After many months of very intense debate in the mainstream and alternative media, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also education minister, has finally announced the government decision to reverse the teaching of math and science from English to Bahasa Malaysia and the vernacular mother tongues.

The decision is not likely to please everybody, and the debate is sure to rage for years to come. After all, it is an issue that affects all parents in the country.

On his blog, Dr Mahathir Mohamad has conducted a poll to survey public opinion on the matter. About 72 percent of the respondents are against the government decision. But then, the teaching of math and science in English was the brainchild of this former prime minister, and the recent reversal by the current government can only be seen by him as a betrayal of his personal legacy.