Usai Tugasan

Apa dicalit usah digarit,

walau selembar mari ditebar;

ketika ralit terasa perit,

saat mencabar harus bersabar.

Baru sahaja selesai ujian kedua untuk kertas Usul Al-Fiqh 1. Dalam waktu yang senggan begini, sempat pula singgah ke makmal komputer untuk menulis catatan ini. Saya kira, ketika ralit dengan tugasan-tugasan saat genting begini, seharusnya aku merenung kembali, setiap perkara yang telah dilalui.

Betapa kalau waktu boleh diputarkan kembali, tentunya banyak perkara yang ingin diperbaiki. Selepas ini, begitu banyak perkara yang harus dilakukan. Tiada masa lagi untuk bersenang-lenang dan duduk di awang-awangan. Usai sahaja peperiksaan akhir, akan bermulalah pula program sangkutan saya dia sebuah firma guaman. Penuh debar penuh sabar. Apa pun yang berlaku, aku mengharapkan yang terbaik.

Bunyi Gigit

Saya menghormati mantan Perdana Menteri - Tun Dr Mahathir Muhammad. Meskipun beliau yang mengasaskan dasar PPSMI, yang sememangnya saya menentangnya, tetapi beliau tetap berjasa kepada negara. Namun, membaca tulisannya di blog www.chedet.cc, ada satu perenggan yang ingin saya petik, dengan izin :

Dalam bahasa multimedia perkataan "Snippets" sudah diganti dengan "Sound Bites". Snippets terhad kepada media cetak tetapi "Sound Bites" meliputi semua media - cetak, radio dan televisyen. Justeru saya akan guna "Sound Bites" sekarang. Saya tidak akan guna bahasa kebangsaan kerana mungkin ramai tak akan faham "Bunyi Gigit".

Persoalan saya - tepatkah terjemahan tersebut?

Telahkah Tun merujuk kepada pakar-pakar bahasa mengenai penterjemahannya dalan Bahasa Melayu? "Sound Bites" adalah perkataan baharu, tentulah ia masih belum diterjemahkan dalam Bahasa Melayu. Maka, tidak perlulah berlaku begitu sinis terhadap bahasa sendiri.

Not A Language Freak

I am writing this entry in English to prove a point. Although I am being thought in the previous system of Science & Mathematics in Malay, that does not deter me from being able to speak and write in English. Yes, I can’t deny that my background gives me an added advantage in mastering English, as I am brought up in the suburbs, whereby English is widely spoken.

But then again, one’s proficiency in English or any other languages for that matter won’t be increased by changing the medium language of a subject, or in particular science & mathematics. They might be able to grasp the technical terms and so on, but that won’t be translated in real life as we don’t speak technical terms in real life. What is the use of changing the medium language of a subject, if the implementation is only 30%?

Come on, this “Teaching Science & Mathematics in English” (PPSMI) policy can’t be fully implemented in Malaysia, especially to schoolchildren who are not strong enough in English – which we must agree is not our first language. English is our second language, and forever it will be. The teaching of any subject in any second language won’t be as effective compared to teaching it in our first language. This is common sense.

What I can see here is that, we have this mentality that a person’s intellectual capacity is based on his proficiency in English. This is totally wrong! Why are we being so inferior of our own language, until the point that we are denying that our language is capable of making our people understand a subject clearer compared to other language.

If I were to discuss this, there are a lot of points that can be raised up here. It will take months just to debate this controversial issue. I am not a language freak. However, I am of the opinion that the PPSMI policy is not justified.

Hence, my statement – I am against the policy of teaching Science & Mathematics subjects in Malaysian secondary & primary schools in English.