SURVIVE & PROSPER WITH ENGLISH

Rafidah on English

Master English or nation will lose out
By Carol Murugiah ; 8th. August 2004, NSTP

The decline of proficiency in English language among Malaysians is a cause of concern, especially when the language continues to be an important communication tool in an increasingly competitive and borderless world.

Ignore the language chauvinists. Master the English language. Or else, prepare to lose out as a nation. This was the message from Wanita Umno chief and long-serving International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz ,who lamented the declining standards in English among Malaysians, in particular, bureaucrats, students and diplomats.

“At one high level official presentation, the word yield was consistently misspelt as yeeld on the screen,” says Rafidah.

She added: “At another official dinner with foreigners in attendance, the host said, ‘I want to thanks you’ for being here.” “I shudder to think what the foreigners thought of us.”

Rafidah, the second-most senior minister in the Cabinet, said mastering English "does not make one less Malay or less Malaysian". “Patriotic does not mean one should be parochial.” You are no less Malay or Malaysian if you speak English.

She said people in a position to push for greater proficiency in the English language must not be cowed by critics of the Government’s emphasis on mastering English as a second language. The critics who equated the learning of English as akin to sidelining Bahasa Malaysia were small in number, she said, adding that these people were themselves proficient in English and wanted to prevent the younger generation from mastering the language. Mastering English, which is the global language of communication, diplomacy and commerce, would enable Malaysia and Malaysians to do well and compete effectively in the world, she said. Malaysians who communicated well in English, she added, would contribute more to the nation than those proficient only in the national language. "Please think of the country’s needs and of its future. Language is a tool to develop the country and if we have limited English language skills, then it will be difficult to communicate with the world in science and technology and other newly developed fields."