Enhancing Malay Educational Achievements

 Enhancing Malay Educational Achievements

M. Bakri Musa

 

In an unusually introspective speech at his Ministry of Finance monthly gathering on February 12, 2025 to introduce the I-Payment system, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reemphasized the need for “strengthening Malay [language] proficiency . . . and robust English proficiency as a second language among students.” Left unstated but well understood by his nearly all-Malay civil servant audience, Anwar was referring to Malay students.

 

Anwar expressed frustrations with delays and prolonged studies at his Ministry of Education. He is aware of the importance of education in the development of a nation. And for Malaysia specifically, the advancement of Malays.

 

            Malaysia sends her teachers to Finland to learn as Finnish schools are rated as the best. A better model would be Canada, and not just on improving schools but also handling bilingualism specifically and race relations generally. Further, Malaysia is like Canada in language as well as population plurality; Finland is homogenous.

 

Canadians recognize that being bilingual (French and English) is an invaluable asset, and not as per earlier views of “giving in to the other side.” Bilingualism and biculturalism are no longer divisive there.

 

I differentiate between bilingualism versus proficiency in two languages. With the former you express concepts and ideas using tones, imageries, and symbolisms unique to each language and culture. You also dream in both languages. Anything less and your translations are but literal and utterances rojak style, a laManglish (Malaysian English).

 

Education in Canada is a provincial matter. Thus, the appropriate models would be Alberta and British Columbia. Both have an Anglophone majority but a substantial Francophone minority. Alberta has such excellent public schools, both secular as well as “separate” (Catholic), that private school operators see little market there!

 

There is considerable demand for bilingual education as Canadians recognize its advantages in both public and private sectors. Neuro-linguists tell us that knowing more than one language confers many cognitive and other advantages. The younger one gains that ability, the better. Hence the waiting list for bilingual schools.

 

Alberta has three versions of bilingual education and leaves the choice to parents. One is where French is the medium of instruction, with English taught only as a subject. This is similar to Malaysia today, with Malay instead of French. Two, “early immersion classes” where French is the language of instruction but only for a limited and variable number of years (as with the first three or four). The remaining years would use English except of course for French language classes. Three, French is taught as a subject, typically for one period per day throughout the school years, as with the teaching of English in Malaysian national schools today.

 

Those models could be adapted for Malaysia. One would be to have all-English schools with Malay taught only as a subject daily. Those schools would be unlike the old colonial ones where Malay was never taught and the curriculum consumed with ye old England.

 

The old colonial English schools were excellent. The problem was one of equity, specifically of access. Being few in numbers (just enough to satisfy colonial conscience) and located in urban areas, rural Malay children faced considerable obstacles.

 

Resurrect those old colonial schools but with a twist. Have them only in areas where the level of English fluency in the community is low, as in the kampungs, and restrict admissions to children from homes where Malay is habitually spoken. Another would be early immersion schools where English would be used exclusively for the first few years.

 

Like Anwar, I attended the old colonial English school and was not taught Malay until my last few years when the country became independent. Perversely, I was spared from taking Malay in my last two years (Sixth Form). Yet just with that I could later learn on my own to write in Malay with ease as it is my mother tongue.

 

Teaching Islamic Studies in English or having English-medium Islamic schools as in America would also help increase English proficiency among Malays. Afterall, the International Islamic University Malaysia is English-medium.

 

            Despite endless reforms and blueprints, crucial challenges remain with Malaysian schools. That disproportionately impacts Malays, and is the major contributor to Malay laggardness except in the civil service. That exception is by fiat, not merit.

 

The colonial schools of yore did provide young Malaysians with some shared experiences. It was this that convinced the Brits to grant the nation independence with little fear that it would degenerate into another mini-Indian subcontinent. Perversely today, only National-Type Chinese schools with their increasing non-Chinese (specifically Malay) enrollment provide this valuable shared experience. The proliferation of exclusively Malay religious stream only compounds this problem of lack of shared experience.

 

Malaysia dabbled briefly with Dual Language Program as well as the teaching of science and mathematics (PPSMI–its Malay initials). “Dabbled” is exactly the right word. There was minimal planning or solid research underpinning both adoption and later discontinuation except for the plethora of local “scholarly” papers published in predatory journals. Likewise with science streaming, another distracting obsession. The religious stream ignores those problems. It focuses instead on indoctrination and religious rituals. The victims here are again Malays. 

 

It need not be that way. Morocco’s Al Qarawiyyin and Egypt’s Al Azhar, together with Harvard and Yale all began as religious institutions, with the first two established centuries earlier. Today those institutions together with their supporting societies could not be more different. That difference is in their ability to adapt and change to meet evolving societal needs and challenges.

 

STEM streaming, the current obsession, is another distraction. Make all students understand the world within and around us (the essence of science), together with enhanced quantitative skills regardless of their future career choices.

 

Reforming education begins with acknowledging three realities. One, parents, not politicians or Ministry of Education bureaucrats, know what is best for their children. Two, no one system fits all; hence the need for different models as well as flexibility. Three, society cannot develop if its members are not well educated.

