Maths and Science: To be taught in English or Malay?

After the occupation of the British in Malaya, later became Malaysia as we know it today, we have inherited English as a medium of teaching up until 1970. This was the turning point in history where all subjects were then taught in the national language, Malay. What happened as a consequence of this? Well, this change from English to Malay medium happened after the May 13^th riots in 1969. With the New Economic Policy, Malay language was used to promote unity amongst the different races in Malaysia. In this article, I would like to draw points together to show the pros and cons of using either language as a medium of communication and teaching tool.

One would argue that the language that you learn as a kid will remain as your main language in which you think, construct sentences, count and ultimately express yourself. The last element is very important in order to create an effective communicator as well as being able to understand the meaning behind sentences/articles/texts that are presented. Having said this, it is thus vital that children are exposed to both English and Malay at a young age. On top of that, many Malaysian minorities also have their mother tongue i.e. other Asian languages. The problem that many people are foreseeing with the current system is that English is not emphasised and this makes it difficult for students pursuing higher education, where the medium and materials are mostly in English. The main reason is because English standards are low, given that only one subject is taught in English as opposed to all other subjects being taught in Malay. Past experiences have shown that some students do struggle to relearn every scientific and mathematical jargon in English for their tertiary education. Is this enough to justify the switch of teaching medium?

In all fairness, many students actually do struggle in English due to the lack of emphasis. However, many methods can be used to overcome this barrier such as encouraging students to speak in English on specific days of the week. This should be done early on in their education time, before the ‘shy-ness’ element kicks in once students realise that their command for the language is not good compared to their peers. The problem is ‘Is switching the medium of teaching justified and does it ultimately help the students?’ Well, studies and projections can be made but at the end of the day what matters is the willingness of the students to learn and the quality of education provided by schools these days. Below are a few advantages and disadvantages of having the medium changed to English:

Advantages	Disadvantages
Better preparation for higher education Less translation of books needed from English to Malay It is assumed that students will have better command of English The scientific aspect of the national language will deteriorate, without any improvements to the jargon and efforts to enrich the vocabulary in this area will not be worth it	Teachers are not trained properly and this does not provide quality education to the students Expensive to change the teaching force, revamping the syllabus and to translate texts from English to Malay Scientific and mathematical English usage does not help improve English as much Creates a nation that is fluent in the National language in all subjects

I still remember that I had to learn everything in Malay and I really enjoyed it. It was a challenge to learn all the jargon in English when I started my A levels. However, at the age of 17, you are expected to still be sharp and able to adapt to changes. The national language does actually bring everyone together and it would be a shame if Malaysians in the future can’t speak or worse still can’t understand Malay. As it is, many of the Chinese and Indian community do not have a good grasp of their mother tongue. Without getting a grip on the national language, are we all heading towards just being monolingual? How competitive can we be especially in today’s era where language skill is growing in importance?

Tribute to MJ

He will be missed for a long time. As a tribute to the Kingof Pop, here’s a song with meaningful lyrics: Man in the mirror:

Summer Rain

It’s summer and the longest day has gone by – 21st of June. Summer in London can be good but yesterday we had an unexpectedly heavy showers, with HAIL. Yes – in the middle of summer, this can happen in London. Well, we were under a tree in regent’s park having our picnic with the Serbians and this rain just started pouring. The funny thing was that it was totally dry when we got out of the tube station at E&C!

Transfer Exam

So, I finally finished my transfer exam! Phew – passing this should be a relieve. Unfortunately, I am feeling more stressed and excited at the amount of work ahead. Preparing for the presentation was easy, but cutting it down to 30 minutes was difficult. Having practiced it so that it lasts 30-40 minutes, I was shocked that I finished in less than 25 minutes. But, I was glad that they was a good turnout to the presentation and interesting questions that were raised. The best part was that the examiners seem pretty nice – has a chat and constructive feedback about the work going forward.

Presentations are not too bad afterall, is it? Especially being a GTA that teaches UGs how to give a good presentation…

Kayaking Adventure

We went kayaking down Jurassic Coast, Weymouth on Saturday. Thankfully the weather was good, clear skies(with white clouds, not grey), sunny and breezy day – perfect for kayaking. Well, the 3-hour drive was a bit long but the scenery was worth it. So, kayak we did – accompanied by an instructor (quite the ‘comel’). 2.5-3 hours of kayaking is no easy business – easpecially because we can’t stop. Anytime we stop, we will be pushed back by the waves which is in the opposite direction on the way out. Jurassic Coast is known for  many fossil discoveries as well as the rock formation along the coast. Unfortunately, coordinating the kayak with your partner and navigating at the same time is a bit of a multitask that we did not particularly have a good look at the rock formation.

Halfway through, we stopped behind some rocks to get away from the waves and were given some chocs and water to endure the next part of the journey – the hard bit. There’s a door like structure that we were meant to kayak through. Unfortunately, the wind was too strong causing our kayak to capsize! So Fei and me we trown off our boat – interesting experience that I’m glad it happened! A bit refreshing to continue our journey. The instructore, Tony was awesome in that he managed to get us both on board again. The journey back to the shore was very rough with high waves – but we managed to get back without capsizing again!

