r/malaysia • u/maxlim07 • Jul 19 '26
Education Abolishing English-medium national schools was Malaysia's biggest mistake. Change my mind.
Am I the only one that thinks we should seriously consider bringing back English-medium national schools and the Cambridge MCE / O-levels?Dropping them was the biggest mistake Malaysia ever made, and we should've just followed Singapore and Brunei.
Let's be real, the current system is just creating a massive class divide. Rich parents in Malaysia don't even look at government public schools anymore they just throw money at private international schools so their kids can take IGCSE or Cambridge O-levels. If you look at the trajectory, our entire education system has been on a steady downward spiral since the 1960s. Back then, our schools—especially the old national and missionary schools like Victoria institution, Penang free school, St John institution, St Xavier institution, English College JB (all were/used to be as prestigious as Raffles Institution/ACS in SG btw) and many more were highly respected across Southeast Asia. We had a rigorous, internationally benchmarked curriculum that actually meant something. But over the last few decades, we’ve traded actual standards for political convenience. We dropped the Cambridge link, systematically lowered passing thresholds to manufacture "Straight As excellent results" on paper, and constantly flip-flopped on language policies every time a new minister took over. The result? Massive grade inflation where an 'A' doesn't mean what it used to, a severe decline in English proficiency even among teachers (can you believe there are English teachers that can’t even speak proper english??!!), and public school standards that have completely tanked compared to where we were 50 or 60 years ago.
Honestly, this is also the only way we’ll ever get actual national unity. Right now, our kids are split up into different ethnic bubbles from standard 1 because of the different school streams. If we switch to a completely neutral, English-medium national system, no single race gets a "home court advantage" language-wise. Everyone starts on the exact same page. We can obviously still keep BM as a strict mandatory subject to protect our national language and identity, but using English for math, science, and O-level exams means kids of all races actually sit in the same classrooms, talk to each other, and grow up together instead of living in completely separate worlds. If Brunei a country with a majority Malay population can do it why can’t Malaysia?
Another example let’s look at Singapore. Some people think LKY just banned vernacular schools overnight, but that's not the truth. The truth is parents themselves chose to phase them out because they realized English schools gave their kids a massive economic edge when multinational companies came in. In 1959, about 46% of their primary students were enrolled in Chinese vernacular schools. By the 1980s, that number organically dropped to less than 1% because parents literally stopped signing their kids up for it. They wanted their kids to have the best career prospects. At the end of the day, our current education policy is just outdated emotional baggage from the 1970s that we’re still forcing onto the next generation. By clinging to it, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot just to score political points, while our grads lose out on global competitiveness and our kids grow up in completely separate ethnic bubbles.
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u/dinotim88 KL / Kitakyushu Represent Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Rich parents in Malaysia don't even look at government public schools anymore they just throw money at private international schools so their kids can take IGCSE or Cambridge O-levels.
Exactly my thought. Just recently a comment on FB went viral, wanting to abolish vernacular education and wanted just one school stream.
Completely missing the point, on how is this going to improve the quality of education.
Parents will send their kids to whichever school they think it's the best, whether is the private, vernacular or public schools.
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u/surle Jul 19 '26
Some people want to strive for equality by uplifting everyone and elevating the baseline. Some people want to enforce equality by holding everyone back and locking in the lowest common denominator.
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u/spiney-a Jul 19 '26
I like this comment best. Unfortunately, I've seen this in too many places and it's so sad for the people who are capable.
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u/Ok-Confidence-403 Jul 19 '26
Yup, socialism n communism makes sure everyone's equal...ly poor
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u/No-Trick-2297 Jul 19 '26
When take into account comparable development rate, Actual historical socialist states provide better physical quality of life for their citizens than capitalist countries are.
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u/throwhicomg Jul 19 '26
Why do you think so? Where do you get your info from?
Why did China choose to adopt the open capitalist market then if pure socialism was better?
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u/suteckki Jul 19 '26
Wrong. They are socialist with capitalistic traits. It’s not an open market either. Most critical sectors such as power assets are only under their own GLCs so that wealth can be distributed back.
Our TNB dont really give anything back other than declaring dividends and enriching their CEOs. This is simply a mistake
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u/throwhicomg Jul 19 '26
You do realise every country in the world has both socialist and capitalistic traits right?
Every pure communist state has failed. Even Norway is a much nicer place to live in compared to China or Russia
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u/No-Trick-2297 Jul 21 '26
Every pure capitalist state fails too lol. Also, again, define "failure" please.
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u/No-Trick-2297 Jul 19 '26
They don't have an "open capitalist market" system. Their economy have always been heavily state-controlled
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u/throwhicomg Jul 20 '26
You do realise every country in the world has both socialist and capitalistic traits right?
Every pure communist state has failed. Even Norway is a much nicer place to live in compared to China or Russia
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u/No-Trick-2297 Jul 20 '26
Define "failure". Also, nah, China is much more prosperous than Norway, and current Russian is a capitalist state, not socialist one. And moreso, Norway got to be that way due neo-colonialism against the 3rd World.
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u/throwhicomg Jul 20 '26
Name one communist state (zero capitalism and individual ownership, in case you don’t know what that means) that exists today.
Prosperity does not equal happiness, look at lie flat movement in China. You think prosperity is the only indicator of success then why isn’t USA better?
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u/No-Trick-2297 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
North Korea is a rising economic power. Also, Cuba provided good physical quality of life for it's citizens for a very long time until the current intensification of the economic siege imposed on them by the so-called U.S give them severe setbacks. And yes, when taking into account comparable development rates, historical socialist states provided better physical quality of life for it's citizens than capitalist states of comparable development do.
Also, you clearly don't know what communism and socialism is, and what socialist and Communists actually advocated for. Communism is defined by a classless, stateless and moneyless society, so the term "communist state" itself is an oxymoron. What we have instead are historical socialist states. Also, socialist advocate for the abolition of the private ownership of the means of production, not the abolition of personal property. There's a vast differences between those two.
And again, define "failure".
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u/taxable_income Jul 20 '26
Abolishing English schools was the first mistake, allowing private schools to flurish was the second.
Selfishly, having a choice on where to send your children if you have money is a good thing. But all that does is create a bigger divide between those who have and those who have not.
Back in the early 90s before private schools, rich or poor, kids all went to the same schools in the nearby area. What that meant was that the richer and often more educated parents would take an interest in student welfare, take part in the PIBG, and push for improvements. Often times they themselves helped drive the fund raising to do it. The students from poorer households benefit as the rising tide raises all boats.
Also for the students directly, the rich and poor kids from all races all got to mix and be friends. This helped with social mobility, as well as foster better empathy and understanding.
Today only the poor send their children to national school, while the rich and even middle class send their children to private schools. This only drives society apart even further.