 

In that presentation, Anwar also enumerated other challenges facing the public sector, quoting luminaries like Ibn Khaldun and Malek Bennnabi. The problem however, is less with acknowledging those problems (they are obvious even to kampung folks), rather the will and competence to rectify them. Pleas and prayers alone would not do it.

 

jakIM Mencekam Umat Islam Malaysia

JAKIM Mencekam Umat Islam Malaysia

M. Bakri Musa

 

Islam adalah akidah teragung serta tahan lasak. Ia boleh mengatasi perselisihan dalaman pada awal lagi yang sehingga kini belum dapat dipulihkan, yakni perpecahan antara kaum Sunni dan Syiah pada Abad ke-7 CE. Islam juga terselamat daripada ancaman luar teruk seperti pencerobohan Monggol pada abad ke-13 CE. Sebaliknya, mereka yang bertukar menjadi kaum Islam. Maknanya, Islam sebagai agama tidak memerlukan sebarang pembelaan, lebih lagi oleh mereka yang kaki dan gila kawalan dalam JAKIM.

 

            Percubaan terbaru JAKIM untuk kononnya “membela” Islam ialah kenyataan pada 5 Februari 2025 di Parlimen oleh Na’im Mokthar, Menteri Hal Ehwal Agama di Jabatan Perdana Menteri. Yakni badan bukan Islam mesti mendapatkan kebenaran terdahulu dari JAKIM dan mematuhi garis panduannya apabila menjemput orang Islam untuk "acara perayaan, pengebumian, atau acara yang diadakan di rumah ibadat bukan Islam."

 

            Kementerian "Hal Ehwal Agama" sendiri mempunyai kelirunya sendiri. Kementerian itu hanya berurusan hal ehwal Islam sahaja dan bukan agama amnya. Lebih tepat lagi, hanya urusan duniawi umat Islam Malaysia khasnya orang Melayu. Pada hakikatnya JAKIM adalah sebuah badan birokrasi yang terbesar dan berbelanja berbilion untuk mengawal pemikiran dan acara hidup umat Islam Malaysia. Pada mereka di JAKIM, umat Islam tempatan seumpama kanak-kanak yang rapuh. Imannya senang sahaja terganggu jika meraikan hari Krismas atau Tahun Baru Cina bersama sahabat, jiran dan rakan sekerja tanpa bimbingan dari JAKIM.

 

            Menurut perbadanan Sisters-In-Islam, garis panduan terbaru ini adalah satu lagi percubaan "untuk mengawal dan mengasingkan, bukan untuk menggalakkan keharmonian." Mengasingkan pasti; tetapi mengawal? JAKIM mempunyai pengaruh yang tipis dan terus surut di kalangan masyarakat Melayu. Jika benar JAKIM masih boleh mempengaruhi masyarakat Melayu, saya lebih suka jika pejabat itu menggunakannya untuk menanam rasa takut kepada Allah kepada pemimpin yang pecah amanah dan bermain rasuah serta mereka yang biasa menziarahi tempat judi.

 

            JAKIM hanyalah satu pejabat awam yang terbesar istimewa untuk memberi kerja kepada ribuan yang berkelulusan dalam Pengajian Islam. Mereka tiada mempunyai kemahiran yang berguna kepada majikan swasta dan masyarakat amnya. Bayangkan perkembangan besar pejabat serta kakitangan jika JAKIM mesti menyemak dan meluluskan setiap permohonan untuk orang Melayu dijemput ke pesta Krismas. Ini hanya sifat buat kerja sahaja.

 

            Saya gembira kerana Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim telah membuang idea bodoh Menteri Hal Ehwal Agamanya. Anwar harus pergi lebih jauh lagi dan mencontohi Presiden Trump dengan terus menutup JAKIMdan memecat menterinya. 

 

            Fikirkan kehilangan peluang (lost opportunity). Renungkan jika dana berbilion yang diperuntukkan keJAKIM itu digunakan untuk membeli peralatan mengorek untuk mendalamkan sungai dan tali air yang berkeladak, itu akan mengakibatkan banjir kurang berlaku. Begitu juga jika dana itu disalurkan untuk memodenkan sekolah kampung dan memberi murid makanan percuma seperti apa yang di buat oleh Indonesia sekarang. Anak kampung kita mungkin lebih cenderung pergi sekolah akibat perbuatan demikian!

 

            Korah pekerja JAKIM keluar daripada pejabat mereka untuk misalnya mengawal lalu lintas di luar masjid semasa solat Jumaat. Atau bersihkan jalan raya dan taman awam. Saya tidak tahu sama ada itu akan memberi pahala cukup untuk mereka memasuki Syurga dan menerima bahagian anak dara yang dijanjikan, tetapi ini tentu sudah pasti. Yakni jalan raya dan taman awam pasti akan lebih bersih. Itu akan memberi manfaat kepada semua.

