Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad shakes hands with guests during Sultan Abdul Hamid College’s (SAHC) annual dinner in Kuala Lumpur December 21, 2018. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Malaysians should not fear losing their identity by learning English which is essential for the country to progress, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

Dr Mahathir pointed out that Malaysians were once well-known internationally for their mastery of the English language.

“I would like to remind everyone that English is not the language of English people only, English is now a universal language, it is also the language of knowledge.

“If you want to acquire knowledge, you have to understand English because most of the new knowledge coming to us comes in English,” he said at his alma mater Sultan Abdul Hamid College’s (SAHC) annual dinner.

While acknowledging that many other countries such as Japan and China use their own language, Dr Mahathir said that such countries do not use these languages exclusively.

“But when we ask them whether they are using their own languages totally, their answer is always -- when studying science and medicine, they have to use English,” he said.

“Certainly, when learning new knowledge, science and mathematics and new sciences, you need to have good knowledge, good grasp of the English language.

“It is not that we are less Malay or less Malaysian when we insist on mastery of the English language,” he added.

“Indeed, if you are truly good Malaysians, you would want to impress the world, that you have perfect command of English,” he added.

Dr Mahathir urged SAHC graduates to counter the idea that a Malaysian would “become an Englishman” if they know and speak English well.

In the same speech, Dr Mahathir said Malaysians' past reputation of having good command of the English language led to them often being given the role of writing up documents in international meets.

“When we became independent in 1957, many of us attended many conferences all over the world. And when we attended these conferences, if there was a need to write down some agreement, some notes or reports on the conference, inevitably Malaysians were called to draft the reports,” he said.

“Some of these Malaysians may probably be from SAHC, because most people from SAHC those days speak and write very good English.

“This is not a boast, this is sheer necessity,” he said, noting that the English language will prove useful wherever one goes.

Bahasa Malaysia is Malaysia's national language, but the government had in the past also recognised the importance of the English language in education.

Dr Mahathir had introduced the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) in 2003, but the policy was reversed by the Najib administration in 2009.

The Education Ministry later replaced PPSMI with the “Uphold Bahasa Malaysia and strengthen the English language” (MBMMBI) policy, and the government during Budget 2016 announced the Dual Language Programme (DLP) which allows students to study science and mathematics in English.

Dr Mahathir in his speech also noted that he was one of only 30 students in Kedah who were lucky to be enrolled in 1932 in the English-medium school Government English School, which has since been renamed SAHC.

The dinner for the 110-year-old school's alumni was organised by the Sultan Abdul Hamid Old Collegians Association (Sahoca) KL, of which Dr Mahathir is lifetime president.

The Kedah-born Dr Mahathir is an alumnus of SAHC, where his father Mohamad Iskandar was its first principal.

SAHC is also the alma mater of various other prominent individuals such as Malaysia's first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, Kedah ruler Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah, four former Kedah Mentri Besar, five former Chief Justice of Malaysia, former ministers including Tun Daim Zainuddin, and former president of the 51st session of the United Nations' General Assembly Tan Sri Razali Ismail.