Teaching Mandarin, Tamil at schools a far-sighted move in Malaysia
Saturday, 3 July 2010
YC Tan
The Malaysian government's decision announced Wednesday to teach the Mandarin and Tamil languages at all national primary schools from 2010 will deliver positive impacts to the country economically, socially and politically.
In this highly competitive world where things change rapidly, commanding a new language will only add advantages to an individual as he or she is empowered to communicate with people around the world well.
After the financial crisis that swept across the globe in 2008 and 2009, Asia is now perceived as the locomotive leading global economic recovery, with China and India being increasingly significant to the region and the world.
The two populated Asian nations' gross domestic products grew by 8.7 percent and 6.5 percent respectively in 2009 when many other countries suffered low, or even negative, growth.
With more and more Malaysians speaking the languages of Mandarin or Tamil, it will be a lot easier to establish business ties with the respective countries as the communication barrier is eliminated.
The Malaysia-China trade and Malaysia-India trade stood at 36 billion U.S. dollars and 7.06 billion dollars in 2009.
Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said recently while there were still economic challenges in the United States and several countries in Europe, Malaysia had placed hope on Asian countries such as China and India.
When residents in the two countries are getting richer, their demand for goods will eventually increase, creating huge markets for Malaysian exporters to penetrate.
While China and India have also advanced in technologies over the past decades, mastering Mandarin and Tamil will allow Malaysian students to access, study and absorb the knowledge developed by the two nations in their future endeavors.
Malaysia is a country made up of three main races, namely the Malay, Chinese and Indian.
While there are some 5,800 national primary schools in the country, there are also some 1200 national-type Chinese primary schools and 520 national-type Indian primary schools in the Malaysia that are also run and administered by the Malaysian Education Ministry.
All classes except languages courses are conducted in the mother tongues in these vernacular primary schools.
Most Chinese and Indian parents send their children to Chinese and Tamil primary schools respectively so that their next generation will be able to converse well in their mother tongues.
As certain quarters view that the co-existence of the national and national-type primary schools in the country will polarize the multi-racial and multi-religious society, the Malaysian government said that its new initiative will help reverse the situation.
It is undeniable that students of different races lack opportunities to mingle together under the country's primary school education system, but their interaction is expected to be improved in future when students of a race study a different language.
The ultimate outcome will be the creation of a nation whose citizens are committed to creating solidarity and unity while embracing the rich and diversified culture of different races.
-- Xinhua
The Malaysian government's decision announced Wednesday to teach the Mandarin and Tamil languages at all national primary schools from 2010 will deliver positive impacts to the country economically, socially and politically.
In this highly competitive world where things change rapidly, commanding a new language will only add advantages to an individual as he or she is empowered to communicate with people around the world well.
After the financial crisis that swept across the globe in 2008 and 2009, Asia is now perceived as the locomotive leading global economic recovery, with China and India being increasingly significant to the region and the world.
The two populated Asian nations' gross domestic products grew by 8.7 percent and 6.5 percent respectively in 2009 when many other countries suffered low, or even negative, growth.
With more and more Malaysians speaking the languages of Mandarin or Tamil, it will be a lot easier to establish business ties with the respective countries as the communication barrier is eliminated.
The Malaysia-China trade and Malaysia-India trade stood at 36 billion U.S. dollars and 7.06 billion dollars in 2009.
Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said recently while there were still economic challenges in the United States and several countries in Europe, Malaysia had placed hope on Asian countries such as China and India.
When residents in the two countries are getting richer, their demand for goods will eventually increase, creating huge markets for Malaysian exporters to penetrate.
While China and India have also advanced in technologies over the past decades, mastering Mandarin and Tamil will allow Malaysian students to access, study and absorb the knowledge developed by the two nations in their future endeavors.
Malaysia is a country made up of three main races, namely the Malay, Chinese and Indian.
While there are some 5,800 national primary schools in the country, there are also some 1200 national-type Chinese primary schools and 520 national-type Indian primary schools in the Malaysia that are also run and administered by the Malaysian Education Ministry.
All classes except languages courses are conducted in the mother tongues in these vernacular primary schools.
Most Chinese and Indian parents send their children to Chinese and Tamil primary schools respectively so that their next generation will be able to converse well in their mother tongues.
As certain quarters view that the co-existence of the national and national-type primary schools in the country will polarize the multi-racial and multi-religious society, the Malaysian government said that its new initiative will help reverse the situation.
It is undeniable that students of different races lack opportunities to mingle together under the country's primary school education system, but their interaction is expected to be improved in future when students of a race study a different language.
The ultimate outcome will be the creation of a nation whose citizens are committed to creating solidarity and unity while embracing the rich and diversified culture of different races.
-- Xinhua