 

            Yang Di Pertuan Agung kini, Sultan Ibrahim dari Johor, pernah mempersoalkan mengapa Jabatan Agama negerinya memerlukan berbilion-bilion setiap tahun. Tiada jawapan. Agung sekarang patut mengulangipertanyaan itu kepada Perdana Menteri Anwar.

 

            Garis panduan JAKIM itu di isytiharkan sehari sebelum hari lahir Pramoedya Ananta Toer yang ke-100. Pegawai JAKIM patut memperluaskan bacaan mereka daripada hanya risalah Arab kuno. Bacalah sedikit sastera dan karangan kita semasa. Renungkan cerpen Pram "Sunat." Acara sahaja seperti bersunat tidak akan menjadikan seorang itu Muslim yang baik serta sejati, bahkan tidak akan merasa pun seperti seorang Muslim. 

 

            Melihatkan serta mengalami kemiskinan dan kemelaratan di kampungnya, Pram mendorong pembacanya kepada kebijaksanaan nenek moyang kita:  Kemiskinan mendekati kekufuran. Kemiskinan adalah penghalang terbesar untuk kita memasuki Syurga, sama ada versi Al-Quran atau pelbagai jenis duniawi. Kurangkan kemiskinan dan anda akan kurangkan maksiat. Tidak semena-mena penderaan suami isteri, anak terbiar, dan penyalahgunaan dadah berleluasa di Kelantan, negeri yang dianggap paling “Islam”. Terkilan besar sebab JAKIM mengalihkan usaha kita daripada menyelesaikan masalah kemiskinan Melayu ini yang sukar diatasi.

 

            Perintah utama Al-Qur'an ialah "Biasakan yang baik; jauhi yang jahat!” Ayat beribu yang lain ituhanyalah ulasan dan perincian tentang tema sulung ini. Siapa yang menganggap bahawa mengukuhkan ikatan antara kaum dengan mengambil bahagian dalam perayaan satu sama lain sebagai tidak membawa kebaikan, atau melihat garis panduan yang dicadangkan mereka sebagai usaha soleh untuk melarang kemungkaran, tidak patut diberi layanan atau di hormati. Begitu juga mereka yang mempunyai pandangan yang sama.

 

            Dengan menolak cadangan Menteri Agamanya yang tidak berfikir, Perdana Menteri Anwar telah menunjukkan bahawa kerajaan Madaninya juga Kerajaan Muhibbah. Anwar adalah pemimpin semasa yang boleh menentang mereka yang merebak ajaran Islam yang sesat di dalam dan juga di luar kerajaan. Oleh sebab itu dia perlu pergi lebih jauh lagi. Garis panduan Naim Mokthar itu tidak patut diterima oleh masyarakat majmuk, lebih-lebih lagi dalam kabinet.

 

            Dengan tindakkan yang terang serta muktamad, Perdana Menteri Anwar telah memberi isyarat jelas kepada menteri yang lain untuk supaya tidak menarung fikiran angkuh yang seumpama.

 

            Kontroversi terbaharu ini menghidupkan semula kenangan buruk pergunaan istilah “Allah” oleh mereka yang bukan Islam. Perdana Menteri Anwar bertanggung jawab kepada rakyat Malaysia, sekarang dan akan datang, bahawa perkara yang mungkin memecahbelahkan rakyat tidak akan timbul lagi.

 

            Anwar patut merenungkan warisan pemimpin Yugoslavia, Presiden Tito. Dia berjaya mengamankan penduduk Yugoslavia yang dulunya yang berpecah belah beralasan kaum dan agama. Bahkan Sarajevo pernah menjadi hos Olimpik Musim Salji pada tahun 1984. Walau bagaimanapun, selepas tiadanya Tito, Milosevic dan gengnya timbul dengan kebiadaban pembersihan etnik dan membalas dendam.

 

            Tanggungjawab Anwar jelas dan amat berat. Yakni untuk menentukan supaya Malaysia tidak memunculkan Milosevic tempatan. Oleh itu Perdana Menteri Anwar perlu membersihkan badan menterinya supaya mereka seperti Naim Mokhtar tidak membiak.

JAKIM Control Freaks

 JAKIM Control Freaks

M. Bakri Musa

 

Islam is a great and resilient faith. It had withstood the deep irreversible internal dissensions early in its formation as with the 7^th Century CE Sunni/Shiite split. It also survived the near-existential external challenges of the 13^th Century CE Mongol invasion. Instead, the Mongols became Muslims. Meaning, Islam does not need any defending, least of all by those control freaks at JAKIM (the acronym for the Malaysian government Islamic agency).

 

            The latest attempt by JAKIM to “defend” Islam was the statement on February 5, 2025 in Parliament by Naim Mokthar, Religious Affairs Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department. It would have non-Muslim entities get JAKIM’s prior approval and conform with its guidelines when inviting Muslims for “festive events, funerals, or events held in non-Muslim houses of worship.”

