Thesun 2009-06-12 Page14 Politics Be Damned Its English

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theSun

speak up!

If music be the food of patriotism IF YOU do a search emotion. for Negaraku on Incidentally, as YouTube you’ll find I studied musical a myriad of clips composition for my claiming to repre- by Tunku ‘Abidin Muhriz A-Levels, I once resent our national arranged Negaraku. anthem. There are The ministry might instrumental versions, many get a fit if it saw the score, of which use tacky MIDI and since it goes to 5/4 time in one synthesiser effects. There are part. But at least it was not as several choral versions, a rock offensive as the quick march interpretation and an a cappella version used in the 1990s. Still, rendition which butchers the there’s no doubt in my mind actual melody. that the orchestration in genYet, despite these deformed eral use today is vastly inferior manifestations, only one seems to the one that was played in to have caught the attention of Dataran Merdeka on Aug 31, the government, and that is 1957, which had an evocative Namewee’s rap released two suspension after “bersatu dan years ago. It seems that the maju”, and a delicious dominant authorities are more concerned seventh played by the horns on about the additional lyrics than the first “selamat bertakhta”. the quality of the music, but Curiously, the RTM broadcast this belies an important point, replaced the live performance which is that our anthem’s with a different recording which history is in itself controversial. features a magnificent trumpet We are by now familiar with the flourish towards the ending. story of how Terang Bulan came The smorgasbord of to be Perak’s state anthem, and musical variety is even more how uncannily similar Mamula visible when it comes to our Moon sounds. This is nothing state anthems. I can imagine to be ashamed of, as some of a student of harmony starting the world’s best patriotic songs at Terengganu’s I-IV-V progreshave obscure origins. Some are sion before studying Kedah’s simply copied from other coundefinitive bass line and then tries (the tune for God Save Johor’s splendid modulation to the Queen is still the national the minor. Rhythmically there’s anthem of Liechtenstein). Selangor’s frank march, KelanWhat matters is the inspiratan’s punchy triplets and Negri tion that is derived from their Sembilan’s slightly swung dotperformance. Singing an anted quavers. In terms of mood them is a deeply personal act: you have Perlis’ incredible sean aural manifestation of one’s renity to Pahang’s triumphant relationship with their nation. flurries and of course Perak’s This is essentially what Wee inevitable optimism, which Meng Chee did; and instead led it to become the federal of finding a circuitous route anthem beating submissions to prosecute him (since the by Englishmen Lord Benjamin National Anthem Act contains Britten and Sir William Walton no such provisions) we should and Minangkabau Zubir Said. investigate his concerns so that, And let’s not forget the forwardif genuine, we might address looking Ibu Pertiwiku, Sabah them so that others will sing Tanah Airku, Untuk Negeri Kita it right. It’s not a pretty thing and Melaka Maju Jaya. when the anthem is ruined, The desire to control the but patriotism is a voluntary use of certain words has also

Abiding Times

led to an interesting question regarding the singing of state anthems: it was asked whether Catholics in Johor, for example, could sing Allah Peliharakan Sultan; there has been no official response. Still, there is generally less officialdom surrounding the state anthems, which has only enriched their evolution. In the case of Berkatlah Yang di-Pertuan Besar there is only Sir Andrew Caldecott’s original melody, written shortly after the reunification of Negri Sembilan (even the lyrics weren’t constant until Tunku Zakaria Tunku Mambang’s words were adopted). This has led various musicians to continually renew the anthem, and in April the award-winning choir of SMJK Chung Hua Kuala Pilah performed two new harmonisations at the installation of the Tunku Ampuan Besar, and there will be fresh arrangements at the installation of the Yang diPertuan Besar in October. These tunes are sung to unite the people and instil a sense of patriotism, but it’s no use if the rakyat can’t then be inspired to compose new songs and write new poems of love to their nation. It is a facet of a mature democracy that national symbols can be used as ingredients for citizens to show their sense of patriotism, and yes, sometimes vent their frustration. It’s true that Sir Henry Wood’s grand orchestration of God Save the Queen has been followed by the Sex Pistols’ debasement, but it’s also spawned more respectable versions, some played at the Olympic Games. Imagine that: ordinary people creating something that can be officially adopted, instead of being fed government-commissioned work all the time. Tunku ’Abidin Muhriz is director of the Malaysia Think Tank. Sound clips for comparative purposes will be made available when this article goes online at www.waubebas.org.

