“Buon Giorno, segnor. Mi Chiamo Hanjun. Non parlo Italiano, Parli Inglese?”

Recently, I’ve been bumping into an old Italian man when I jog. He spoke to me in complete Italian, left me looking like a retard, yet, I manage to smile and nod politely, “si, segnor” was my answer. (yes, sir in Italian) I promise myself to say that phrase to him the next time I see him, provided if I ever remember. Hopefully he doesn’t turn out to be some Australian mafia with a machine gun in his violin case.

Language. A basic tool for humans to communicate. Chinese spoke mandarin and other dialects. Indians communicate using Hindi, Tamil and hundreds of other languages. Americans and British used English in their common conversation. Japanese, Italians, Germans, French and others talk in their native tongue. What happens if all of our borders touch each other and we are living in a multicultural world now? We speak English as the most powerful nations in this world speaks English. It’s a very simple explanation. Yet, of course, we don’t have the luxury of expecting the whole world to be speaking English. There is part of ones language that made their tribe or culture special. Say, an American in Japan getting lost in translation. (oh, scarlet!) Even in Australia, where most places are now metropolitan where you can easily find migrants from China, India, Middle East, Greece, Italy and other non-English speaking backgrounds. What is happening now in Australia is the school board is considering whether should they train teachers to be able to speak a second language to accommodate the non- English speaking children. I respect this move as it teaches us to respect and not forget our own and others language and culture especially when it’s incorporated into the academic system.

Back in my lovely country, people are still arguing the usage of English as the medium in teaching Science and Math. Logically, in a world where English is an International language, I don’t see why not. There are people that objected it, even having protest and marches in KL. I guess those were the people that don’t see the point of learning a new language. Some teachers don’t have the command of English and therefore, they look like a fool having to teach Science or Math in front of a class that can speak English better than them. I see that. I felt that way when I entered a boarding school when I couldn’t speak a word of Malay. In life, the only constant thing is change. I know, change is hard and unpleasant. People don’t tend to change. This is the time to change.

From bloggers to politicians, even down to the kopitiam auntie, people are talking about about this. Of course, most whom I’ve heard and read, agreed on the act that install English as the language in teaching Science and Math. Like I said, it’s very logical when you look at the bigger picture. Even the former Prime Minister of my own country, I respects what he wrote on his blog about this issue. For me, the institution of school or curriculum will never be affected by what language we used. People argue that the lost of Malay language, taken place by English will influence us Malaysians to forget our culture and bla-bla-bla. Are you trying to say, English is bad or are you trying to say, just because we speak English, we’re going to forget about ourselves? Seriously, come on!

Of course, from somewhere else I’ve read,  politicians played a role in this. Nobody is brave enough to stand up, I guess. I think by the end of the day, we need to put aside our ego and pride, it’s time to move on. It’s time. Generally, I wonder, the Australians are taking a big step forward, since implementing English as a first language in their academic syllabus, now they are exploring other languages. Yet, back in M’sia, we’re still wondering should we make a U-turn. The world is moving forward, China is forcing students to take English class, be it when everyone is saying Mandarin is going to be a new international language. But, where are we?

I would like to quote what Dr. M said,

I am a Malay not because of the language I use when thinking or dreaming. I am Malay because ethnically, lingually, culturally and religiously I am a Malay and I regard Malaysia as my homeland.

In my case, Chinese-Malaysians of course.

In fact, maybe after English, we can learn how to speak other languages as well. Spanish, maybe? I heard there are a lot of pretty senoritas there. Awesome.

post-script : You guys decide yourself, I think even the kids are tired of seeing how selfish fools arguing their way to make themselves comfortable and running away from the obvious fact rather than to hold the candle to lead them into the world of knowledge.

Change is the only constant thing in this world and yes, we can,

Hanjun.