(Background pic by Sophokles; Queen Elizabeth I pic public domain. Source: Wiki commons) NOT surprisingly, the debate on the reversal of the English for Teaching Science and Mathematics (known by its Malay acronym PPSMI) policy is largely framed as a zero-sum choice between English and the so-called “mother tongue” languages. Many opponents of the reversal [...]

I WAS brought up in a rather apolitical background, though back in school, I had teachers preaching the whole concept of “Takkan hilang Melayu di dunia”, complete with the image of that bronze cast sculpture of Hang Tuah right next to it. Those were simpler days. I went through both primary and secondary schools in [...]

Police, media and the majority Malay Malaysian crowd during the GMP gathering on 7 March 2009 PERHAPS the easiest observation one could make about the Gerakan Mansuhkan PPSMI (GMP) gathering on 7 March 2009 is that it was mono-cultural. While there were representatives from Chinese-language education proponents in the thousands-strong crowd, these numbered in the [...]

BULLYING in schools, the continuing crisis in Perak, and the teaching of science and mathematics in English were some issues that occupied the Malay-language press from 2 to 8 March 2009. On 5 March, Utusan Malaysia frontpaged the issue of gangsterism and bullying in schools. In the headline story, Hapus konsep senior-junior, the paper listed [...]

THE English language is now promoting interethnic unity in Malaysia, albeit unintentionally. Malay, Chinese and Tamil educationists who were once natural enemies have now joined forces to oppose the English for Teaching Mathematics and Science (ETeMS) policy. Politically, leaders in the Barisan Nasional (BN) are divided on whether to continue the policy, while the Pakatan [...]