9th March 2009Math and Science in English. This is actually not a new topic to discuss about but somehow, recently, this bunch of, so called 'cendekiawan' (intellectual of Malaysia), voice out the issue of learning this subject in English. They said, it should be done in Malay language as in the past as putting this subject in English cause a lot of people to suffer, not only the student but even the teachers. They even submit a police report against the Minister of Education on this matter.
For me, this issue should be discussed again as it involve a lot of parties and a lot of people's view. This topic is debatable and furthermore, we can say that only the one who is not gaining any benefits from this teaching are the only one arguing.
I still remember the time when i was learning everything in Malay back in my school days and i can say, it was interesting as i understand every little bit of the explanation but when i move into University life, some of the teachings/subjects become English. I do have complains about it but at the end, i know the importance of teaching these subjects in English. So, i carry on without much complain and i would say my English improved a lot but not the an extend where my grammer as well my vocab is categorized as perfect. Although i can say the transition from Bahasa Melayu teaching to English teaching is difficult, yet, its not impossible and this of course has to be done. The more we stick to our mother toungue on certain subjects, the more we will be left behind. World is progressing under one rule and one law, and language barrier is certainly no exception. Since most of the books to study Math and Science are in English, might as well we teach those subjects in English then rather then we need to translate it each time we do some reading which involve international books.