Those who attended Form 5 in 1979 were the last batch using English as a medium of teaching and learning in schools. Some were introduced to the language at home as their parents spoke English to them while others began learning it at kindergarten back then.
We started spelling in Standard One, while reading and writing comprehension, and dictations were from Standard Three. By Standard Four, we were speaking and writing English quite well. I remember we had comprehension, dictations and spelling until we were in Standard 6. We graduated from saying, “Teacher, teacher, can I go out to pass water?” to “Teacher, may I be excused?”
I was in that 1979 batch. We didn’t have a choice really. We had to learn the language because all subjects, with the exception of Bahasa Malaysia and Agama, were taught in English. We were also fined by our teachers if we spoke Malay outside our Bahasa Malaysia classes. Parents, too, pushed their children to learn the language.
A friend of mine told me his father had taped the bottom part of the television screen to block out the Bahasa Malaysia subtitles to get his children to listen to and learn from the English programmes.
Post-1979, there was no longer the push factor, especially among Malays, to learn English. All subjects in school were taught in Bahasa Malaysia. Some English programmes on television, especially those targeting children, were dubbed into Bahasa Malaysia.
So, I was not really surprised when Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, in a written reply to a question posed to him in Parliament recently, said teachers and students were not ready for the implementation of a compulsory passing grade in English for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and PT3 examinations.
Furthermore, Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan reportedly said that 15,000 teachers in the country were found to be ill-equipped to teach English. I strongly believe that the English language has to be introduced very early in a child’s life.
We are not born speaking a particular language. It is a skill we acquire by reading, listening and speaking.
Despite being in an English medium school through two years of pre-school, six years of primary education and five years of secondary school, I can say that it did not erode my comprehension of Bahasa Malaysia. Non-Malays in my 1979 batch can still converse in their mother tongues.
It is quite disappointing to see how the comprehension of the English language has deteriorated among school students and even teachers. I witnessed this myself when I was asked to be on a panel of judges for an essay writing competition among students of a school from an east coast state sponsored by a government-linked company.
All the students had to do was write a 200-word essay about their experience flying on an aeroplane to Kuala Lumpur. It would, I think, be a simple task for a student from an urban area, but this was not so for those coming from the rural area, whose exposure to English is contained to just in their classrooms.
One student used the word “funny” throughout her essay to describe how fun the trip was. Another drew clouds in his essay as he did not know how to spell the word. One student wrote, in very bad English, how difficult it was to write. Most of the primary school students wrote about eating and how yummy the KFC dinner was for them. It was probably easier for them to write about food than their first flying experience.
And teachers, too, refused to speak English in their presentations, preferring to speak in Malay instead.
And, I remember how enthusiastic a group of children were when a group of New Straits Times volunteers went to their school during a flood relief mission to conduct English lessons. We sang songs and nursery rhymes in their class. We conducted activities using our newspapers. They were asked to spell words, ranging from easy ones to difficult ones, to search for words in the newspaper based on our pronunciations and cut out words which had similar meanings to the ones we gave them.
At the end of the session, they asked us why their own English classes were not as fun as ours.
Students are eager to learn. Teachers must be qualified to teach the language and make English classes interesting for them.
English can not only make our children bilingual (in the case of non-Malays, trilingual), but also more employable outside Malaysia.
So, if we were to go back to the question as to whether our students and teachers will ever be ready for English, I do not think so, especially if the authorities keep changing policies on the use of the language in schools.
We should make the policy and stick to it, come hell or high water.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Assistance is always available
Earlier this month, a 36-year-old mother was sentenced to a day’s jail and fined RM200 for stealing a 2kg pack of Milo at a supermarket in Kuala Lumpur. The Milo was for her two-year-old child.
Last week, we read about a father of three who was caught shoplifting RM27 worth of food at a hypermarket in Bukit Mertajam. The food was for his hungry children. Instead of turning him to the police, the hypermarket manager offered him a job there and money to help him out.
Facebook, too, has shared a few stories of compassion for those in similar situations overseas.
One story is of an Alabama cop giving a woman two truckloads of food after she was caught stealing five eggs to feed her starving family. Another is from Miami, where a Miami-Dade county police officer gave a penniless mother, Jessica Robles, a misdemeanour citation instead of hauling her to jail for carting away with US$300 (RM1,200) worth of groceries. The police officer, Vicki Thomas, also bought Robles US$100 worth of groceries. “Arresting her wasn’t going to solve the problem with her children being hungry”, Thomas had said.
In fact, Robles’ story inspired residents and businesses in Miami to help her out. One month after the incident, she not only has food for her children, but she also has a steady job.
