"Memang telah diduga Umno akan memainkan isu ini kerana diri saya seorang berbangsa Cina bukan Melayu..."Sidang Media Ketua Menteri Lim Guan Eng dengan para wartawan sempena setahun pemerintahan Pakatan Rakyat di Pulau Pinang dan transkrip penuhnya disediakan oleh Wartawan Harakah Mohd Sabri Said.
Wartawan: Sejak pemeritahan Pakatan Rakyat di Pulau Pinang isu yang diperkatakan sejak awal lagi oleh pembangkang terutamanya Umno ialah orang melayu akan kerugian dan ketinggalan di bawah Ketua Menteri dari parti DAP. Apa pandangan YB?
KM: Memang telah diduga Umno akan memainkan isu ini kerana diri saya seorang berbangsa Cina bukan Melayu. Tapi untuk pengetahuan Umno saya lain daripada Barisan Nasional (BN) kerana saya membawa agenda bertentangan dengan apa yang dilaksanakan oleh Kerajaan BN.Agenda saya ialah untuk membantu membasmikan kemiskinan tegar yang secara jelas membantu masyarakat melayu kerana masyarakat ini ketara berbanding bangsa lain di Pulau Pinang.
Walaupun saya tidak pernah sebut ia bermatlamat untuk pembangunan orang melayu tetapi pada hakikatnya ia bermanafaat terhadap 90 peratus mereka yang berada di tahap tersebut. Dulu, di era kepimpinan Umno yang kononya menjadi tunjang politik melayu mereka sengaja membiarkan orang melayu tersisih dan ada kalanya menggunakan kemiskinan mereka untuk kepentingan politik ketika pilihanraya.
Mereka boleh beri apa saja untuk mengaut undi.Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat tidak begitu malahan sentiasa mencari kaedah terbaru membantu golongan sasar supaya orang melayu dinaik tarafkan tidak lagi ditipu oleh pemimpin sendiri maka dalam aspek itu kita merasa betapa pentingnya kempen miskin tegar.
Saya juga berharap Pusat Urus Zakat (PUZ) dapat meniru apa yang dibuat oleh Lembaga Zakat Selangor yang memberikan RM3,000 kepada keluarga Islam yang diberhentikan kerja. Kerajaan tetap akan berusaha mengatasi tahap yang dikatakan miskin tegar iaitu RM400.00 sebulan kepada sekurang-kurangnya RM500.00 sebulan.
Bantuan kewangan RM100.00 rebat air kepaa 170,000 keluarga miskin juga dilihat sebagai usaha kerajaan merapatkan jurang antara yang kaya dan miskin.
Soalan: Untuk mencapai matlamat itu serta pembangunan lain demi memajukan Pulau Pinang Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat dikatakan sanggup berkonfrontasi dengan mana-mana pihak untuk memastikan manfaat yang wajar diterima oleh anak negeri ini. Betulkah begitu?
KM: Betul...! hasil konfrontasi dengan MMC-Gamuda JV yang melaksanakan landasan keretapi berkembar di negeri ini kerajaan memperolehi wang hasil denda yang dikenakan sebanyak RM4.2 juta. Di samping itu juga Jabatan Parit dan Saliran (JPS) mendapat RM3,200.000. Yuran tanah sebanyak RM33,000.00 dan yuran perancangan sebanyak RM3,200 setelah selesai projek yang menghubungkan Ipoh ke Padang Besar.
Kerajaan mengarahkan Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) memberhentikan segera pembinaan projek bernilai RM12.5 billion kerana pembinaan itu mengakibatkan banjir serta memastikan pembayaran ganti rugi dilaksanakan dengan sempurna.Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) selama lima tahun kebelakangan ini tidak pernah membayar royalti kepada Kerajaan Negeri tetapi setelah didesak akhirnya Dato' Seri OngTee Keat sebagai Menteri Penggangkutan menasihatkan PPSB membayar balik RM6.6 juta dalam tempuh lapan bulan sahaja.
