The policies of Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he was education minister is the cause of the poor standard of English today, said DAP' Karpal Singh
GEORGE TOWN: DAP national chairman Karpal Singh has blamed former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the poor command of English among Malaysians today.
The Bukit Gelugor MP said Dr Mahathir must be held fully responsible was his policies during his time as the Education Minister (1974-1978) that started the English rot in Malaysia.
Karpal said before Mahathir was Education Minister, Malaysia was on par with Singapore in the standard of English.
He said Mathathir’s wrong priorities caused the standard of English had declined far behind Singapore.
He said a camparision must be made because Singapore was once under the Malaya and administered by the British.
“We should turn the clock back and ask Mahathir to explain on how the standard of English has declined in Malaysia.
“He should be blamed for the poor English among Malaysians,” Karpal told newsmen during his constituency visit here today.
He was commenting on findings of a forum on “Legal Education in Malaysia, The Way Foward” on Friday at Taylor’s University’s Lakeside campus.
The forum was told that both the legal education and profession were plagued by poor command of English
Karpal said the standard of English had dropped drastically not only among those in the legal profession but among Malaysians generally.
He said there were lawyers who were hesitant to speak in English and ministers who could not speak good English.
“I wonder how the ministers communicate in international forums?” asked Karpal.
He called on the government to face universal reality and correct past mistakes to improve the standard of English.
He suggested that although Bahasa Malaysia was the national language, English should be also be given equal importance, starting from education policies.
“One cannot run away from the fact that English is the international language. Even Russia and China have recognised it,” he said.
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