 

            The Ministry of “Religious Affairs” itself has an Orwellian odor to its tag. That Ministry deals only with Islam. To be precise, the worldly affairs of Malaysian Muslims. In reality JAKIM is but a massive and expensive bureaucracy to control the thoughts and activities of Malaysian Muslims. To the minions in JAKIM, Malaysian Muslims are but a fragile infantile lot. As such their iman (faith) could easily be disturbed if they were to attend Christmas or Chinese New Year Celebrations of their friends, colleagues, and neighbors, sans guidance from JAKIM.

 

            As per Sisters-In-Islam, this latest guideline is yet another attempt “to control and segregate, not to promote harmony.” Segregate definitely; control? JAKIM has minimal and fast receding influence among Malays. If indeed JAKIM has any influence left, I would rather that the agency uses it to instill the fear of Allah on our corrupt leaders and those patronizing gambling premises.

 

            JAKIM is but a vast public works program for the glut of otherwise unemployable Malays qualified in Islamic Studies. Imagine the massive expansion of bureaus and personnel if JAKIM had to review and approve every application for a Malay to be invited to a Christmas party. Great job security initiative!

 

            I am glad that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had jettisoned that idiotic idea of his Religious Affairs Minister. Anwar should go further and adopt a Trumpian posture. Shutter that whole Ministry and dump its Minister. That guideline proposal should not have had a cabinet hearing in the first place.

 

Think of the huge lost opportunity costs. Had the billions spent on JAKIM been used to fund the dredging of silted rivers, imagine the good that would do in reducing floods. Likewise, if channeled to modernize kampung schools and providing free meals. Those children would then be more likely to attend school.

 

            Then imagine if those JAKIM bureaucrats were to be forced out of their offices and made to control traffic outside mosques during Friday prayers. Or clean streets and public parks. I do not know whether they would garner enough pahala (religious brownie points) to enter Paradise and get their share of promised virgins, but this much would be certain. The streets and parks would definitely be cleaner. And that would benefit all.

 

            The present Agung, Sultan Ibrahim of Johore, once questioned why his state JAKIM’s equivalent needed billions every year. No answer. Now that he is Agung, he should repeat that query to Prime Minister Anwar.

 

JAKIM’s guidelines were proposed on the eve of what would have been Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s 100^th birthday. In his autobiographical short story “Sunat” (Circumcision), Pram made the pointed observation that rituals do not make one a good Muslim, or even feel like one. Instead, the appalling poverty and abject deprivation that he saw in his village and among fellow villagers only confirmed our forefathers’ wisdom:  kemiskinan mendakti kefukuran (poverty invites impiety).

 

Poverty is the greatest impediment to our entering Paradise, the Qur’anic version as well as the earthly variety. Ameliorate poverty and you reduce impiety. It is no accident that spousal abuses, abandoned children, drug abuse and other “sins” are rampant in Kelantan despite it being the most “Islamic” state. JAKIM with its silly obsession on these guidelines only diverts us from solving this core intractable problem of Malay poverty.

 

The Qur’an’s central injunction is “Command good; forbid evil.” The rest are but commentaries and elaborations. Those who think that strengthening intercommunal bonds by participating in each other’s festivities as not commanding good, or view the proposed JAKIM guidelines as forbidding evil, have no place in plural Malaysia.

 

By rejecting his Religious Minister’s idiotic proposal, Prime Minister Anwar has demonstrated that his Madani government is also a Muhibbah (goodwill) one. Anwar is the only leader who can stand up to these misguided Islamists in and out of government. As such he needs to go further. Characters of Naim Mokthar’s persuasion have no place in a plural society, much less be in Anwar’s cabinet. Firing Naim would send a clear strong signal to the other ministers not to toy with similar dangerous cockeyed ideas.

 

This latest controversy rekindles ugly memories of earlier ones, as with the puerile and divisive issue on the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims. Anwar owes Malaysians now and in the future that such divisive issues will never arise again.

 

Anwar must not risk leaving a Tito-like legacy. Tito managed to keep the ancient tribal savage instincts of the inhabitants of the old Yugoslavia at bay. However, once he was gone Milosevic and his ethnic cleansing barbarism of his tribe emerged with a vengeance. Anwar owes Malaysia a solemn duty not to have a future local Milosevic emerge. Hence the need to purge, and do so early, the likes of Naim Mokhtar.

The Power Of The Pen: Remembering Ananta Pramoedya Toer

 The Power Of The Pen

Remembering Pramoedya Ananta Toer

M. Bakri Musa

 

Allah in His infinite wisdom has endowed every community with its share of the gifted and talented. What it does with this divine gift will determine the community’s fate. 

 

            This Thursday, February 6^th 2025, would have been Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s 100^th birthday. When he died on April 30, 2006, I wrote a tribute to him in The Sun Daily (May 4, 2006). To my surprise, mine was the only mention of this great man of letters in the Malaysian papers. Back in Indonesia, there was a similar paucity. I anticipate this same lack of acknowledgement this Thursday, February 6^th, 2025. 

 

            In that tribute I wrote, “I am ashamed of Pramoedya’s treatment by his own kind, but I am even more ashamed of our culture. A culture cannot aspire to great heights if it does not value its gifted and talented.” 