Begitu juga dengan tunggakan cukai pintu Majlis Perbadaran Seberang Perai (MPSP) yang tidak dikutip dengan berkesan. Tetapi, setelah didesak maka MPSP terpaksa melaksanakan amanah itu demi menambah baik kedudukan kewanganya termasuk tunggakan cukai pintu terhadap beberapa bangunan Umno dan MCA bernilai RM238,632.17.
Soalan : Bercakap tentang penjimatan berapa anggaran kos yang telah berjaya Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat lakukan berbanding BN dulunya?
KM : Kerajaan BN berbelanja ikut kemahuan tetapi Pakatan Rakyat ikut kemampuan malah lebih berjimat jika perlu. Keretapi Bukit Bendera sebagai contoh kerja-kerja pembaikan telah dilakukan dengan hanya memakan belanja RM330.533.63.
Akhirnya baik pulih itu mengambil masa dua bulan dengan hanya RM589 466.37 iaitu kontraktor yang dilantik hasil tender terbuka berbanding enam bulan yang di tawaran tiga buah syarikat lagi yang masing-masing mengemukakan tender berjumlah RM1.46 juta, RM1.32 juta dan RM920.000.
Projek berkenaan siap sepenuhnya pada 19 Disemebr 2008.Begitu juga dengan pembayaran insuran premiun Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang Berhad (PBAPPB) RM500,000 setahun. Di mana setelah kerajaan meminta syarikat insuran untuk menawarkan Non Claim Bonus (NCB) iaitu amalan biasa dalam industri terbabit.Kerajaan Negeri juga dapat menjimatkan RM500.000 hasil pembatalan tempahan lima buah kereta proton Perdana.Mesyuarat dan Expo Pelancungan Pelaburan Asia Pasifik (APTIC) yang dulu menjadi medan perbelanjaan luar biasa kini tiada lagi kerana Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat hanya mengeluarkan 1/3 perbelanjaan berbanding BN yang mana perjimatan RM51,291.00 boleh diatasi.
Cara mengurangkan perbelanjaan (APTIC) tiada lain semua 52 anggota yang menyertai delegasi membiayai perbelanjaan sendiri tidak termasuk enam orang pegawai ditaja oleh Invest Penang. Perbelanjaan seperti tiket penerbangan dan insuran hanyalah RM22,882.00, penginapan RM9,500.00 yang mana ia hanya berjumlah RM32.000Kerajaan dulu yang berbelanja bersama 55 anggota delegasi ke India dari 5 Mac - 9 Mac 2007 memakan belanja RM83,000.00 termasuk perbelanjaan tujuh pegawai kerajaan dan Ketua Menteri, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Soon.
Soalan: Adakah cara tender terbuka memberi keuntungan berbanding cara lama yang dilaksanakan oleh Kerajaan terdahulu?
KM: Pelaksanaan itu amat memberangsangkan malah Kerajaan Persekutuan pula bertindak menjadi pengikut Kerajaan Negeri dalam usaha melaksanakan projek Jambatan Pulau Pinang sedangkan pada permulaanya Kerajaan Persekutuan sering mengutuk.Walaupun ahli Umno mengadakan piket aman di Komplek Tun Abdul Razak (Komtar) selepas Pakatan Rakyat kuasai negeri ini namun semua itu mainan politik yang tersembunyi kerana mereka yang menjadi dalang kita tahu siapa sebenarnya mereka. Siapa lagi jika bukan kepimpinan yang mengaut keuntungan sehingga boleh hidup mewah padahal rakyat bawahan hidup dalam keperitan, kesengsaraan dan kepayahan.
Soalan: Apakah perancangan Kerajaan Negeri untuk meningkatkan kemajuan supaya rakyat sama-sama menikmati pembangunan?
KM: Antara projek terkini ialah Wi-Fi secara percuma yang dilancarkan baru-baru ini di Komplek Membeli Belah Sunway Karnival, Seberang Jaya.Ia bukan sahaja memberi kemudahan pada semua rakyat yang sering berurusan secara internet malahan pelajar turut terasa apabila boleh menambah ilmu cara terbaru selain bacaan dan sebagainya.
