FORMER prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is a very unhappy man, feeling letdown by the recent government decision to revert the teaching of science and mathematics in schools to Bahasa Malaysia beginning 2012. He is one amongst many, as indicated by the responses to the online poll at his blog. Almost everyone I know feel the same way.
Mahathir perhaps feels stronger than most because the two subjects were taught in English in 2003 on his initiative, intended to help Malaysians not be left behind by others in a world that has English as the number one language of knowledge. In deciding to reverse the policy, the Cabinet took into account analyses on the effectiveness of the system currently in place. Or should we say the ineffectiveness of it?
But six years cannot be sufficient time to help anyone make an informed opinion. Those against a change in the policy feel that instead the government should find ways to improve the teaching methods while also strengthening the teaching of English, especially amongst rural students.
Before deciding on this last week the government, led by DPM/Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, took the time to brief Mahathir on the impending decision. From his reactions one could see clearly that Mahathir was dead against it. My point of interest though was not so much his objection but rather Mahathir's feelings on how the government had handled it.
The press quoted Mahathir as saying that "he was not consulted, only briefed". Later he said that in announcing the decision, the government did not inform the public his views. On this score I cannot agree with Mahathir because much as many still respect him and will never forget the good things he has done, he no longer has the locus standi to demand more than what the government has done.
I'm sure the government decided to meet him out of respect and perhaps also to consider it as also part of a damage control exercise. I say this because I don't think the Najib administration wants to be seen to be on a collision course with Mahathir. Under the present circumstances I don't think Umno would want to have Mahathir sniping away at the party and leadership the way he did when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was the PM. Furthermore if Mahathir goes on the offensive again I don't think even the current administration will keep quiet. If a collision takes place I think that will be the end of any relationship Mahathir has with Umno.
By all accounts things have been looking up for the Mahathirs since Pak Lah left and Najib took over 102 days ago. Mahathir is now back "in favour" with the Umno press which gives him "good press". Every event of his and those he attends are covered, with his speech given prominence over what others have to say. His youngest son, Mukhriz the deputy minister, has been getting a lot of space in the Umno press despite being a junior deputy service-wise. Even his minister doesn't get that much space. Many in fact say that there has been an overdose of Mukhriz in the mainstream press in last 3 plus months.
The situation is also getting better for Mokhzani as chairman of the Sepang International Circuit. After Mokhzani left Umno to follow his father last year, former Youth and Sports Minister Ismail Sabri Yaacob made it sound as if our friend was a plague that had to be avoided at all costs. Ismail and Azalina Othman Said, a former minister who went up the political ladder more due to Mahathir's goodwill, also suggested that Mokhzani should relinquish the post. Now we have been told that the Finance Ministry, the owner of the SIC, is giving RM40 million for an upgrade of the SIC.
Back to the original point -- The fact of the matter is that the government was under no legal obligation to consult Mahathir on an education matter like this. If it was something on the petroleum or motor industry maybe because of Mahathir's position as adviser to Petronas and Proton. Still the government briefed Mahathir out of respect for him as a senior citizen who was bold enough to switch the teaching of the subjects in English six years ago. Beyond that it is the present administration that is solely responsible for what it does.
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8 comments:
Ya sure, the government does not have a legal requirement to consult TDM and I am sure even TDM knows that. The opposite is also true. TDM does not have to agree with what the government does. So skipping all the obvious, TDM is merely expressing his opinion that what the government is doing is a step backwards. And to back his assertion, he did a vote survey on his blog.
Some may feel that TDM is trying to assert his opinion on things. Well, if I have a say I would do just the same. The fact remains, TDM carrys more weight than most of us. And if you feel strongly that the government is indeed going the wrong way, is it wrong to say it with conviction.
The sad fact remains that it is amazing with the numbers of heads in the cabinet, they still fail to see what one man (TDM) sees for the good of this nation. Maybe in years to come, time will prove all this. Won't you feel unconfortable if you know that what the present government is doing is indeed just to win more support from pressure groups rather than for the good of the nation?
