By Stephanie Jacob
Tiger rules the jungle by virtue of her superior strength and smarts, no campaigning for the post. However the same cannot be said for those aspiring to become leaders among the humans, who often do, say and pay whatever is necessary to attain the power that they so crave. An example: politicising the use of English for instruction.
As you probably already know, tigers rule the jungle – no surprise really as we are smart, strong and in just in general quite amazing creatures. Knowing this, you humans might be tempted to equate Tiger to the two leg leaders that run your world, Tiger asks that you please do not.
For one, it might be quite hard to find a politician strong, smart and also awesome as Tiger, because really there are not very many, if at all. But things are also very different in the human jungle. Unlike tiger who is naturally powerful, humans go in search of power, kind of how tigers go in search of some nice deer for dinner.
So what do this human power seekers offer the rest of their kind, Tiger wonders; what could motivate the masses to support and entrust their lives and futures to them?
Tiger’s guess, is that the expectation of these aspiring rulers is that they be advocates and that they fight for the interests and defend the rights of their supporters.
But there also seems to be another expectation – responsible leadership. So as much as politicians should fight for our needs now, it’s equally important for them to have the foresight to recognise where and what needs to change and to direct their community accordingly, even if the tide of current popular thinking is against them.
How many of Malaysian politicians honour this trust, Tiger wonders. Based on the scraps of newspaper littering the fringe of the jungles from where Tiger observes humankind – she would have to say not very many.
Take for example deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement that eventually the government wants to change the entire teaching medium to Malay.
Muhyiddin has a tendency to beat this particular war drum every election or the other, and why not? It resonates, especially with the rural sections of the Malay community who naturally treasure their mother tongue.
But is it the action of a responsible leader, one who sees beyond this upcoming UMNO election? Tiger thinks not – in fact she goes as far to say that statements like that are a disservice to people who count on their elected leaders to help them make the sometimes painful but necessary changes to the current ways.
Muhyiddin Yassin
Muhyiddin says that, if countries such as China, Japan and South Korea can teach in their mother tongue, than why not us? Well realistically, all three have been contributors to a lot of scientific study and innovation – we simply do not carry the same amount of clout, especially in science, maths and technology to expect to be able to be treated the same way, and to think otherwise strikes Tiger as extremely arrogant. Couple this with the fact that the latest research and papers are seldom translated into Malay, and you put Malaysians at an immediate disadvantage.
Of course, English is not just the medium of science and maths, it is also increasingly used as the language for business too. In fact, just recently Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak when visiting the United States suggested that their top companies set up shop here in Malaysia, as a regional hub for their Asian expansion.
One would imagine that the minimum requirement these companies would expect, is a job force proficient in English; which generally will make setting up operations, relaying plans back to headquarters and expanding in Asia (overcoming multiple languages) by using a common language much easier.
Muhyiddin knows this, and if he does not then he should listen to international job recruitment agencies like Robert Walters, Kelly Services and even Malaysia’s own TalentCorp which all say that Malaysia has the talent, but most of them are restricted by language barriers and often are not capable of expressing their opinions or views.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad
Or perhaps he should listen to Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who (albeit late in his lengthy career) pushed for English to be the medium of teaching for science and maths especially, and has often reiterated his stance, with his latest comments coming around the same time as Muhyiddin’s.
Tiger is a believer that it is important to know your place in any jungle; yes, Tiger is boss, but you will not see her picking a fight with an elephant. Because while there is a chance that she might emerge victorious, chances are she will be badly hurt.
If Muhyiddin is doing this because he truly treasures his mother tongue, then there are ways to ensure that the language thrives, for one have a high standard of teaching and perhaps mandate that all students should study the language up until the tertiary level. At the schooling level, keep subjects that are more Malaysia centric, such as history, moral and civic studies in Malay.
But equally, be realistic enough to realise that it will even out the playing field for Malaysians at the international level, especially in the area of science and maths, if they have a high standard of English – make it a must-pass subject and teach maths and science in English.
Place equal importance and emphasis on both languages, and you will be able to improve and strengthen proficiency in both.
Yes, it will be hard for the rural Malays, in fact it will be hard for all rural communities whose first language is their own mother tongues, then followed by Malay. But it will be the necessary short-term pain, to ensure that they can compete in a global world.
That being said, Tiger does wonder about the DPM’s intentions, if his stance is driven by a great love for the language or something else; perhaps something more self serving.
Could it be that he and others who take a similar stance are using nationalistic pride as a mere ruse, in order to appear to be champions of their race so as to remain in power?
If that is the case, then Tiger believes that the Malay community is not getting a fair return on the trust they have placed in him, which counts on him to be their advocate not just now, but also for the future.
In which case, the community and Malaysians at large might want to re-evaluate their support for him and any other politician that is so short-sighted, and dare Tiger say, so selfish.
GRRRRR!
You must be logged in to post a comment.