26 June 2009
Our Reference: Pers/100
[LIHAT SENARAI AGIHAN]
YAB Tan Sri/Dato’ Sri/Dato
PPSMI: OPEN LETTER TO PM AND DPM / MINISTER OF EDUCATION
Assalamualaikum wbth
1. I refer to your recent statement that MOE will make a final decision on the issue of PPSMI next month. Firstly, being a doctor I am trained to analyse facts. The fact that is in front of me tells me that MOE will most likely reverse their decision on PPSMI.
2. Your decision would likely be based on political pressure from various groups which includes Nationalist, Educationist, Ultra Malay and Chinese Groups. What is even worse is that the MOE being controlled by two biased Deputy Minister that had openly express their opposition against PPSMI.
3. For the proponent of PPSMI, It is a battle that cannot be won especially now when Pakatan Rakyat is has also openly expressed that they too wants PPSMI to be abolished. In a nutshell, it is a lopsided battle with politics will overcome what is important for our children and the future of this nation.
4. It may be presumptive to you but, I would like to say that MOE has not done a proper need analysis from parents and children perspective. It has only done a technical analysis based on student performance in the respective subjects which is inadequate. It has not gone outside the dome of education to show the impact of the reversal of decision. No scientific study has been done to seek the views of the people in the job market.
5. Under the leadership of Dato Sri Najib, he had been advocating the concept of “People First, Performance Now”. I want to see that the PM does not make statement which is not merely a popular political statement. It must be translated into action that shows that the government is really serious about finding what is exactly important to the people.
6. In a country like ours which has grown on racial lines and ethnic disunity, everybody wants to do things their way. The group with strong political support will have an advantage. Unfortunately the weak will never get what it wanted. Wee Ka Siong, Fuad Zarkashi and Samy Vellu all wants to abolish PPSMI because of political reasons. In reality the politicians view are biased as they are adulterated with political interest.
7. Currently, the advocators of retaining PPSMI are the weakest group. It has no political support. Their requests are not being seriously considered. Off late, what is being done is to find the necessary justification to reverse the PPSMI. The real officials expert in the arena of education has very little to say as they are subservient to the politicians.
8. In the current environment where everyone wants to do their things their own way, the only way out is to get an official feedback from the ground. UMNO, MCA, MIC or PR does not represent the voice on the ground. They represent a politically adulterated view with very little scientific and consumer feedback.
9. These feedbacks must come from parents and children alike as they represent the voice of the people on the ground. After all, the issues are affecting us, the parents directly. Via the PIBG, an EGM must be called and parents must decide whether they want to retain the PPSMI or otherwise.
10. PIBG that wants to retain PPSMI must be allowed to do so. Those who want to switch, just let them switch. My gut feeling tells me that the Wee Ka Siong, Fuad Zarkashi and other political group analysis would be wrong. Many would want to PPSMI to be retained. At the same time I asked you to ignore the views of illegal organization like PIBG-N whose has no legal locus to represent us, the parents.
11. As a responsible government it must provide a policy that is based on the needs of the people. It must be fair. It must accommodate the weak and the strong. It must not create policy solely for the purposes political mileage. The PPSMI has shown that ability to speak read or write BM has not diluted among the children and they gain the strength of comprehending the math and science in English. I urge you, please give people the choice to choose.
12. We live in the 21st century. The challenge of 21st century is different from the 70’s and the 80’s. Not all parents are rich enough to send their children into private school to strengthen their ability to learn maths and science in English. If BN finds it fit to accommodate the Chinese Educationist and Indians in maintaining their respective language despite it has divided people in this country, what further harm it can do if it allows some schools to run PPSMI.
13. If we are really sincere and seriously fighting for “Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa” and one to take Malaysian to the level of 1-Malaysian, then take the challenge and close all the Chinese and Tamil schools and run one type school for the nation i.e. Sekolah Kebangsaan. Only then it would be fair for you to bury PPSMI. As long as the SJKC and SJKT exist that the PPSMI based has the right to co-exist.
14. Lastly, I appeal to you, please give me and the other parents and our children the right to chose what we feel is best for us at the school and community level. This would be the best way out and fair for everyone. Thank you.
