YOURSAY | 'The debate on BM proficiency is just another red herring.'

Vernacular school students will suffer from lack of BM proficiency - lawyer

Low Class Coolie: Vernacular school students are suffering in every aspect, not because of Bahasa Malaysia (BM) proficiency but institutionalised discrimination.

Starting from Standard 6, they are discriminated against from entering elite boarding schools like the Royal Military College (RMC) and those under Mara.

After Form 5, they are discriminated against from entering pre-university courses and getting a Public Service Department (PSD) scholarship is a miracle. Having no alternative but to attend two years in Form 6, they get discriminated against again.

All critical courses like medicine are reserved for the bumiputera and getting entry into a public university is a struggle because of the quota system. At best, they get into courses that have little commercial value.

Upon graduation, they get discriminated against again. Just try getting into public service, government-linked companies (GLCs), statutory bodies… they don't even get an interview.

No matter how excellent their credentials are, they will never be VCs (vice-chancellors), DGs (director-generals) and CEOs of GLCs (government-linked companies). This is the harsh reality.

These are the inhumane government policies they have to deal with from cradle to grave. I should know. My two children were victims of this system.

Existential Turd: Lack of BM proficiency is not the real reason why the minorities are being discriminated against. They will be discriminated against, regardless of BM proficiency.

Look at the two DAP Lims, Kit Siang and Guan Eng. Their command of BM is great, but they are viewed as the devil incarnate. Former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew could also speak BM fluently. But the Malays felt even more threatened by that.

BM proficiency is just another red herring. Even if their BM proficiency is top-notch, the goalpost will be shifted again, such that their first language has to be BM.

What is so enticing to work in the public sector anyway? The minorities will be overlooked for promotions even when their BM proficiency is excellent.

Que Sera Sera: "(Lawyer) Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla claimed that this (lack of proficiency in BM) would lead to these students being denied the fundamental right to live with dignity, hence why Malaysian vernacular schools must be compelled to adopt Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction."

You are denied the fundamental right to live with dignity if you are not proficient in BM? But even if you have such proficiency, your rights will nevertheless be trampled on without reservations.

Dr Raman Letchumanan: “Article 5 of the Federal Constitution deals with the right to life; Article 8 is in relation to equality before the law; Article 10 is in regards to freedom of speech, assembly and association; Article 11 enshrines freedom of religion; and Article 12 in relation to rights in education."

Haniff, personally I like your argument and am very sure non-Malays would welcome it.

But you should know there is that famous Article 153 on special privileges for bumiputera, which clearly takes exception to the equality and fairness provisions in the several articles mentioned above to be enjoyed by all Malaysians.

Now you are in effect saying by being proficient in BM, then Article 153 should also apply to those non-Malays good in BM, in other words, no discrimination in terms of education, employment, property, etc.

I think if a non-Malay puts forth this argument, he will be in serious trouble. Are you trying to rewrite the Constitution? Be careful what you wish for.

In any case, the much-celebrated controversial preacher Dr Zakir Naik could hardly speak BM, but he gets privileges that many citizens here can only dream of.

Let sleeping dogs lie. If non-Malays suffer, that's their personal problem. It's a choice they make.

Retired Teacher: Being a Muslim myself, I feel this is wrong to deny students of other races to learn their own mother tongue. From my observation, it is not the lack of fluency in BM that is causing these young people to be denied jobs in the public sector.

It is actually the onslaught of our quota system and the emphasis to make the public service obviously for one race that is not allowing the Chinese and Indians to enter the public service.

These young people have done really well in the private sector because they are street smart and hardworking.

CEC: I am super proficient in BM and I highly doubt I would have 'abundant opportunities' in the public service.

On the contrary, my friends who are proficient in Mandarin reaped the rewards of being able to tap the overseas Chinese market.

Having said that, all schools should put sufficient emphasis on BM, it is after all our national language.

Headhunter: Yes, ask the thousands of unemployed graduates if their proficiency in BM helps them to secure employment or not, and compare them with those from vernacular schools who are proficient in other languages.

OCT: Sad to say, it is not BM that is preventing non-Malays from joining the civil service sector. It is the discrimination of non-Malays in the civil service.

Non-Malays have seldom been accorded the privilege for promotion and to become head of a department. Some non-Malays are very proficient in BM and capable to outperform the Malays but when it comes to promotion, they are sidelined or overlooked.

There is a very good reason to learn another language. Mandarin is spoken more than English in the world. So there is always an advantage to know another language, especially English and Mandarin, in present times.

Learn how to compete in the world rather than being just a jaguh kampung (village hero). The world is your oyster. Never be afraid to venture beyond Malaysia. If you know BM only, you will be handicapped as BM is not widely used outside Malaysia.

HangTuahPJ: In my entire 38 years working in a GLC, right up to 2019, all correspondence, reports, etc, were entirely in English. It is a globalised world and other countries do not use BM as the means of communication.

Because you guys cannot communicate in English, you guys are at the losing end and you are just jealous that we are doing better in this globalised world.

And by the way, where I live in Ampang, most Malay parents are choosing to converse with their children in English. Don’t you wonder why?

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