The World Does Not Owe Us a Living

My apologies beforehand as this promises to be one of those dire notes, written well past midnight, where I vent my spleen before all.

The singular event that prompted this rather angry epistle is the fact that yet another half-baked and lacklustre policy has been overturned by the powers-that-be, for reasons that I can only assume to be political in nature. I am referring to the decision to end the teaching of Maths and Sciences in English; which I have to admit was a rather confusing policy in the first place. Yet its intentions were clear, namely to somehow try to arrest the slide in the standards of written and spoken English in this benighted country of ours. Thanks in part to the lack of resources, the absence of commitment and the incessant politicking that takes place in Malaysia, the policy hit the rocks of realpolitik from the outset.

There are several points that I wish to raise at this juncture, and I can only hope that they come across as coherent as possible owing to the sudden rise in my blood pressure and the fact that I am gripped by the overwhelming urge to strangle a politician (any politician, of any party) at the moment.

First of all, writing this from the vantage point of neighboring Singapore, I can only hear the distant echo of laughter from our neighbors in the region who must be enjoying a long smirk over drinks at the moment. While practically every other country in the region is trying its darnest to raise the standards of English for the young, we seem to have crossed the rubicon and entered the realm of un-reason by declaring that a 'pass' in English is not even necessary anymore. Woe betide those who insist on trying to maintain some standards of English language-use in this country, for we are often cast as those Eurocentric, Anglophile Wannabe-Sahibs who stayed a little too long in Blighty and have been possessed by the ghosts of Colonial High Commissioners past.

Secondly, one is struck by the most obvious observation that this policy has set back the process of development for scores of poor Malaysian children from every ethnic community, many of whom will remain in vernacular schools while the sons and daughters of the rich and powerful (many of them the brats of politicians, mind you) will probably be sent abroad to study in places like the United Kingdom, United States of America and Australia; where the medium of instruction will be in English. With one bold stroke, we have effectively opened a chasm between the rich and the poor, the privileged and the under-privileged, and in effect created two social classes. One made up of the poor lumpen proletariats who will be reduced to the status of surplus labour in the years to come, and another class of rich, well-connected, foreign-educated Malaysian elites whose cosmopolitan outlook and enhanced educational background will make them global citizens who can and probably will find their fortunes anywhere in the world. What a gift that we have given to the poor children of this country!

Thirdly, the humbug patriotism and essentialist longings for some romanticised unreconstructed past that some of the politicians have nursed so long conceals the fact that in the long run we - Malaysians - will pay the price for this reversal of policy. Lest it be forgotten, the world does not owe us a living. The rest of the planet will not one day say "Oh look at the poor Malaysians who cannot speak any of the international languages well enough to compete. Shall we slow down and allow them to catch up?" Dont bet on it my friends.

The brand of narrow essentialist patriotism and nationalism that has divided this country along sectarian and communal lines has now found a happy home in this, the latest contradiction that makes up the sad and pathetic narrative of the Malaysian story. In the years and decades to come, future generations will look to us in the present and ask why we let them down and why we failed to stick to the course for the sake of them and the future. The answer is simple: In times of crisis, the politicians of this country chose the quick and simple way out, played to the ethno-linguistic gallery, for the sake of a few cheap votes and to win the odd by-election or two. Nobody thought about you, the future generation of Malaysians, and we sold your future cheap. That will be your lament in the future, as it is our shame in the present.