I was schooled in sekolah kebangsaan from Standard 1 up to Form 5. In my secondary school, English was the common medium even though it is a sekolah kebangsaan. Our teachers basically taught us almost all subjects in English; Bahasa Melayu being the exception. Maybe Pendidikan Moral too, but I can't remember. But the lingua franca in school was English. Everyone spoke English. Yeah... text books were in BM but our teachers spoke in English. My classmates all spoke English. Nobody had any complains. In fact, I'll be surprised if the Principal walked into our class and started sumbat-ing us in BM. So you can see that the environment that schooled me made be very comfortable, no, i correct myself, most comfortable in an English medium environment.

But I guess my teachers were quality cikgus. English or BM was not a problem to them. Did you know that my Form 5 BM teacher was a Chinese guy? Cool. But that's out of context. I've been told that the quality of teachers today has deteriorated - steeply. Teaching was a passion back then. Today, teaching is merely a job to many teachers. Of course there are exceptions, but unfortunately, exceptions mean that they are a minority. The teachers today are the result of our failed education system over the past few decades. I should not dwelve further to describe the state of this failure or its causes or what is and what not. That will be too much to write. But FAILED it is; capital F, yes. And our teachers today are also the products of some poor teachers' college and ever changing education system and syllabus. Sistem lingkup!

As in many things in Malaysia (except for prices of goods), English in Malaysia has taken a nose dive in the past 1-2 decades. Look at the command of English of our young adults and school kids today - what a shame. My English is barely acceptable but these people speak Martian. I read resumes and conduct interviews. So, this is not a made-up nightmare of mine. Horrible English is very real in Malaysia. But what do you expect when their teachers cannot differentiate 'is' from are' and 'you' from 'your'? Well done, Mr. Education Ministers of the years.

But is it of anyone's concern that our English is so poor. Apparently not. Politics are more important. Our Ministers have to please the nationalist Malays whose missions in life are to protect the Malay language and culture konon. Our Ministers have to please MCA and the other Chinese gung-hos who breathe and eat Mandarin and Chinese culture. Don't get me wrong. Culture is important. But there are other ways to protect ones culture. Risking the future of the next generation is not one of it.

The Malays argue that the Japanese, Koreans, French and Germans do not study in English. But let us be honest and realistic. We are Malaysia. We all know where we stand. And we all know how the country is being run. (Yes, it's all the government's fault). Unpatriotic I may sound (though I am not), we are no Japan. Neither are we Korea (shame shame shame), France or Germany. Why live on a lie and fantasy?

The Chinese language supremacists will lecture you on how China is exploding and how important Mandarin will be when China becomes Captain Earth. But while the day is still not here yet, please be realistic that English is presently the single most important language in the world TODAY. Yes, it may be too late when Mandarin finally takes over (I can live with that), but only a fool will sacrifice English today for what may be of Mandarin in the future. Today is certain, the future is an uncertainty.

But whatever it may be, this is a democratic country (or so we like to believe). People get to choose what they think is best for themselves. If the Malays and the Chinese do not want English, then fine by me. (Where are the Indians anyway?) It's their choice. Go send your kids to Chinese school, go on. I am ashamed to admit this, but the more they want to go backwards, the better it is for the "English" crowd like me, my family, my colleagues and my friends. It is no secret how a good command of English opens you up to opportunities (or is it a secret still? Damn). Go to an MNC and try for big positions with a half past six English. You can be darn well qualified, but you better not speak. Wanna be a consultant at BCG or McKinsey? Harbouring hopes of being an investment banker at Goldman? JP Morgan? What about going global? Try the States, Ing-ger-lern or Australia.

It's all fine by me. Just when we thought that competition is getting tougher for a top tier career, Malaysia opens it up for us again. Poor Singaporeans. They need at least a Masters to get a decent job. Over here, life is a breeze. Not because we are good, just that the others are lousy. So, go on Malaysia. And you Malay language and Mandarin champions too. Go on.

If you read this article and understood what I am taking about, good for you. But then again, you may think that you understand but the truth is... you may not. Why? Based on comments seen on my past articles, and also those comments posted on the articles of the likes of RPK, Hakim Joe, and the other frustrated writers, I know that many readers do not understand what we write. Engrish speaking and reading no powder kot.