Menghulurkan bantuan kebajikan kebakaran, banjir dan bencana alam lain dalam tempuh 24 jam, bantuan kewangan RM100.00 rebat air kepada 170.000 keluarga miskin tanpa melihat rupa kulit, jantina atau agama.Kerajaan juga membenarkan pemilik rumah pangsa kos rendah dan sederhana menukar hak milik tanah keapda pegangan bebas tanpa membayar premiun tanah yang membebankan.Memasang papan tanda jalan dalam berbagai bahasa serta memberi nafas baru kepada KOMTAR yang seakan 'nyawa-nyawa ikan' di zaman pemerintahan BN.
Membatalkan cadangan Kerajaan terdahulu memindahkan pusat pentadbiran dari KOMTAR ke Bayan Mutiara, menubuhkan jawatankuasa pemantau pembinaan di lereng bukit yang diketuai oleh ahli profesional serta membesarkan projek Empangan Mengkuang dan Jabatan Kedua Pulau Pinang dengan kerjasama Kerajaan Persekutuan
Soalan: Akhir sekali selain dari itu apa lagi yang diberikan penekanan oleh Kerajaan Negeri yang membabitkan polisi?
KM: Polisi Kerajaan negeri di bawah pemerintahan Pakatan Rakyat tentulah berlainan daripada bayangan Kerajaan BN dulu yang asyik menimba keuntungan samada melalui Adun atau Wakil Majlis Tempatan.Sejak tahun lalu Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat tidak membenarkan amalan Exco, Adun, Ahli Parlimen dan Ahli Majlis Tempatan memohon tanah serta mengenakan syarat lebih ketat dalam kurniaan darjah kebesaran, bintang dan pingat kehormatan. - azm _
7 comments:
Dear Mr Lim,
Syabas atas pencapaian tuan selama ini. Semoga tahun akan datang akan memantapkan lagi pentadbiran kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang.
Isu High Chaparral ingin saya sentuh. Tanah adalah harta negeri yang satu-satunya punca dan asset untuk pembangunan. Sekiranya asset ini tidak dapat digunapakai oleh kerajaan negeri, maka pembangunan akan terbantut.
Walaupun sesetengah keputusan mungkin tidak disukai ramai, tetapi, En Lim sebagai CM perlu berfikir tentang kebaikan rakyat dan pembangunan negeri dahulu. Undang-undang sendiri telah memmihak kepada pembangunan. En Lim perlu berhati-hati mengambil sebarang pendekatan yang akan meninggalkan kesan sampingan yang mungkin akan menjejaskan keberkesanan kerajaan negeri di kemudian hari. Penempatan semula adalah salah satu cara yang mungkin dapat membantu penduduk ini di samping memastikan kawasan ini membangun dengan cara yang teratur.
Take care Mr Lim.
Mr. Lim dont gabra okey..cool arr..when talking about High Capparal. we are hoping Mr Lim dont berdalih2 n salahkn pihak lain. skrg nie ur respondsibility..so as a man, yg petah berkata2..apa nak takut..making a brilliant decision at a right time now!
I say again, re-introduce English medium schools
As a responsible Malaysian, I am concerned about the current state of affairs and more importantly, the future of our people and our beloved country. Who do not want a better future? Because of this, since the past twenty years or so, I have been carrying out a personal campaign to improve the standard and attitude of our people through education and the area I chose is to make as many of our people as possible, from all levels, to be good in English. I call my personal campaign, ‘USE CORRECT ENGLISH’. Of course, I have never ever neglected Bahasa Malaysia, my mother tongue and our national language.
In writing this letter to you, I have sought the advice of a friend, PROF. DR. GERHAD LEITNER, FAHA (Hon.), Honorary member of the Australian Academy of the Humanities at the Free University Berlin, Germany, who is an expert in the study on the subject of English language, how this language is used in many non-English speaking countries, its history, progress and developments, for him to put in some comments and expert views which you can see below. He earlier suggested that we use English as a ‘lingua franca’, (See Language: Bring back British English NST, April 15).
