Dr M: English the language of science

(The Edge) – English should be the medium of instruction for science and mathematics as it is the international language of knowledge, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"If we want knowledge, we must know the language of the modern times, and that language is English.

"Most new scientific discourses are written in English and we can't translate all of it because there are just too many discoveries. We'd need experts not just in both languages but in the science fields as well," he said at the Brand Laureate Lecture Series launch today.

He said, back in the Dark Ages when Arabic was the language of knowledge, even those in Europe learned the language. Malaysia's position as an education hub among foreigners was largely attributed to English being widely spoken as a medium of communication, he added.

Asked why the national language could not be as successful as French and Japanese, he said Malay was not a viable medium of instruction as it did not have a history of scientific research.

In his keynote address on Vision 2020 — Is it a mission possible?, he said Malaysia needed to move from a low-cost, export-driven economy to a high-cost, domestic purchasing power-driven one to achieve the Vision 2020 of a developed nation.