I am a Malaysian.
I am Malay.
I am a student.
It is already in every one of our religion, race, ethnic, and whatsoever category of society we are involved in for us to keep on learning and becoming better.
No.
Nobody is ever told to stay as dumb and as thoughtless as a rag doll or as a basic D.I.Y robot.
EVERYBODY is told to keep becoming better.
Slaves are told to be better servants to their master.
Workers are told to be better employees to their employers.
Managers and bosses are told to be better leaders to their company or organization.
Children are told to be better adults in the future.
As a student, it pricks and itches my ear whenever anyone says that they don't want to learn another foreign language just because we were once colonized by the foreigners. It saddens me when my friends and relatives say that they only wish to get a PASS for that language because it is tough, or because it is not so important to be an expert in it. Like yeah, we can still survive and live happily ever after without acing the language, right?
By saying so, my dearies, we have already gone against a few life principles and human sense.
Yes, I am talking about Malaysian University English Test (MUET) here.
1. Ever heard of "survival of the fittest" before?
It means that only those who are the fittest will survive in this dreadful torturing world. No, I'm not claiming that we should all be savages and live our own butts off. I am stating that in order for a community; us, the clump of people living together hand in hand, to survive together, we need to be experts in this world. And it won't help much if in a group of thousands or even hundreds, only several are experts in the language. Language is a moderator for our communication. Hence, we cannot solely depend on these handful of few experts to do our job. We need to be experts too. Take it this way. The more experts we have, the more efficient our work would be.
2. Our religion (focusing here as Islam because I'm a Muslim, but still applicable for other believers as well) instructed us to do our best in what we do.
The term "Wasatiyyah" propagated by some of our leaders is not merely literally defined as Intermediate. But it means "the best in that condition/situation/time/environment". Thus, what is the best in this era of globalization? Mastering that global language; English.
3. Qualifications are on papers, but they can also be a reference to our effort to some extent.
Yes, maybe some thinks that we don't really need to ace the exams because they are just paper qualifications. Dude, we can say so IF we can prove that we don't need exams to be superb in that field a.k.a the language. If your speech, writing, and listening is stupendous as a Band 5 or Band 6 achiever, then you can at least brag that statement to the examiners and education ministry. If not, then it is better to be a good student and strive to ace that MUET.
I agree to the fact that Malaysian students need to achieve the required MUET achievement in order to enroll in universities in their selected courses or programs.
However, I would also like to suggest that to put that required standard of achievement, the education system must first be compatible to nurture a lively learning student who could grasp the language with ease through the stages of education. In addition, the community (parents, friends, and other parties) must also engage in this effort to support the education of these students.
Life is easier when everyone participate and integrate between one another.
PS: This is a personal opinion, not a fact.
