10 TELLING IT AS IT IS theSun | TUESDAY AUGUST 18 2009

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Scene: Riverside Café, PWTC. doing it. But I have heard else-

Muslims are better

MOHAN: Muslims in Malaysia are
so lucky. I wonder whether they
realise it.
Azman: Why do you say that?
Aren’t non-Muslims in this country
lucky too? I think we all are. We
have peace and security and we
don’t go hungry.
Mohan: But Muslims have
something extra.
Azman: What’s that?
Mohan: Security for their soul.
Chong: Yes, Azman. Every-
thing that can possibly be done to
keep your soul out of harm’s way,
Satan’s way, is being done. Even
temptation is put out of your way.
Mohan: We non-Muslims have
to take care of our souls ourselves.
It’s tough for us.
Chong: Unlike Muslims here
those in Indonesia, the world’s
most populous Muslim nation,
have to take care of their souls
themselves. So it is in Egypt, Iraq.
Mohan: With so many laws
in place to prevent you from sin-
ning, halal food and with so many
lectures in mosques, in university
lecture halls, on radio and TV to
remind you of the fire of hell your
soul must be in a pristine state.
Chong: So how can you be
destined for anywhere else but
heaven, Azman. Lucky you. As for
Mohan and me, alas, we probably
will be elsewhere. Pity though you
won’t be with us.
looked after
Mohan: Easy indeed to be a
Muslim here. You can’t even get to
be tempted because all those things
that can affect your soul have been
taken out of your way.
Chong: You are discouraged
from frequenting pubs and night-
clubs. You can go but if there is a
raid by the “morality police” you
are in for some embarrassing mo-
ments. You cannot gamble.
Mohan: There is always the
threat of being caned.
Chong: The Muslim month of
Ramadan begins at the end of this
week. You must fast. You can be
arrested and punished for not fast-
ing. So how can you not perform
your religious duties. Maybe one
day they will even mark your at-
tendance at Friday prayers.
Mohan: The authorities are at-
tempting to do many more things
to protect you from doing things
where that it is entirely up to the
individual to do good like being
charitable and to refrain from do-
ing immoral things.
Azman: Yes, I heard a foreign
expert on Islam once say that there
is a reminder in the Quran that in
WhatTheySay
by Zainon Ahmad
discouraging people from doing
immoral things an ulamak should
remember that he can only remind
and that he is not a dictator.
Zain: Yes, I heard something
like that too. But with all these
laws our ulamak or religious of-
that can get you “demerit points”. and according to the guidance my ficials actually have very little to
Azman: They are? parents and my religious teachers do in terms of keeping their flock
Mohan: Yes. For instance there have given me. out of harm’s way. The laws are
was an attempt to make beer una- Mohan: But you can’t. The doing it for them already. And so
vailable in convenience stores in constitutions are no longer the relax. Why bother visiting families
Muslim majority areas. truly secular constitutions of the in his area occasionally to see how
Chong: In doing all these early days. The authorities have the they are doing, whether they need
things and attempting to do many power and can act against you. anything explained or clarified and
more to “protect” Muslims it is sad Azman: But they cannot leg- reminding them of their religious
that they have forgotten us, as if we islate on matters of morality and duties and to refrain from immoral
don’t matter or we don’t exist. things like that. And they cannot activities. They don’t have to do
Mohan: And they are protect- enforce those rules. Can they that. And even if some members
ing you from deciding to become Cikgu? of his congregation do not like his
denizens of hell by making sure Zain: But they can. Under patronising ways and the way the
you cannot opt out of your reli- the amal makruf nahi mungkar religion is being administered there
gion. (enjoining the good and forbid- is little they can do about it. They
Chong: How fortunate and ding wrongdoing) injunction of can’t leave their religion anyway.
lucky you all are. Still I’d rather the Quran they assume they can So why bother about establishing
stay where I am. do anything to protect you against rapport with them. They cannot
Mohan: Amen. temptations. In other words using stray. They will have to remain in
Azman: But I don’t want to be force to protect you against your- the flock forever. That’s why there
protected. I don’t want the enforced self. are those who stray away quietly.
protection. I want the freedom to Azman: Can they do that? Azman: Careful, Cikgu. You
act according to my conscience Zain: Well, they are already can be accused of insulting Islam.

