Of English proficiency and ‘Sabah first’ policy

Published on: Sunday, August 20, 2023

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Countries such as China, Russia, India and Indonesia do not have English as their lingua franca. The Chinese have managed to walk in space and built their own space station without English, just as the Russians have done. - pix for illustration purposes only by TeachingEnglish

MANY seem to be of the view that Sabahans are poor because they do not speak English.

These writers urge Sabahans to emulate Singapore where they speak English and have the policy of “Singapore first”.

In a way these statements only pressure Sabahans not to move forward, because they do not speak English and the policy of “Sabah first”. These statements are only half the truth. Progress for Sabah and Sabahans has little to do with language or the “Sabah First” policy.

Countries such as China, Russia, India and Indonesia do not have English as their lingua franca. The Chinese have managed to walk in space and built their own space station without English, just as the Russians have done.

Indonesia is ranked 7th economically in the world in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) as reported by the World Bank and IMF and they don’t have English as their lingua franca. China, USA, India, Japan, Russia and Germany all ranked above Indonesia and only the USA uses English as their Lingua Franca.

Therefore, it is not the language, but other factors including attitude and whether the labour force is sufficiently skilled and motivated. Unfortunately, Malaysia’s “hand out” policies has reduced Malaysians to work less.

Singapore, developed and became a rich country not because it is still a haven for all sorts of fraud and criminal activities.

Singapore accepted corrupt money from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and many others.

Singapore traded in smuggled commodities such as tin ore from Malaysia and Thailand. United National customs declaration even reported that Singapore only legally imported 50pc of all its traded goods or products.

When President Obama assumed office, he declared that Americans with money overseas must repatriate back to America.

This resulted in over US$350 billion American Swiss Bank accounts getting transferred to Singapore.

Singapore’s economic survival relies heavily on wrong doings, and it does this by disguising itself as a tax haven. This undermines all its neighbours particularly Malaysia.

Bank Negara Malaysia is on record in saying that more than RM6 billion in cash was transferred to Singapore every month some years ago.

As to the “Sabah First” policy, Sabah leaders need to accept that Sabah is part of the Federation of Malaysia. There are over 300,000 Sabahans working in Malaya and should Malaya impose their own “Malaya First Policy”, it is doubtful Sabah leaders have given much thought to having all of them deported back.

The Chairman of SESB recently blamed the frequent blackouts in Sabah on squirrels. As for water supply, regardless the budget, funds get piped into pockets.

While recognising the significance of English as the global lingua franca, it is equally essential to prioritize the native language within our country.

Our leaders should instead master the language of common sense that transcends all linguistic prowess.

YCN

- The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express.

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