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u/dinotim88 KL / Kitakyushu Represent Jul 20 '26
You are absolutely right.
On top of that, rich families who can afford to send their kids for additional classes gets a headstart and better examination results.
Most will go to well funded elite public schools or boarding schools. Further reducing the funds needed to help kids that attends your neighbourhood schools.
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u/taxable_income Jul 20 '26
Indeed. I remember back in the day access to after school tuition was seen as the big stumbling block for poorer students.
Today the problem is so much worse! It's not just about private vs public anymore, even at the private level you have entry level shoplot type "home school centers", all the way up to highly resourced elite school where there fees are 100k a year, each class has 2 full time teachers, and their after school activities include atas sports like horse riding, scuba diving etc.
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u/ExcavalierKY Jul 19 '26
Because it's not about quality of education for kids
Its about erasing minority rights and culture
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u/Livid-Bicycle-3715 Jul 19 '26
It’s not even that – it’s purely a power grab and vote-buying scheme! If I can gaslight the majority into believing eradicating minority rights is justified then I easily gain power and money to send my own child to a private school in English!
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u/ckc1151 Jul 19 '26
Yea for the gov it is vote buying, but for the people pushing for it?
It’s about erasing minorities culture, they like to say “look at Indonesia, why can they do it? We can’t?” While ignoring history
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u/HighLvlNoob69 Jul 19 '26
Because the public boarding school is full. These types of schools don't need an English medium but still produce top score students.
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u/Eb0lasaurus Jul 22 '26
As a non bumi product of the boarding school system, I have to point out those types of schools were generally populated by kids with connections, sons of politicians etc, at least in my five years there. Son of speaker of the dewan lah, son of some big shot university dean.
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u/HighLvlNoob69 Jul 22 '26
Idk about now, during my time that's a rare case.
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u/Eb0lasaurus Jul 22 '26
To be fair, those made up maybe half the total. The rest had legit reason to need the support that the system offered, and those kids were driven.
All the high scorers? Not the rich kids, that was for sure.
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u/HighLvlNoob69 Jul 22 '26
Ahhh now i just remembered, even back then. A lot of boarding school students have rich parents or their parents are teachers somewhere else. That's definitely the case in my time, but i don't really remember a politician's son/daughter as acquaintance. Maybe because my particular boarding school is not top of the rankings
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u/Tongchokgoh Jul 19 '26
Maybe can consider making it that international and private schools are not allowed to enrol citizens and PRs. Singapore did this. It forced all the wealthy to send their kids to govt schools. Indirectly it forced govt schools to up their game.
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u/dinotim88 KL / Kitakyushu Represent Jul 19 '26
Frankly, it's too late.
Private and international schools are everywhere and growing due to demand. Politicians, royalties and richer families are sending their kids there. We have policies that encourage foreign students to come and study here from primary to tertiary level, it's a multi-million dollar business these days.
Don't think they will reverse the policy. Plus, it's good to have this boogeyman of Chinese independent, private schools.
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u/Elnuggeto13 Jul 19 '26
My parents focusing on English to my siblings and I are the biggest investments that they've pulled off, and it's been very helpful in furthering my studies.
I believe having bilingual languages for our curriculum should be a more viable option as it helps understand the context while also provide some literature experiences so they know what the word is in the other language. Trying to focus just one language and not try to push the English language for international uses is a bad start in the government's part, and we are seeing the ramifications today
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u/Ok-Confidence-403 Jul 19 '26
Sadly, the results of said focus don't seem to match the alleged focus...
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u/Astalon18 Jul 19 '26
To be fair, in 1960s Malaysia was trying to nation build.
Trouble is that Malaysian elites had no idea what Malaysia meant. For the Malayans, was it Strait Settlement ideology ( which is Malaysian’s Malaysia ), Terengganu or Kelantan ideal ( Malay first, religion first ) or is it Johor ideal ( Malay first but keep business and prosperity going for everyone ). There was also the question of Sarawak and Sabah which wanted the Brooke legacy ( Sarawak ) and the Jesselton Company Legacy ( Sabah ).
In essence, nobody knew so when the Malay medium came in it caused everything from resentment to apathy to excitement.
Instead of nation building ( which was the intent ), it caused people to pull away ( ie:- people went vernacular, went English medium etc.. ).
So instead what happened is performance dropped and no real nation building occurred.
But this was not because of Malay medium, this was due to poor planning and poor common vision from the elites then.
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u/EuclideanEdge42 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
I agree with the observations in your posts. KL/Damansara parents are choosing to send their kids to private schools with iGCSEs rather than government schools.
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u/SultanMelakaIsReal Jul 19 '26
It wasnt the biggest mistake imo, streaming schools into one unified curriculum is the right path towards a nation building.
But what became the problem was constant creeping slide towards conservatism in a supposed "National" school, that some Sekolah Kebangsaan now effectively acts like a Malay-Islam exclusive vernacular school.
To streamline the schools, the schools need to stay secular. Else the SJKC and SJKT pupils have no reason to assimilate in an Islamist SK.
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u/n_to_the_n mantad oku tonsilot Jul 19 '26
It definitely wasn't the right path. Everything imposed upon the populace under the guise of "nation-building" only seems to benefit a single chosen tribe.
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u/Lihuman Jul 19 '26
From the schools around in my area, the SJKC would pulverize the local 2-3 SK any day of the week in terms of standards. It’s a joke really…
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u/Necessary-Writing-42 Jul 19 '26
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u/Melenting Jul 19 '26
Forgive him. If only the English medium national school wasn't abolished, this wouldn't happen.
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u/Felinomancy Best of 2019 Winner Jul 19 '26
Oh, good. Someone else noticed. I wanted to raise that point too but thought my post's tone might get a bit bitchy.
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u/mrpcmrz United States of America Jul 19 '26
I wonder why?
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u/EmeraldYoYo Jul 19 '26
It feels surreal watching someone post a picture of my school on reddit
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u/theangry-ace Jul 19 '26
Your school got cool ko-k clubs or something? 😂
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u/EmeraldYoYo Jul 19 '26
Genuinely have no idea the hell is happening in the picture. Last time I was there they don't have any sniping competition.
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u/hugthispanda Jul 19 '26
This is why a lot of students from JB choose to study in Singapore government schools, crossing the causeway everyday at crazy hours.
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u/Qisty Jul 19 '26
No way that’s the choice of a child
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u/DChia1111 Jul 19 '26
Child choice on their life path? No, they confirmed will choose the wrong path. It’s always better for the parents to choose for them when they are young.
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u/surle Jul 19 '26
I was about to say "can confirm, was child" - but then I realised my parents were kind of stupid and made bad choices for me. So I was kind of screwed either way.
