DPM’s English a reflection of our poor education system

Need not ridicule over ‘Oh my English’, say KL folk

14Now!: Not everyone gets to speak at the United Nations (UN) and therefore it is so much more important that when that person gets the opportunity to do so, that he does it well. He was visible alright, but it was a level of visibility that has led to the lowering of the esteem of the country.

If DPM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi cannot speak properly in English, then speak in Bahasa Malaysia and let someone else who has the ability to translate it into proper English.

What he did there was to show that the DPM of the country, which aims to be a centre for international education, could not even master a rudimentary standard of the language.

Headhunter: For a politician who aspires to be the next PM, the job requires him to be proficient in English if he wants to hog the world stage. Otherwise, world leaders from leading countries will not give him due respect and probably think he is just a little dictator from a tin-pot country.

Imagine if he is to attend a meeting among top world leaders to discuss some important issues. How many translators does he need to be with him in the room?

The message that he wants to convey is probably lost by the time the translation is done. We are not arguing about an ordinary person here, but the PM of the country. Let’s have some class at least.

Goldee: What is the point in speaking English when his command of the language is poor. The UN is a world forum and the whole world was watching. It is not that we like to criticise him.

Generally, Malaysians have a good command in English. We are one of the best in the world owing to the fact that we were once ruled by the British.

Westerners used to praise us for we speak perfect Queen’s English. Probably our DPM studied in other country, where English was not the medium of teaching.

Anonymous_1390303981: Zahid is not the only one, and there are many more holding high positions whose command of English is really poor.

The questions are simply, do we accept that our English education policy has deteriorated and what are we going to do about it? Are we saying that it’s okay to have leaders with poor command of English?

CucuMalaysia: To all those who are giving excuses for the DPM’s poor English, please remember that the education system for his age group (he was born in 1953) in the 1960s and 1970s was still good.

English was still the main language of instruction although it was compulsory for one to pass the Bahasa Malaysia paper in all public examinations.

It is public knowledge that our cabinet ministers are not ministerial material at all, however, when you join the “right” party, you can get to the “top” with ease.

Whether you make a fool of yourself at home or in the international arena, it doesn’t matter. Just blame on the poor education system of later years, although many ministers are from the earlier generation.

Inworldnotof: Decent yet innocent folks like S Adimulam probably with not much access to the issues that are a bane upon nation, ensure that a rogue regime continues in abusive power as long as there are sufficient numbers like him who respect authority, power and position, regardless the hell and high water wreaked upon them.

That fall on them as water off a duck’s back as long as chief bandit doles out BR1M and GE goodie bags for cheap gratification that is also subtle emotional/socio/economic/politico blackmail to vote them back in.

Without knowledge, a people perish, say the holy books. The poor English is just a brazen symptom of a failed education system due to a corruption that has systemically rendered us a failed state, not just in education.

Until we reach barren wastelands maybe, when there is no more to squander and plunder, deceive and cheat, maybe then the ignorant fellow citizens will be able to see the truth and reality of these so-called leaders who are to be ahem, ‘respected’.

Victor Johan: It must be noted that Zahid had his speech prepared and documented in the English language. It was done very much prior to this UN event.

Zahid obviously had ample time to read the speech and practice on his delivery. When at the rostrum at the UN forum on that day, he did not have to speak and answer questions in English, all he had to do was to read the speech straight out.

The words were even displayed on the two digital panels in front of him. But he couldn’t even read and pronounce several words in his speech.

Questions arise if he understood what he read out. Did he pass his English oral exams in school? He had claimed he had completed and obtained his Master and PhD degrees. How did he manage that?

OMG!: Any professional should know one’s own limitations. For example, a good dentist is one who recommends you to see an orthodontist to do a root canal, because although he can attempt it, he knows he will probably botch it up and cause you harm.

Zahid should have known his English is not up to international standards yet he went ahead. Other UN delegates would have smirked and smiled condescendingly at him. “So this is the Malaysian DPM. This is how they speakee de Englisho.”

The DPM brought Malaysia into disrepute by ignoring his own limitations.

Maybe this is Najib’s “strategic ambiguity” to subject Zahid to ridicule and diminish his threat as his replacement. If so, that means Najib, too, doesn’t care about Malaysia – he just wanted to win his own political battles.

Quite apart from language competency, our political systems churn out leaders of poor calibre, weak character and compromised ethics. Tribal race/religion issues haunt us for decades.

Hang Babeuf: It doesn’t matter a damn whether he was able to make himself clear or not. Nobody was listening anyway.

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