Problems with Malaysian Education - The Multiplicity of Languages

So, Dr Mahathir has recently uploaded an interesting blog post about the Malaysian education system, found here


I agree with Dr M that one of the sad effects of having different types of national schools, vernacular schools, and English schools is that the student community (and hence the Malaysian society) are being polarised - often racially so. In general, students are being segregated according to the language they are more familiar with, and as such, they only stick to their own little bubble of friends (and arguably, "class").


Coming from a Chinese-speaking primary school, and an English-speaking secondary school and college, I do see how it can affect racial harmony. Growing up with people who speak the same lingo as me (quite literally), it is difficult to climb out of the sociolinguistic bubble that we set up for ourselves.  I am proud to say that I do have friends of other cultures, ethnicities, and religions. But my state of comfort in my bubble has sometimes caused me to become lazy and ignorant to the innumerable other cultures and lifestyles that I have not actively tried to discover and understand. It's sad to think that I've never really engaged with people who may have a radically different mindset and lifestyle from mine.


And while I do learn Bahasa Malaysia at school, and converse with my Malay teachers, with the vendors, shopowners, and various other people in Malay, my Malay is often too formalised (from writing essays), a little stilted and unnatural, and often without slang.


I don't necessarily see Dr M's connection between rich-poor education and the language of communication of the school, So I'll just observe what he says for now, and make my judgment on that. Meanwhile, I'll keep silent.


Also, would just like to point out, the Malay language is our national language, our official language, and ONE OF the languages of the indigenous people. Let us not forget that the Aslian languages are the languages of the indigenous people as well.


Reading Dr M's post, I am reminded of the debilitating effects of having so many different types of school in a nation - especially when they are segregated based on languages. How hard it would be for us to communicate if the languages that we speak in are all different! Nonetheless, things being what they are, we can't try to turn back time and simplistically eradicate all vernacular schools and English-speaking schools. Obviously though, all parties would have to sacrifice a little bit here and there, to reach some sort of compromise.


While the message of the post is thought-provoking, I also have to wonder, are these simply the fault of the medium in which the students are educated? Or are there more deep-seated flaws of the syllabus and the methods of teaching, etc.?