Mej (B) Dr Mohamed Rafick Khan bin Abdul Rahman
“A parent whose heart goes for the nation”
SENARAI AGIHAN:
(1) DATO’ SRI MOHD NAJIB BIN TUN ABDUL RAZAK
YAB Perdana Menteri Malaysia
Pejabat Perdana Menteri
Main Block, Perdana Putra Building,
Federal Government Administrative Centre,
62502 Putrajaya, MALAYSIA
(2) YAB TAN SRI MUHYUDDIN YASSIN
Timbalan Perdana Menteri/Menteri Pelajaran Malaysia
Pejabat Perdana Menteri
Main Block, Perdana Putra Building,
Federal Government Administrative Centre,
62502 Putrajaya, MALAYSIA
(3) YAB TAN SRI SIDEK BIN HAJI HASSAN
Pejabat Ketua Setiausaha Negara Aras 4,
Blok Timur,
Bangunan Perdana Putra Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62502 Putrajaya, Malaysia.
(4) DATO’ HJ. ALIMUDDIN B. HJ. MOHD DOM
Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran
Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia
Federal Government Administrative Centre,
62502 Putrajaya, MALAYSIA
I teach Sc and Math for almost 20 years in school. Before PPSMI, the Malay students talked to me in BM. After PPSMI the Malay students talk to me in english. Isn’t it wonderful. PPSMI should continue
It has been decided 8 July 2009.
We have to go back to stone age.
No malaysians from now on should speak english – only bahasa malaysia!
otherwise send them to jail, learning english makes malaysians backwards!
Dr,
I agree with you. In our representative democracy, nobody wants to represent people whose issues cannot be nicely packaged into Malay, Chinese, or Indian cultural-nationalist interests. PPSMI is one of them. If the announcement on the 8th July reverses PPSMI, I won’t put my children (when I have any) to private schools: (1) children there tend not to understand the precariousness of living on a fixed salary, and (2) my fixed salary will most probably put that thought out of the question. This leaves me with one other option: keep my present job, sleep less, and teach them Maths and Science in English at home.
Many people intentionally, or unintentionally understand PPSMI as a tool to improve proficiency in English. Whilst that might be a indirect effect, it is not the intention. The intention was that our children could plunge into the world equip with the ability to read anything related to science and technology, be it scientific journals or work manuals without the need for interpreters, whose services are both slow, costly and sometimes disastrously incomprehensible.
One could argue, heck, if they could study Maths and Science very well in Malay, why do we need to study it in English? Try to ask the average university student who entered university prior to PPSMI? What is “mendakan” in English? or what is precipitation? Then, count the number of blank faces!
Yes Minister
Do not listen to politicians and race based NGO’s. For the sake of the children’s future in a globally developing world, leave the ENGLISH language alone. We need english to progress. Our country is multiracial and it’s not like CHINA, JAPAN and KOREA. They ahve enough numbers to support their mother language but still the chinese are advancing in the english language.
If at all, you politicians want to decide, carry out an open referendum involving parents, students to gauge the support whether to delete english or maintain it.
Politicians have brought this developing country MALAYA to its feet. When I opened my eyes wide open to MALAYA, I was A ok with my english but today with MALAYSIA, the Malaysian graduates can’t converse with my Form 3 English of the sixties/early seventies. The British set our system into the right direction and when the Malay politicians began to spread their influence, they used language to stir the peoples sentiments and you see what has happened today. Our language efficiency has dropped to below the standards of Myanmar.
So, please Minister save the english and save the childrens future. Thank you DrRaffick for your relentless effort on this issue.
sorry for the typo – should read DR. RAFICK,
MY HUMBLE APOLOGIES
dr taffick jangan jadi marah tak baik was saying my 5 cents worth of comment to your open letter.
you are a doctor, not a simpleton, must do justice to yourself, be critical and not emotional !
jangan marah sebab saya RANGER – !
sebuah sekolah pendalaman di Kedah , tahun lepas merupakan tahun bersejarah bagi sekolah itu kerana seorang muridnya berjaya ke Universiti (UIA)..sebelum ini tidak pernah ada murid yg berjaya ke IPTA disebabkan lemah dalam BI bagaimana saya tahu kerana murid itu adalah anak buah saya. Saya bersetuju dengan pendapat LadyBond
Hi Doc
you have answered it.
“”HAIYA SO MANY STUPID EDUCATIONISTS IN THIS COUNTRY ALL CANNOT THINK AND SPEAK UP BECAUSE ALL SCARED OF LOSING POSITIONS AND JOBS!
WHAT A SHAME, MAKAN GAJI BUTA!!! ANAK KAMI SEMUA JADI MANGSA BANGSAT UMNO !”"”
