Last Updated: 7:05am, Nov 29, 2013

TO MANY Malay right-wing groups, my alma mater, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), is a bastion of everything Malay and bumiputera. Most of them are of the view that this is a bumiputera institution that should be protected at all costs.

It should be a purely bumiputera institution, they say. They are against opening it up – as suggested by some Malays and Malaysians – to all races. Umno MP for Kuala Selangor Irmohizam Ibrahim recently suggested that UiTM be conferred royal university status so that its position as an institution only for bumiputeras will not be challenged.

UiTM is another bumiputera institution under siege, it seems. But the irony is that for many years, even during the days it was known as Insititut Teknologi Mara (ITM), it has accepted foreign students, notably Malays from Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore.

Today, because of its university status and the need to improve its international ranking – the enrolment of foreign students is one of the criteria in many ranking methodologies – UiTM has accepted an increasing number of them, including those from Asia, the Middle East and even Europe, for its post and undergraduate programmes, For its more popular short courses, the university has from Thailand, Japan, South Korea and China. In this respect, UiTM is not an entirely all-bumiputera university.

But this article is not about the merits or demerits of having foreign students or opening up the university to all races. It is about this Malay bastion using the English language as the medium of instruction in all courses – something that is not known to many Malaysians, including bumiputera right-wing groups who oppose the wider use of English in schools.

It is one of only two public universities – the other being International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) – that use English as stipulated in their respective constitutions and Acts.

This basically contradicts the Malay and bumiputera identity that UiTM is supposed to possess and promote. In a research essay, titled Whither the bumiputera identity of UiTM, law lecturer Mohd Nazim Ganti Shaari says that, pertaining to the characteristic of "habitually speaking the Malay language", it is truly a paradox to note that English, instead of Bahasa Malaysia, is used as the medium of instruction in all of UiTM's academic programmes.

In fact, the use of English is fiercely protected by many members of its faculties and ex-students who know that mastery of the language has helped them progress in their professional careers. Tan Sri Arshad Ayub, seen by many as the father of UiTM and the man who shaped the university's character in the early days, is responsible for this.

It has been quoted that Arshad "could have simply turned to rabid ethnocentrism during ITM's early days and insisted on using the Malay language as the medium of instruction. Instead, having a genuine passion for the education and welfare of poor bumiputera students and realising the mastery of the English language would be a prerequisite to greater things in life, Arshad was adamant the English must be used as the medium of instruction at ITM". And this remains until today.

Besides using English as the medium of instruction, many of its programmes require students to have a credit in English in SPM as an entry requirement. Once they enter UiTM, irrespective of the courses they opt for, students must take English as a subject for three semesters at the diploma level. Here they are taught Proficiency English, which covers grammar and the four communicative skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing.

The learning of English continues at the degree level for at least another two semesters but the number of credit hours is reduced. The teaching of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) or job-related English is incorporated. This covers academic writing, taking minutes of meetings, academic reading and presentation skills. Certain faculties like law will offer more hours of English.

But having English as the medium of instruction does not mean that every student has a good command of the language. Because of the poor English standard and lack of proficiency among students when they were in national schools, many UiTM lecturers are still forced to conduct classes in both Bahasa Malaysia and English.

The level of proficiency and use also differs from faculty to faculty with law, mass communication, business and public administration students doing better than others. But with assignments, presentations and examinations conducted in English, students are basically forced to put more effort into mastering the language.

Having English as the medium of instruction helps UiTM students have a better command of the language compared with their counterparts in other public universities.

So if UITM, the bastion of bumiputera education and everything Malay, can use English as its medium of instruction, why can't the government allow the greater use of the language in primary and secondary schools?

If the government can allow English to be used as the medium of instruction in public tertiary education at UiTM and IIUM, then it should not be that difficult for it to do so at the primary and secondary school levels.

Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad introduced the PPSMI system for the teaching of science and mathematics in English but sadly, this is being phased out now. He has always held strong views on the need for Malaysians, notably bumiputeras, to have a good command of English. In the era of a globalised economy and the Internet world, mastery of the language can be a competitive tool.

PPSMI is not perfect, with many academics and professionals seeing it as the wrong way to improve English but it has provided a basic infrastructure for schools to use more English. The government should allow PPSMI to continue, if not in all, then in selected schools. These designated PPSMI schools in the longer term can later be developed into English medium schools where more subjects are taught in English.

If it is all about race and pride and upholding the status of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language – which is what many right-wing groups claim in opposing the reintroduction of English-medium schools – then UiTM, the bastion of bumiputera education, should be a Bahasa Malaysia-medium university.

But thankfully, it is not, and has provided a lot of advantages to thousands of bumiputera students who went through the system. The use of English as the medium of instruction in public universities should just be extended to the schools.    


Azam Aris is senior managing editor at The Edge.

For more stories, go to www.fz.com, the website for freedom of expression and fairness in articulation.