Nationalism and English

I have just returned from Malaysia after two weeks of training-cum-vacation. I visited Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru and Penang. There I could not but help notice the debate on the use of English in local newspapers, be it in The Sun, The Star or The New Straits Times. All printed debate was on whether the use of English instead of Bahasa Malaysia makes one less nationalistic.

I don't think there is any relevance between the use of English and being a nationalist, but that is the case in Malaysia. There must be parties that don't care about the development of Malaysia raising this issue accusing those who stress the importance of using English being disloyal and not nationalistic.

Malaysia has successfully transformed its English-dominated education to a system based on Bahasa Malaysia. The result is that less and less Malaysians speak English and more speak and/or understand Bahasa Malaysia among the multiethnic society. It turns out that this was not what the government of Malaysia intended to achieve. According to local newspapers, the standard of English in Malaysia has dropped considerably over the last two decades. Less speakers of English makes Malaysia less competitive in the era of globalization. Now, the Malaysian government is trying to repopularize the use of English.

How about Indonesia? Like Malaysia, for us, English is a foreign language. We should work hard to master English in order to compete with our neighboring countries, particularly with countries where English is the second language like Singapore and the Philippines. It is fortunate for us that we don't have a nationalism issue connected with the use of the English language, otherwise our mastery of English would be even poorer. To improve the mastery of English is the task of the Ministry of Education by making programs or curricula to teach English effectively and efficiently from the very basic level.

English is just a medium for gaining knowledge and should be treated that way. It has nothing to do with nationalism. Most books and Internet sites are in English. By not knowing English, books and Internet sites are just like blank pages. On the contrary, surely having more knowledge would improve a country's human resources and in the end make the country more competitive.

ADRIANUS HIYUNG TJUNG

Jakarta