Well done Doc
I think you people never seen the real exam results & statistics in the country. Who are you to say educationist is stupid? At least we have the facts & numbers, unlike some people that only talk..but no walk.
Dear teacher
Who said that “educationist is stupid”?
Dr.,
Politicians will make political decisions to suit their purpose . Ask Mahatir …….
There would only be a hope if there were BIG bucks to be made in getting English back into the system…. otherwise I wouldn’t hold your breath if I were you .
Salam
Hello bro,
I am quite impressed with your statement ” makan gaji buta” & “teachers are afraid of losing jobs and position”.
Actually both students and teachers are victimised by this haywire system. Teachers’ income as if been planned to activate the banking system. For example, teachers have to pay for credit cards, car loans, home loans, personal loans ect. Don’t you know that government servants can easily get bank loans? Hopefully not with along. So, when facing issues like this they can’t play their role as the real educationists. They are afraid of losing their jobs and what will happen to their family. Nowadays people are so materialistic. Furthermore teachers are mostly those who don’t know much about money flow and how the economists manipulate their money. The schools and the new system introduced are more towards helping the businessmen.
Teachers who don’t follow the trend will be seen weird. For example my father who retired at 47 because he couldn’t stand the education policy. He was able to uphold his dignity not to implement stupid ideas which can ruin the nation because he was debt free. He only used motorbike and bought a piece of land not so far from the school. On that land he built his own wooden house. My mother is a housewife only. She helps my father to save budget by planting vegetables and fruit trees on that land. By having that lifestyle my father never engaged himself with car loans, bank loan or any loan. 8 of his 10 children got a degree/ diploma. The money he saved was invested to buy properties and he is not poor after retirement. I am not sure if this lifestyle is still practical nowadays. But everything starts by following the good relegious values. Muslims are not encouraged to involve in debt. But now people are helpless with the syariah loan system. A good idea by bankers. Consequently this is what happen. Teachers are afraid to voice out their views, letting themselves to become well paid government slaves. Like the cows being pulled at the nose rings.
Back to the idea to put only teachers with good command in English to teach science and maths meaning that most schools won’t have enough teachers to teach these important subjects.
I think students’ ability is an important factor. Those who are talented can acquire many subjects and many languages. There are malay students learning in chinese schools who can score A in mandarin. And there also chinese students who can get A in BM compared to malay students themselves.
I prefer if the use of English in science and maths is to be implemented in good schools such as MRSM, boarding schools, cluster schools ect starting at the secondary level. Students can evaluate their ability through the UPSR result. Good students normally can acquire many skills and it is the education system to extract their full potential because we want them to become future leaders. These talented students are about 15 % of the whole candidates only. How can we victimised the rest. Students should not be forced to learn in an uneasy way. The lembaga peperiksaan must introduce different code for maths and science in BM and in English but of the same questions. Learning must be made fun and easy and it must be based on students’ ability.
What happen now is weak students tend to lose interest to learn science and maths and are more likely to break the school rules because they can’t cope with the system. The teachers are also not enjoying their job. Is it fair to brand some maths or science teachers who got an A for Add maths or chemistry in SPM but not so fluent in English as “makan gaji buta” or “cikgu kampung”. These teachers can still teach science and maths in ordinary SMK schools where the majority of mediocre and weak students are studying in.
Proficiency in English is something ‘extra’. Use BM to fulfil the general needs of education. Nevertheless, students must be acknowledged on the importance of English to win the employment market and to put themselves at the international level. Show them a few examples of successful figures in the entertainment world, politics, business etc who can easily put themselves in the global market. It is their choice.
I hope Datuk Hishamudin will open his eyes to listen to the local views compared to dump more money to hire foreign expertise to study this problem.
Dear ladybond
Where did I say ” ” makan gaji buta” & “teachers are afraid of losing jobs and position”. I dont see it here . Please advice
Point 13 should have been implemented long time ago but it is better late than never.
At times freedom of choice is bad as is in the case of our liberal education policy in existence . I submit that the greatest racial polarity is due to Malays sending children to SK while the Chinese and Indians prefer to send theirs to SJKC and SJKT respectively .
English, Mandarin and Tamil are important languages to learn and master. Surely there is a way that these languges can be taught in a singular medium school and be made compulsory examination subjects to emphasize their importance .
We say ” Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa ” in BM but Malaysians remain divided as Malays , Chinese and Indians because we just do not put emphasis on BM as the national language of Malaysia. Period.
