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• Imagine flawless English spoken at MH370 briefings
• BH Toh | 12:21PM Apr 1, 2014
• Imagine the acting transport minister, the chief executive officer of MAS, the Department of Civil Aviation chief, the Navy and Army chiefs and the inspector-general of police (IGP) all speaking flawless English effortlessly in front of the international media during the daily briefings that are broadcast all over the world.
  
  We would be brimming with pride. But decades of neglecting the importance of English by our government is the sole reason for the sub-standard command of English that we Malaysians have come to accept as the norm.
  
  In fact, a regular columnist in one of the local dailies wrote over the weekend: “I am glad that some of the uniformed personnel who appeared in the earlier media briefings have slipped into the background. Their poor command of English was certainly an unnecessary obstacle as we faced the world.”
  
  In any major crisis of international proportion, the ability to explain in simple, precise and concise English words along with using correct technical terms play a critical role in ensuring minimal miscommunication that will add unnecessary agony and stress to the immediate families and relatives.
  
  Yet, we were even exposed to the atrocious English spoken by some of the invited experts and professors who offered opinions and technical explanations in daily English talk shows during the days that followed. Why did they subject themselves to the torture of having to struggle with even basic English on nationally televised broadcasts is beyond me.
  
  Thankfully, Hishammuddin Hussein, who later took over as the face of Malaysia, carried himself admirably, in no small part due to his command of English. In this aspect, the CEO of MAS excelled, too, although he seemed emotionally distraught ever since the announcement that flight MH370 had ended in the Indian Ocean.
  
  It even led Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin, who heads the opposition-linked think-tank Institut Rakyat, to “see him as the only one (of future prime ministerial contenders) with PM qualities and the tragedy has shown that he is more of a leader and statesman than his cousin (current premier Najib Abdul Razak)”.
  
  Hishammuddin, a UK trained lawyer, showed the world just how the level of English amongst Malaysians as a whole could be and would have been had we not neglected but chose to continue maintaining the level of English gifted to us by the British.
  
  Is our current Education Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, able to see and feel how proud we be had all our leaders tasked with such heavy responsibilities speak flawless English effortlessly in front the of international media?
  
  Producing ‘glocal’ citizens
  
  Our prime minister spoke of producing “glocal” citizens sometime back. One will surely shine brighter with the ability to converse and express oneself well in the lingua franca of global language i.e. English. Who would not be proud to have a “glocal” Malala Yousafzai as their fellow citizen?
  
  For this, despite the profound sadness we are currently experiencing, I cannot help but bring up the issue of education in our country. Will our education minister now initiate the task of revamping and implementing policies for which many students, parents, like-minded educational NGOs like Page and Aspire as well as business leaders have clamoured for these past few years?
  
  We can kick-start the process by at least immediately re-instating the teaching of Science and Maths in English (PPSMI) and bringing back English-medium schools as soon as possible.
  
  (Note: At the time of writing, the whole world is still waiting anxiously for the discovery of any debris that can positively confirm that Flight MH370 has indeed ended in the Indian Ocean. The world grieves together with the families of 239 passengers and crew members on board the flight.)