            

              A prolific writer, Pram as he was fondly referred to, was also a trenchant critique of the capitalist system. America’s support of the brutal Suharto’s Ode Baru (New Order) dictatorship only increased Pram’s contempt for both. Despite that, in 1999 soon after the downfall of Suharto, Pram was honored by the University of California Berkeley with its Chancellor’s Distinguished Honor Award. Earlier he had received an honorary doctorate from the University of Michigan. My greatest regret was not being able to meet Pram when he was at Berkeley. 

 

A year later came the Fukuoka Prize with this citation, “Mr. Pramoedya's writings will continue to influence not only Indonesian literature but also that of the world.” Pram was nominated for the Nobel Prize many times and would have won it except for the very active negative lobbying by the Suharto Regime. Imagine your own government doing that!

 

When Pram was awarded Philippines’ Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1988, there were considerable protests back in Indonesia. His fellow and earlier Indonesian honoree Mochtar Lubis (of Senja Di Djakarta[Twilight In Djakarta] fame), returned his award in protest simply because of their parochial domestic political differences. In contrast, Google honored Pram on what would have been his 92^nd birthday with a doodle depicting the novelist at work on his typewriter. 

 

Not one Malaysian university had seen fit to invite much less honor Pramoedya. Only Jakarta’s Trisakti University recognized, and early, Pram’s talent by appointing him as an adjunct professor despite his not having any formal academic qualifications. 

 

Triskati is Indonesia’s Univeristi Tunku Abdul Rahman equivalent, meaning, established by and catered primarily to Indonesian Chinese. They recognize talent even when not among their own.

 

Pram treasured those honors not for personal glory rather that “every award … is a slap against militarism and fascism in Indonesia.” As for his long battle against Suharto, he had this to say, “Ode Baru has fallen but my writings have been translated into 40 languages.” Truly a magnificent and enduring manifestation of the power of the pen! 

 

Pram was jailed by the Dutch from July 1947 to December ‘49, and also by Sukarno, a leader Pram admired greatly. Despite that, he praised Sukarno for being able to bring that polyglot archipelago under one political entity.  

 

It reflected the basic humanity and decency of the Dutch that despite their brutal colonization of Indonesia, they too recognized Pram’s talent. They invited him and his wife to Holland for an extended stay (1953-54) through STICUSA (its Dutch acronym), an entity “to reform the substance of ties between the Netherlands and its [former] empire.”

 

A poignant passage in his Buru Tetralogy describes the scene one Ramadan when the prison authorities had invited an Imam to give a sermon to those skinny starving prisoners on … the importance of fasting! The cruel irony escaped the Imam. That also reflected the irrelevance of much contemporary Islamic teaching in the Malay world. For contrast, the local Catholic Church donated pen and papers, the only allowed items, to Pram and the other prisoners. 

 

I first heard of Pramoedya Ananta Toer in secondary school in the late 1950s. My Malay Language teacher referred to him as the new generation of postwar writers to rival prewar ones like Chairul Anwar of “Aku” fame.  After I read Maxwell Lane’s excellent translations of Pram’s “Bumi Manusia” (This Earth of Mankind) and “Anak Semua Bangsa” (Child Of All Nations), the first two of his Buru Tetralogy published soon upon his release from Pulau Buru in 1979, I was determined to collect and read all of his works, the originals as well as translations. 

 

Quite a challenge as Suharto’s goons had confiscated and destroyed much of Pram’s works. Further, no library or academic institution in Malaysia or Indonesia has seen fit to collect Pram’s voluminous output, literary as well as his equally sharp political commentaries. The only extensive collection I am aware of is Alex G Bardsley’s at Cornell’s e-Commons. Another good start in Indonesia is Bukulaaela’s “Perahu Yang Setia Dalam Badar” (Steady Boat In A Storm, 2001). 

 

In Alfred T Ticoalu’s “Satu Hari Dalam Kehidupan Pramoedya Ananta Toer” (A Day In The Life Of Pramoedya Ananta Toer), Pram gave this advice: “Kamu jangan takut untuk maju dan bicarakan ide-ide kamu. Sekali kamu takut, kamu kalah.” (You should never fear to advance and argue your ideas. The moment you are afraid, you are already defeated.” 

 

Suharto and his goons are now long gone (except for his son-in-law Prabowo who recently became President). With Suharto gone, Indonesia had seen a blossoming of her artists and writers. Remarkable, considering that Indonesia does not have such artificial props like Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Malay Language Agency) or Sasterawan Negara (National Literary) Award.

 

Priorities In Reforming Malaysian Education

Priorities In Reforming Malaysian Education

M. Bakri Musa

 

In Alice in Wonderland the Cheshire Cat advised Alice that if she does not know or care where she wanted to go, then any road will take her there. Likewise, if she just wants to get somewhere or just anywhere.

 

            This was my thought on viewing Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s presentation at the January 8, 2025 Astro Awani’s Forum on “Economy Malaysia 2025:  Education Reforms Raising The Floor,” moderated by BFM Radio’s Malek Ali. Fadhlina was introducing her Ministry’s upcoming Third Malaysia Education Blueprint 2025-2036. 

