Emphasise on learning English, Sultan Nazrin tells Malaysians

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah urged Malaysians to place importance on learning and mastering the English language, an opportunity he said that should be given to all, regardless of backgrounds.
He said while the status of Bahasa Melayu as the national and official language of the nation should be upheld, 'we must accept that English is the world's lingua franca'.
He also said the language should not be viewed as a pursuit of the privileged group.
"It is the global language of scientific, technological, business, academic, and international trade information.
"Therefore, the opportunity to master the English language should not be the privilege of just a section of our society, particularly the upper class and upper middle class," he said at the St. John's Institution 2016 Academic Excellence Award ceremony, here, today.
Also present was Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid.
The Sultan added that learning an extra language would open wider opportunities for the younger generation to explore and gain the limitless knowledge in today's globalised world.
"Young people who have more than one language have also been shown to have a greater appreciation of different cultures, if for no other reason than that they are able to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds," he said.
He added that those who were proficient in English also showed greater confidence and better preparation in engaging with a global society and, by that, became citizens of the world.
"Being proficient in English empowers young Malaysians to access broader opportunities in the job market and be better able to compete globally.
"As such, it is an important prerequisite for enhancing our country's competitiveness in a technologically-driven, globalised world," he said.
As such Sultan Nazrin said all parties must take an objective, rational and open-minded view of programmes that could offer greater exposure to the English language for our children – including and especially children from lower income families.
Citing the Dual Language Programme (DLP) that had been introduced and implemented voluntarily in some 300 schools nationwide beginning this year, he said the programme had been a result of listening and learning from past experiences of what had worked and what had not.
However, he said, as with the introduction of any new initiative, this programme had been met with mixed reactions, positive and negative. He noted that the reservation to DLP seemed to be that giving English a more prominent role in the education curriculum would diminish the importance and standing of the national language.
"This is a legitimate concern and one that calls upon the government to respond with a clear explanation of its policy with regard to the national language, and its commitment and assurance to preserving and strengthening it," he said.
Sultan Nazrin said while children should not be deprived of their opportunities, the educators must be responsible for upholding the interests and safeguarding the future of those in their charge.
"They (school children) are not experimental subjects and we cannot take leaps of faith where their future is concerned.
"We cannot allow our children to be casualties of a wrong strategy or poor implementation. But we also cannot allow them to be casualties of inaction," he added.
At the event, Sultan Nazrin had also donated RM100,000 to his alma mater.
A total of 95 students received the awards this year. — Bernama