letters
letters@thesundaily.com

She was proud Opt for respectful, honest discourse

to be Malaysian
A 1990 group photo of Ogilvy staff that ap-
peared in the August issue of The Edge which
featured Yasmin Ahmad and me brought back
a flood of sweet memories. It was a point in
time when our ships docked at this port before
setting sail again in different directions.
Considerable tributes and accolades have
in the past weeks been showered on Yasmin in
the print and electronic media but maybe I can
highlight a facet of Yasmin many of her fans
would like to know in memory of her.
I was part of the interviewing panel for a
fresh intake of account management staff for
the agency in the late 80s. Yasmin applied and
this was the turning point in her life. She was
definitely not suitable for the job in question
but how could we turn away a simple Malay
girl, who admired Mother Theresa and made
a huge impact on the interviewers with her
divergent and out of the box thinking? She was
a breath of fresh air to the agency and an asset
to the creative department. It was here that
she had the freedom to blossom and bloom
to her full potential.
She had such a positive impact on all
agency staff with her sweet smile and caring
ways. We loved her enough to let her go when
opportunities presented itself and rejoiced
in her successes as she diversified into film
direction.
It was a pity when not everyone could see
the value of her contribution to nation building.
She was Lat’s equivalent in the audio-visual
media. Both shared the same vision of mould-
ing a Malaysian identity explicit through their
work.
She was promoting 1Malaysia 20 years ago!
Her award winning commercials and feature
films single mindedly promoted a united Ma-
laysian race, proud to be Malaysian.
It is easy for creative people to excel within
the luxury of working on big budget accounts.
However, Yasmin’s creativity was explicit in
award winning work she did for me and my
clients on extremely limited budgets as well.
That was the test in true creative brilliance. All
my clients loved her, even the more difficult
ones.
Yasmin is not only a loss to those who knew
her and had the pleasure of working with her,
but to all Malaysians. Her mission on earth was
done and she had to sail on to new horizons.
God bless her and the loved ones she left
behind.
Angeline Lesslar
Subang Jaya
KEE Thuan Chye’s comment, “The Malaysian
way to better English” (Aug 14), finally lets the
cat out of the bag on what happens in many
of the closed-door, high-level brainstorming
meetings and consultations conducted by
the government on controversial or sensitive
issues such as language policy, culture policy,
history curriculum, religious concerns, etc.
The truth appears to be that in many of
these dialogues (and even more so in the
official seminars and workshops) the private
sector and NGO participants invited to the
meetings (in this particular case some of the
Asian top educationists in the country) have gener-
markets ally failed to voice their honest concerns and
opinions.
dive on In one part of his letter, Kee explains that
grim US “most of us at the meeting were too polite to
consumer bring this out”. By “this”, he refers to a whole
set of concerns related to the politicisation
data of the language issue, the way in which the
pg 13 vision on English has “always been short
term”, the fear of stoking “the ire of certain
interest groups”, and so on.
Instead of discussing how narrow sectar-
ian political interests have opportunistically
taken the country backwards and ruined
the future of our young children by this flip-
flopping language policy and speaking their
minds on how the official language policy in
education needs to be reformed or the ne-
We have to improve teacher training
I REFER to “Teaching children to fail” (Aug 17)
and agree with Citizen Nades that “You can’t
please all the people all the time.”
A wise man once said “Formula for failure
... Try to please everybody.” Let us look at
one of the main problems in education. Every
employer survey you read states categori-
cally that the “lack of fluency” in English is
one of the biggest concerns they have. Even
the EPF’s top officers say that they have
problems with their investment officers lack
of fluency because reports of any kind are in
English. Wisma Putra, Mampu, etc, all have
the same issue. Academics from Malaysia
now shun presentations at international
conferences and meetings because aca-
demic staff lack fluency in English. Malaysian
students in tertiary education have difficulty
because they lack fluency in English.
I think there will be very little argument
that the “lack of fluency in English” is a major
problem. And we cannot keep up with the
cessity of bringing back the English medium
school, this group of presumably some of our
finest professional minds in the country on
language issues appears to have engaged in
waffling or beating around the bush.
As Kee notes, “we dutifully confined our-
selves” to issues such as “training, marketing
and pedagogy” and even “what to avoid if
grammar were to be taught explicitly”!
Further Kee writes that the “meeting was
a sad reflection of what we are – a people
who are rich but are afraid to cultivate our
wealth and let it blossom, and all because
of our insecurities. We fear opening our
minds so we deny our children access to
our vaults.”
That indictment is of course appropriate
for the political opportunists and language
supremacists who have jumped on the “me-
martabatkan” Bahasa Malaysia bandwagon.
But it is equally an indictment of all at the
meeting who had the privileged opportunity
to put their honest concerns and opinions
across, and who failed to do so.
There may be important psychological
underpinnings that explain why many gov-
ernment-conducted dialogues with selected
individuals or organisations from the larger
society end up in blind alleys or dead ends.
One Malay colleague explaining this phe-
nomenon to me recently has stressed the
advances in science by teaching and learning
it in Malay in an “Internet world”.
Most people, including those in govern-
ment, agree that we have major problems
due to the lack of fluency in English. Accord-
ing to the deputy prime minister, we spent
RM4 billion to teach maths and science in
English over the last six years and now we
have decided to scrap it. Yes, we did not do
well with the implementation of the maths
and science policy. So do we scrap the
policy because implementation was poor?
Imagine, if we are told that from next year
there will be no maintenance of MAS aircraft
because the engineering division is not doing
a good job. Do we throw the baby out with
the bath water? We just have to train our
teachers better so that they can teach maths
and science in English.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s plan to start
language training in preschool is excellent.
If we can establish good government funded
psychological and cultural advantage and
superiority of the civil service conveners
organising and running these meetings and
the position of inferiority and subordination
of the marginalised minority groups and
individuals invited to them.
Perhaps this is the case but what is
probably just as important are the material
and personal advantages that come with
either ingratiating or playing along with the
prevailing system or at least not offending it,
and the disadvantages that are perceived to
come along with dissent or disobedience.
Kee ends by pointing out “It’s as we say,
the Malaysian way”. I hope he is wrong. It
may have been the way of those who have
been invited to these meetings and who for
various reasons have failed to speak their
minds or chosen to look the other way.
For the sake of our future, this Malaysian
way needs to be replaced by another one
based on respectful but free, frank and hon-
est discourse, however sensitive the subject
is.
After all if we cannot speak our minds in
private, how can we ever have a larger public
discussion on the matters that we deem
important to our lives?
Dr Lim Teck Ghee
Via email
preschools throughout the country and if the
main focus is to “reinforce Bahasa Malaysia
and strengthen the use of English” then we
will take an excellent first step to solve two
major problems.
First, children from poorer socio-economic
backgrounds will get the opportunity to learn
both languages. With this they can cope with
their studies in school. As we know most of
these children do not attend any preschool
or attend preschools that strengthen their
mother tongue.
Second, the children of the different races
will have the opportunity to mix with children
of the other races for the year or two they
are in preschool.
With the above, we need to continue
teaching maths and science in English, while
improving the training of our teachers.
Concerned Malaysian
Via email