According to Prof. Leitner, “I see of course similarities with Europe where the choice of norms is difficult. In Germany there are no local forms that would request legitimacy. However, there is talk of European English (in the EU institutions) that is reaching out into the business world. When he listens to students from Spain, "However, there is a lot of talk about European English (in the EU institutions that are reaching out into the business world) and when I listen to our students in Berlin who come from Spain, Poland, Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Africa, the Middle East and also from Britain and US, there is diversity.”
"So the fight for good and against bad English is hard, to say the least. Lingua franca English may indeed be a way to go." I agree.
Whereas a vernacular language is used as a native language in a single speaker community, a vehicular language goes beyond the boundaries of its original community, and is used as a second language for communication between communities.
I agree. Lingua franca is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic history or structure of the language: though Pidgins and Creole often function as lingua francas, many lingua francas are neither Pidgin nor Creoles. Synonyms for lingua franca are "vehicular language" and "bridge language".
Lingua Franca is a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both persons' mother tongues.
For example, English is a vernacular in the United Kingdom, but is used as a vehicular language (lingua franca) in the Philippines. (See Language: Bring back British English NST, April 15).
(To be continued ...)
(Continued from the previous post ....)
I do not have any issue about our national language and I do not have any objection with Bahasa Malaysia, our national language, being used as a medium to teach in our national primary and secondary schools. In fact, I am very proud that Bahasa Malaysia is our national language and I am also very pleased to see that it has developed into a language that is now recognised internationally.
In kindergarten, primary and secondary school, I studied both English language and Malay with equal intensity and I did very well in both subjects for my Cambridge Overseas School Certificate ‘O’ Level examination as well as for my Cambridge Overseas Higher School Certificate ‘A’ level examination. Not only that, all the teachers that I came across throughout my schooling years, taught us both the languages, also with equal intensity.
In more recent times, as a matter of interest, I studied script writing, novel and book writing, writing lyrics, poetry, poems and reports, and music, all in Bahasa Malaysia at Akademi Seni Kebangsaan (ASK) now known as ASWARA, when they were offering part time certificate courses for adults. Switching between Bahasa Malaysia and English has always been a breeze for me. That’s why, I never complained. One of the more prominent and popular lecturers who taught us then was Datuk Johan Jaafar, a well known scholar and linguist who is excellent and fluent in both these languages and some other minor languages as well, someone whom I very much like to emulate.
I have been speaking and writing in both languages equally well for almost all my life and I find this practice very convenient and has many advantages. I am also very proud of this. It is therefore absurd for ZAMRI MAHMUD of Kuala Lumpur, feeling perplexed, had assumed, that I, the author of the letter, “English-medium schools: They can give us a leg up” (NST, May 19) am anti-Bahasa Malaysia, as he suggested in his letter – “BM has global potential” (NST June 1) when he said, ‘ … many writers to this page are of the opinion that the emphasis on Bahasa Malaysia in our education system since the 1970s had resulted in our poor command of English.” Suggesting that English medium schools need to be re-introduced in the country and calling for the reintroduction lectures in English in selected subjects at our national universities should not be construed that I am anti-Bahasa Malaysia.
On the contrary, I think, it is more the lack of emphasis and attention on English that has caused the standard of English of Malaysians to deteriorate badly and when I suggested that English medium schools are re-introduced in the country, I never even hinted that national schools that teach in Bahasa Malaysia should be closed or for these schools to stop using Bahasa Malaysia to teach. I believe that national schools using English as the medium to teach and national schools using Bahasa Malaysia as the medium to teach can exist side by side and complement each other, and add another language to make the formula complete.
In a democracy like ours, let the people choose which school they want to send their children to.
It is no use to have a language that has global potential but in reality, the potential can never be realised. Please, let’s all be honest about this and accept reality. Is it a sensible thing to do for us to wait 100 years for Bahasa Malaysia to develop and to be on par with English language? And by then English will still be 100 years ahead and we will still then be playing ‘catch-up’ with them.
(To be continued ....)
(Continued from the previous post ....)