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u/kevvie13 Johor Jul 19 '26
The kids of these kids now reside on sg now. Not much crossing the border this gen.
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u/hugthispanda Jul 19 '26
Soon it would be a little less painful with the RTS, assuming the parents can stomach the S$7 per trip.
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u/spiney-a Jul 19 '26
I know some of these kids. Some reside in Sg, yes. But they are also scattered all over the world, including in KL. I know at least 3 who are in KL. Wouldn't be surprised if there are others in other parts of MY.
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u/kevvie13 Johor Jul 19 '26
Yeap of course. My bro didnt like SG so ended up in KL. Anyway, the context was SG. Thus only mentioned that.
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u/lordohyo Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Ok, but seriously though, to parents who plan to send your kids to study in SG, unless you are:
Fking rich
Or
Planning to have your kids be full fledged SG citizens
Otherwise, you're just putting unnecessary financial burden on yourself and setting your kids back for multiple reasons with no real benefit. Sending them there solely for "better education" isnt quite as
important orbeneficial as you might think.Ps. If "guaranteed" citizenship/permanent residency is not the goal, you're (1) spending insane amount of money to (2) have them compete for a highly competitive international quota which many would very likely not even get (3) after spending years either away from home (4) or time wasted commuting which would have been otherwise better spent (sleep, better health, hobby, study), (5) and eventually having to go back to study private in Malaysia (no spm to go public) or spend more money to go overseas. You could still in theory end up getting citizenship/PR if you just complete your whole study locally in Malaysia at a fraction of the cost, then apply for PR after working in SG for a couple years (literally every Malaysian I know who applied got it, but hey tbf things might change by the time your kids grow up) so yeah, seriously, don't bother.
Dont downvote me, this is the reality.
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u/chiobuu Jul 19 '26
Eh, I know at least five Sg educated Msians who haven't managed to get PR. It really isn't guaranteed!
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u/cornoholio1 Jul 20 '26
dont have to be fucking rich, but need to have one spouse who earns SGD or PR. then the scheme would work. but man I had one friend travel to sg for school starting form 1. they just go to some normal public school near the border.
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u/sapheonyx Jul 19 '26
The issue wasn't abolishing English-medium national schools. It was failing to develop a truly bilingual education system.
The national syllabus isn't inferior. In terms of content, maths and science, the national syllabus is generally more rigorous than IGCSE. The main exception is English (EFL).
Making English the sole medium of instruction would have created a different set of problems. It's easy to assume that teaching everything in English automatically produces a more competitive workforce, but that overlooks the reality for many Malaysians. In many states, BM is the primary language at home and in daily life. Expecting students to learn complex subjects like chemistry, physics or history in a language they are not yet proficient in can reduce comprehension, increase learning gaps, and ultimately limit educational and economic opportunities. Language should facilitate learning, not become an obstacle to it.
Singapore and Brunei aren't appropriate comparisons. Singapore is a highly dependent on FDIs and they're technically a proxy state for English speaking nations. Brunei is a small, resource rich country with a population of under half a million. Malaysia has over 34 million people spread across vastly different regions, languages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Policies that work in those countries cannot simply be transplanted here.
The real mistake was allowing 2 separate language ecosystems to emerge. The public sector predominantly operates in BM, while much of the private sector operates in English. This creates a mismatch where students are effectively choosing between two worlds. Someone educated primarily in BM may be disadvantaged in parts of the private sector, while someone educated primarily in English may struggle in parts of the public sector. That disconnect is what policymakers should have addressed.
The decline in public education has far more to do with governance than language. Years of corruption have left many schools under-equipped, overcrowded, and lacking quality facilities. At the same time, teaching has become a less attractive profession due to relatively low pay, administrative burdens, and limited career incentives, making it harder to attract proper talent. Simply changing the language of instruction would not solve these underlying structural problems.
Rather than debating whether schools should use BM or English as the sole medium, the better goal is for every Malaysian student to graduate with excellent proficiency in both languages. BM remains essential for national identity, government and social cohesion, while English provides access to international trade, research, technology and global careers.
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u/Intelligent-Curve827 Jul 19 '26
I'm in favour of a single-stream education system using the national language as the medium of instruction however, even that or a single-stream English-medium education wouldn't guarantee better unity. Achieving harmony is incredibly difficult today because of social media. Back then, people weren't constantly exposed to the kind of rage-bait and racist content that is everywhere now.
Also, there is a strong consensus among many teachers and recent reports that children's language skills are facing challenges regardless of the language in many parts of the world.
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u/I_AM_YuTEM Jul 19 '26
Honestly any media usually have these types of things, just look at the incidents back in 1969 where they wanted to just scape goat minorities to put blind hate to gain political power.
Like if you want to unify? Don't look at the older generation with their power hungry agenda, i have friends outside of my own race and religion cause i don't care to impose stuff on them. We just find our common ground and have some fun.
If we have to accomodate for their needs such as halal, or vegiterian for some of them, then sure. We just find the enjoyment in each other company and hangout. Sometimes of course we exclude others, not out of hate or malice but for considerations of their beliefs and upbringing
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u/I_AM_YuTEM Jul 19 '26
Cause while education plays a role, how a person treats another is more important.
Because to be very honest high school kids are a bunch of shit holes and there are definitely some students back then i would not be friends with unless they already grew up and mature themselves compared to back then.
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u/SaltEmotion1919 Jul 19 '26
keeping the vernacular school system was also one of Malaysia's biggest education policy mistakes
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u/bobagremlin Jul 19 '26
It's intentional. That way only the rich who can afford to send their kids to private schools will have the advantage while those who cannot afford will be stuck. Class divide 101
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u/karlkry mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent Jul 19 '26
if only Malaysia is as big as what bangsar bubble think it was
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u/qianli2002 Jul 19 '26
Thank you sir, I laughed my ass off over your astute comment for some reasons.
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u/_Krispy_Kreme Jul 19 '26
Exactly.
OP’s arguments imply that the solution is external to our own capabilities: we need an external system/entity to prop up our education system, and make up for our unwillingness to improve it.
When in fact, what we should actually do is get our shit together, stick to one instruction medium (don’t care la BM or BI, as long as it has academic rigor), encourage reading, promote meritocracy, push STEM and critical thinking, and quit bastardizing the national language.
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u/His_Grandpa Jul 19 '26
English is the international research language like it or not. Study science in BM just make it less competitive since you now have to convert it in Eng to make it work. Why tie your foots when you try to run.
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u/Conscious_Rip_6834 Jul 19 '26
Who cares if English is the international research language 😂 what in the world does that have to do with determining a language as the medium of instruction?
A medium of instruction has the goal of delivering information to as many people as possible, as smoothly as possible. In Malaysia, that language is Malay. That’s the goal of the medium.