I personally believe that everyone should be punished equally for the same crime. There should be no excuse for committing a criminal offence.
But, I have more sympathy for people who steal to feed their families than those who steal, for example, to supplement their drug use.
It does seem as if stealing was the last resort for the 36-year-old mother in Kuala Lumpur or the father of three in Bukit Mertajam but as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak rightly pointed out in his blog posting, there are many other ways of getting aid and earning a living.
He cited the Welfare Department, which, he said, was ever willing to assist whether in terms of money, advisory services or other means to overcome the challenge and enjoy a better life. As for Muslims, they can get in touch with the Tithes Board to seek assistance.
Najib also encouraged the people to visit the nearest branch of the Manpower Department or go through the website to look at vacancies and job offers available daily. On its website, various job offers for varying levels of qualifications are being offered by the private and public agencies.
But, I have heard of complaints from people seeking financial assistance at these establishments. There are forms to fill and documents to be submitted. Approvals, too, can take quite some time. Some are even discouraged without even trying after hearing of the bureaucratic processes they have to go through.
Perception, some people say, is reality. If people have perceived the services rendered by the agencies as such, it may as well be because that is the truth in people’s minds.
Some things need to be spelt out to the applicants. Verification process, for example, need to be done to ensure that the assistance goes directly to those who are really in need. And, processes take time.
And, there is a possibility that some people don’t know the existence of these services.
Government agencies need to undertake a public relations exercise to inform the public of what is available for them out there.
Take the Urban Transformation Centres (UTC), for example. How many of us know that the UTC is not only a place to make or renew passports and our identity cards? So many other services are offered there under one roof including the Human Resources Ministry’s Jobs Malaysia (registration, matching and advertising of job vacancies) and SPOKU (registration and job matching for the Handicapped).
It is, however, understandable if the government does not want to spend on such exercises, which detractors could deem as futile, as the money could be spent on something more rewarding for the public, but it can look at other avenues to disseminate information.
It can for example use the offices of more than the 500 state assemblymen nationwide. They can be the conduit between the agencies and those in need of assistance. I know of some state assemblymen who have gone out of their way to help those in need, seeking the help of their corporate friends to undertake corporate social responsibility programmes to help build or renovate houses for the poor and distributing aid and foodstuff during festive seasons.
In fact, one state assemblyman had offered the use of a vacant space at his office to a family who had been asked to vacate their home when they could no longer pay rent. He put them up temporarily until they could find cheaper accommodation. And, the people he helped were not even voters in his own constituency.
Assistance in whatever form is always available, you just need to know how to find it.
Last week, we read about a father of three who was caught shoplifting RM27 worth of food at a hypermarket in Bukit Mertajam. The food was for his hungry children. Instead of turning him to the police, the hypermarket manager offered him a job there and money to help him out.
Facebook, too, has shared a few stories of compassion for those in similar situations overseas.
One story is of an Alabama cop giving a woman two truckloads of food after she was caught stealing five eggs to feed her starving family. Another is from Miami, where a Miami-Dade county police officer gave a penniless mother, Jessica Robles, a misdemeanour citation instead of hauling her to jail for carting away with US$300 (RM1,200) worth of groceries. The police officer, Vicki Thomas, also bought Robles US$100 worth of groceries. “Arresting her wasn’t going to solve the problem with her children being hungry”, Thomas had said.
In fact, Robles’ story inspired residents and businesses in Miami to help her out. One month after the incident, she not only has food for her children, but she also has a steady job.
I personally believe that everyone should be punished equally for the same crime. There should be no excuse for committing a criminal offence.
But, I have more sympathy for people who steal to feed their families than those who steal, for example, to supplement their drug use.
It does seem as if stealing was the last resort for the 36-year-old mother in Kuala Lumpur or the father of three in Bukit Mertajam but as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak rightly pointed out in his blog posting, there are many other ways of getting aid and earning a living.
He cited the Welfare Department, which, he said, was ever willing to assist whether in terms of money, advisory services or other means to overcome the challenge and enjoy a better life. As for Muslims, they can get in touch with the Tithes Board to seek assistance.
Najib also encouraged the people to visit the nearest branch of the Manpower Department or go through the website to look at vacancies and job offers available daily. On its website, various job offers for varying levels of qualifications are being offered by the private and public agencies.
But, I have heard of complaints from people seeking financial assistance at these establishments. There are forms to fill and documents to be submitted. Approvals, too, can take quite some time. Some are even discouraged without even trying after hearing of the bureaucratic processes they have to go through.
Perception, some people say, is reality. If people have perceived the services rendered by the agencies as such, it may as well be because that is the truth in people’s minds.
