LETTER | 'Shooting blanks' at Chinese-educated students

LETTER | Parents sending their children to Chinese schools appear to be an offensive investment these days. We have politicians who have taken Chinese education to court on numerous occasions, hoping to score political mileage.

And now we have an academician equating language proficiency with how smart they are. All these are uncalled-for futile actions that will cause further disparity in thoughts and disunity.

What is the correlation between language proficiency and IQ? If this is true, then the smartest lot would be those multi-linguistically talented translators and interpreters working at the United Nations. Failing to prove what is being professed may be likened to shooting blanks.

Chinese education is guaranteed by the sanctity of our constitution. In fact, many countries have initiated the learning of Chinese in a big way, and these are big and staunch Islamic nations such as Indonesia and several Middle Eastern countries.

They see the great advantage of learning Chinese against the backdrop of geopolitical development and increasing trade with China. In Malaysia, we are also witnessing more parents wanting their children to learn Chinese for the same reasons. These include both Malay and Indian parents.

Chinese primary schools are experiencing overcrowded classes. Academicians should be more knowledgeable than those who are of lower education backgrounds. The more languages we know, the better equipped we are in this challenging world.

Some people simply have a flair for languages and some do not. And to be really proficient in any language takes years of relentless learning and practice.

Hence, branding a person as being smart or otherwise based on language proficiency is simply baseless and childish, especially if it comes from an academician.

In fact, over the years, I have met many Chinese-educated people who are extremely successful, be it career-wise, financial prowess, and most importantly, in people’s respect. People respect them for their achievements, and most of them do not forget their roots.

Some speak and write impeccable English, Chinese or Bahasa Malaysia, while others are only good in Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia and have mediocre English. But all the same, they have one thing in common the public respects them, which is sorely missing in a miserable few. The miserable minority may be successful in some ways, but these fail to be respected. We do not lose respect by virtue of being not so proficient in a language.

Hence indiscriminate branding of people based on language skills and proficiency is simply baseless and shallow-minded. As an academician, you should instead offer constructive ideas on how these Chinese-educated people could improve their English proficiency and scale greater heights.

I am an educationist true to the bone and my approach is to help those who need help, be it in advice, language or other ways, as long as it is within my capacity to do so. Be more magnanimous and you will gain the respect you deserve.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.