narrativeautumn

Malaysian Orphans in Taiwan

Attending farewell dinners for my Malaysian seniors in Taiwan sometime around June and July, (the graduation season in Taiwan) didn’t really make me feel sad. I, however, felt rather aggrieved to see that so many of them were preparing to work in Singapore as Mandarin teachers.

Welcoming Malaysian freshmen juniors in September (the opening month of the academic year in Taiwan), again, made me feel like I am receiving bright Malaysian students who, again, might work for other countries when they graduate.

We are indeed Malaysian orphans in Taiwan. Most our degrees are recognised in many countries, namely the US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Europe, Japan, Korea, etc. Everywhere except in our homeland Malaysia. It’s really unacceptable that Malaysia, whose academic performance lags behind that of Taiwan, refuses to recognise Taiwanese degrees.

The Higher Education Ministry can refuse to recognise the degrees from good universities in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong if – and only if – the top universities in Malaysia are better than the Ivy League universities and Oxbridge. Is Malaysia academically qualified to reject degrees from good universities in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, which are fully accepted and recognised by the top Western universities? The answer is so obvious and this reluctance has caused the perpetual brain drain that has been going on for decades in our motherland.

The medium of instruction in Taiwanese universities is Chinese. I once thought this was why the Malaysian government refused to recognise Taiwanese degrees. But then I soon found out that degrees from some universities in certain countries whose academic standard is much lower than Taiwan like Ukraine, Russia, Indonesia and Morocco are recognised by Malaysia. I do know and understand that many Malaysian graduates from Taiwan are accused of poor English and Malay proficiency but is this the reason why their degrees are rejected by their homeland?

If we really practice multiculturalism, can we acknowledge that for some people, learning English and Bahasa Malaysia are not easy? Can’t we see the benefit of letting them to complete their undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate studies using their own mother tongue instead of being dropouts because poor English and BM proficiency?

Those who are lucky to be proficient in English and BM should also think of those groups who can’t command English and BM that well. Instead of rejecting them, our country which brags of its multiculturalism, should recognise their degrees so that they can come home and serve.

Any language learned and spoken by true-blue Malaysians be it English, BM, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainam, Tamil, Hindi, Iban, Kadazan, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, etc, are priceless language assets for our country and will contribute to our multiculturalism beside being an advantage in the global market.

I don’t mind if the Higher Education Ministry sets a English language criteria up before fully recognising degrees from Taiwanese and Chinese universities which don’t use English as their medium of instruction.

Let’s say those who obtain their undergraduate degrees from any good Taiwanese or Chinese university with a Band 6.5 in IELTS or a 237 score for the TOEFL test would have their degrees fully recognised by the Malaysian government. Any Malaysian student who doesn’t meet this mark test should self-examine themselves instead of blaming any Malaysian authority for not recognising their degrees.

Set the language criteria and the Malaysian students who are studying in Taiwan or China will know what to do to best prepare to enter the Malaysian workforce which uses English as its ‘lingua franca’. After all, their counterparts in Malaysian public universities also have to sit for the Malaysian University English Test (Muet).

The Malaysian orphans in Taiwan are undoubtedly minorities in the Malaysian society. The Malaysian government should recognise their degrees from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. I am saying this because I do not want to see the already serious brain drain becoming worse and these student being made to feel that they are not welcome back home.

Malaysiakini columnist Dr M Bakri Musa in his book The Malay Dilemma Revisited said: ‘Malaysia does not lack bright and talented individuals. On a proportionate basis, it should have 10 times as many as Singapore. Malaysia just does not appreciate or nurture them’.

The situation mentioned by Bakri must be addressed by the government or else the Vision 2020 would merely be a dream given the fact that Malaysians might end up serving other countries their due to their marginalisation back home.

Yeow Boon-Kiat
Department of Chinese Studies, National Taiwan Normal University

大馬旅台孤兒 (Published as my very first article of my translation column on Chinese website of Malaysiakini on 21 September 2007)

今年六、七月，在臺北為即將離開臺灣的學長姐餞別，心裏並不覺得難過。我覺得難過的事情是，他們當中有很多都是準備著 去新加坡當中文教師。夏末秋初的九月，是臺灣各大學開學的月份，迎接一批新入學的學弟妹，我心想：我是在為我的國家迎接一批人才，還是目前表面上我是為我的國家迎接一批人才，但將來這批人才通通都要白白送給外國？