Some things need to be spelt out to the applicants. Verification process, for example, need to be done to ensure that the assistance goes directly to those who are really in need. And, processes take time.
And, there is a possibility that some people don’t know the existence of these services.
Government agencies need to undertake a public relations exercise to inform the public of what is available for them out there.
Take the Urban Transformation Centres (UTC), for example. How many of us know that the UTC is not only a place to make or renew passports and our identity cards? So many other services are offered there under one roof including the Human Resources Ministry’s Jobs Malaysia (registration, matching and advertising of job vacancies) and SPOKU (registration and job matching for the Handicapped).
It is, however, understandable if the government does not want to spend on such exercises, which detractors could deem as futile, as the money could be spent on something more rewarding for the public, but it can look at other avenues to disseminate information.
It can for example use the offices of more than the 500 state assemblymen nationwide. They can be the conduit between the agencies and those in need of assistance. I know of some state assemblymen who have gone out of their way to help those in need, seeking the help of their corporate friends to undertake corporate social responsibility programmes to help build or renovate houses for the poor and distributing aid and foodstuff during festive seasons.
In fact, one state assemblyman had offered the use of a vacant space at his office to a family who had been asked to vacate their home when they could no longer pay rent. He put them up temporarily until they could find cheaper accommodation. And, the people he helped were not even voters in his own constituency.
Assistance in whatever form is always available, you just need to know how to find it.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Why preserve historic sites and structures
The summer palace in Beijing, China; Sydney Opera House in Australia; Cathedral of Notre Dame in France; Vatican City in Rome, Italy; Blenheim Palace in England; Borobudur and Prambanan Temples in Indonesia; Jeju Island and Lava Tubes in South Korea; and the walled town of Carcassonne near Toulouse, France, have something in common. They are all listed as world heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
Four sites in Malaysia are also on Unesco’s list; two are natural — the Gunung Mulu National Park and Kinabalu Park; and two cultural — the Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca, namely Malacca and George Town, and the Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley.
It was on these visits that I realised that a site need not be ancient to be on Unesco’s list (Sydney Opera House vis-a-vis the Cathedral of Notre Dame, for example) but each site tells a story. And, of these ancient sites, I noticed how good the construction was back then and how serious the governments are of their conservation and preservation programmes.
The fact that some of the ancient buildings are still standing is fascinating. And I continue to be amazed at what the owners and authorities have done to preserve their properties, which, in turn, have become tourist attractions for the respective areas and countries (some of the world heritage sites are privately owned).
Some of the sites are self-sustaining, too, without depending much on government assistance for maintenance. Carcassonne, one of the largest fortified towns in Europe, for example, has shops within the walled town selling souvenirs, including replicas from medieval times, such as clothing, swords and shields; cookies and chocolates; herbs, such as lavender and other spices; and tourist items like fridge magnets and T-shirts. There are also small hotels and restaurants. The rentals received from these establishments help pay for the maintenance of the medieval walled town. The authorities also charge an entrance fee to the castle.
The World Heritage List includes 981 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage, which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.
Here, the then Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry (now Tourism and Culture Ministry) defined heritage as “related to something that has been inherited from one generation to the next by someone or a group of people in a community. It is about the memories of a lifestyle of people that reflects their civilisation”.
Google has an extensive definition, describing heritage as “what we receive from the past. It shapes our present identity and provides insight for our future. It includes a range of activities, such as stewardship, preservation, research, education and engagement. It encourages sensitivity to the indigenous natural environment, to the impact of human activity on the natural environment, as well as to differing perspectives regarding objectives, ideas, places and traditions”.
Yet, we have lost grand mansions, bungalows and villas in the past to what is so-called development. High-rise condominiums and commercial buildings have been built on these sites.
One such mansion is the Bok House in Kuala Lumpur, which was demolished some 10 years ago. Others include structures that are part of an old abandoned colonial heritage hotel in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Penang, called Runnymede Hotel, believed to be close to 200 years old. It was the former home of the Penang governor’s assistant secretary, Sir Stamford Raffles. Both sites have been earmarked for a hotel and mixed development project.
These buildings, however, can remain untouched if they are registered as heritage buildings under the National Heritage Act 2005. So far, 47 buildings are on the National Heritage Department’s National Heritage Register List and 146 are on the Heritage List.
One can apply for heritage status and the application forms are on the National Heritage Department’s website. At the website, you can download the Borang Pencalonan Daftar Warisan Kebangsaan (National Heritage Registry Nomination Form) to nominate a building, site or living person (listed on the form as orang hidup) for heritage status. The final decision, however, remains with the government.
