also be written in English and Malay. Expand the language… borrow, adapt, translate…
I live in Germany and as I respect the country and the vision of the government to use German language as an integration language, I make the effort to learn the language. If I want to enter the Germany university I must study very hard to understand concepts and terms in German language (some concepts are borrowed from other languages). When I want to travel to France and Italy, I also make some effort to know a bit of their language. So … why must we ditch Malay language?
I have very high respect on BM and proud to call it my national language and to use it to explain to my children whatever math and science concept that I know. My kids can speak and understand 3 languages, German, English and Malay. Poor BM, a language that is now being used to divide, but we still fail to see its charisma to unite the people.
Some of you have great comments too.
I understand that some of Malaysians see BM as second class language, no importance and should be forgotten : (
July 25th, 2009 at 01:01
Dear Yati-
Malay, Chinese, Indian, Natives and even foreigners in Malaysia can be intergrated with Bahasa Malaysia.
In the 40’s and 50’s there was no race phobia. Therefore BM was spoken freely. Why no race phobia? Because in the 1900’s, 20’s and 30’s there was good sentiments among all races. This created good memories of all races. Hence nobody cared what language they spoke as long as everyone understood and everyone was happy. Indian did not think BM was alien. Chinese did not think BM was alien. Malay felt BM belonged equally to Indian and Chinese. NO MEMORY = NO AGENDA! THIS IS YOUR EQUATION FOR PEACE. MEMORY!
Today, since 1969, everyday we are reminded that we are not BUMIPUTERA(read non malay) Hence the uneasy aura surrounding BM which our non malay forefathers did not experience.
English offered a safe interface for all to communicate without having to use RACE AGENDA.
I want to lead by example( memimpin melalui teladan) hence I try to blog in Malay. I learnt your adat, adab and also your asam- this has helped me amalgamate in Malay community. I make 100% sure a Malay will not feel out of his home when he/she is dealing with me.
Guess what? I duplicated this with Chinese too. Its easy here in Ipoh! Learnt their yin, yang, food, culture, manners, tradition etc. And I get equal embrace from them! I just love breaking racial barriers!
Its not easy these days Yati. Not many Malaysian parents encourage their children to embrace friends of other race.
Why this unease? It has become our destiny to alienate from other races. Why? It all starts with memory. Erase memory and you erase prejudice.
Erase prejudice and you erase suspicion. Erase suspicion and you sow a desire.
Reap desire and sow a habit. Reap a habit and you sow a character. Reap a character and you sow DESTINY. Memories were distorted with NEP. Start with memory. Erase those memories.
I am sure it has nothing to do with technology and keeping up with the world. If all Malaysians were united, BM would still be the favorite like the old days. Disunity and government policies have made non Malays ditch BM and embrace English.
Now, reverting back in BM has caused a memory recall from 1969-2009, therefore these vibrations!
It has nothing to do with improving English level. How can people accept BM with bad memories, biasness and suspicion floating around?
Ketuanan Melayu = KEHAMBAAN BUKAN MELAYU = APARTHEID!
Change this equation and you will change the destiny of Bahasa Malaysia!
PS-
PLAN B- We take Pak Idrus’s idea. Simply brilliant!
July 28th, 2009 at 02:37
Hi AR,
Actually Pak Idrus idea has been realised. We do not need to establish such schools as it has been established under different names… like those private schools in the urban areas. All of them uses English as their medium language. In fact some sekolah agama uses only English and Arabic for teaching. So, as you can see, not only non Malays ditch BM, Malays also dicth BM. I am trying my best to improve my BM now, training my baby to use one language in one sentence rather than 3 in 1.
It is true what you said AR, before merdeka, the esssence of bangsa Malaysia is far greater than now. I could see such integration in some of those old P Ramlee movies. I want to raise my family in a safe, non racial environment. At the moment Germany seems like a great country as all citizens have equal rights, though I am not a citizen, my children will grow up to understand the true meaning of equality and freedom of speech. So far I have never faced any racial tension and I feel safe to voice out my true thoughts.
Nevertheless, in Malaysa we must appreciate the freedom of choice that we can make, the opportunity to grow, to be whatever we choose to be. Most important… we can get almost everything in Malaysia at almost anytime!!!
I like Dr.Farish’s one-on-one interview, I watched it on you tube.
I teach Malay language and Malaysian culture in Cologne, if you are reading this Dr, how can I get your book, dari Majapahit ke Putrajaya?
Thank you!!!
July 29th, 2009 at 20:56
Thank you for your comments Yati. We all need people like Dr. FAN, Zaid Ibrahim and Nizar Jamalludin(MY BELOVED, HONORABLE, ELECTED MB OF PERAK…the other one is a PENDATANG HARAM PERAK!!! ) to pave the way so that Malaysia gets back its original lustre. We will. I just know it. We have all the ingredients for peace here.