Felt Betrayed By My Own Leaders

On Thursday morning July 9th, 2009, I, unusually, loss my appetite for breakfast. Seeing the day’s headline of THE STAR made my wife’s delicious fried meehoon was left untouched, although I only had tuna sandwich for my last night dinner. The dreaded decision made by the Honourable Minister of Education was the main cause of my sudden disinterest in the first meal of the day.

Before Thursday, I was praying very hard daily that our education system is left undisturbed well, at least, not until after the year 2014, when my youngest daughter will be starting her post-secondary school education. My prayers were not answered after all. My daughter will have to switch to learning Mathematics and Sciences in Bahasa Malaysia when she is in Form 4 in 2012. Bearing in mind that when she started schooling way back in 2003, she was used to the system of learning Mathematics and Sciences in English. Sadly, for the sake of somebody trying to show that he or she is doing a good job in his or her ministry, my last child has to endure two of her remaining years in secondary school learning Mathematics and Sciences in Bahasa Malaysia. It felt like an Olympic 110m hurdler failing to clear the last two hurdles and finishes fourth in the finals, the first placing for a finalist not to get an Olympic medal.

This is not the first time, I felt that I have been betrayed by my own leaders when it comes to my children education. In 2003, my son who was just starting Form 1 was made to learn Mathematics and Sciences in English after six years getting used to learning them in Bahasa Malaysia. I would sometimes shed tears upon seeing him struggling to adjust to the new system and getting unfavourable results in his monthly tests. Trying to motive him to continue learning is another challenge for me and my wife. However, what made us encourage him to continue learning Mathematics and Sciences in English was because at the institutes of higher learning in Malaysia, English is the medium of learning. From that moment on, we have willingly accepted that fact.

We thought it was going to be a sun-shining day, but it looks like it is going to rain in the afternoon. My youngest daughter who had learned Mathematics and Sciences in English for nine years, will have to quickly adapt to learning them in Bahasa Malaysia for two years, and finally reverts back to English if she is qualified to attend an institute of higher learning of her own choice. Attending meeting, discussing issues in detail and making decisions in an air-conditioned room seemed to be an ordinary routine for some, but we the rakyat will have to bear the consequences.

(This article was sent to editor@thestar.com.my on July 9th, 2009)