Certain things are OK to compromise but when it come to common good of the nation, it should be held strongly. As I recall, the present government has only been compromising and to appear to please all for the last 100 days. I fear sometimes we may confuse between the real concern ie between PPSMI and pleasing the vocal among us. How does it benefit us when all type of schools revert back to their vernacular languages? We loose on English and we also loose on unifying the people thru a common language. I feel certain things the government should stand firm. Just as TDM showed us when he had to.
You don't have to have a locus standi to air your views and to be listened to especially if you are someone having served as the head of the executive for 22 years. TDM may not be a perfect man and may have pitfalls here and there as you would like him to be but whatever he set to do was with the geniune desire to propel the country to greater heights and confident enough to compete with the best in the world. Many including those whom he had brought in and brought up either misunderstood him or failed to grasp in totallity the policies mooted by him. The PPMSI is no exception.
I wonder why you always have something negative though sometime subtly against him. And now you are bringing his siblings into the picture. Perhaps you have had some bad experience with him and waiting for an opportune moment to unleash your venom. Perhaps now and since 2003 when TDM does not have the locus standi anymore.
I beg to differ.
It is not respect that Tun wants. It is sufficient consideration and deliberation that NEEDS to be taken first before any decision is made, especially a CRITICAL one such as reversing PPSMI.
He still cares for Malaysia and he has the reasoning power to contribute. Najib's govt should LISTEN carefully not just do an eye-wash.
This decision will affect the future generation, mind you.
Tun is instrumental is paklah leaving the political scene. He wishes the best for Malaysia which includes decision-making process as rigorous as required.
He is worried that hasty policy-making harms the country.
With knowledge explosion taking place by the minute, translation time means the content would be obsolete by the time the process is complete.
And Bahasa Malaysia is not TOO friendly towards technical terms in Science.
non-partisan: maybe u haven't read what i wrote about mahathir here previously..... if u have the time to read u may have another question like "why was he positive about mahathir then?". u have to know me truly well to know all the answers...... not only what i think about him but also about blokes like pak lah, anwar, the lot.
i never had any personal experience with him except for the anonymous flying letter sent to him in 1990 and his reaction to it.
but why is it everytime someone writes something, the reaction is often a question asking about possible motives? wny don't u take something for what it is -- is it betul atau tidak? that i think is how everyone should look at an article/commentary
Tq for your response.
Whatever comments you may have on Pak Lah, Anwar and others are irrelevent. The focus is on TDM. After all they are just minnows as compared to the statesman.
I took up your suggestion to browse through you past postings. What I could elicit in all your postings that featured TDM, you have not failed to insperse them with your innuendos and adverse comments against TDM, neither the two sons spared .
In one of your postings you did mention you defended all his policies. When was this done? Before or after he handed over his premiership to Pak Lah? But then you indirectly questioned yourself whether you were doing the right thing. I am confused.
What have the two sons got to do with the issue in question i.e TDM's reaction to the PPMSI? If you have any notion that TDM will feel obligated and subsequently fall back into submission vis-a-vis the present administration then I am rather sceptical as to how much intimate knowledge you have on TDM.
You have outstretched your imagination too far to allude to a situation where TDM and the present admins will be on collision course and that he will the bigger loser. In case your thinking has been blurred perhaps by whatever convictions you have towards anybody, I wish to reiterate NEVER underestimate TDM and the respect and influence he still enjoys amongst the UMNO grassroot and the populace. Pl don't send the wrong message to DSNTR.
In your other posting you touched on your visit to Sri Lanka together with TDM. I too on a number of occasions had the opportunity to be in his entourage during his working visits overseas, but not as a journalist. It was really an honour and those were the moments I felt how proud I was being a Malaysian. I owe this to TDM. I am sure many others in the entourage equally shared the same feeling.