 

It was clear from her utterances that Fadhlina, like Alice, is also lost and bewildered; for Fadhlina, in education land. She too does not care where she would be going as long as she could end up somewhere other than “here.”

 

            The “here” in Malaysian education is also not where most Malaysian parents want their children to end up. You do not need PISA tests and other expensive international surveys to know the obvious and alarming deterioration of Malaysian schools. 

 

Consider language skills. Few Malaysians, from ministers and professors down to school kids and social media commentators, could utter even a simple sentence in either complete Malay or English. At that forum Fadhlina displayed well and frequent this odious Malaysian habit. 

 

Canadians are also bilingual.  However, when Prime Minister Trudeau speaks in English, it is flawless; likewise when he reverts to French, the other official language. No irritating and incomprehensible jumbling of both languages. Malaysians however, sound like they are uttering pidgin English or the old Bazaar Malay. Only the Filipinos with their own English/Tagalog mishmash could outclass Malaysians. 

 

As for mathematical competency, a Malaysian official once chided me for praising Singapore’s then 5 percent annual GDP growth versus Malaysia’s 4. 

 

“What’s the big deal, it’s only a one percent difference!” 

 

If you are jogging at 4 mph and your companion is doing a brisk 5, yes, she is going faster by only 1 mph. Percentage-wise however, she is 25 percent faster. At the end of the day, you would be miles behind. The importance of numeracy skills and some quantitative comprehension! Sans both, you are but agak agak(wild guessing) and can be easily misled.

 

            As with destination, so it is with a problem. If you do not fully comprehend the problem, then you would easily be satisfied with any solution. Satisfied, yes; solving the problem, far from it!

 

Fadhlina, like her predecessors, remains blissfully ignorant of the core deficiencies of Malaysian schools. First and most glaring is that the problem is not with Malaysian schools per se rather those attended by Malay children. Children of the rich, Malays as well as non-Malays, have a cornucopia of excellent choices in expensive private schools. 

 

Chinese schools are also doing fine. No surprise that Malay parents are increasingly opting for that stream for their children, to the chagrin of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay-first) types. Sarawak is also opting out of the national policy by now teaching science and mathematics (STEM) in English. 

 

This illustrates the second problem. The “national” in national education is misleading. Instead, it caters only to Malays. 

 

Then there is the perennial ever-elusive goal of 60:40 percent ratio of “Science” versus “Arts” streaming. That had been the stated objective for decades. At least back then they took concrete steps, like building a new science block at Malay College and setting up many secondary science residential schools. 

 

Today we have gone away from teaching STEM in English except in Sarawak. Worse, we have the perversity of the so-called “science” of hadith and revealed knowledge muddying the issue. Labels are cheap, as well as easy to print and affix. Witness the current silly divisive controversy over halal ham sandwiches.

 

More important than silly streaming would be to ensure that all students have heightened science literacy and enhanced quantitative skills. If you have the latter, then you would not try to be pseudo accurate in quoting such nonsense as the current 50.83 percent achievement with science/arts streaming, as the minister did at that forum. Enhanced mathematical ability also means knowing the significance and precision of numbers and decimal points. 

 

 The government is confused over the role of religious schools. Should they be like missionary schools of yore and today’s church-affiliated American schools, or be seminaries to produce future ulama of which we already have a glut? Only a tiny portion, if any, of the students at the old mission schools or today’s American church-affiliated schools end up in the clergy. Further, what goes on in Malaysian Islamic schools is but indoctrination masquerading as education. 

 

National schools are determined to “out-Tahfriz” religious schools, and in the process driving out the few remaining non-Malays in that stream, further contributing to the segregation of the young. 

 

As for the forum’s theme of “Raising The Floor,” it is far more important to build a floor that is even, supportive, and on a strong foundation. Beyond that, help these youngsters aspire and reach their own heights. A raised but rickety floor only invites tragic accidents. 

 

 

Menilai Kecekapan Pemimpin Dunia Ketiga

  

 

Menilai Kecekapan Pemimpin Negara Dunia Ketiga

M. Bakri Musa

 

 

Kecekapan seorang pemimpin negara Dunia Ketiga berkait songsang dengan sanjungannya di Barat. Yakni, semakin tinggi pemimpin itu diminati di Barat, semakin kecil kemungkinan pimpinan mereka berkesan di tanah airnya.

 

Mendiang Presiden Corazon Aquino dari Filipina di puji tinggi oleh Barat. Dia diberi keistimewaan berucap kepada sesi bersama Kongres Amerika Syarikat. Sementara itu balik di tanah air, negaranya merosot. 

