Dr M: Muhyiddin has given us a Malay gov't, not a balanced one

The cabinet of Muhyiddin Yassin does not give an accurate representation of the racial balance in the country, and thus is unlikely to be supported by the Chinese and Indian communities, said ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In an interview with Malay-language daily Sinar Harian, Mahathir also expressed fears Muhyiddin would turn his back on reintroducing the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI).

"The composition of the government is such that it looks like a government of Malays. But when we have the election, I don't think the Chinese will support it. Of course, the Indians will not support it.

"Therefore the majorities of the Malay parties (Umno, Bersatu, PAS) will be reduced in the next election," he said.

The new prime minister is also likely to maintain the teaching of science and mathematics in Malay because he "doe not like teaching (those subjects) in English", Mahathir opined.

He noted that Muhyiddin was the Education Minister when PPSMI, a policy championed by Mahathir when he was PM, was reversed.

"Science and mathematics are not like geography and history, those subjects do not change. Every day we hear new discoveries and new applications. So terms like application, digitalisation, artificial intelligence - are not in the Malay language.

"This language of science and mathematics is different from ordinary English. So translating it is a difficult thing to do - if we do not understand the use of science, we will miss out," Mahathir said.

He cited the example of Malaysians going to international conferences, which are usually in English.

"So our people don't understand English and (still) like to attend conferences."

'I was a language fighter'

He said his call for PPSMI is not becuase he did not love the Malay language.

"I fought for the Malay language before many people were born. In 1945, 1946 I (had) fought for the language but I preferred science. If we miss out on science, we will fall behind," he said.

He added that teaching mathematics and science would have no bearing on the use of Malay language in official and administrative matters.

"This is no problem. It's easy. During my first term (1981-2003) the (ethnic) Chinese government employees became more fluent in Malay than English," he said.

PPSMI was introduced in 2003 but scrapped in 2013, among others of the lack of teachers who could successfully teach those subjects in English. It was also found that students performed poorly in those subjects under PPSMI. - Mkini