RACE and 1Malaysia have occupied my thoughts in the last few weeks. It can’t be helped, given the articles I’ve had to write on both subjects of late. I’ve almost reached saturation point listening to people debate the meaning of 1Malaysia. Last Friday, 24 July, I attended a forum where a small group of academics, […]
mother tongue
The language of equality
By Wong Chin Huat(Background pic by Sophokles; Queen Elizabeth I pic public domain. Source: Wiki commons) NOT surprisingly, the debate on the reversal of the English for Teaching Science and Mathematics (known by its Malay acronym PPSMI) policy is largely framed as a zero-sum choice between English and the so-called “mother tongue” languages. Many opponents of the reversal […]