BY THE WAY MAJOR DOCTOR RAFFICK YOU CAN SEND MY LETTER TO THE PM AND TPM TOO.
ANOTHER EX COMRADE
RANGER ALL THE WAY
“AGI IDUP AGI NGELABAN”
siraja
“selagi hidup selagi tulah mengelabah”
DEAR DR RAFFICK,
MY FIVE CENTS WORTH OF THE ISSUE!
THE DPM SAYS HE WILL INTRODUCE TEACHING ENGLISH USING SMART LABS! WOW, ALL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS WILL SPEAK FLUENT LANGUAGE WITHIN XXXX MONTHS! ANOTHER NEW STORY, NEW PLAN OF ACTION! WONDER WHO GETS THE BRAND NEW CONTRACT?
THE ENGLISH TEACHERS TODAY THEMSELVES CAME FROM A DIFFERENT EDUCATION SYSTEM, AFTER 1976 THAT IS TO BE PRECISE! THEY HAD ONLY ONE SUBJECT IN ENGLISH, THE REST IS ALL IN B.M.
THE MCE WAS DONE WITH, WE HAD THE “SPM” INSTEAD! THE MCE MEANS “O” LEVEL ENGLISH, ALL PAPERS MARKED IN THE UK & NOT LOCALLY! ANYONE TO DISPUTE ME? WE GET “GCE” LEVEL GRADES!
HOW CAN WE EXPECT THEM TO BE PROFICIENT? CAN’T BLAME THEM FOR THE LOWERED STANDARD! THE SYSTEM MADE THEM WHAT THEY ARE TODAY!
STOP THE BLAME GAMES!
IF THE TARGET CAN BE ACHIEVED, MAYBE THEN WE CAN TEACH MATHS & SCIENCE IN ENGLISH, ONE MUST MASTER THE LANGUAGE FIRST, THEN ONLY COMES THE SUBJECT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND! HOW TO UNDERSTAND SAINS & MATHS WHEN YOU CANT UNDERSTAND ENGLISH??? HOW CAN THAT HAPPEN?
GO BACK TO BASICS, START GETTING THE RIGHT SIFUS
( CIKGU FIRST ) IDENTIFY & SELECT THE POTENTIAL CANDIDATES AND MOLD THEM FIRST. IT COULD TAKE SOME TIME BUT WORTH THE EFFORT, THERE IS NO MORE SHORT CUT TO GET THINGS RIGHT, THEY TRIED THE CARROT METHOD.
THEY ENCOURAGE TEACHERS TO TEACH ENGLISH AND PAID THEM SPECIAL ALLOWANCES. THEY WENT THROUGH A FEW SHORT WEEKS OF CRASH COURSE IN ENGLISH DURING SCHOOL HOLIDAYS!
LOOK WHAT HAPPENED? IT FAILED MISERABLY ! THEY CAME FOR THE MONEY BUT NOT THE CONVICTION OF BEING AN HONEST EDUCATOR!
“GOOD SI-FU CHURNS OUT GOOD STUDENTS IN KUNG FU!”
WE MAY NEED SOMETIME, BUT TO ME THAT IS THE ONLY WAY, YES WE MAY HAVE TO TURN BACK, BUT WHAT CHOICE DO WE HAVE.
THE OLD DOG DAYS FOREVER GONE TEACHERS WE HAD IN THE 60’s, 70′S & 80’s ARE EITHER DEAD OR RETIRED..
THEY ARE THE EXPERTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS WELL AS TEACHING FOR THE SAKE OF TEACHING, NOT “CARI MAKAN” TYPE!
THE COUNTRY KNOWS WHAT WENT WRONG, WHO DID IT AND FOR WHAT REASONS, LET THAT BE A LESSON LEARN, EVEN MAHATIR ADMITTED IT!
SO NOW CHANGE WE MUST BUT THE RIGHT WAY, DO NOT MAKE IT A FARCE AND MAKE A POLITICAL DECISION WHICH IS WRONG!
MAKE A DECISION WHICH CARES FOR THE MASSES, NOT FOR POLITICS!
HAIYA SO MANY STUPID EDUCATIONISTS IN THIS COUNTRY ALL CANNOT THINK AND SPEAK UP BECAUSE ALL SCARED OF LOSING POSITIONS AND JOBS!
WHAT A SHAME, MAKAN GAJI BUTA!!! ANAK KAMI SEMUA JADI MANGSA BANGSAT UMNO !