 

Sebaliknya, tiada siapa pun di Barat (atau Dunia Ketiga) teringat siapa pemimpin Taiwan. Tetapi negara itu sudah beberapa dekad telah mengalahkan China dan juga kebanyakan negari lain dari segi ekonomi dan pembangunan. Sungguh pun pemimpin Taiwan mengunjung tinggi "nilai-nilai Asia" tetapi pada satu masa lebih separuh daripada menteri negara itu mempunyai ijazah kedoktoran daripada universiti terkemuka di Amerika. Pakar kesihatan awam mereka mendapat pujian dunia atas keberesannya menghadapi wabak Covid-19. Walaupun Mandarin, bahasa rasmi Taiwan, dituturkan oleh lebih ramai di seluruh dunia, tetapi rakyat Taiwan tidak menganggap mereka tidak martabatkan bahasa ibunda dengan membelajar Bahasa Inggeris. Beribu penuntut mereka belajar di Barat. Itu tidak bermakna mereka tidak mengindahkan budaya dan institusi mereka.

 

Perdana Menteri Singapura Lee Kuan Yew dianggap oleh dunia sebagai pemimpin yang berkesan. Namun, pengiktirafan itu timbul lewat. Pada awalnya dia disangkakan hanya sebagai seorang datuk bandar biasa. Pada satu masa dia berkempen, dia ditolak ke dalam longkang. Itu bukan satu masalah untuknya dia. Malah Agensi Perisikan Pusat Amerika Syarikat (Central Intelligence Agency) pada mulanya menganggap dia sebagai seorang pemimpin biasa Dunia Ketiga yang korup. Mereka cuba merasuahinya, dan apabila itu gagal, memeras ugut dia.

 

Semua ini mukadimah panjang memandangkan kesibukan Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim baru-baru ini yang bergelumang dengan pemimpin dunia dan penampilan di pentas global yang berkilauan. Sementara itu, cabaran penting berterusan dan terus melumpuhkan negara. Yakni, akar rasuah yang cepat mendalam, institusi yang lemah (khususnya sistem pendidikan), dan pelacuran agama yang kian bergiat tanpa berhad. 

 

Tidak mungkin Perdana Menteri Anwar boleh mempelajari memerangi rasuah dengan melawat London atau Washington, DC. Mereka mempunyai bencana pecah amanah mereka sendiri. Begitu juga dengan membaiki sistem pendidikan. Sekolah di Amerika kebanyakannya hanyalah dewan besar untuk menampung kanak kanak. Tidak guna kita contohi.

 

 

 

Sebaliknya, kita lebih baik meneladani bagaimana untuk menentangi rasuah dan membaiki persekolahan negara dengan mencontohi dan belajar dari pemimpin di selatan Tambak Johor. Belanja lawatan tersebut amat murah dan perjalanannya pun mudah, tanpa “jet lag” yang melumpuhkan.

 

Seorang pemimpin yang tanpa segan silu mencontohi Lee ialah Paul Kagame dari Rwanda, Africa. Di Kigali, ibu kota negara itu, rakyat boleh makan di tepi longkang kerana ia bersih dan dijaga dengan baik. Jika Kagame boleh melakukan demikian di Rwanda, mustahil jika Anwar tidak boleh berbuat yang sama di Malaysia.

 

Mungkin dalam menghadapi ancaman puak pelampau agama Perdana Menteri Anwar boleh belajar lebih banyak lagi dari Barat yang sekular, khususnya Amerika. Perancis juga negara Barat tetapi sekularismenya jauh berbeza. Di Amerika, sekularisme bermakna tidak menyebelahi sesuatu agama dan soal kepercayaan sendiri. Sekularisme Perancis mempunyai sentimen anti-agama yang kejam. Itu adalah satu tindak balas yang sedia difahami memandangkan kekejaman kaum paderi Katolik di negeri itu pada satu masa yang lepas. 

 

Dunia serta pemimpin Islam semasa tidak boleh kita contohi untuk mengatasi ranjau pelampau agama yang kini menyerang Malaysia dan melumpuhkan masyarakat Melayu. Sebaliknya, contohi Amerika, khususnya institusi yang berkaitan dengan gereja seperti Universiti Georgetown dan Notre Dame, serta sekolah persediaan (Prep School) dan berasrama miliki gereja seperti Groton di Massachusetts dan St. Paul di New Hampshire.

 

 

Georgetown dan Notre Dame, walaupun universiti yang bergabung dengan gereja, mempunyai program Pengajian Islam yang di sanjung tinggi. Bandingkan dengan Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia di mana kitab Syiah di kunci! Groton dan St. Paul boleh di contohi oleh sekolah berasrama penuh dan sekolah Tahfiz kita. Hanya sebahagian kecil sahaja graduan Groton yang menjadi ahli paderi. Sekolah tersebut menyumbang lebih daripada bahagian mereka menjadi doktor, jurutera, dan usahawan Amerika.

 

Selama ia dalam belantara politik, Anwar mendapat keistimewaan untuk menjelajahi universiti terkemuka di Barat seperti Oxford, Georgetown, dan Johns Hopkins. Baharui hubungan itu. Jemput bekas rakan sekerjanya di sana untuk memberikan seminar peribadi kepada kabinetnya. Contohi Presiden Ronald Reagan. Dia pernah menjemput tokoh intelektual seperti George Will, James Q Wilson, dan William F Buckley, Jr., ke White House untuk makan malam merangkap sesi "tunjuk ajar". 