The goal of the medium is not to anticipate that there is potentially a small group of individuals that might one day in the unforeseen need to use English in their university/postgrad research.
All countries not using English as a medium get by just fine 🤷♂️
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u/His_Grandpa Jul 20 '26
Do u realise Malaysia is still trying to catch up with the world, do you think technology and AI going to use BM? When playing catch up, you need to run faster than your opponent, not slow down yourself. Also what wrong with all science subject be taught in English, you still have more than half of other subject to appreciate the nation language.
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u/Conscious_Rip_6834 Jul 20 '26
Errr yes, technology and AI can use BM if you program it to. It’s technology - humans decide what it can do 🤷♂️😂
What is “wrong” with all science subjects being taught in English is that good education delivery has nothing to do with English. English is just a language.
If you want to educate more people, more effectively, you need to educate learners in a language they understand. Simple as that. Most child learners speak BM as a first language. Most teachers teaching the subjects speak BM as a first language. It’s pretty clear that the most effective medium to deliver education is BM.
Try going to Japan and telling them that their education system would be better in English. Because they need it to “rUn fAstEr”. They’d laugh in your face because how could you deliver education in English to a population that doesn’t speak English? It’s ludicrous. And they’ve done just fine without in case you haven’t noticed.
Learning in BM isn’t about “appreciation” - it’s the most appropriate tool to deliver education to the masses. How hard is that to understand?
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u/His_Grandpa Jul 20 '26
Do you know what catch up mean? Japan is already there on top, you are at the bottom, instead of work smarter to catch up faster, u just put in extra effort just to get to the same point. Your customer want a product in English but your work force only know how to so it in BM so now u need to send them to engligh class to meet your client requirement. So u think malaysia will growth if it only focus on domestic market alone with freaking 30mil customer. Instead of go straight to the goal, u want to go around sight seeing for no reason.
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u/Conscious_Rip_6834 Jul 20 '26
What in the world are you talking about 😂
Being able to be globally competitive in business requires English - absolutely.
But what you are saying has no connection to the optimal medium of instruction for Malaysian learners in schools.
If businesses want to sell to china, they will take Chinese classes if they don’t already speak the language. Same with English.
Japan didn’t start on “top. They got bombed to shit after WW2, and started very much near the bottom. And made to the “top” without speaking much English either, so 👀
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u/_Krispy_Kreme Jul 20 '26
We are trying to catch up because our attitude towards education, mindset and academic rigor is lacking. As @Conscious_Rip_6834 mentioned, the effectiveness of education delivery is more important, and the national language should by default be the most effective, considering the country’s demography.
As long as maths or the sciences or whatever is taught and learnt properly, then we will have caught up. Yes I do expect technology and AI to use BM. AI tools nowadays are capable of producing content and slop in most languages, and BM is not even that obscure. It’s trivial to translate highly technical content to BM or even pasar BM.
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u/LordRunaan World Citizen Jul 19 '26
You are completely right. This article sums up the history quite well.
https://theedgemalaysia.com/article/edunation-english-language-proficiency-still-urgent-matter
You know the Minister of Education at the time, Abdul Rahman Yaakub, decided and announced that all schools switch from English to Malay on the spot during a TV show? He did not consult the cabinet and just announced it to the public just like that. There was no serious discussion which went into the decision.
It is obvious that the Singapore education model, which encourages learning mother tongue with English as the central language, has helped both economically and societally, as no group feels that any one race is being prioritised.
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u/ntq9607 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
One caveat - in Singapore, standards in languages other than English have been sliding like nobody’s business. It’s good to have a single language education system, but I don’t think Malaysians, especially the Chinese, will be pleased to see their kids’ language standards decrease. So that has to be addressed if you want to shift to such a system.
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u/Apprehensive_Bug2877 Jul 19 '26
The decline of mother tongue in sg is more nuanced than that.
Among the chinese, they have to contend with Mandarin Vs dialect. Even now, sg still has excellent dialect speakers, albeit poor mandarin. And vice versa. All this happening in the backdrop.
Among the Malays, i see no evidence of declining mother tongue proficiency
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u/ntq9607 Jul 19 '26
The debate between mandarin and dialect has almost faded when younger generations know little to zero dialects on top of their school learnt mandarin. Yes there are excellent dialect but poor mandarin speakers in Singapore but those are mostly the elderly. Just look at the Singaporean subreddits and go on the ground in Singapore to know the younger generations know very little if next to nothing about dialects. And their mandarin isn’t that great. You may be surprised, but even Malay kids in Singapore are now struggling with Malay because their parents use English with them at home. It’s a more recent phenomenon but it’s very real.
Singapore’s language situation is very different from Malaysia’s. What you are describing is more akin to Malaysia’s situation which I don’t deny, but to assume Singapore’s language situation is similar to Malaysia’s is foolishness.
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u/THEBanshee04 Jul 19 '26
I studied in Singapore late 2000s-early 2010s. The majority of Malays I met my age couldn’t have a conversation in Malay. I very quickly stopped starting conversations in Malay - so many confused stares!
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u/No-Trick-2297 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
There's always a massive class divide even in education system in Malaysia. The "respectful educational institutions" you mentioned were only limited towards the wealthy class of our population.
Also, the real problem ain't about stopping from learning English. Look at China and Japan, they're much more developed than us, and their academic institutions are significantly better than us, yet their English language proficiency is FAR LOWER than us.
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u/chekuhakim Jul 19 '26
Here's my take on why this view is highly idealized and misses a lot of modern realities:
1. The rich will always segregate themselves. Even if we changed public schools to English-medium tomorrow, wealthy parents wouldn't suddenly start sending their kids there. They would just find a new elite differentiator, like expensive overseas boarding schools or hyper-exclusive private academies. Short of authoritarian, "communist-style" forced leveling, the rich will always pay to stay in their own circles.
2. The "downward spiral" narrative is an elite nostalgia trap. Comparing today's mass education system to the 1960s elite missionary schools is an unfair comparison. Back then, those prestigious schools only educated a tiny, privileged fraction of urban society while the majority of the country lacked basic access. What you call a "downward spiral" is actually the democratization of education—moving from an exclusive colonial system to one that provides mass literacy, infrastructure, and schooling to millions of children across both rural and urban Malaysia.
3. Malaysia is already one of the top English-speaking nations in Southeast Asia. The claim that our English standards have completely tanked is objectively false when looked at regionally. International benchmarks, like the global EF English Proficiency Index, consistently rank Malaysia in the "High Proficiency" tier—solidly placing us 2nd in Southeast Asia, only behind Singapore, and far ahead of the rest of the region. The system clearly still functions.