憑什麼拒絕承認臺灣學位？
說實在的，大馬留台生都是在臺灣的大馬孤兒。我們的學位，不論是大學、碩士或是博士學位，在全世界很多個國家例如英美 紐澳加、日韓、歐洲和新加坡都被承認，但只有我們自己的政府不承認。這是一個很難令人接受的事情。大馬在國際學術上落後臺灣那麼多，竟然可以不承認臺灣學位，這是哪門子的道理？如果今時今日大馬的國立大學比津橋(Oxbridge)、長春藤(Ivy League)大學厲害，大馬政府當然可以很驕傲地拒絕承認臺灣學位，我們也虛心接受這個決定。但問題是：大馬的國立大學連跟區域的名校如新加坡大學、香港大學、香港中文大學、北京大學、清華大學、臺灣大學、京都大學、早稻田大學等名校平起平坐的學術地位都沒有，又有什麼學術地位來拒絕廣泛被第一世界國家承認的臺灣學位？

以前我以為是教學媒介語的問題，導致以中文教學的中國大陸和臺灣各大學院校的學位不被大馬政府承認。但後來發現大馬竟然會承認國際學術地位比大陸、臺灣、香港低的烏克蘭、俄羅斯、摩洛哥、印尼的學位，我就知道：不承認中港臺學位是一個政治問題，也證明了有關當局的無知 與自大心理。

我知道很多大馬留台生最為人所詬病的就是英語和馬來語能力低落，但這可以構成他們的學位不被承認的理由嗎？如果我們真的瞭解多元文化，我們可不可以承認對於很多人而言，學習英語和馬來語是不容易的？與其讓他們因為英語、馬來語能力不足而輟學，還不如讓他們用最熟悉的語言來學習、掌握他們想要學習的知識。這樣的優點，我們的國家看不到嗎？一個常常把多元文化掛在嘴邊的國家，可不可以同樣尊重、承認他們的學位，以便日後他們也可以回國服務？大馬人學習的任何語言、方言，不論是中文、英文、馬來文、廣東話、福建話、客家話、海南話、淡米爾文、韓語、日語、德語、法語、西班牙語等等，通通都是國家的資產，就是這些語言資產豐富我們的多元文化，並讓我們可以擁有在全球化市場裏脫穎而出的語言優勢。

大可設英語能力考試鑒定
如果高等教育部設定一個英語能力條件，例如留學中國大陸和臺灣的大馬學生，只要考得最低的英語能力要求，即英國 IELTS要至少6.5等級，或美國電腦化託福237分，大馬政府就承認他們的學位。如果這樣還不夠，政府大可列出哪一些中港臺大學被政府承認，以便大家可以有個方向。當然，在大馬土生土長的大馬學生，如果連考個IELTS 6.5級或電腦化託福237分都會有問題，就不要怪別人不承認學位，反而必須自我檢討：何以自己的英語能力跟大陸、臺灣的學生一樣？（大馬的IELTS平 均成績是6.64分，僅次於德國的7.23；臺灣則是5.62，大陸5.53）訂出這個英語能力標準，留學大陸、臺灣的大馬學生就知道如何為進入大馬職場準備，就好像需要考MUET的大馬國立大學學生一樣。

旅台的大馬孤兒，在大馬社會也算是少數團體，大馬政府如果真要實踐他們整天跟全世界講大馬的多元文化有多了不起，政府對少數族群、弱勢團體有多寬容、平等對待，那更就應該承認中港臺學位。我這麼說，固然是從我自己的本位出發，但更重要的事情是，只有承認中港臺學位，才能減少人才外流問題，並且不要再讓留學中港臺的大馬學子覺得他們在自己的故鄉是不受歡迎的。

勿因政治意識延續人才外流問題
人才外流的問題，不能再因為政治意識型態而延續下去了。套句一位旅美的馬來知識份子M.Bakri Musa醫生在他的著作《The Malay Dilemma Revisited》的說法：「大馬並不缺乏聰穎、有天分的人才。以比例來說，大馬的人才應該比新加坡多十倍。大馬只是不知道如何珍惜、培養他們罷了。」

（英文原文：Malaysia does not lack bright and talented individuals. On a proportionate basis, it should have ten times as many as Singapore. Malaysia just does not appreciate or nurture them.）

M.Bakri Musa醫生所講述的情況必須被糾正，否則將來繼續有系統地邊緣化華裔人才只會導致更多大馬華裔人才為他國服務，大馬人才外流問題更嚴重時，2020年宏願也將只會是一場美麗的誤會，空歡喜一場。

Dates of completion for “Malaysian Orphans in Taiwan”:
English version: 14 Sept 2007
Chinese version: 16 Sept 2007
Malay version: 26 Sept 2007