“Noticing that our brethren made grammatical errors, especially in full view of people from various countries, some more backwards than ours but speak better English,” said ZAMRI MAHMUD but yet he says he does not feel embarrassed; this is most perplexing and how many people here are like him? Are we going to continue accepting and tolerate this very low standard and continue to let our people be the subject of jokes by others? Malay¬sia’s former UN permanent representative Tan Sri Hasmy Agam, one of our several more prominent English speakers and writers, not too long ago, expressed his disappointment about some of our diplomats’ poor command of English and commented about some shy Malaysians including some of our senior diplomats because of that and this needs to be addressed and corrected immediately. How can our views be heard at international forums if our representatives remain silent throughout an event? People like me and I myself would probably make excellent diplomats and we would most definitely achieve much more, comparatively speaking.
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Leitner says, “There seems to be an agreement that most of the damage was done after independence when English was demoted; the circumstances must have been very Malaysian: a strong local language (Malay), a dominant and privileged majority of Bumiputera comprising more than 60% of the population with a very strong desire for nation building. Bahasa Malaysia came out strongly and there was a hope to implant that on society. As elsewhere there was hardly a belief in globalisation. But countries like India (with some 500 languages) and Singapore (with some four, plus a few smaller ones) decided differently. As a matter of fact it seems they couldn't pursue such a policy even if they had wanted to. Malaysia may have appeared stronger in being able to shed off the colonial heritage.
History, however, decided otherwise and English has stayed and become ever stronger in most parts of the world. Could the early politicians be blamed for lack of foresight? I don't know but personally I think they could not.
Today, we cannot just look back at errors made fifty or so years ago. The development of English has been known to many around the world for decades and there has been ample time for Malaysia to act accordingly. From what I read, it seems the country is still stuck in a conflict of identity formation (a matter of power and politics) and, as a result, there seems to be some sense of uncertainty, a clear disadvantage. It might indicate a sense of immaturity but we are not the persons to tell this self-assuredly.”
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Leitner added, “Most of the world is different from Malaysia but there may be one or two features worth considering:
a. Germany has a long tradition of English language teaching going back to the late Middle Ages. Tradition can be an obstacle and so it was slow to develop a sense that English like other foreign languages are there to be used - not to read the past literature. However, for the past 20 years or so, a lot of bilingual policies have been explored and implemented. There is a range of public and private schools that use English, French, Spanish, etc. as vehicles of learning. There are immersion schools in English, French, Spanish and other languages. There are arguments and uncertainties but their existence is guaranteed.
b. What is missing still is a system of teacher training and in-service training but that will come. There are validation mechanisms that can be considered.
c. Some other countries in Europe are ahead of Germany, others behind. Some people go as far as saying that English should be the second official language, which I consider wrong as it implements a sense of competition. Some experts rightly say that Europe must become multiply trilingual: mother tongue, English and some other tongue.
(To be continued ...)
(Continued from previous post ....)
There are problems of teaching methodologies. Immersion and teaching a language as a subject co-exist, often in the same school, which causes frictions amongst students. How, they ask, are we to learn language?
In sum, there is a lot of dynamic development going on here in Europe. There is, I believe, little debate about endangering mother tongues, though this is one of the consequences for smaller but developed languages like Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, etc., let alone Maltese or Romanian. As for Malaysia, there should be little doubt about the status of Bahasa Malaysia. It is strong enough to cope with bilingual schools, one should think, and Malaysians can be rest assured that Bahasa Malaysia will always remain where it belongs.”
SOLIHAN BADRI, Head, Corporate Communications Unit, Ministry of Education, Kuala Lumpur in his letter, “Measures taken to improve proficiency” (NST, June 1), gave quite a detailed but brief account about the development of the education system that is based on the 1956 Razak Report with the aim to foster unity through a system using the national language as the medium of instruction and measures taken in accordance to the Education Act 1996 to promote national schools as a place of social and cooperative living of future generations – a place where they would be trained and educated to be worthy and loyal Malaysians but look at the results for yourself. Has the system, introduced since the early 1970s, and adjusted after the introduction of the Education Act 1966, achieved its aims, and are the measures taken, the right ones, and are they sufficient? What I actually see now is that disunity between races including ‘intra racial disunity’, which is a recent phenomenon, are beginning to rear ‘their ugly heads’. Malaysians from different communities speak the national language differently, including people from the younger generation who went through a common national education system. Just look at Indonesia for example, everyone there, regardless of which community they are from, speak Bahasa Indonesia the same way, including expatriates who work there for a relatively short period. I had the opportunity to work with some Japanese expatriates from Toyota Japan in Jakarta for a while a few years ago and I am impressed with their fluency in Bahasa Indonesia. Having our own citizens here, who come from various communities, speaking the national language, in our case Bahasa Malaysia, differently, doesn’t help much in fostering unity. Therefore, something must have gone wrong somewhere and this must be identified as soon as possible and corrected quickly. While beliefs in different ideologies and politics may be the main reasons for these problems, the school system must also take the blame, in fact, in my opinion, a major part of it. I believe English medium schools can and will solve these problems or at least alleviate them.