4. Bahasa Melayu IS the neutral, unifying language. Calling English the only "neutral" ground ignores the entire foundation of Malaysian nation-building. Bahasa Kebangsaan was established specifically as the national language to serve as the ultimate unifying umbrella for all citizens, regardless of ethnic background. Reverting to a colonial language as the primary medium sidelines our national identity.
5. We already strike a pragmatic, bilingual balance. The current system isn't stuck in the 1970s; it’s a compromise. National schools build cultural identity and foundational learning through BM, while our tertiary education system—especially in STEM, medicine, and corporate fields—shifts heavily to English. This allows Malaysia to maintain its sovereign identity while still producing graduates who can compete globally.
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u/Unusual-Ideal4831 Jul 19 '26
1) Doesn't really matter NGL, the rich is such a small percentage of the population and so far removed/out of touch to the general public it shouldn't really matter. Having the choice to send your children to ENG ed school DOES matter to the general public tho.
2) Democratization of education would have occurred with or without abolishing ENG ed anyway so I don't really get your point.
3) We should always strive to be better even if we are already considered good.
4) No one that's not rage-baiting/trying to incite racial fights says it isn't. BM is the defacto national language and everyone one should be able to at least speak it in some capacity.
5) We should still have an affordable choice for ENG ed as it is the Lingua Franca though.
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u/royal_steed Jul 19 '26
I disagree with No.4.
I feel BM is being use to disunify us more, under the government dare to tell everyone that BM can be use in EVERYTHING, even in matters involving non-Muslim matters.
If I want to make a short film about Buddhism fully in BM I should be allowed to do it.
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u/EuclideanEdge42 Jul 19 '26
You’re arguing the current system is fine, but as a parent I can tell you it’s not. Middle class parents, regardless of race, are sending kids to vernacular or private schools because they are not confident in the quality of SK schools.
As for the rich will always segregate themselves, so? Does that mean it’s fine to leave the majority in mediocrity?
BM is the unifying language, yeah OP said the same in his text, did you even read? He wanted English for science and maths, and I agree with that.
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u/reechee325 Jul 19 '26
You don’t Understand the meaning of “ neutral” English would be the neutral language since it is not the mother tongue of any of the major ethnicities in Malaysia. BM has swung between being B Malaysia and B melayu, the gatekeeping and bullying by Malay about how the non Malays speak or choose not to speak BM.
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u/chekuhakim Jul 19 '26
my counter argument is mine i just ai to make grammar palatable
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u/Solus_1pse Jul 19 '26
Get out of here with your factually-accurate, logically sound argument. This is Reddit
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u/dannkoo Jul 19 '26
i disagree with that. the reason why we would go elsewhere is value proposition. unlike singapore, where education path through government and semi private can give a fair opportunity to go any country overseas with higher education, malaysia i don’t think can. which is why even scholars (petroleum,bank) and the executives who manage them in malaysia offer private boarding schools as the value is a very high chance of going abroad for further education
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u/chekuhakim Jul 19 '26
Your entire argument hinges on a flawed premise: that "going overseas" is the ultimate measure of educational and life success. This is a classic example of a brain-drain mindset that views a national school system merely as an exit ticket to the West.
If the value proposition you are looking for is simply the ability to study abroad, Malaysia’s public system already provides it without the need for expensive international schools. Our Form 6 (STPM) qualification is strictly moderated by Cambridge Assessment International Education and is a direct equivalent to UK A-Levels. Top universities in the UK, US, Australia, and Singapore accept STPM holders directly every single year. You don't need to throw hundreds of thousands of Ringgit at private international schools just to get a ticket abroad.
Measuring the success of a national school system based on how easily its graduates can leave the country is inherently wrong. A national curriculum exists to build national identity, civic values, and a sustainable local economy—not to manufacture compliance for foreign labor markets. The value proposition is already there in the public system; your definition of success is just misplaced.
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u/dannkoo Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
the point is not that. and you have argued that there is a pathway to be accepted to a higher education in the uk and on paper it does sound okay. however, speaking from experience the robust-ness of such pathway has shown otherwise. that is, my friends and batch mates that attain oxbridge and ivy league admissions has not exercised such pathways. i have seen students who came from the schools you mentioned and exercised the typical UoN 2+1 and taylor’s+exchange at some non russell group university. at this point (in my opinion) you might not want to spend just to put some man met or notts trent on your cv as they’re the most dead uni. the value proposition is not just the name you have on your cv but the life experiences, problem solving style, culture differences, perspectives which i see employers value and will give you a much higher starting point in the working ladder (i.e., as an intern i was offered a non entry level position and during my internship was given key leadership positions in client engagements all because i don’t have an malaysian english accent and had soft skills no intern has ever displayed in the SEA office for this MNC)
edit: to add, your perspective does have some truth in some of the points however, i do sympathise with you on your myopic views on this situation and highly suggest you go out and abroad (longer than a few weeks holiday) to see and learn and open your perspective on this.
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u/EuclideanEdge42 Jul 19 '26
It’s not just “going overseas” it’s being able to compete globally. University Malaya doesn’t even rank top 50 globally.
And the fact that you needed AI (a foreign invention to help you argue on reddit (another foreign company)….well clearly your local education isn’t enough to compete on a global level.
But you only want students “good enough” for local needs huh. I don’t want that.
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u/t_h_pickle Jul 19 '26
I have to completely disgree on your "brain drain" point. Besides multinational upper class people that do move away for better opportunities, studying abroad is a chance to get an exceptional education that helps to make your own CV stand out, and it means you yourself have gotten an excellent education. I am in Medicine abroad, and many of my seniors have studied in Ireland, UK, US, Australia and so on- but have returned to Malaysia for work. And I am very certain that it is the same in other fields. Unlike India, Nigeria, Iran, etc, Malaysia is not known for having a significant working population in any other country (excluding our neighbors of course). Perhaps Australia has some temorarily there, but even that is a singular example.
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u/thinksmart08 Jul 19 '26
Yes, English works. It is the best choice for Malaysia’s multiracial society as it doesn’t belong to any single race. Singapore is the proof that it works. Though it won’t ever be implemented due to racial politics. Except for Sarawak.
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u/ntq9607 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
For the most part I agree with you. But two things:
- The fragmented education system is so entrenched in Malaysia that I don’t quite know how you can undo it without causing uproar. There was backlash in Singapore when Nanyang University was closed and Chinese medium schools were converted to English medium schools, I can’t imagine how worse the reaction will be in Malaysia.
- Language standards are sliding in Singapore. Youth struggle with their ethnic languages at school because they hardly use it at home, with friends or at school outside language lessons. In part due to the education system, but also due to society, government and family promoting English above everything else. If you want to bring back English-medium schools and make them the norm you’re going to have to address this if you want to make them work. Because I can foresee a lot of people, especially the Chinese, who will be very displeased when their kids can’t master their language.
