Petaling Jaya, Nov 13 – Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday reiterated his appeal for the teaching of science and mathematics be in English.
He said science and mathematics were now the most important knowledge Malaysians must have if Malaysia wished to make progress and become a developed nation.
“May I once again appeal for the teaching of science and mathematics be in English. Let us be realistic. Malay is not yet the language of science and mathematics.”
Dr Mahathir said this in his keynote address at the 2nd International Conference on Teacher Education in the Muslim World organised by the International Islamic University Malaysia, here, Tuesday.
He said if Malaysians did not have a good command of English, especially in science and technical subjects, they would not be able to keep up with advances taking place in this field all the time.
“Students will not be employable even. Most of the jobless graduates are not proficient in English. It would be sad if students do well in school but they are rejected for employment because of poor or inadequate command of English.”
Dr Mahathir said Malaysians needed to be pragmatic. “The language nationalists may think that nationalism is about being able to speak the national language well and that’s wrong.
“Nationalism is about becoming successful in all fields of life, being able to contribute towards the growth and development of your country and your race, being respected and admired by others, being leaders in whatever field you enter and being able to stand tall. That is true nationalism,” he added.
Later, at a press conference, Dr Mahathir said he found the government not interested in science and mathematics be taught in English.
He said science evolved all the time with new research done and new knowledge discovered, and the unexpected introduced but 98 per cent of the research papers were written in English.
“If students don’t study science and mathematics in English, it would be difficult for them to catch up with the developments and be competitive for Malaysia to become a developed nation.
“I am a Malay. I love my language but the knowledge acquired by my people is priority for me so that we don’t lag behind and unable to compete with others.
“Being able to speak Malay is not enough if you don’t have the knowledge. There’s rapid advancement in knowledge but the Malays will not be able to keep up as the knowledge does not come in the Malay language,” he said.
– Bernama
