surname Ma

If you speak Cantonese or Mandarin, you will definitely find a comment on Sunday Star's Education pullout rather hilarious. A reader commented on the accuracy of a History book on Let's Hear It: Books should give accurate facts

"The book seems to assume that people with the surname Ma were all Muslims and that the surname Ma derived from Muslim names such as Muhammad."

If you are a Chinese you know what it means. If we do not want Malays know that we are talking about them, we refer them as "sing Ma" (which the word sing means surname) instead of calling them "Malay yan" (Malay people). Those with surname Ma might not be necessarily Muslims in China but in Malaysia, "sing Ma" are definitely Muslims.

If you still do not understand, please don't misunderstand. This is not a joke on the Malays or their religion.

declining standard of Bahasa Malaysia or improvement in English?

In the recent PMR results, we are already witnessing the decreased of passes in Bahasa Melayu. Compared to 2004, the percentage of passing rate dropped 0.9% to 92.3% in 2005. As for English subject, the percentage increased by 3.7% to 73.8% this year.

However, the statistics is not convincing enough to prove the declining standard of Bahasa Malaysia or improvement in English language. This is because 73% of students still answered Mathematics exam questions in Bahasa Malaysia while 67% did so for Science. It is not a surprise because this batch of students has strong foundation in Bahasa Malaysia.

On the other hand, I foresee that the quality of Bahasa Malaysia among the primary students, especially non-native speakers, will continue to decline in the near future. This batch of students has no exposure to Science and Mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia in both primary and secondary levels. Hence, this is a disadvantage to them especially when it comes to understanding and writing science-related topics.

Like any other languages, students need continuous exposure and practices to improve their skills in Bahasa Malaysia, too. Therefore, parents need to encourage their children to read more, constantly monitor their progresses and seek help if their children are weak in the subject.

Related post: non-Malay students must take bahasa Melayu seriously

Merry X'mas

and a Happy New Year!

A Dilbert X'mas riddle:
What do you call a FAT GUY who works only ONE DAY of the YEAR?








Answer: The BOSS

my postbox, the dumping site

I did not clear my postbox for one day
this was the implication, sad to say.

Perhaps my postbox is rather small
should get a big one to fit them all.

My postbox is not the dumping site
stuffed with junk mails, no it ain't right!