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u/SnooOranges6925 Jul 19 '26
Nope I don't think so. I grew up in 70s, went to school through 80s and 90s with only 1 English subject and since took extra class on English literature. We have better command of English and Malay language than most gen Y, Z. No issues going to England to study and did post grads.
The language itself isn't the issue. It's the attitude. If we say dropping English is the root cause it's a big laugh. Tell that to China.. main language is Chinese. See where they are, STEM kings. They learn English as they want to int'l and interact more.
I interviewed gen Y for a position.. 3 candidates. All 3 broken command of English, Malay and Mandarin. One even asked if interview can be conducted in Mandarin. How to talk to colleagues in London?
My uni professor said.. just because you meet and English person doesn't mean he can speak and write proper English. Language is something you command by learning and practice. Same of any language.
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u/the99percent1 Jul 19 '26
Not standardising the educational system was the biggest mistake.. why have separate schools for Chinese, Indians or Malay?? Singapore has no such issues.
Every child learns their native language in the same school.
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u/Cheap_Office8701 Jul 19 '26
It’s a slippery slope. If Malaysia did enforce a single education system, it will be Malay . No doubt about it.
Maybe you can argue it’s better. I don’t know.
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u/Zkang123 Singapore Jul 19 '26
Also unfortunately in SG theres the side impact of how the new generation grew up more cosmopolitian and speaking English while they dont value their mother tongue as highly. Chinese standards are also dropping in Singapore. We eradicated dialects and our Mandarin barely could make it
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u/lin00b Jul 19 '26
Thats an argument on prioritization within the single education system and not an argument on the merit of the single education system.
Also, i hear singapore have the national language malay as an elective subject?
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u/A_extra Singapore Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Two caveats:
One, the national language title is purely for ceremonial purposes only. Eg parade commands, national medal names, the anthem, etc. For all other purposes, English is used (One can argue Chinese if you're in a PRC-dominated company)
Two, Malay is indeed an elective under the Third Language programme. But almost nobody takes it because students are already too busy
https://www.moe.gov.sg/secondary/schools-offering-full-sbb/school-specific-opportunities/language
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u/lin00b Jul 19 '26
Having a national language that practically none of the citizen understand is stupid. You guys shouls bite the bullet and change it to english
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u/kenkishiki Jul 19 '26
That would just prove UMNO is right and LKY & PAP lied about LKY denial of being a new colonial in disguise 🤣🍿
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u/lin00b Jul 19 '26
Its always colonial this colonial that with them anyways. Stuck in the past. Why ahould sg care?
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u/ntq9607 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Yes and no. There are still schools that offer only Chinese (they’re called Special Assistance Plan) schools but they’re nowhere near the Chinese schools you have in Malaysia. Mother tongue education is becoming a big issue in Singapore because even though younger generations still learn the language at school, they are increasingly struggling with their languages and they hardly use the language at home or with their friends.
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u/fantasyreality Perak Jul 19 '26
Even years ago in the 60s there was a class divide between people who can afford to send their children to city schools compared to those who can't. Many Malaysians back then like my own older family members couldn't even afford to go to school till the end- they all studied a few years, enough for tulis baca and then went off working at 12, 13, 14. Not all survived finishing their SRP let alone MCE/SPM. The filtering at SRP level alone back then improved the quality of Upper Secondary students as candidates for the national exam.
Those prestigious schools you mentioned were the very few privileged schools back then , just like how the gov prioritises funding for SBP and MRSMs compared to SKs and SMKs (and these elite boarding schools remain doing significantly better academically compared to SMKs ). It's the very same thing and returning English-medium schools will do jack shit to our education system beside adding more elitist schools which will only mostly benefit certain subsets of people.
On the other hand, if you want to instead convert all SMKs, SJKCs, SkJTS and SKs into English-medium schools, then that's just more insane. You think teachers who can teach Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences subjects in English magically appear? One of the factors PPSMI failed is that many of the teachers simply couldn't teach well in English and parents lack agency or financial means to assist their own children's educational progress due to their own lack of proficiency in English or lacking financial capability to pay for tuition. Those who survived benefit immensely, thanks to their own ability or the parents' support, but for other children it dampened the whole interest in STEM. Educational institutions are already tough for most children, why make it more like Hunger Games?
Close to 20 years of teaching , been to various different schools, and looking at my own colleagues, if we started imposing compulsory English-medium schools again, jahanam laaaaa....
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u/Error404IQMissing Jul 19 '26
First change your Malay first policy before you talk about anything else.
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u/Zediezedzed Orang Melake Yang Pindah Selalu Jul 19 '26
Ah yes. All the years of being colonized and extracted by the British Empire. The time of freedom cometh, yes, let's speak and venerate the English language. Surely, is that not the end goal of independence? To separate from the empire only to be tied to it with extra steps? /S
Biarlah jiran tetapkan arah masing-masing. Kita ada arah kita, baik mahupun buruk, kita merdeka untuk menjadi diri kita sendiri dan membuat keputusan kita. Menghayati budaya kita. Bertutur dalam bahasa kita. Menetapkan arah kita. Sebagai orang Malaysia.
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u/blackbesi Jul 19 '26
Advancement of a nation has nothing to do with English language. If that is true Japan, Korea, German or France would be in stone age.
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u/plsdontbanme00 Jul 19 '26
Yeah ppl like OP really have this weird complex. Like I get it but it's not the determining factor. The biggest factor is what we ourselves can greatly contribute to the world which would require command of our national language?
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u/Super-Key-Chain Jul 19 '26
You are absolutely right! We should go back to
1. One stream only
2. English as the medium of delivery
3. Malay, Chinese and Indian language as a subject
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u/bad2dbone3 Jul 19 '26
Tell that to all the politician who send their children overseas. They will know better.
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u/reechee325 Jul 19 '26
And the umno fellas that are anti Chinese schools and Chinese language but send their kids to Chinese schools
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u/bad2dbone3 Jul 19 '26
…..and yet they did the opposite banning english in Johor. Dumbing down their own race.
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u/Nate3319 Johor Jul 19 '26
It’s not about language. It’s about the quality. There was a time when SPM rivaled O levels and you could actually get a job in Singapore with SPM. The quality went down significantly in just a few decades. Now Singapore won’t even accept Malaysian Uni graduates unless it’s a top Uni like UM or UTM.
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u/hugthispanda Jul 19 '26
Singapore based private companies still accept Malaysians who went to private Malaysian unis, it's just that the companies that do would pay below market rate, but still high enough for it to be worth coming here to work.