| FRIDAY JUNE 12 2009

Politics be damned, it’s English comment by Kee Thuan Chye

YOU don’t have to pass English to pass Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). We have known that for a long time. A pass in English used to be compulsory when I sat my MCE (the precursor to SPM) in 1970, but that was stopped a few years later. Lately, Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has raised the question of whether

English should be made a compulsory pass. He said he was surprised to be told that it was not. “It was very revealing to me,” he said. What’s surprising to me about his statement is that he’s only just made the discovery. And he’s supposed to be the education minister – and the deputy prime minister, to boot! Don’t our government leaders have children? Where do they study? Note that Muhyiddin has raised it merely as a question – “I want to ask the public …”, “We want feedback …”, “I have not made any decision on it …” You don’t have to be a CDA (critical discourse analysis) expert to understand the subtext of his discourse. He obviously doesn’t want to upset the ultra-nationalist groups who view English as a threat to the national language despite the fact that enough discerning people have already said that one does not become less Malay, Chinese, Indian, etc, by learning English Nonetheless, it is an important question. And my answer to it is: Yes, English should be a compulsory pass at SPM! Otherwise, students will not take the language seriously. Fail, fail lah, never mind. I still pass my SPM what? That’s the attitude that has partly caused the standard of our English to go to the dogs. It all started with the wave of neo-nationalism that began after 1969 which, among other things, relegated English to an almost non grata status. I remember with some pain the years following that – when one felt somewhat unpatriotic for using English in public. Even writers like Muhammad Salleh and Syed Alwi renounced writing in English to reclaim their Malay maruah. We overdid it, as usual. At

the time, it was not foreseen by the legislators that one day, English would become the global language. And then globalisation sneaked up on us, and we suddenly realised we had lost that advantage we had three decades earlier, when we were among the top users of English in at least Asia. So what was our reaction? We scrambled for quick-fix solutions. But, as

most wise people know, such measures don’t quite work. We thought the answer lay partly in producing more English teachers, and so the government lowered the entry requirement at training colleges and some universities. Candidates with as low as a C5 in English at SPM were accepted. Today, if we were to conduct a survey of our teachers of English in national schools, we would encounter horror stories. Many would be the tales of how teachers who can’t express themselves in English properly to save their own lives are ruining our young by imparting to them the wrong grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and what-have-you. I’ve heard students recounting how they had to correct their English teachers’ English repeatedly. One memorable account concerns a teacher’s pronunciation. She was said to have told her class: “Chindillela was very pooth thing.” I have also read the writing of lecturers teaching TESL in universities, some of it even published in books and academic journals, and torn my hair out afterwards. Imagine the quality of the English of their charges, who will eventually graduate to teach English. Then in 2003 came the farce of teaching Science and Maths in English – at a time when the teachers themselves were not equipped to do so or were indeed bad at English. The government threw in the incentive of an extra allowance for teaching S&M (abbreviation pun intended), and in no time, even PE and Agama teachers were taking on the job without, firstly, having had foundation in the subjects and, secondly, proficiency in English. Soon enough, teachers were actually teaching S&M in Malay! All this seems to smack

of Malaysia Boleh! And Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the man who is often credited with coining that slogan, should be held accountable. When he was prime minister, he touted the importance of English but didn’t have the political will to push through a radical change. Teaching S&M in English was the compromise. In 2002, he casually mooted the idea of bringing back English-medium schools, but he never followed it through. Subsequent leaders have shown a similar lack of courage even when they know what the right course is. Pressured several months ago to make a stand on whether S&M would continue to be taught in English, the previous education minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, was non-committal. It is clear that politics, unfortunately, is at the base of policy decisions on the teaching of English. By floating the question, Muhyiddin is gingerly testing the waters. Any final decision will be made only when the factions that matter, including the ultra-nationalists, are in agreement with it. But politics be damned; it’s a big world out there and we can’t live under coconut shells. We need good English to reach beyond our little land. Politics only complicates what is essentially a simple issue. If English is made a compulsory pass, the implementation of the policy has also to be above politics. It has to be carried out with honesty and in the true spirit of excellence. We cannot have half-past-six teachers misguiding the students. We cannot lower the passing mark for English just to allow more students to get through their SPM as we have been doing for this and other subjects. This would be making a mockery of the whole plan and its purpose. It has to be impressed upon the students that doing well at English is a serious thing that they must take seriously, and if they don’t, they will be failed, pure and simple. The issue of race should also not be considered. If this cannot be ensured and the government doesn’t have the political will to see it through, then there would be no point in discussing the issue further. Kee Thuan Chye, recently retired from being a full-time journalist, is an actor, writer and playwright. His latest book March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up has been translated into Chinese. Comment: letters@thesundaily. com