On the question of motives, in the light of so much developments taking place so fast in the electronic and print media coupled with the emergence of the so-called conpiracy theory and intrigues the characterise our present political landscape, one can't help but tend to read in between the line. Being an experienced journo I am sure you too.
non-partisan: first of all my hunch is that u are someone i know and u could be some1 linked in a way or another to MM, not just an "ordinary" reader of this blog.
i know for a fact that i was one of the FEW to consistently back MM's version of the salleh abas case, the anwar case, the justice chin issue, zaid ibrahim, etc. ag public opinion and the opinions of many people i know. it's on record, so plse don't dispute this. but as my close friends can tell u i can only take so much of the same thing, meaning i'm into moderation. MM is ok up to a point but since leaving the govt seems to still want his successors to do as he wishes. now i can see the sniping being slowly aimed at najib's admin. but najib is the PM now and he is the one who has to answer to the people for what he does, not MM.
the thing about politicians esp is that they always think they know better when they are talking about others but not when it affects their own position of responsibility. guan eng bars the nst, nizar going after utusan, guan eng hinting at invoking the OSA but what was guan eng's positionb on these matters when he was not governing? MM has been talking about the press "freedom" during his time while lambasting the control by pak lah. i know enough to say that it's a big bull and what i had written about recently was only an iota of what happened. and like i said i don't believe in going on and on. MM keeps saying that he was tough against corruption. i personally don't believe he was corrupted in the true sense of the word but i had defended this too. not anymore. tell me how many people will believe u if u tell them MM had zero tolerance for the corrupted in pollitics or govt when he was PM??? be honest.
but let's be fair. take the toyo house for example. he can show documents on the valuation -- rm3.4m right for an abandoned mansion in SA which is not exactly an upmarket area like the mines or damansara hts and where there are many more huge mansions owned by unknowns. when did toyo buy the house and when did MM pay rm1m for his house? u know about inflation and how landed properties come with a premium. what was rm1m when MM bought his house could be worth rm7 or 8m now. i don't know toyo and i'm not excited about him either but let's be fair. if we can't give people anything else at least we can try to be fair to them.
it's different for u and i when we give our opinions but MM was a PM who was empowered to do a lot of things for the good of the country and people. did he do them all? no and we could not expect him to because he was not superman. which means there were also shortcomings in his administration, just as there were under pak lah and now under najib but the responsibility is now najib's.
by the way i'm independent enough to write about whoever and whatever. the bottom-line for me is this: what is right is right and who is right is right. i don't play politics and am not obliged to please anyone with my views.
Perhaps this will be my last response to you on this issue.
I am just an ordinary visitor to your blogs and others. I am afraid you don't know me.
I was only given the privilege and the honour to participate in TDM's working visits overseas and those were strictly in my official capacity.
I too don't wish to continue arguing. It is natural that shaped by our own diverse experience and knowledge acquired formally or otherwise in our life time we tend to have different understanding and perceptions towards any person and issues associated with him. Be that as it may, the success, honour and pride brought by TDM to this country have far outweighed whatever shortcomings and weaknesses that are being continuosly harped on by his opponents, distractors and those who harbour hatred against him for one reason or the other.
I must on no uncertain term state that DSNTR is the best person at the moment to bring back the glory of UMNO/BN and the country. I'm sure TDM knows this too. It is just that he being what he is sometimes takes pot-shots to ensure that DSNTR is not derailed.
DSNTR is a totally different person in character, vision, knowledge, complexion and personal conviction as compared to Pak Lah whom I also used to know in my official capacity. I am certain the events that have negatively impacted on Pak Lah will not be repeated. I am certain too TDM will not act in a manner Margaret Thatcher had acted towards John Major resulting in the latter's short-lived premiership when he lost to Tony Blair in the elections.
Tq.
non-partisan: i'm glad that this could be yr last response on this bcos i too do not wish to go further and bring out more unpleasant info which i am privy to. i was a journalist and was in various editorships so was fortunate to know a lot of things that never went to print. since leaving the press in aug 1998 i have continued to be in contact with friends who are mainly political operatives, who have worked and are working with various ministers. so best that we don't open too many cans.....
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