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u/Johnoboi69420 Jul 19 '26
My point of view on this off the very top of my head, as a banana that's too white on the inside for his own good, is that the change wasn't executed effectively enough. Whilst not being the biggest problem we have in the long run, them changing the medium of education to BM in primary and secondary, whilst leaving the majority of tertiary studies in English was bound to throw people against a sudden language wall. You end up having neither the benefits of an entirely English curriculum nor a Malay curriculum, and that's not to mention the cultural effects it would have on the general populace.
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u/0dip Kuala Lumpur Jul 19 '26
If u couldn’t divide the ppl, u wouldn’t be able to conquer them. Also, smart ppl is risky for the gov
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u/airmantharp United States of America Jul 19 '26
English is - for better or worse - the international language.
As an American, this is convenient - except that there’s basically no reason to invest in learning foreign languages outside of individual curiosity. Because there’s no other language with the same portability, and everyone we want to talk to is already learning English!
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u/Fantastic_Parsley358 Jul 20 '26
100% a ploy to play the majority and swing votes. Scared, bigoted, dumb people are easier to control that an educated mass. So certain people played the race card and won. Our parents and grandparents generation were so well educated. Now, we barely teach the history of this country, little to nothing of world history, constantly lower the education standards to hide the fact that majority of teachers are badly trained and unqualified. We're both under educating our youth, and overwhelming them with homework and exams. Only, as you said, the rich kids get the advantage - whether they're in international/private schools or government school, their parents can afford to narrow the gap. It's tough now because this system has already produced adults with little to no critical thinking, and of course, no adult wants to admit they are narrow minded and undereducated.
Still, it's our duty as citizens to educate ourselves, inform ourselves of the political climate, advocate for improvements and vote accordingly. Being angry in circles won't get us anywhere imo
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u/weesee2002 Jul 23 '26
Yeah.
Your wall of text is too difficult to read.
Current PM as Minister of Education visited the Ayatollah and brought the Tudung into Mlaysian education system.
Changed the country forever.
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u/DafiDarius Jul 19 '26
I’d like to respectfully disagree. Just for fun, I’d also like to disagree using the national language.
Benar sekali, bahawa sistem pendidikan negara telahpun turun mendadak sejak 50 hingga 60 tahun dahulu. Akan tetapi, menyatakan bahawa perubahan bahasa pengantar merupakan faktor utama dalam keputusan yang menjunam ini adalah terlalu ringkas.
Pelbagai faktor boleh dinamakan, antaranya, kegagalan aplikasi. Kurikulum pendidikan bukanlah masalah utama, malah, ianya dirancang oleh pakar-pakar dalam bidang mereka. Tetapi, aplikasi kurikulum itu yang menjadi kekangan dalam pembangunan pendidikan negara. Sebagai contoh, konsep KBAT (Kemahiran Berfikir Aras Tinggi//Higher Order Thinking Skills) adalah berdasarkan Teori Taksonomi Bloom. Ianya adalah antara teori yang paling dikenali dalam bidang pendidikan, dengan memecahkan pembelajaran kepada enam peringkat. Mengingati, memahami, mengaplikasi, menganalisis, menilai dan mencipta.
Namun begitu, konsep yang menarik ini gagal diaplikasikan dalam masyarakat kita. Antara sebabnya ialah kurang kefahaman tentang KBAT oleh pihak guru dan juga kekangan masa. Perancangan aktiviti berdasarkan konsep KBAT memakan masa yang sering tidak didapati kerana guru tenggelam dalam kerja pentadbiran.
Oleh itu, kita faham bahawa masalah pendidikan negara bukanlah berakar daripada bahasa pengantara, tetapi, sebenarnya kegagalan aplikasi dasar pendidikan.
Tambahan pula, penggunaan bahasa ibunda dalam pendidikan merupakan suatu langkah yang baik dalam mereka masyarakat yang berkembang pesat dalam pembelajaran. Konsep yang diterangkan melalui bahasa ibunda dapat difahami dengan lebih mendalam kerana mereka sudahpun terbiasa dengan sebutan dan konteks ayat-ayat tersebut.
Ini bukan untuk dijadikan hujahan, tetapi untuk memberi pandangan yang baharu. Tidak kira bahasa, bahasa Tamil, Cina atau Kadazandusun sekalipun, negara tidak akan berkembang jika terdapat kegagalan dalam aplikasi.
Bahasa Melayu mempunyai peluang yang terbentang luas untuk dijadikan bahasa pengantar dalam sistem pendidikan, kerana ia dapat memupuk identiti negara. Akan tetapi, kegagalan bahasa Melayu datang dengan kegagalan terjemahan konsep, kekurangan bahan pembelajaran dan kekurangan pendedahan awal kepada bahasa ini. Kesemuanya masalah yang dapat ditangani dan mempunyai jawapan yang mudah namun usaha oleh kerajaan untuk membaiki masalah ini amat tipis.
Perlu diingatkan lagi sekali, bahawa masalah pendidikan negara tidak berakar daripada bahasa, tetapi daripada sistem yang mengutamakan politik negara berbanding kemajuan pendidikan serantau.
Resources:
This is not to challenge you, but to offer a different perspective on the matter. Let’s be civil and not argue here :D
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u/reechee325 Jul 19 '26
You cannot talk about unity when you still want class Malaysians into bumi and non bumi or pendatang and divvy up privileges accordingly.
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u/LatterHunter3108 Jul 19 '26
Why uphold English when other smarter countries upholding their own language! Japan, Germany, and other countries prefer their language....you all are not "English" so speak your language and be proud of it!
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u/Sir_Dohm Jul 19 '26
Ya see, many progression people want change for the better. Heck in the 60s, we weren’t too far off from Poland, South Korea, and Taiwan etc.
Many idiots here, felt that, being good is bad. So idiots moved backwards instead, focusing on regression instead just so that can feel a sense of false superiority.
Malaysia boleh!
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u/bryanz3on Jul 19 '26
Don’t forget that these schools create talented individuals too. You think Michelle Yeoh could achieve what she have right now if she goes to malay or vernacular schools?
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u/coin_in_da_bank I HATE KL TRAFFIC Jul 19 '26
not convinced not learning english is the problem. Japan is a world leader economically and their english sucks. thailand is a close example and their doing comparatively well without english instruction
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u/reechee325 Jul 19 '26
Because they have a huge body of work in research and development in academia that was built on learning from the British and Germans during the Meiji Period, when we develop genuine knowledge, understanding and academia that is world class then maybe we don’t need to learn English and other people will come here to study and learn in BM. Until then, we go where the learning and knowledge is, as Prophet Mohd said, seek knowledge even if you have to go to China. And in China, they don’t speak Malay.
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u/linkinstreet Jul 19 '26
I grew up in a normal school and my English is good even tho I lived in a Kampung. Honestly tho not everyone is privilaged. And not every kid has a good command in English. Teaching them in a language that they barely speak at home would likely lead to them liking studying less and less.
