Cakap cakap....PPSMI a comment and my reply.

 DFTunes said...

Salam buat pak HH,

I've been reading ur blogs for the past 3weeks,

this is the 1st time i'm giving my humble opinion in ur blog,

n hope u dun mind if it is in bahasa.

Sy tk merasakan bhw kerajaan memansuhkan dasar ppsmi dgn niat utk membiarkan rakyat trus "kekurangan" nilai2 kebolehsaingan dgn masy antarabangsa yg lain dlm arena ekonomi pasaran bebas..saya juga bersetuju bhw penguasaan bhs inggeris bisa menambah "nilai pasaran" kepada individu tk kira latar kaum,tp utk menjustifikasikan tindakan memansuhkan ppsmi oleh kerajaan adalah lgkah terkebelakang dan berunsur membiarkan masy. Menjadi trus "diperbodohkan" adalah kurang tepat,adakah ini bermakna pak HH bersetuju sekiranya dikatakan tindakan gabungan pemansuhan ppsmi yg dipelopori beberapa tokoh bhsa dan politik berniat sblm ini sbg langkah yg sama,yakni utk membiarkan masyarakat terus ketinggalan dlm arus pemodenan yg serba serbi inggeris? Ada byk impak negatif pelaksanaan ppsmi tehadap majoriti pelajar melayu di luar bandar,pelajar sekolah tamil di estet dan kemungkinan sdikit pada pelajar etnik cina..mgkin pada keluarga masyarakat bependapatan teguh di bandar mampu utk survive dlm dasar ini.

And for you info sir,im a big fan of ur son in law's band named butterfingers,and it's irony that they started the musical journey of them in english,and end up in 2 beautifully produced malay language album..utk malaysia saya percaya bahasa malaysia boleh jadi bahasa perpaduan dan kemajuan..

Maaf andai salah kata,
keep on writing pak!

Friday, October 23, 2009 12:00:00 AM CST

 HusseinAbdul Hamid said...

DFTunes

Thank for reading what I write and making an effort to comment on what I write. I did not mind your doing it in Bahasa – so now you will have to ‘do not mind’ me replying in English…it took me long enough to read your Bahasa piece…but I got through it!

You remember Watergate? I believe Nixon when he said that he had nothing to do with it. It was only when I heard what he said on the tapes that made me change my mind…many years later! The same with Bush invasion of Iraq. When he said Sadam had weapons of mass destruction – I believed Bush! After Iraq has been destroyed – no weapons of mass destruction! Benazir Bhutto said that she was going to be assassinated. I told myself that that was just her trying to get sympathy and votes from the people of Pakistan. She was assassinated! Now to Malaysia. Puspakom. I put a proposal together with Goh Ban Huat based on the Singapore module because I was told that the Government was looking for proposals. Then I met aruah Yahaya Ahmad of DRB (a school mate from MCKK – same year) after I had submitted my proposal – and he told me “Hussein Mahathir is giving it to me”. I did not believe him….and you know what happened !

So my friend I know that it is hard to believe that UMNO will deliberately put in place policies that will deliberately put the Malays at a disadvantage. Think about this. UMNO has had 50 years of total power in Malaysia. Yes we Malays are better than what we are many years back – but can you see how much the Chinese have advanced despite – or should I say in spite of what UMNO is doing to slow down the Chinese progress. And we Malays with 50 years of UMNO are still playing second fiddle to the Chinese.

So in as far as PPSMI is concern – whether knowingly or otherwise – by continuing to advance Bahasa over English – what UMNO is doing is again putting the Malays at a disadvantage. I have met anak Melayu kita who are simply lost in trying to understand what it is they are against when thrown into the realities of the global community. They embarrass me and sadder they themselves are embarrass that they are unable to cope.

So if you say that the Government and our learned scholars etc mean well…yes possibly in all sincerity they mean well – but can they not see that this is one of the Malays Achilles heal when they go into the real world? And go into the real world they must if we Malays are to have our dignity and out sense of self back.

p.s. Butterfingers did the last two albums in Bahasa because they wanted to cross into the Malay market - they were confident that they would keep their non-Malay fans – so a good marketing ploy. I tried to listen to their songs and really had some in depth discussions with Emmett about what Butterfingers music was about…but truthfully …I am still unable to follow! ..but must support lah !

Please continue to comment – in Bahasa if you want – appreciate your support of steadyaku47.

Cakap Cakap ....PPSMI - comment anonymous

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Cakap Cakap ....PPSMI":

Pak HH,

You hit the sweet spot when you asked the question "Are better educated Malays a threat to UMNO?"

