Mastery Of English An Asset In Attracting Foreign Investors, Says Najib

PUTRAJAYA, April 15 (Bernama) -- The mastery of English by Malaysians has been an asset to the nation particulary in attracting foreign investors, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
He said, however, there was concern that the command of English was diminishing among Malaysians, especially in the rural areas, and in government funded schools across the country.
The trend should not be left unchecked as the deterioration in proficiency of the English language would result in the loss of whatever advantage Malaysia had in drawing foreign investors, Najib said at the launch of the RHB-New Straits Times "Spell-It-Right (SIR) Challenge", here Tuesday.
"Of course there are certain groups who would say that as Malaysians, Bahasa Malaysia should be our main language, and that it should be the language that is championed by all.
"While it is without doubt that Bahasa Malaysia has an exalted place in all our hearts and that it would forever be the National language, the stark reality is that English is the primary language of commerce and science the world over, today," he said.
He said there was a need to have a strong command of English to get ahead in the world, both as a nation and also as individuals.
Najib said learning English, and mastering it, did not make Bahasa Malaysia any less important but made the people and country stronger, more resilent and more prepared to face the challenges of the future.
He therefore urged all teachers and parents to take heed of the importance of ensuring Malaysian children learnt English and use the language as much as possible in their daily lives.
He commended RHB and the NSTP for having the vision and foresight to begin with the revival of the passion for English language through the spelling competition.

tunku : while the whole world recognize it, its sad that some of us (malays) think that by learning english we become less malay.today tv3 showed a professor name zainal kling (gapena) accused dr mahathir for making bahasa malaysia less important because dr mahathir had stressed the public to learn mathematic and science in english at school level and also some of the courses in our university.it's sad that a professor can be so naive.i am a product of malay medium and i struggle real hard to learn english but i always try.but some people the don't have the opportunity to learn it , how will the compete in today's world? we should thank the government that the schools are teaching science and mathematic in english. at least the rural and the less elit people will learn it too.some of our leaders who opposed teaching in english are sending their children to international school.