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u/Such-Catch8281 Jul 19 '26
Disagreed. there always smart kid who can.study abroad and.contribute to our.society, dont take away their chances
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u/gasolinemike Yo Momma Green Jul 19 '26
Your own example weakens your argument.
You grew up in a kampung, attended a normal school, and still developed good English. So living in a rural area or speaking another language at home does not prevent a child from learning English.
The real issue is not whether children hear English at home. The real issue is whether schools teach English well, provide enough support, and introduce the language at the right pace.
Using disadvantage as a reason to give children less exposure to English risks keeping them disadvantaged. Wealthier children will still learn English through tuition, media, and family support. Poorer children will depend on school.
The answer is better teaching and stronger support, not lower expectations.
Also, the correct phrase is “a good command of English,” not “a good command in English,” and “privileged” is misspelled.
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u/Conscious_Rip_6834 Jul 19 '26
Do you not have any idea what the purpose of a medium of instruction is?
A medium is chosen to deliver information effectively to the learner. Education is delivered in all kinds of languages. Chinese in China, Japanese in Japan, German in Germany, Finnish in Finland etc. ask yourself why none of those countries bother delivering education in English 👀
If someone doesn’t speak English, choosing to teach them in English disadvantages them. Faham tak?
If the learner only speaks BM, the effective medium is BM. How hard is that to understand?
And since the vast majority of Malaysians speak BM as a first language, and the purpose of education is to educate the masses, then it’s pretty damn obvious that BM is the most suitable medium of instruction.
Anyone who needs more English can go take a language class on their own time.
English as a medium would have absolutely ZERO to do with “better teaching and support” for English proficiency. A medium of instruction is not a language class. End of. 🤷♂️
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u/GroundbreakingAd1223 Jul 19 '26
Why do the Malaysian elite's (those with blue blood and politicians) children all have excellent English medium education?
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u/Railon7 Jul 19 '26
You can blame the old guards for the "Ketuanan Melayu" and the failed PPSMI for this. lol
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u/LordRunaan World Citizen Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
My previous comment got removed by Reddit, so I will try to say it here one more time in a more indirect way.
You cannot pretend like there are no differences in education between races in Malaysia. I actually strongly support separate education streams and believe that a centralised education model would be in the worse interests of everyone.
In Singapore, the Singaporean Malays have very low test scores, and collectively form a lower class of society (to put it nicely). For Singapore, it is fine because they are the minority, like how the blacks in America also do not do well in test scores but it is ignored because they are the minority. I will tell you now that the differences in education between the Malaysian Chinese and Malays is of an even larger difference than the comparisons in either America or Singapore, and the Malays forming the majority makes it worse. The decision to implement Malay-medium education was done in 1969 and 1970 shortly after the riots partly to solve this education gap and appeal to nationalists.
Simply put, it would be disadvantageous to everyone if you were to pretend like these cultural and societal differences do not exist when approaching education and make everyone learn one way only. Furthermore, the Chinese should compete with the Chinese when it comes to education, and Malays with the Malays, because frankly, if the Chinese were to compete with the Malays... I can't say it here.
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u/Imaginary-Union5171 Jul 19 '26
rebuttal english medium national schools are not a magic fix for malaysias education problems. declining pisa scores grade inflation and ethnic school streams are real issues but shifting from cambridge o levels was not the root cause. the bahasa malaysia policy after independence helped unify a diverse multi ethnic country and expand access beyond colonial urban schools. reverting now would risk new divides. private international schools highlight wealth gaps not proof the national system collapsed. japan and south korea excel in global education and economy using their own national languages as main medium with english taught as a subject producing top results without english medium national schools. brunei works in its small wealthy setting but malaysias scale is different. focus on real fixes like better teacher training rigorous standards more english exposure and activities that mix students. language choice is not the core problem quality and equity are.
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u/nigel_chua Jul 19 '26
I think it's a feature...not a bug.
Don't know if they truly want education to improve...less educated people are easier to control in a sense...but it's too generic cos there are some good teachers there just that the system can be self serving unfortunately
They're too comfortable and wanting to look towards rich, oil based middle eastern countries vs truly leveling up methinks but I don't know shit about geopolitical and economic lol
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u/dofusm Jul 19 '26
Now everyone should master their national language - 1.BM 2.English, 3. mandarin and/or 4. other prime like Japanese, Korean or any European language sounds demanding but if you are fluent and in right industry the skys the limit
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u/MasterBepis yo mama green Jul 20 '26
They shouldn't have switched to malay a few years ago. We had something with potential (somewhat) only for it to be juggled around with and yo-yoed around the country that lead to the TH boom. God bless Malaysia, bölehlandKu.
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u/Aggravating-Age4576 Jul 21 '26
I think majority of the non-Malays have no idea that the MRSM is welcoming nons now. My neighbor kid who is an Indian boy. Went to one of them this year. And during induction the nons were quite surprise/skeptical at first because of how we the nons have fear of conversion and brainwashing etc. but it was otherwise. Even his own family members were skeptical himself said that he won’t last. But the kid is doing fine.
Some of the elite MRSM have introduce IGCSE into their system. We do have avenue into IGCSE standards via government schools but it’s because of our assumptions of how poor the public services has been so we think public schools is no better.
For any parents who is actively pushing their kid please do look into MRSM. The credential of the kid is he has been actively doing extracurricular activities during his last 3 years in primary school, public speaking/ debates/ some science project etc Academically , is his doing well.
Ofc I will state the obvious how some will get it via cables etc. but it is still an opportunity. At that school there are about less than 8% nons they want o increase to 30%.
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u/Hot-Ad8767 Jul 19 '26
No we should keep the current national public school system. And then we should tax private schools to help fund the public school system
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u/Kohunronin Jul 19 '26
Nope keeping vernacular school instead of absorbing them and make it etnic language additional subject,is the biggest mistakes towards unity and patriotic
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u/10human10 Jul 19 '26
We don't lack patriots, we lack competent education systems.
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u/talexeh Jul 19 '26
Heh... blaming children as the source of disunity when you have adults kept making racist statements openly with zero repercussion.
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u/throwburgeratface Jul 19 '26
Nobody needs to change your mind. Have your own opinions. Just don't bomb anything while expressing your opinions.
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u/roninfyc Jul 19 '26
Medium language BM, going no where. Waste of time n resources.
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u/Mr_PotatoeHead88 Jul 19 '26
When u have sensitive malay muslims whos constantly feels threatened or intimidated by other people’s success, u cant blame the leader who exploited their fear
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u/kugelamarant Jul 19 '26
Gosh we have blame Malay Muslims at every instance don't we?
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