We hiked up the hill and manage to get a good view of the water form the top – really like Mild Seven advertisement that I used to see when I was young!

Maths Quiz

This is a simple quiz taken from Radzian’s blog . Do have a go!

This is a mathematical challenge, and it’s been said that: If you’re an engineer, you should be able to solve it in (under) three minutes (more like 30 seconds), if you’re an architect, in three hours; if you’re a doctor, in six hours; if you’re an accountant, in three months and if you’re a lawyer, probably never. What is the missing number in this logical series? 1, 2, 6, 42, 1806, ____??? Good luck !

Sister Act – the musical

The 48-hours tube strike can be said as a blessing in disguise, at least for my two friends and me – as we got free tickets to watch Sister Act at the London Palladium. The seats were not great – but can’t complain for the free tickets! It is a newly opened musical in London, based on the popular movie released in 1992. I remember that I used to watch that movie over and over again as the music was good. Albeit difference songs, the adaption was well played by all the characters. Delores was really superb – matching the act of Whoopi Goldberg herself. Funny, witty and entertaining are words to describe this musical – a must watch for all the muscial fans out there!

Malaysia being mentioned in Popular Movies/TV Series

I was just watching Seinfeld the other day when they mentioned that someone had bought a paid of glasses from Malaysia. It was a pleasant surprise to have people mention your country – especially in the 90s when Malaysia was not really on the map. This was in Seinfeld Season 6, Episode 13(The Scofflaw).

Then I remembered Zoolander, with Ben Stiller acting as a male model wanting to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia. A few times Malaysia was mentioned, but the name twisted to be Micronasia and something else. That I felt, was quite offensive to be honest! I guess the scriptwriters might have thought that ofending 26 million people is ok. Out of there, how many will actually watch the movie? To be fair, Malaysians are huge fans of American movie. However, from the 26m, only half might even think of watching (the rest either being too young or too old). Of that half, half might actually watch it. Of that, half or more would be watching a pirated version – how to complain. Technically only about 3.25 million would actually bother to watch it in the cinema/but the dvd, giving them the right to be outraged by it.

It is good that Malaysia is being mentioned in these shows. However, it is also important that we put ourselves on the map and for that we need an image. A holiday destination is a good start. For instance, Malaysia is often mentioned in  Bollywood and tamil movies as somewhere modern yet exotic. And this definitely helps with the tourism industry. The world needs to know what we are good for something – and these positive attributes in movies will help, especially since the twin towers that put us on the map will fade off when Burj Dubai(highest tower in the world) becomes fully operational and draws all the attention.

Smart Grid – Introduction

These two videos will give you a good introduction to Smart Grids. It would be good to start a dicussion. I will write an article in the coming months regarding my views on it.

UK appears to be the worst recylers of electrical waste in Europe

A study on recycling suggests Britons are the worst in Europe when it comes to recycling electrical equipment – source: BBC

Computer manufacturer Dell found that fewer than half of UK residents regularly recycled old hardware, compared with more than 80% of Germans.

Within the UK, the Welsh are the worst when it comes to recycling technology; almost 20% have never done so.

It is thought the UK creates enough electrical waste each year to fill Wembley Stadium six times over.

Environmental consultant Tony Juniper said that lack of awareness was a serious issue.

PERCENTAGE WHO DO NOT RECYCLE E-WASTE Wales: 19% North-West England 17% North-East England 15% East Midlands 15% London 13% Scotland 13% East of England 11% South-West England 11% West Midlands 10% South-East England 9% Northern Ireland 7% Source: Dell

“Governments in every country need to make the disposal of old electrical equipment as accessible and commonplace as recycling old paper, plastics and glass,” said the former Friends of the Earth director.

In early May, mobile operator 02 looked at what electrical equipment was inside a typical home. It found that there was an average of 2.4 TVs, 1.6 computers, 2.4 games consoles, 3 mobile phones, and 2.2 MP3 players.

Historic legislation

Introduced by the European Commission in 2002, although not coming into force in the UK until January 2007, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) was European legislation designed to “reduce the amount of electrical and electronic equipment being produced and to encourage everyone to reuse, recycle and recover it”.

Jean Cox-Kearns, recycling manager with Dell, told the BBC that one of the reasons Britain lagged was because other countries had implemented the WEEE directive two years before.

“The UK had historic legislation that they had difficulty in implementing,” she said.

There are concerns that many items that are disposed of – especially computer equipment – still work but have been rendered obsolete by new technology. A number of charities actively collect IT equipment so it can be used in the developing world.

Ms Cox-Kearns acknowledged that was preferable to recycling, although she did have reservations.

“I agree we should maximise the use of computer equipment. However, we need to find out what happens to the equipment after they [the recipients] are finished with them, otherwise it is effectively dumping.”