Category Archives: Malaysia

teaching in English in Malaysia

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In my previous entry I mentioned how in Malaysia students are taught math and science in English. Recently a few adjustments have been made to this policy, which began about three years ago. Here’s a little more information about this, especially as it pertains to schools in that country for ethnic Chinese.

Upper primary school pupils in Chinese schools will learn Mathematics and Science in English for two periods each.

“After discussions with all parties concerned, we have decided on a 4-2-2 formula – that is, four periods of English, two periods of Mathematics and two periods of Science in English for upper primary pupils,” said Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

He added that to accommodate the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English, there would be one period less for Moral Education.

Chinese-medium schools have adopted a bilingual approach, teaching Mathematics and Science in both Chinese and English.

For the lower primary level, a 2-4-3 formula has been used since the policy was implemented in 2003 – two periods for English, four for Mathematics and three for Science per week.

With the announcement, upper primary pupils now have eight periods of Mathematics per week – six periods will be taught in Chinese and two periods in English.

Previously, only seven periods were allocated for Mathematics.

To make room in the timetable for the additional period, Moral Education now will be taught in four periods instead of five.

For Science, of the five periods allocated for the subject, three will be in Chinese and two in English.

The idea of using English to teach Science and Mathematics was proposed to arrest the declining command of the language among students. The policy was implemented from January 2003.

Unhappiness with this, however, apparently extends beyond the ethnic Chinese community, as four students have asked Malaysia’s High Court to declare that the teaching of math and science in English is “unconstitutional, invalid and ineffective.”

For a scholarly examination of related issues, see the work of Wong Ting-Hong (English PDF), such as his book Hegemonies Compared: State Formation and Chinese School Politics in Postwar Singapore and Hong Kong.

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Malaysian advertising and language reality

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Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) will review its advertisement code of ethics which had been claimed as being too rigid that it hampered the creativity of advertisement production agencies, said Information Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir.

“We don’t feel that RTM is rigid but we have the responsibility to build a society that is united and courteous. However, we will look into this matter,” he told reporters after a dialogue with the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As).

Abdul Kadir said advertisers encountered difficulty as they sometimes had to make two different versions of an advertisement, one to be aired over RTM and another over private stations, thus incurring high production cost.

Among the supposedly rigid code of ethics was the use of models, actors or actresses with the Pan Asian look, and sexually offensive and violent scenes, he said.

Meanwhile, 4As President Datuk Vincent Lee told Bernama that the strict code of ethics “is killing advertisement creativity in Malaysia”.

He described the advertisement scenario in Malaysia as way behind that in Singapore and Thailand due to many regulations of “double standards”.

“For example, in drama, you can use English and Malay but in advertisements we cannot mix the languages. The problem is that in the local Hokkien dialect, 30 per cent of the Hokkien words are Malay words,” he said.

This problem made it difficult for advertisements in Malaysia to portray the real Malaysian society of various communities and ways, he said.

He admitted that there were no problems with the private stations as they were more open.

source: RTM To Review Ads Code Of Ethics Following ‘Too Rigid’ Claims, from Bernama (Malaysia’s national news service), on October 4, 2005

odd use of “dialect”

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I read an interesting usage of “dialect” today in a restaurant review in the Star, Malaysia’s largest English-language daily. (Emphasis added.)

It gradually dawned upon me that Oriental Cravings was a restaurant devoted to much of the older cuisines of our parents and grandparents. Further queries revealed that much of the menu was dialect-driven. Hakka, Hainanese and Hokkien are the principal inspirations. But care was taken to update the old with new ideas too….

It was a delicious culinary adventure that revealed more about dialect dishes then I ever knew existed. The blend of old and new, and the nice ambience make Oriental Cravings a restaurant that will appeal to both the old and young.

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