1UMNO's strategy is very simple: Keep the masses (Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, Dayaks, etc) stupid and ignorant by denying them the opportunity of learning an international language (English) under the pretext of dignifying Bahasa Melayu. Add in the sweetener for the Malays by lowering the education standards so that every Ibrahim, Hassan and Zulkifli gets scholarships to a local Uni and emerged a few years later with a useless degree whose worth is less that the price of the paper it's printed on.

1UMNO and its 1BN lapdogs leaders will continue to send their own children overseas for an English education (and enjoy some beer!) so their children can return to 1Malaysia with some splattering of English to continue the 1UMNO-1BN tradition of pillage and rape of the country's resources, supported by the ignorant "no speakee Engleesh" Malaysian masses who continue to vote for 1UMNO-BN.

cakap cakap ....PPSMI - comment nxforget

nxforget has left a new comment on your post "Cakap Cakap ....PPSMI":

Reading this post and the encouraging comments, I recalled what my mother once told me.

When my father being coaxed by my aunt to put my elder sisters into English school, the kampung folks ridiculed my parents. My aunt was a teacher at the vernacular school in the kampung but insist the neices to be put in English school ogehter with her children.

Some of the remarks are there's no need to educate the girls in English school. They'll ultimately end up in the kitchen and may turn into infidels because many teachers in English school are from the missionaries.

That was the mentality in the early 40's and 50's of my kampung. Mind you my elder sister was born in '45, mean same age band with HH. When my sisters succeeded in their job in 60's, then only many come seek opinion from my parent as to what school is best English school for their children.

Believe it or not, the sons of my aunt that are of the same age band with my sister can recite some verse of the bible pretty well until today. They learned it during their school days. But, are they Christians today ... put it this way, I wouldn't want to argue with them as they are also well-versed with the Qur'an and never missed to perform the rituals required of being Muslims.

There you go, such a mentality in the late 40's and 50's and now I wonder where are our leaders trying to lead us ... that is to be neither there nor here. 

Cakap Cakap ....PPSMI

"Education Minister confirms no

 return to PPSMI policy"

We are not living in isolation from the rest of the world…in as much as UMNO wants it to be so…we are simply unable to live in a vacuum. Speaking for myself I have had my ‘education’ in life by being exposed to life in London and in Australia – academically all I have is an HSC – but from primary school I have been taught in English. That ability to speak understands and communicates in the English language has enabled me to stand at par with the others in the country that I have lived in. I am all for having Bahasa as our national Language but for God sake equips our young so that they will be able to have a fighting chance in life.

Let me be more explicit. “No return to PPSMI” is not going to benefit the Malays – unless keeping the Malays at a disadvantaged is what UMNO wants to do! Think! The Chinese and Indians are not going to be hampered simply because there is no return to PPSMI. They simply go overseas, as they have been doing in the hundreds and thousands. So that leaves the Malays here - until these Malays too must go overseas to be better educated. You do not have to be a Nuclear Physicists to understand what these Malays are going to be up against when they have to compete with others who eat, sleep and communicate in English.

Again we see policies that are specifically design to keep the Malays at a disadvantaged from the other. Policies designed specifically by UMNO that is suppose to champion the Malays. Why is this so? Are better educated Malays a threat to UMNO?

So please this is not a question of a “need to dignify Bahasa Melayu as a national language”. Like the policy of bringing in Malay Pendatangs” - this is another ill concealed attempt by UMNO–this time with that new buzz word “DIGNIFY” – another way in which UMNO will be able to keep the Malays at a disadvantaged – and then UMNO comes charging in on their White Horse to ‘save’ the Malays with a another “Ketuanan Melayu” policy ..only this time it will be to “DIGNIFY” the Melayu race. If you want to give “DIGNITY” to the Malay race try having UMNO leaders who will make a stand against corruption, against greed and against deceit. Try having leaders who will give “DIGNITY” to our country by being leaders for all rather then for just UMNO. How about giving Malay students some self respect when they go overseas for further studies – make sure that have the ability to understand what it is they are being taught and that they are able to communicate with their peers at college or university – and they can do so when they are proficient enough in English!    

They must be able talk in English, read in English, think in English if they are to come back educated to bring dignity to the Malays and to our country. Can’t you figure that out by yourself Mahyuddin? ...or is that priority of keeping the Malays continuously at a disadvantaged necessary to keep UMNO in power?

So please do not talk about “dignifying “ our National language…even if that is the latest buzz word coming out of your Ministry. Think! We Malays have enough on our plate to overcome without you guys in UMNO making it any more difficult for us to go out into the world and compete with others – something we must do if we are ever to regain our “DIGNITY” as a race! But then you talk of “DIGNITY” as if UMNO is full of it! We know what UMNO is full of…and it is certainly not DIGNITY!!