The United States National Trust for History Preservation, tasked with saving America’s historic places, says old buildings can offer opportunities for a community’s future. Preserving them is beneficial not only for a community’s culture, but also its local economy. The trust says old buildings have an intrinsic value. Buildings of a certain era, namely pre-World War 2, tend to be built with higher-quality materials. Pre-war buildings were also built according to different standards. A century-old building may be a better long-term bet than its brand-new counterpart.
Old buildings are also reminders of a city’s culture and complexity. By seeing historic buildings, whether related to something famous or recognisably dramatic, tourists and long-time residents are able to witness the aesthetic and cultural history of an area. And, regret, it adds, goes only one way.
“The preservation of historic buildings is a one-way street. There is no chance to renovate or to save a historic site once it’s gone. And, we can never be certain what will be valued in the future. “This reality brings to light the importance of locating and saving buildings of historic significance, because once a piece of history is destroyed, it is lost forever.”
Four sites in Malaysia are also on Unesco’s list; two are natural — the Gunung Mulu National Park and Kinabalu Park; and two cultural — the Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca, namely Malacca and George Town, and the Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley.
It was on these visits that I realised that a site need not be ancient to be on Unesco’s list (Sydney Opera House vis-a-vis the Cathedral of Notre Dame, for example) but each site tells a story. And, of these ancient sites, I noticed how good the construction was back then and how serious the governments are of their conservation and preservation programmes.
The fact that some of the ancient buildings are still standing is fascinating. And I continue to be amazed at what the owners and authorities have done to preserve their properties, which, in turn, have become tourist attractions for the respective areas and countries (some of the world heritage sites are privately owned).
Some of the sites are self-sustaining, too, without depending much on government assistance for maintenance. Carcassonne, one of the largest fortified towns in Europe, for example, has shops within the walled town selling souvenirs, including replicas from medieval times, such as clothing, swords and shields; cookies and chocolates; herbs, such as lavender and other spices; and tourist items like fridge magnets and T-shirts. There are also small hotels and restaurants. The rentals received from these establishments help pay for the maintenance of the medieval walled town. The authorities also charge an entrance fee to the castle.
The World Heritage List includes 981 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage, which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.
Here, the then Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry (now Tourism and Culture Ministry) defined heritage as “related to something that has been inherited from one generation to the next by someone or a group of people in a community. It is about the memories of a lifestyle of people that reflects their civilisation”.
Google has an extensive definition, describing heritage as “what we receive from the past. It shapes our present identity and provides insight for our future. It includes a range of activities, such as stewardship, preservation, research, education and engagement. It encourages sensitivity to the indigenous natural environment, to the impact of human activity on the natural environment, as well as to differing perspectives regarding objectives, ideas, places and traditions”.
Yet, we have lost grand mansions, bungalows and villas in the past to what is so-called development. High-rise condominiums and commercial buildings have been built on these sites.
One such mansion is the Bok House in Kuala Lumpur, which was demolished some 10 years ago. Others include structures that are part of an old abandoned colonial heritage hotel in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Penang, called Runnymede Hotel, believed to be close to 200 years old. It was the former home of the Penang governor’s assistant secretary, Sir Stamford Raffles. Both sites have been earmarked for a hotel and mixed development project.
These buildings, however, can remain untouched if they are registered as heritage buildings under the National Heritage Act 2005. So far, 47 buildings are on the National Heritage Department’s National Heritage Register List and 146 are on the Heritage List.
One can apply for heritage status and the application forms are on the National Heritage Department’s website. At the website, you can download the Borang Pencalonan Daftar Warisan Kebangsaan (National Heritage Registry Nomination Form) to nominate a building, site or living person (listed on the form as orang hidup) for heritage status. The final decision, however, remains with the government.
The United States National Trust for History Preservation, tasked with saving America’s historic places, says old buildings can offer opportunities for a community’s future. Preserving them is beneficial not only for a community’s culture, but also its local economy. The trust says old buildings have an intrinsic value. Buildings of a certain era, namely pre-World War 2, tend to be built with higher-quality materials. Pre-war buildings were also built according to different standards. A century-old building may be a better long-term bet than its brand-new counterpart.
Old buildings are also reminders of a city’s culture and complexity. By seeing historic buildings, whether related to something famous or recognisably dramatic, tourists and long-time residents are able to witness the aesthetic and cultural history of an area. And, regret, it adds, goes only one way.
“The preservation of historic buildings is a one-way street. There is no chance to renovate or to save a historic site once it’s gone. And, we can never be certain what will be valued in the future. “This reality brings to light the importance of locating and saving buildings of historic significance, because once a piece of history is destroyed, it is lost forever.”
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