(To be continued ...)
(Continued from previous post .....)
I notice that the non-Malays, especially the Chinese, are the bigger losers here because of the abject failure of the school system in the country. The Malays, in general, can at least speak and write Bahasa Malaysia well and can just about get by with their limited English but many Malaysian Chinese are neither here nor there. They speak broken Bahasa Malaysia and many couldn’t speak English at all, maybe just a spattering. Try talking to your Chinese mechanic, plumber, tailor, hairdresser, barber, carpenter, air-con technician, hawker, fish monger, shopkeeper, storekeeper, contractor, etc. and you will see what I mean. There are also many Malaysian Chinese belonging to the next higher level and the next higher level who are also not so good in Bahasa Malaysia and English. Most of them, if not all, attended national schools and they are the very products of our new education system. Many of these people can’t even fill in simple forms and write simple letters in Bahasa Malaysia and they still need the help of elderly petition writers waiting along street corners with their old but trusty bashed up typewriters to do it for them. See LIONG KAM CHONG’S of Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, “Who has failed whom?” (NST, June 1). Malaysian Indians, however, seem to adapt quite well.
Professor Gerhad Leitner further suggests, “Wouldn't it be possible for Malaysia to show a stronger sense of national maturity and forget setting a competitive frame: Bahasa Malaysia vs English? (Add the problem of Malaysian English and international or mother tongue English?) Could it be debated that the goal should not be bilingualism even (Bahasa Malaysia and English) but trilingualism? Have Bahasa Malaysia, the national language, for all; English and then one of the other local languages or another Asian or European language, as the other two options?”
Our closest southern neighbour has been encouraging its people to be trilingual ever since 1959 and you can see for yourself where they are now.
We, Professor Leitner and I, both think that people here, either they are for or against the use of English in schools and universities, should not get stuck in a debate (English vs Bahasa Malaysia) any more, which has actually been going on for a very long time but without achieving much, and that makes little sense.
I strongly urge the Prime Minister, Education Minister, the Ministry of Education, the Education Department and the authorities concerned to re-look at all the policies pertaining to education in this country and its implementation and do a thorough analysis on the results of the new education system and change systematically as quickly as possible to suit the times as well as prepare for the short-term and the long-term future of our people and our nation. Our country’s potential to be a rich and developed nation, can be achieved faster if our people speak and write good English. This potential is greater and can definitely be realised than the potential of Bahasa Malaysia becoming a global language which will only still remain a potential, at best.
“The ‘Flaw’ can still be fixed … if there is enough political will,” suggests MICHAEL NG of Seremban, Negeri Sembilan (NST, June 1) which I fully agree.
Finally, do not wait for a revolution to change something that has failed miserably.
YAB Lim Guan Eng, Please take the lead in responding to the requests of the majority of Malaysians who want English medium schools to be re-introduced. Let's start with Penang and show BN that the PAKATAN team is better and is willing to accede to the rakyat's request to benefit the country and the nation and to build a better future for all. Professor Leitner and I are willing to assist to make this a success.
HUSSANI ABDUL KARIM, Shah Alam and
PROF. DR. GERHAD LEITNER, FAHA (Hon.)
Honorary member of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
Free University Berlin
Department of English
Habelschwerdter Allee 4514195 Berlin, Germany
Post a Comment