 

Jika ungkapan yang berkobar tanpa had mencukupi, Indonesia di bawah Sukarno tidak menjadi negara yang bangsat dan rakyatnya menderita. Betul, Churchill dengan pidatonya yang hebat boleh merangsang rakyatnya semasa perang dunia ke dua dulu. Walau bagaimanapun, apa yang mengalahkan pemerintah Nazi ialah perancangan yang tepat dan pelaksanaan D-Day yang teliti.

 

Lebih bermanfaat jika Anwar biasakan mendengar dan kurang berceramah. Seumpama orang tuan rumah, biasakan ke dapur dan jangan hanya menunggu hidangan yang endah di serambi. 

  

Gauging The Effectiveness Of Third World Leaders

 Gauging The Effectiveness Of Third World Leaders

M. Bakri Musa

 

 

A Third World leader’s effectiveness is inversely related to the West’s adulation of him or her. The more that leader is being fawned upon in the West, the less likely is he or she to be effective back home.

 

            The late President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines was idolized in the West. She was even granted the rare privilege of addressing a joint session of the United States Congress. Meanwhile back home, her nation was fast spiraling into an abyss. 

 

Few in the West (or the Third World) could name the leaders of Taiwan. Yet that nation had for decades bested China as well as much of the world. Taiwan leaders’ commitment to “Asian values” notwithstanding, at one time more than half of the Taiwanese cabinet sported doctorates from leading American universities. Her public health leaders’ handling of the Covid-19 pandemic was applauded worldwide. Mandarin, Taiwan’s official language, may be spoken by more people worldwide, but the Taiwanese do not regard learning English or studying in the West as tidak mertabatkan (disrespecting) their own language, culture, or institutions.   

 

Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew was universally regarded as an effective leader. However, his recognition came late. Early on he was treated as another pugnacious city mayor. During one of his early campaigns, he was pushed over into a monsoon drain. That did not faze him. Even the United States Central Intelligence Agency had earlier thought of him as but another of your typical corrupt push-over Third World leaders. They tried to bribe him, and when that failed, attempted blackmail.

 

All these are but my long preamble to noting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent flurry of hobnobbing with world leaders and appearances on glittering global stages. Meanwhile the three perennial critical problems crippling Malaysia–entrenched corruption, weak institutions in particular rotten schools, and rising Islamism–fester. 

 

There is little that Prime Minister Anwar could learn on combatting corruption by visiting London or Washington, DC. They have their own versions of that scourge. Likewise with fixing Malaysian schools. Many American public schools are but mass warehouses for her young, not worthy of our emulation. 

 

Instead, you can learn much on tackling both issues by visiting leaders across the causeway. Those visits would also be far cheaper and more convenient, with no distressing jet lag afterwards.

 

One African leader who unabashedly emulated Lee is Rwanda’s Paul Kagame. In Kigali, the capital city, you can eat your lunch by the roadside drains as they are so well maintained. If Kagame could do that in Rwanda, so can Anwar in Malaysia.

 

As for combatting Islamism and religious extremism, Prime Minister Anwar could learn more from the West, specifically America. France is also the West but her secularism is of a different variety. Unlike America whose secularism means state neutrality in matters of faith, France’s version has an underlying virulent anti-religious strain to it. An understandable counter reaction considering that nation’s history with medieval Christianity.

 

Anwar has nothing to learn from other Muslim countries or leaders on how to deal with religious extremism, a cancer gnawing at Malaysia and crippling Malays. Instead, learn from America, specifically her church-affiliated institutions like Georgetown and Notre Dame Universities as well as prep schools like Massachusetts’s Groton and New Hampshire’s St. Paul.

 

Georgetown and Notre Dame, despite their church affiliations, have excellent programs in Islamic Studies. However at Malaysia’s International Islamic University, Shiite literature is kept under lock and key! Groton and St. Paul would be excellent models for Malaysian residential and Tafriz schools. Only a tiny portion of Groton’s graduates end up in the clergy. Such schools contribute more than their share of America’s scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.

 

During his years in the political wilderness, Anwar was privileged to have spent time at Oxford, Georgetown, and Johns Hopkins. Renew those ties. Invite his former colleagues there to give private seminars to his cabinet. Emulate President Ronald Reagan. He used to have such intellectual luminaries as George Will, James Q Wilson, and William F Buckley, Jr., to the White House for private dinners cum “tutoring” sessions. 

 

If soaring oratories alone would do it, Indonesia under Sukarno would not have been the economic basket case that it was. Granted, Churchill galvanized the Brits during the relentless German bombings. However, what defeated the Nazis was precise planning and effective execution of D-Day.

 

Skipper Anwar should do more listening, less lecturing. Go below deck to search for and get rid of the loose nuts and rusty bolts that could sink the ship of state. Listening more and lecturing less might also prevent a mutiny.